There is an extraordinary but largely unnoticed phenomenon in higher education: by and large, students persevere and complete their studies. How should we interpret this tendency? Students are living in uncertain times and often experience anxiety, and yet they continue to press forward with their studies. The argument here is that we should understand this propensity on the part of students to persist through a will to learn. This book examines the structure of what it is to have a will to learn. Here, a language of being, becoming, authenticity, dispositions, voice, air, spirit, inspiration and care is drawn on.As such, this book offers an idea of student development that challenges the dominant views of our age, of curricula understood largely in terms of skill or even of knowledge, and pedagogy understood as bringing off pre-specified 'outcomes'. The will to learn, though, can be fragile. This is of crucial importance, for if the will to learn dissolves, the student's commitment may falter. Accordingly, more than encouraging an interest in the student's subject or in the acquiring of skills, the primary responsibility of teachers in higher education is to sustain and develop the student's will to learn. This is a radical thesis, for it implies a transformation in how we understand the nature of teaching in higher education.
We do accumulate facts and information as we read a manual or watch the news, certainly. And we digest this knowledge into opinions. But we also continue throughout life to develop know-how: how to use new technology, how to ride a bike, how to make a souffle, how to tell a good story, how to write, how to play the trumpet. We learn to make new discriminations: to tell a new friend's mood from their voice on the phone, to tell a bordeaux from a burgundy, to tell Brahms from Mendelssohn. We learn new preferences: our likes and dislikes change as we grow up and keep different company. A drink that at one time seemed peculiar or unpleasant becomes an acquired taste.
The author uses strong theoretical and practical arguments to show that deaf children can and should acquire languge just as hearing children do, provided they experience the same conditions all children need in order to learn to speak. For deaf children, sign language is the only language that can satisfy all those conditions.
Baby and Toddler Learning Fun: 50 Interactive and Developmental Activities to Enjoy with Your Child
Added by: Maria | Karma: 3098.81 | Kids | 19 March 2009
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Focusing on the topics of colors, letters, numbers, shapes, and reading, you learn how to use simple materials from around the house to play and learn with your young child.
