Class #2 - 1/15/08

Hi Everyone,

Other than trying to sprinkle in the words gnarly & rad, and the phrase hella cool, as well as avoid describing anything as "tight," I presented a diagram from Newsweek magazine called "Psychology 101." It provided an overview of psychological thought as it has evolved from Freud forward. I found a blog entry that captures the text on the diagram. Link to it by going here.

I also talked a bit about Alfie Kohn. If you found anything I said about him interesting, I encourage you to visit his website. To read the interview with Kohn I referenced in class, go here. Read Kohn's theory of education, distilled to a few bullet points, by going here. For those of you wanting ideas for homework assignments, I suggest you write an essay comparing Kohn's philosophy to your understanding of PSCS.

I made reference to Harvard professor Howard Gardner, most known for his theory of multiple intelligences. I talked about his book The Unschooled Mind (btw, I referenced this book in my thesis). In it Gardner suggests that our educational system is more about training students to do well on tests than it is on helping students understand principles. He illustrates this by explaining how graduate students who tested well in high school physics reverted to their "unschooled" 5 year-old mind when presented a basic physics problem in actual terms. Interesting stuff. I compared it to the children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes." For optional homework, consider writing up that analogy in your own words.

I also gave a very simplistic explanation of Joseph Campbell and his concept known as The Hero's Journey. Of course you all laughed at me when I suggested this concept is the basis of Star Wars and other movies. See what you think after reading this! If this topic interests you, I encourage you to view some movies and then complete the worksheet provided as a link here. Disney movies work great for this.

That should keep you busy!