The Psychological Domain: Enhancing Traditional Practice in K-12 Education

Introduction

Eisner (2004) insists that educational advancement requires a shift in perspective regarding our pedagogical approach to teaching and learning, a change in the kind of tasks we invite pupils to undertake, the kind of thinking we ask them to do, and the kind of criteria we apply to appraise both their work and ours. Changes or proposed changes affecting educational advancement are, however, contingent on the availability of adequate resources to manage and implement effective and “real” change. Although before making any changes regarding our pedagogical approach to teaching and learning, it is helpful to first examine the underlying epistemological, philosophical, and, theoretical assumptions that such changes reflect. This process is useful because it helps us to understand the likely outcome of educational practices in new environments and allows us to communicate these expectations before the practices are inflicted upon teachers and pupils. This applies equally to traditional classroom settings and in new online and blended settings in which there remains a sense of uncertainty about “what works” and why. For example, (Abrami, Bernard, Bures, Borokhovski, & Tamim, 2011) argue that our lack of understanding about effective pedagogical approaches in online and blended learning stems from deficient research investigating the processes and conditions under which teaching and learning is best supported. In recent years, there has been a growing interest (Hiltz, 1998; Palloff & Pratt, 1999; Sergiovanni, 1999; Swan & Shea, 2005) in the development of learning communities for the purpose of investigating the processes and conditions under which teaching and learning is best supported in online and blended settings. Ludwig-Hardman and Dunlap (2003) describe these kinds of communities as groups of people, connected via computer-mediated communication, who actively engage one another in collaborative learner-centred activities to intentionally foster the creation of knowledge, while sharing a number of values and practices, and supporting progressive discourse.