“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Immaturity
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/9/1/12912796/135563903.jpg)
In this process I saw myself as Lucy from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I was asked to go to that quiet, wardrobe in the basement where ill-fitting trifles are kept. I was asked to open the long-closed door, and peer into a world completely removed from who I am today. Each skeleton was tried on, each skeleton was found to be too small or ill-fitting for whom I am now, and was put away for another day.
So, then, my look backward became an exercise in patience as all the long-ago-processed memories of childhood were once again worked over in my mind. It has been difficult to do as a student, but as a researcher and teacher I have been able to frame these circumstances within a workable plan for my working group; including myself.
There are three organizing points that are key to understanding the outline of this project. One, the theme of family and my development works best for me when looked through the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) by Kazimierz Dabrowski. Two, I attempted to use authentic questioning within a Problem Based Learning Model (PBL) to keep all of us on task. Three, these first two points are spiral and not stadial processes.
One, I picked my theme based on those organizations that had worked as relational dialectics in order for me to fully apply the use of Dabrowski’s theories. My childhood family provided me with the context within Level I integration. My teaching career has enabled me to learn and to grow through Level II and III, and the beginnings of IV. My adult, nuclear family has shown me the possibilities of Level IV, and through the encouragement of them, the beginnings of Level V through personal reflection and my work. It is heartening to see my children begin their own processes.
Two, Shavinina defines PBL as, “an approach that incorporates the principles of differentiated curriculum with some of the newer constructivist ideas of learning and curriculum development. Students are placed in authentic problem situations where there is insufficient information to comprehend and solve a problem, and students must investigate the problem in depth to find the solutions.” PBL is autonomous and has four elements: an ill-structured problem, substantive content, student apprenticeship, and self-directed learning. (Shavinina, 2009)
Creative problem solving and reflection were evident for weeks as the three of us worked through the process of this project. It was difficult to grasp them essential tenets that we all could agree on. Our questions became, “What is school? How does it shape my life? What is good and bad? What is it like to go to school and live in another culture?” As is usually the case, we were able to support each other, chide each other, and ultimately carry each other over the finish line with something substantive.
July 10, 2012—Reflection Journal
Authentic questioning (Harpaz & Lefstein, 2000) is: a creative activity, a special elaboration of previous knowledge, awakens motivation, and leads the learner to an answer. This leads to a community of thinking where questioning is divided into three stages. One, there is the fertile question stage. This is a question that can motivate students. This fertile question has six characteristics. These questions are open, undermining, rich, connected, charged, and practical. Two, there is a research stage that leads to a greater community of thinking. Researching together makes bonds. Three, this is the concluding performance stage.
While reading the Fecho book it became clearer and clearer to me that the method that Fecho used so successfully in his classroom was most similar to the Problem Based Learning Model (PBL).
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I impressed the same rules that were given to me. Make it yours. My own children, like myself, wrestled with that. What is it that I want to share? What about me is relevant to who I am as a learner? What is a learner? I had to take that further and apply the same standard to my life as a teacher and teacher researcher.
Three, the more we tried to make sense and organize our project the more we had to revisit and retune elements of our project that we thought we had abandoned. Video was in and then out. Mom wanted to type, not one else did. Pictures were in and then out. And, so it went.
So, then, my look backward became an exercise in patience as all the long-ago-processed memories of childhood were once again worked over in my mind. It has been difficult to do as a student, but as a researcher and teacher I have been able to frame these circumstances within a workable plan for my working group; including myself.
There are three organizing points that are key to understanding the outline of this project. One, the theme of family and my development works best for me when looked through the Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) by Kazimierz Dabrowski. Two, I attempted to use authentic questioning within a Problem Based Learning Model (PBL) to keep all of us on task. Three, these first two points are spiral and not stadial processes.
One, I picked my theme based on those organizations that had worked as relational dialectics in order for me to fully apply the use of Dabrowski’s theories. My childhood family provided me with the context within Level I integration. My teaching career has enabled me to learn and to grow through Level II and III, and the beginnings of IV. My adult, nuclear family has shown me the possibilities of Level IV, and through the encouragement of them, the beginnings of Level V through personal reflection and my work. It is heartening to see my children begin their own processes.
Two, Shavinina defines PBL as, “an approach that incorporates the principles of differentiated curriculum with some of the newer constructivist ideas of learning and curriculum development. Students are placed in authentic problem situations where there is insufficient information to comprehend and solve a problem, and students must investigate the problem in depth to find the solutions.” PBL is autonomous and has four elements: an ill-structured problem, substantive content, student apprenticeship, and self-directed learning. (Shavinina, 2009)
Creative problem solving and reflection were evident for weeks as the three of us worked through the process of this project. It was difficult to grasp them essential tenets that we all could agree on. Our questions became, “What is school? How does it shape my life? What is good and bad? What is it like to go to school and live in another culture?” As is usually the case, we were able to support each other, chide each other, and ultimately carry each other over the finish line with something substantive.
July 10, 2012—Reflection Journal
Authentic questioning (Harpaz & Lefstein, 2000) is: a creative activity, a special elaboration of previous knowledge, awakens motivation, and leads the learner to an answer. This leads to a community of thinking where questioning is divided into three stages. One, there is the fertile question stage. This is a question that can motivate students. This fertile question has six characteristics. These questions are open, undermining, rich, connected, charged, and practical. Two, there is a research stage that leads to a greater community of thinking. Researching together makes bonds. Three, this is the concluding performance stage.
While reading the Fecho book it became clearer and clearer to me that the method that Fecho used so successfully in his classroom was most similar to the Problem Based Learning Model (PBL).
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I impressed the same rules that were given to me. Make it yours. My own children, like myself, wrestled with that. What is it that I want to share? What about me is relevant to who I am as a learner? What is a learner? I had to take that further and apply the same standard to my life as a teacher and teacher researcher.
Three, the more we tried to make sense and organize our project the more we had to revisit and retune elements of our project that we thought we had abandoned. Video was in and then out. Mom wanted to type, not one else did. Pictures were in and then out. And, so it went.
![Picture](/uploads/1/2/9/1/12912796/1709010.jpg?434)
Ultimately, we all discovered more of what we are and where we are going. Again from my journal:
July 10, 2012—Reflection Journal
The flow of the problem includes: problem engagement, inquiry and investigation, problem definition, problem resolution, and problem debriefing. (Renzulli & others, 2009)
Any classroom that takes the time to use questioning as a model should be able to generate a depth of discussion and learning that goes far beyond the routine mandated content. The use of questions can move collaboration beyond group work to a level where the learner not only fulfills the requirements but also can leads to greater metacognition among students. When Fecho’s students ask, “Is this English?” not realizing they had been checking off their necessary boxes, there is a similar “ah-ha” when the students realize what they know about their own ability to find out.
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Little did I know when reflecting on this example I would be talking about this project and myself.
July 10, 2012—Reflection Journal
The flow of the problem includes: problem engagement, inquiry and investigation, problem definition, problem resolution, and problem debriefing. (Renzulli & others, 2009)
Any classroom that takes the time to use questioning as a model should be able to generate a depth of discussion and learning that goes far beyond the routine mandated content. The use of questions can move collaboration beyond group work to a level where the learner not only fulfills the requirements but also can leads to greater metacognition among students. When Fecho’s students ask, “Is this English?” not realizing they had been checking off their necessary boxes, there is a similar “ah-ha” when the students realize what they know about their own ability to find out.
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Little did I know when reflecting on this example I would be talking about this project and myself.