On Tue, 14 Nov 2000, Paul Brandon wrote:
> At 4:42 PM -0500 11/13/00, Louis_Schmier wrote:
> >I am struck that such a simple idea as "community," of sharing, seems to
> >have such a powerful impact and a dramatic effect for so many. I find
> >that students who feel isolated, or isolate themselves, perform at lower
> >levels. I find that anything which promotes isolation and perpetuates
> >loneliness is debilitating. Anything that promotes a sense of intimacy,
> >connectedness, community can be releasing, exhilarating, and in some cases
> >healing. I have found that to the extent barriers are broken, bridges are
> >built,
> >and community created learning is enhanced.
> >
> >Community creates a powerful, supportive, encouraging sense of classroom
> >support and encouragementwhere the students feel better about coming out
> >from behind their "walls of lonliness," share who they really are and not
> >be socially isolated, and risk discovering the extent of their native
> >learning potential.
>
> What kind of data do you collect to support these conclusions?
> Are they a statement about your students' behavior, or about yours?
>
Ok,not too fast to tear it apart.
In the early days of bussing to achieve school integration,many black
and hispanic kids encountered a sense of loneliness and incompetence
in the newly integrated classrooms. Robert Rosenthal and another dude
from Fresno State were concerned about the low achievement of those
minority kids. So they came up with the idea of the jigsaw classroom
where the students were responsible for different tasks and were
interdependent .In this way they formed a community in order to
complete the project. So community based learning could be
important for the middle grades.
With a culture like ours that stresses individuality and
independence,it might not fly in Senior High or College.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
