Learning Context_Katka Cerna
-
Upload
katka-cerna -
Category
Documents
-
view
222 -
download
0
Transcript of Learning Context_Katka Cerna
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 1/11
Learning in the context Course report: reflexive essay
Katka Černá
2013
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 2/11
Introduction
Following text is a reflexive essay focusing on the theme of learning in different contexts.
Specifically I am going to provide the reader with multiple perspectives on a botanical garden
that can serve as a source for interconnection of contexts. This interviewing can lead to an
enhanced learning. However I want to challenge this idea as well and reflect it with my own
experience. Because learning is never an abstract thing, but it is always learning of something
(LinCS Research programme 2006), I am going to reflect a visit in the botanical garden that has
been claimed by many to be a perfect source for interviewing contexts (Zhai 2012).
My paper does not try to be a standard academic paper - being inspired by Sullivan's
article (Sullivan 2000) I would like to try writing in a new way based both on my academic and
my personal experience. After giving my presentation for the course, I started thinking about the
perspective I view the whole theme from: of course I view it as a researcher but I do so as a
student at the same time as well and also as a researcher-student or also as a teacher. I really liked
the autobiographical style of Sullivan: she described parts of her childhood in order to explain her
new perspective - what a challenge to all the strictly academic and objective papers! And yet, she
actually reached deeper into history of social science than it was clear at the first sight: it was
Max Weber (one of the fathers of sociology, social sciences and research in social science), who
proposed the idea of explaining ones position and clarifying ones aims (Weber 1949). Though he
connected it mainly with the idea of values in the science, he gave the inspiration for the
discussion in relation to why should one provide one’s personal history as a relevant explanation
for their position in the research or in science in general.
Therefore, in order to provide the best view on my own position, I have decided to
combine my three main perspectives: first, I am going to view our field trip to the botanical
garden from a student perspective; then I am going to view it as a teacher; and finally I am going
to write from the perspective of a researcher. The perspectives are going to be analysed with this
question in mind: interconnection of contexts – what are the advantages and the challenges for
learning? Finally, a conclusion will be provided.
Methodology
I drew mainly on the course literature and my own literatures reviews that had been
created as a part of the course. As a useful source also served one morning in the Gothenburg
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 3/11
botanical garden, when we got the chance to meet three key people for the garden and had
interview with them. Since I did not record the sessions, I used my own field notes as a source. I
wrote them after the session, but I hope I got everything right. I also draw on my own experience
a lot, as a student, teacher and a researcher.
Aim of the paper
The aim of the paper is to point out the importance of realisation of different contexts.
Viewing a certain problem from different perspectives should help us understand not only various
contexts involved in the environment of botanical garden, but also highlight the consequences of
learning in different contexts. I also wanted to show that learning in different context is
advantageous but involves challenges as well.
Botanical garden: three perspectives
Following part presents three perspectives on a visit to the botanical garden in
Gothenburg. The visit was conducted as a field work, we could explore the garden, got to talk to
the key people of the botanical garden and discuss and reflect on the visit and literature with our
classmates.
Student
We met at the main entrance, quite early in the morning (when you go to bed around 2, 9
am is early in the morning). But the sun was shining and it was already quite warm, so it was not
that bad. The flowerbeds that were formed into the Nemo's shape felt very welcoming and set a
relaxed and almost playful mood. All except Skúli made it, so we could start our field trip. We
walked through the garden and Dawn provided us with many interesting comments on the
flowers and trees we could see around us. The garden was full of flowers and intensively green.
We shared our experience with botanical garden and similar environments. We were slowly and
gradually sinking into the garden, beginning to think about different contexts. I almost felt the
shift of the focus - the green mass that I saw when I entered the garden (and when I went there for
the first time as well) started becoming specific objects (because there were not only trees and
flowers, but also art objects, greenhouse, restaurant, composts...) connected by the overpowering
green.
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 4/11
The first interview happened outside, because the sun was still shining and even Mari
luckily preferred sitting outside. We talked about how she got to Gothenburg and what does it
involve to be a botanical garden director (obviously many responsibilities!). The interview was
very interesting, but sometimes also difficult to follow as there were trucks going around us,
making lot of noises. Second interview was conducted in the garden restaurant. Eva also talked to
us about her background and about the educational programme she leads. We drunk tea and
coffee in the still-shining sun that is why some of us started becoming pink or partially red (only
Yoko was actually ready for the weather and had brought a hat). Therefore we went inside for the
next interview. It seemed to me that this interview brought us new information the most, because
not many of us knew what a botanical garden curator was and what he did. Though it was very
interesting and we could see that Mats was very passionate for his job, it was the last interview
and I was really tired. I was also getting hungry and it was very difficult to concentrate.
Finally, we went outside again and sat under the beautiful trees and ate our lunches. We
discussed the whole morning, but we also talked about who had what for lunch and our plans for
the afternoon and holidays. The whole trip was very inspiring but I was glad I could take a break
for the afternoon and went to Slotskogen to play beach with my friends.
Teacher
As for a teacher, the botanical garden trip was a very eye-opening experience. Before we
did the trip, I would think about visiting botanical garden only in terms of introducing specific
types of flowers to the students or teach them new types of plants. But as Helen showed us the
possibilities were much wider. I found very interesting especially the ideas of composting and the
whole environmental perspective. Composting was related to children's own work - they could
come to the botanical garden and create their own compost, which they took care of later on as
well. The environmental perspective introduced by Helen to children or students should have had
a sort of a holistic effect: it should make them realize that nature is around us all the time, it is not
only a few flowers in the garden or some isolated area. The students were then motivated to treat
nature like that and to think about their role in the whole world (interview with Ekvall).
Eva also mentioned her experience with school trips. One of the most common problem is
the problem of the follow up: students or children usually got some sort of preparation for the
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 5/11
school trip to the botanical garden, then they do the trip and finally the receive only a little bit of
follow up. But as Helen said, this was not enough (interview with Ekvall). To get as much as
possible from the trip, it should be a part of a wider programme or a block of sessions. To me that
was the first thing I thought of: this type of trips usually lacks its context and becomes more of a
social occasion for the students. That is not a bad thing, but the learning possibilities might
become limited (my own experience).
The trip also showed me the importance of guidance in such a place; at the beginning
even we had a problem realizing what should we see and look for. That also made me think about
all the school trips I went to: students in general are usually very observant and open-minded
about what they see. But at the same time they are able to pay attention to everything. Therefore
the teacher has to guide them, show the students what it is they should search for and how should
they focus their attention.
Researcher
This perspective seemed to be the hardest one at first: what can a researcher like me -
interested in communication technologies as a peak of the civilisation interaction - find in a
green, anti-technology environment like this? But our trip showed me, I could not have been
wrong more. Firstly, botanical garden provides us with a platform, where various contexts can be
connected and we can benefit from it (Zhai 2012). Secondly, botanical garden is not only about
plants, but about human interaction as well. As we had heard from Mari (interview with
K ällersjö) the botanical garden is a social place, it has been being created as a place for meeting,
as a place for cultivating both plants and social relationships. In the garden itself, there are many
places, where people can sit down and relax, enjoy beautiful views or smell the scents of flowers.
At the same time, there are many people coming to the garden to actually learn
something: if it is the already mentioned school trip or a gardener, who would like to know more
about his/her plants. And I found communication technology here as well: by engaging with
queer codes or by calling to a special phone line, the visitors could reach much more information
(interview with K ällersjö). Also Facebook webpage started being developed. Thought all those
communication means were merely in their beginnings, I could see the potential for research in
many ways (does this type of communication technologies really enhance visitor's knowledge
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 6/11
about flora? How does it structure the visit?)
Analysis: advantages and challenges
As you could see, the perspectives differed not only in their contents but also in their
styles. Meanwhile the teacher ’s perspective focused on possibilities of the whole environment
and how it can be used for teaching students, the researcher ’s perspective focused on the options
and questions related mainly to various research themes. But what about the first reflection? It
sounded the least academic, a lot of points mentioned were not really connected with the class or
the research (for example the weather or the mood). But were they really not connected? It is a
big difference to sit outside and allow the students to become distracted; or when the sun actually
made us go inside and have the last interview inside.
It was the first perspective that made me think about various contexts involved. No matter
how good teacher we can be or how focused researcher, we still cannot escape the physical
matters that we are involved in – the physical contexts of our bodies, senses and the physical
environment around us. That has implications not only for students (as we could have seen) but
also for teachers (they should be aware that sitting in the sun or in a cold room might distract
student’s from learning) and researchers (when conducting interviews before lunch, are the
interviewees going to be hungry and less willing to answer my answers properly?). As a teacher I
should be also aware of the physical aspect not only considering students, but myself as well. If I
would be hungry, would I be less patient with the students?
The student’s perspective also should have shown the openness of the students’ mind.
Though I did not know what to look at, I was not restricted by any limitations and I felt most
likely to think outside the box. I think that the student perspective also showed the range of things
students can focus on: from an interesting interview to their future plan for the afternoon. As a
teacher, I felt I should be aware of this possibility, which has also become a necessity: if you letthe students “run freely” the whole time, the whole botanical garden experience will become very
vague considering learning.
As I have already mentioned, a certain level of guidance is needed in order to point out
what is relevant for the student and what can support their learning. For example the composting
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 7/11
activity provided a good possibility to lead a clearly focused lesson. Even the area was partially
separated from the rest of the botanical garden (again the physical aspect!), allowing the students
focus on the composting, not being “disturb” by the rest of the garden, but still being part of it.
To sum it up, the teacher ’s perspective made me think about limitations. When we areinvolved in so many different contexts (for example composting: learning about plants – working
– being outside, exposed to weather – social relations – learning about environment – learning
related social norms), where should we draw the line? As teachers we should make our students
aware that they are part of a bigger environmental system, botanical garden being a good
representation of it. But on the other hand, we want the students to enjoy the stay in the garden as
well (since relaxation is one of the aims of the garden)(interview with K ällersjö) and not be
terrified that by breaking one little plant they might destroy the planet. Now I am exaggerating
but I am trying to point to a rather common today phenomenon: students being overinformed. As
I have suggested earlier, students are exposed to many sources of information, maybe too many.
As a teacher one has to search for a balance between restricting and providing them with too
much information.
The researcher perspective (paradoxically) represented the most restricted view to me. I
know that as a researcher I cannot simply go and observe “stuff ” around me, I need to have
research aims and research questions. I cannot only jump into the field, I need to plan my steps in
advance. That was also the reason why I did not interview any visitors: my questions were vague
too much, they did not seem to be “scientific” enough. It was exactly the student’s
open-mindness at things that I missed in this particular case. Similarly, the teacher ’s perspective
should have inspired me to follow the guidelines that were provided to us (by our teacher, by the
interviewed people or by the organisation of botanical garden itself).
And as we could have read in Sullivan’s article (2000) there are various ways how can
one deal with attention. She particularly promotes “staring” technique, where children were
motivated to stare at a certain object for a while and observe it. This technique would have been
perfect in the botanical garden, because it provided so many possibilities to do so, ranging from
trees, flowers and other plants, to animals and people.
On the other hand, it was the perspective of a researcher that allowed me to see all the
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 8/11
connections between the contexts that clearly. Only when I took into consideration what we have
read (the course literature) with the specific inspiration in Zhai’s article (2012) I realized that the
contexts related to learning are numerous.
Firstly there is of course the knowledge about flora. Further on I got used to consideringsocial relation as highly relevant for learning (Research programme 2006). However learning and
think about learning in the botanical garden showed me more: the omnipresent physical aspect of
the interactions (that also matches to the points on this matter in the Research programme 2006),
ecological and environmental aspect of learning (we are part of a bigger system, where everyone
has their role), or that nature is not one-time toy (if you will not take care about your compost, it
is not going to go well). But I also realize that learning happens at the place of someone’s work
(here the programme leaders, teachers or gardeners).
Realizing and reflecting all these contexts should then help us finding out, who we are not
only as a person but also as a researcher. As Dilton and Wals (2006) say in their article, realizing
one’s position is important in order to find your own place in the field of science. And not only to
be able to criticize others but also to defend yourself and find suitable supporting arguments. But
at the end of the day, we have to decide if all those interesting contexts are really relevant for our
purpose. Though I do agree with Dilton and Wals, and one should explain as much as possible,
we are getting back to the problem of too much information. Similarly as the teachers, even as
researchers we have to be able to draw the line and try searching for a balance in our work: let
ourselves say what we want but at the same time do not overwhelm the reader with pages.
Conclusion
Though I did experience difficulties while writing, considering all three perspectives not
only showed me the interconnectedness but also relevance of all social roles one does have.
Therefore though it is the researcher objective that seems to be the most "objective", we have torealize that in the real life all the roles are interconnected and also the "less scientific" aspects (for
example emotions or body) have their influence.
To conclude – what have I learned and what I wanted the reader to learn? I have learned
several things while writing this paper. Firstly it showed me, that I still view myself mainly as a
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 9/11
student and as a teacher; and not much as a researcher. That does make sense – I have been a
student for many years (should we count my basic education we would be talking dozens of
years), but I have seen my-self as a researcher only a few.
However I wanted to show that while dealing with a certain problem, it is useful to look into your own head and to realize from which perspectives you are actually viewing the problem.
That might help with overlooked aspects or highlight other parts that did not seem to be relevant
at first (as with the physical context for the researcher or the guidelines for the student).
Writing from three different perspectives proved to be difficult, because I had to organize
my notes and connected experience according to specific view and decide what was important for
me for the given role. That felt unauthentic on one hand (because all the roles are interconnected
in the real life and it is not possible to isolate them from each other) , but on the other hand it
showed me a lot about me and about my approach to rest of the world. Hopefully the reader saw
it too.
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 10/11
Sources
Weber, Max. (1949). Max Weber on the methodology of the social sciences. Free Press.
My own field notes based on the visit of the botanical garden on 16.5.2013.
Research programme (Appendix A). 2006. It was recognized as part of the original
Application of LinCS by Emma Petersson, who was our main contact person. [online] Accessible
from
http://lincs.gu.se/digitalAssets/769/769303_LinCS__programme.pdf
Interviews
K ällersjö, Mari. 16.5.2013. Group interview.
Ekvall, Helen. 16.5.2013. Group interview.
Havstr öm, Mats. 16.5.2013. Group interview.
Course literature:
Justin Dillon and Arjen Wals, A. (2006). On the danger of blurring methods, methodologies and
ideologies in environmental research. Environmental Education Research, 12 3-4, September. pp.549-558
Peter Elbow Using the Collage for Collaborative Writing In Composition Studies 27.1 (Spring
1999): 7-14. Reprinted in Everyone Can Write: Essays Toward A Hopeful Theory of Writing
and Teaching Writing. Oxford UP, 2000.
Jill Hohenstein, Heather King (2011) 'Learning: Theoretical perspectives that go beyond
context', in Becoming a Teacher 4th Edition pp. 175-184[Chapter]
Lotz-Sisitka, H. (2002). ‘Weaving cloths: research design in contexts of transformation’,
Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, 7, 2, 101 – 24.
Anne McCary Sullivan (2000) Voices Inside Schools: Notes from a Marine Biologist’s Daughter:On the art and science of attention. Harvard Educational Review 70, 2. pp.211-27
Etienne Wenger (1998) Communities of Practice: learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge
University Press
7/27/2019 Learning Context_Katka Cerna
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/learning-contextkatka-cerna 11/11
Zhai, J. (2012). Engaging Children in Learning Ecological Science: Two Botanic Garden
Educators’ Pedagogical Practices. In K. C. D. Tan & M. Kim (Eds.), Issues and Challenges inScience Education Research: Moving Forward (pp. 301-315). Dordrecht: Springer.