Situating Learning: supporting the emergence of high complexity teachers Brent Davis & Dennis Sumara University of British Columbia

foci of many teacher education programs lesson planning classroom management teaching methods teacher identity formation learner diversity social justice ecological sustainability global citizenship

… but what does the research into effective teaching tell us?

Research into Top Alberta Mathematics Teachers 12 teachers, with long & strong records all over the map, in terms of practices not locked into any particular method complex attitude toward subject matter –multiple interpretations of particular concepts –intricate interconnections among ideas complex attitude toward learners –able to get into students heads –able to instill a sense of shared project in math class able juggle many activities (plate-spin)

Other popular descriptors … eyes in the back of her head withitness (Jacob Kounin) tact & pedagogical thoughtfulness (Max van Manen) ethics of caring (Nel Noddings)

The point? most initial teacher education programs are aimed at competence, not complexity (and, in fact, might be projecting a model of teaching that inappropriately dismisses highly effective pedagogies)

The burning question – How do we prompt teachers toward complex and flexible ways of being in classrooms?

Low Complexity People tend to see the world in absolute, black-&-white terms. lack (and perhaps avoid) diversity among their peers and advisers tend to be very rigid, ideologically tend to focus on what they think is the reality

High Complexity People seek out novel information across diverse categories change attitude more easily when presented with compelling evidence generate unusual (& often remote) views and actions integrate & relate complex patterns of many elements

What we know about becoming high complexity Certain activities help – parenting, teamsports (participating; coaching), community organization/participation – … briefly, social engagements that require ongoing interpretation, negotiation, and adaptation. Certain positionings help – –racial, gender, sexual minorities and/or oppressed groups – … briefly, positionings that prompt awarenesses of Discourses. It takes a long time – 10,000 hours of supported effort. It depends on events that get people out of themselves.

Huge new topic in educational research. We never stop learning/changing/developing. BIG changes – shifts in ones way of being-in-the- world – continue to occur as you age. Types of changes vary by culture, era, location, etc. Shifts tend to be prompted by a threshold effect. One research-based model … Life-long learning …

Robert Kegans Life-Stages: Immediate Consciousness mostly young children idea of durable objects un(der)developed mystified when others have different opinions need to be reminded of rules over and over

Robert Kegans Life-Stages: Instrumental Consciousness typically 7- to 10-year-olds, but some adults world is less magical … and more mechanical: desires for fixed laws, uniformly applied tendency to focus on implications for me beliefs, feelings, interpretations, and self-perceptions stabilize

Robert Kegans Life-Stages: Socialized Consciousness older adolescents and most adults considerate – able to subordinate personal desires those of others modulates between thinking about me and us capable of abstract planning, self-reflection devoted to something thats greater than their own needs

Robert Kegans Life-Stages: Self-Authoring Consciousness some, but not many able to examine various rule systems and to mediate among them more expansive awareness of whats going on in the world tendency to focus on the implications for us self-guided, self-motivated, self-evaluative – takes personal responsibility (e.g., doesnt blame disappointing experiences on others)

Robert Kegans Life-Stages: Self-Transforming Consciousness hardly anyone the wise in western culture others and objects arent seen as separate; world is not seen in terms of polarities or clear-cut categories mindful participation in ongoing transformations replaces desire to cause specific changes

Provisos … Immediate Consciousness Instrumental Consciousness Socialized Consciousness Self-Authoring Consciousness Self-Transforming Consciousness not a line, ladder, or sequence shifts prompted by confronting complexity; they dont happen until they have to expanding repertoires, not levels replacing each another shifts cant be caused; they depend on the experiencer, not the experience. not age-indexed

And so …? Almost everyone reverts to instrumental mode when in a new situation. Teaching is no exception (see, e.g., J.G. Berger). Experienced teachers are more likely than the general population to manifest expansive levels of consciousness. Why?

What we know about becoming high complexity Certain activities help – parenting, teamsports (participating; coaching), community organization/participation – … briefly, social engagements that require ongoing interpretation, negotiation, and adaptation. Certain positionings help – –racial, gender, sexual minorities and/or oppressed groups – … briefly, positionings that prompt awarenesses of Discourses. It takes a long time – 10,000 hours of supported effort. It depends on events that get people out of themselves.

And so … … drawing on complexity thinking to frame initial teacher education …

Complexity thinkers distinguish between complicated and complex phenomena.

Complicated vs Complex Mechanical (Newton) Adaptive (Darwin) Machine metaphors Ecosystem metaphors Linear Exponential Input/output flowcharts Cyclical feedback loops Efficiency-seeking Sufficiency-oriented Progress-minded Development-minded Reducible Non-compressible

Yes, but … what is complexity? There is no unified definition. Since complexity research is defined in terms of what one studies rather than how one studies … … and so definitions tend to be framed in terms of researchers interests.

A working definition of complexity thinking: the study of learning systems

ENDOWEB EGOWEB EDUWEB ETHNOWEB ECOWEB Paces of Learning seconds eons transphenomenal transdisciplinary interdiscursive constructivism, phenomenology neurophenomenology constructionism, social constructivism, actor-network theory, situated learning, activity theory cultural studies, genealogy, hermeneutics, semiotics, ethnomethodology, (post)structuralism evolutionary theory, sustainability Discourses on Learning neurology psychology sociology anthropology ecology Ways to Study Learning some learners

Imagining an initial teacher education program Years 1–4 1 Discourse attunement 2 Individual learning 3 Collective learning 4 Disciplinary learning Years 5–9 one year of supported academic study over a 5-year induction period ongoing interpretive assistance leading toward graduate work (shifting the focus from techniques of teaching to dynamics of learning)

Year 1 Discourse Attunement Coursework: complexity thinking deconstructions of normal Field Experience: examining learning in non-institutional settings - shopping malls - any workplace - playgrounds

Year 2 Individual Learning Coursework: constructivist theories (à la Piaget) human development consciousness and perception (dis)ability research emergence and evolution of identity Field Experience: 1 month mornings: 2 student- teachers placed with 2– 3 students afternoons: reporting, interpretive assistance, preparation

Year 3 Collective Learning Coursework: situated, activity, and other socio-cultural theories (à la Vygotsky) groupthink, collective process critical pedagogies network theory Field Experience: 1 month mornings: 3 student- teachers with 1 mentor teacher afternoons: reporting, interpretive assistance, preparation

Year 4 Disciplinary Learning Coursework: disciplinary knowledge as decentralized networks dynamics of knowledge production strategies for disciplinary engagement Field Experience: 3 months mornings: 1 student- teacher with 1 mentor teacher afternoons: reporting, interpretive assistance, preparation

Years 5–9 Supported Induction Coursework: 2 courses/year for 5 years smorgasbord of topics, anchored around teachers disciplinary knowledge and collective process Field Experience: 5 years of classroom teaching regular (monthly?) sessions of reporting, interpretive assistance, collective preparation