BeyondLabels

According to Hanh (1991), in order for reflection to lead to transformation, one needs to engage in the practice of mindful contemplation which requires one to look deeply at/into the issues that one confronts. By doing so, you are able to see how self and other "inter-are". Hanh points out that "Roses and garbage inter-are"...read the following pharasing........ "If we look more deeply we will see that in just five or six days, the roses will become part of the garbage. We do not need to wait five days to see it. If we look at the rose, and we look deeply, we can see it now. And if we look at the garbage can, we see that in a few month its contents can be transformed into a lovely vegetables, and even a rose. If you are a good organic gardener, looking at a rose you can see the garbage, and looking at the garbage you can see a rose." (1991, p.97) Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk. The difference between Freire and Hanh, noted by Hook (1994) is that while Freire speaks mostly to the mind, Hanh's vision of pedagogy emphasizes "wholeness, a union of mind, body and spirit". Therefore an "engaged pedagody" is a process of healing the splits, of developing integrity of interbeing between theory and practice, intellect and spirit, teacher and student, and embarking on a process of transformation in which being-in-the classroom is recognized as part of being-in-the-world and vice versa.

Radical Journalist Gary Younge talks about his latest book “Stranger In A Strange Land: Encounters In The Disunited States”. This book is divided into four sections –war, race, politics and culture. The overarching theme is division. The book talks about how divided US really is. Gary explained how….” the era of former US president Bill Clinton ended with one of the closest elections that we can remember- one that George Bush had to steal in the end. So Bush, and the way that he came to power, was an expression of division. When Hurricane Katrina landed, another clear division that came out if it is Race. Black, opinionated, and from a working-class background, Gary Younge is not your typical foreign correspondent. Yet, in three years as The Guardian newspaper's New York correspondent, Younge has acquired a transatlantic reputation as one of the most thoughtful commentators on contemporary America. (Book description on Amazon)

This is the MC-DIP Learning Styles Model based on our 'theoretical lens'.

Such a time eating project but fantastic and look forward to where next. The idea is one book per year on challenging issues and led by design/illustration and the core communication route. Rob Chiu creative director with his unique vision of things and me as research director routed in education for social change and community action for ethnic minorities and migrants. The trailer of the short film provides a taster and again loads of food-for-thought on where next. The media is clearly instilling fear in society with regards terrorism and there seems to be a need for collective and balance reflection on terrorism and the real situation. Hence our next project..... and hey hopefully it can financially continue to sustain itself.

Note: Thumbnail image by Lim Fung Wee Lee Fung Wee

BlackDayTo Freedom BD2F

I am fascinated by all the PLE's push but the part that works most for me is the distributed and uncontrolling edge to the moves in this area. But at the same time the individualist push may also be seen to be driven from a technology driven culture. As often happens I feel with learning environement apps developed by technical and tested with users who may be learners of some sort. Mike mentioned 'this is suttle stuff' and totally agree and how can we engage educators. Questions for me ... is this movement being driven by the current european constructivist type edge. In parts seems to be. What about educators more interested in intervension through education - positive actiion for social change. Clearly some of the tools ideal for this but 'sutble' is the word and how can we project this to educators and educators who are not coming with the view to learners as just get on with it type approach. Self organising groups with appropriate interventions based on collective choice is where I am keen to explore more... How do you manage the collectivity and diversity?

Abu Ghraib was said to have no women but clearly there was based on declassified US army docuemnts. One key document from 10 May 2004 that was reported by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  I came across this yesterday and very disturbing stuff. Just feel needs to be passed on. Even though not directly relevant to this Blog I guess. Stuck in my head!!

Nour was in the Abu Ghraib and appealed to fighters on the streets.... "We scream for help to save us from these beasts, but no one seems to hear our desperate cry..... If there is still an atom of honour  in your hearts, do attack this notorious prison with every weapon at your disposal, killing them and us altogether  because our wombs are already pregnant with there bastards"

Whats happening out there!?

The declassified Abu Bhraib documents can be accessed at www.aclu.org

1. learning style is a biological and developmental set of personal characteristics (Theis, 1979) that makes teaching styles for some learners effective and for others not.

2. Most people have learning styles preferences and these differ significantly between people

3. teaching preferences exist and it is viewed these can be identified

4. stronger the learnign preference more important it is to provide compatible instructional strategies

5. accomodating learning style preferences through teaching styles and supporting activities such as mentoring and counciling interventions increases academic achievement

6. responsive teaching and environemnts improves achievement

7. most teachers and councillors can use learning styles asa corner stone for their instructional and counselling activities

8. students can capitalise on their learning styles when dealing with challenging academic issues

9. for  less academically successful it is more important to critically consider learning styles support (Dunn, Beaudry, & Klavas, 1989)

The short motion graphics of myself, produced by Rob Chiu, is compiled from a few different times/events that provides an insight in areas of activity but just as importantly a tool for me to explore and reflect. This approach is used as a means to illustrate where I want to push the BeyondLabels initiative with friends and partners. The main focus needs to remain routed in multicultural education as a critical pedagogic approach but also reach out to partnering areas related to social change and direct action related to exclusion.

Do most people in one culture learn differently from most people in another culture?
Do most people in the same culture basically learn in the same way?
Relationship between high/low achievers and learning style
Are we measuring ability or style through assessment?
Learning styles and time: How does style evolve?
Are the majority of teacher 'analytic'?
Cultures and attitude towards school:
Learning styles and role of counselling
Inventories/profiling/diagnostics and teacher-learner equity
Learning styles implementation: diagnostics, environment, Personalised learning

As you can see I am re-visiting an important book to me by Rita Dunn and Shirley Griggs (1995).  Routed in 80's/90's in terms of feel but great content and so comprehensive in terms of coverage of the subject area. Some points on learning styles and counseling...

1. counseliing is a learning process. counselor works with person to explore self included values, goals, aspirations, traits in developing the persons full potential

2. need to choose a counseling approach that is responsive to highly diversified personal traits is crucial for adolescents. Couselign selection of techniques needs to be in tune with learnign style needs

3. counselee resistance can be a result of counseling interventions, strategies and techniques not being compatible with the counselers own learning style.

4. when counselees are aware of their learning style they are given a tool previosuly not available to them and can strengthen the counseling  and learnign processes. Can support empowerment and therefore achievement

800,00 school students took action in Chile on Wednesday of last week.. Over 100 schools involved and supported by some universities. Students demaingin free travel to school and no college entrance exam fees... and restructuring of education system meeting needs of students as opposed to private sector interests. The movement most obvious on the streets of Santiago. The change in feelings may be in part influenced by Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez. Irrespective of views on his approach there is clearly support for public services and the needs of the poor and yes this seems to be creating winds blowing in the America's Can across a demonstration banner in Santiago with the words.... "be realistic, demand the impossible" - May 1968 Paris rising...

The diagram is intended to support discussions on the plug-in module for the diagnostic and its relevance to the overall tool. The diagram should support discussions - Al, Mike, Steve - on filtering content based on VAK and skills level

Just came across the words below and it gives a feel for the climate in the UK. Issues of interest for me here are cultural pluralism and the notion of integration being put forward in the UK. Roy Jenkins' classic definition, integration is 'not a flattening process of assimilation but equal opportunity accompanied by cultural diversity in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance' is what we should be thinking in Europe and move away from the push to assimilation. A Sivananda provides invaluable insight and I suggest check out the full interview where the quote below can from.

There's a new ballgame here - with the 2001 riots in Britain and 7/7, the government has been thrashing about for answers as to how to handle its ethnic minorities. First, with the riots, it blamed the self-separatism of Asian communities for the disaffection between Asians and whites - never acknowledging that successive governments' policies of culturalism, combined with their neglect of the inner cities, had created the enclaves which had turned Asians against whites and vice versa. Thus, the government's thinking this time was not on the lines of 'ethnic disadvantage', as Scarman had it, but of (too much) ethnic advantage, too much 'multiculturalism', not enough integration/assimilation or the much more euphemistic term 'community cohesion'. And now, after 7/7, despite the discovery that the suicide bombers were home-grown and wholly British, the thinking in the UK is to embrace the backward and undoubtedly Islamophobic discourse that is issuing from mainland Europe. Cultural pluralism has gone too far, it threatens our values and our very national safety. A line has to be drawn on difference. Ethnic minorities have now, in the domestic context of the War on Terror, to effectively subsume their cultural heritage to Britishness.

Sivanandan, May 2006

Overall summary image of the learning styles framework we are using for the MC-DIP diagnostics development initiative. It also illustrates different learnign styles scenarios. Makes sense to consider this in the context of previous posting on skilling needs and mapping

The task of establishing identity and identity achievement clearly continues beyond adolescence but for the mainstream particularly challenging for youth. The ultimate goal for many is termed identity achievement (Dunn & Griggs, 1995). Identity achievement is a complex process realised through 'small steps'. For many in there youth, and throughout life, this can be problematic and this applies to both secular and non-secular settings.. Here are some key methods that I came across by Dunn and Griggs (1995) that I found useful... - identity foreclosure: accepting parental values without reservation. Common in many non-secular countries. - Nagative identity status: adopting roles and values diametrically opposed to expectations and parental values. - Identity diffusion status: young persons inability to commit to anything in terms of values, goals, religious beliefs. - Moratorium status: allowing young people time out for experimentation and alternative lifestyles

Check out the army guy on the painting. Made me laugh. But also strong voice in the graffiti style painting in the photo - from a anti-war demo in London I was at a couple of months back...

In South Africa 30 years tomorrow young people took to the streets (estimate of 10,000) to protest against being forced to learn Africaans in school. This was clearly viewed as the language of the oppressor. Police open fired and killed 566+ people . This was the worst crisis since the Sharpeville Massacre in 1961 - the Soweto uprising. Soweta was viewed as the beginning of the end for apartheid. Within 2 years the black working class took centre stage and by the late 1980's apartheid was on its knees. It forced a negotiated political settlement..

The image below by Camera Rwanda needs reading. Suggest you click through to her site and read the words by Lucille Davie.