Thursday, September 26, 2019
The Themes and Purposes of Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
The Themes and Purposes of Art - Essay Example However, as to the purpose of a work of art, I have often been confused whether art is for artââ¬â¢s sake or art is for manââ¬â¢s sake. Now, the online visit to the National Gallery of Art (NGA) helped me a lot to resolve much of the conundrum of the purpose of art. I found that whereas Bentonââ¬â¢s visionary appeals value a human beingââ¬â¢s sake or artââ¬â¢s aesthetic purpose, its static dynamism is for artââ¬â¢s sake, which is for eyes that are more skilled. After reviewing Thomas Hart Bentonââ¬â¢s Trail Riders, I realized that his iconography is too simple that its naturalistic majesty can be exaggerated in no way. Amid the three-dimensional landscape of heartland America, the iconographic presence of the horse riders who are seen from a remote panorama conveys the static dynamism of his theme. The vantage point of the artist is such that it turns the remote objects and horse-riders almost into abstraction with the use of contours in implied lines. Though the use of light and shadow clearly contributes to the realism of Bentonââ¬â¢s work, the glow of the light surpasses the reality of its atmosphere and adds to its surrealism to a great extent. It is the surrealism that evokes motion of spirit in the minds of the viewers. Remoteness is also a prevailing theme and perspective of this piece of Bentonââ¬â¢s artwork. It has thoroughly been maintained through the manipulation of shapes of the contents within the works. Even the nea rest objects such as the flowers, the bush, and the stones do not have the individual clarity. Remoteness as well as the zenith of the mountain contributes to the silence of the artwork in which the motion of the riders refers to the fourth dimension, Time. Also Bentonââ¬â¢s work can be interpreted from atmospheric perspective. From this perspective, human beingââ¬â¢s kinetic smallness has been contrasted with the vastness of the universe. Though the overlapping of the
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Applying Philosophy to Life Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Applying Philosophy to Life - Assignment Example these setups are extremely vulnerable due to their illness and if the services of hospitals are not under ethical controls, the visitors can possibly get affected by the behavior of hospital staff. Another reason that makes ethical oversight necessary is the sensitive nature of information about patients that is accessible by the hospital staff. The availability of information in digital format renders the hospital patients more vulnerable to misuse of information. This misuse can have far reaching detrimental consequences for the patients and it is therefore necessary to associate this access to information with certain ethical principles to ensure patients are not harmed in any way (Stahl et al, 2013). In the view of Immanuel, moral requirements are interlinked to rationality standards; an immoral behavior is therefore irrational by nature. It therefore follows that for any action to be morally acceptable, it has to be rational; Immanuel has referred to this rationality standard as ââ¬ËCategorical Imperativeââ¬â¢. Other proponents of this philosophy include Hobbes and Locke. An extension of this notion is the idea of good will which clearly associates the nobility of any action to the principle that governs that action. If this underlying principle follows a moral law, the action regardless of its outcomes should be considered as being moral. As far as the application of principles of this philosophy is concerned, there is a need to apply a high degree of rationality in decisions that are being made. The responses of interviewees need to be judged on rational basis and irrational responses should be regarded as indicators of unethical behavior. Secondly, since morality is re lated to the underlying principles upon which actions are based; the questions asked during interview should attempt to get an insight into the basic principles upon which interviewees base their decisions. This will enable the interviewer to understand the capability of interviewees to work
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Aspects of Love in Love Songs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Aspects of Love in Love Songs - Essay Example The song has many intriguing special moments in terms of perfect interchange of tempo crescendo and focuses in a way that creates harmony and musicality that makes the song all the more unique and rich in most aspects. The song employs very limited accompaniments and they are each uses rather sparingly appropriately to give the song a clear and prà ©cised feel. The beats, for instance, are specifically light and well-timed with the lyrics to embolden a tender sensation associated with love and romance.The song has a relatively slow romantic rhythm which gives it the completeness and allure associated with love and romance. The slow rhythm is also complementary to the lyrics as it ensures full clarity and heavy articulation that creates the theme of love in a more pronounced and precise way. Not only does it also allow the other accompaniments, especially the violin and acoustic guitar the full incorporation to result in an extremely rich and lulling effect associated with love but a lso ensures sensational and sharp blend that fully maps the lyrics and gives the song a theme so distinct, unique but obviously romantic. The song has a wonderful melody that captures the theme and rhythm in a way the lyrics are easily infused to fully enrich the song. The melody makes the song a little simple so as to easily bring the audience into the participation as it is performed. The accompaniments are a complete harmony with the rich acoustic tune of the guitar setting the stage for a soothing thatching hum of the violin.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Modern medicine vs herbal medicine Research Paper
Modern medicine vs herbal medicine - Research Paper Example The reason for modern medicines to take place in the lives of current world is the non availability of medicinal plants and the difficulty in production. Usually, herbal medicines required much effort from the physicians as well as patients and many a times can involve allergic effects to the patients. Plants have been used for medicinal purpose since civilization has known to exist. Ancient Indian and Chinese people have studied and used herbal plants in a scientific manner to bestow health and wellbeing to people for long time. However, as time passed, their importance and value started declining due to scientifically advancement of human generation. With advancement, physicians started inventing modern technique and methods to impart health to people in a sophisticated manner. In his journal (Wise,1994,pg.46-49) has written that ââ¬Å"It is generally accepted that modern medical science came about in 1876 when Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch demonstrated (almost simultaneously and unknown to each other) the idea that contagion passes from one individual to anotherâ⬠. Normally speaking, we can observe that herbal medicines are in every way better than modern medicines as nature is the best curer by all means. The use of herbs for physical and mental ailments has been practiced since ever by civilizations all over the globe. There were all types of herbal medicines available for any kind of illness in ancient times. All indigenous groups used extensively herbal medicines for all diseases, and procured long life and health from it. However, as natural resources started getting scarce and with population increase, the use of herbs and medicines became lesser and unpopular. Research has revealed that people in different regions of world used same plants for same health problems. The highlight of herbal medicines is that, it gave relief to patients on a long-term basis and impacted less negatively on their health. These herbal medicines are natural form of tre atment and are a gift from nature and require proper guidance from physicians to give full benefit to patients. The herbal medicines were very prominent until the scientist and physicians started discovering new medicines of chemical origin, which gave instant and prolonged benefit to people with health problems. The modern medicines have been ardently proven to be effective in treating diseases and illness of fatal nature .Without modern medicines many diseases would have been difficult to resist before a century or so. It can be definitely stated here that, human life span would have been cut short half if modern medicine would have been absent from our daily life. In the website (Alternative Medicine,2011)it is stated that ,ââ¬Å"Conventional medicine is comprised of drugs that suppress the body's natural immune responsesâ⬠. It is the world of the American Medical Association (AMA) which is aligned with the multibillion dollar pharmaceutical industry. There is no better med icine when it comes to surgery, emergency and traumaâ⬠The modern medicine has many benefits as it has allowed people to live healthily life with more comfort. As per (Singh,2010,pg.17-29)ââ¬Å"Modern medicine has done much in the fields of infectious diseases and emergencies to aid cureâ⬠. However, when one focus on the side effects of modern medicines, all its value dooms in to dark. The modern medicines also being very costly, is many a times unaffordable for normal people .Another prominent dark side of modern
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Teaching and Culture Essay Example for Free
Teaching and Culture Essay Cumulative cultural texts give a foreground and a context into what to expect for that particular culture. In fact there is a criteria in which any text may be classed as this. Intergenerational, Intertextual, Multidimensional. In short these words mean that the texts within this accumulation relate to each other, they refer to each other within themselves or insinuate links or they apply to the masses and are regarded of any particular text type. In this essay I will be exploring different Cumulative texts within the boundaries of Teaching. By first examining the key arguments of Mitchell and Weber (1999)ââ¬â¢s prescribed article and what their views are in which these texts can change teacher Identities. Furthermore comparing and contrasting their study with Dead Poets society (1989) and how typical texts can be linked and provide support for identity within the classroom for both teachers and students. Part A Mitchell and Weber (1999) discuss the importance of the role of cumulative cultural texts in the portrayal of ââ¬Å"The teacherâ⬠in society and explore this impact it can have on self-evaluation and analysis of pedagogies of the ââ¬Å"real classroomâ⬠. This is done by focusing on a lead text in Dangerous Minds but complimented through comparing and contrasting to intertextual links within the Teaching movie genre. From this examination we can come to the conclusion that from looking at past texts teachers can have some form of model either a how to or a how not on the kind of pedagogies they will engage with and their sense of self as teachers in the classroom. Looking at Dangerous Minds, Good Morning Miss Dove, and To Sir with Love, Mitchell and Weber note the ââ¬Ëpopular texts wouldnââ¬â¢t be popular unless they managed to tap into particular desires of many readers [viewers]ââ¬â¢ (Mitchell and Weber, (1999), pp. 167). Texts such as these are a window into the profession of teaching and give society a distorted knowledge on what it is to be a teacher. The dramatization of these texts gives a false sense of expertise to the common man/woman. It leads to an impression that Joe Blow can come up and tell you what it is to be a teacher and how you should go about your classroom. When in fact they are getting a completely skewed view into what the real classroom looks like thus popular culture in the form of the ââ¬Å"hero teacherâ⬠having a negative effect on the profession. This leads to the ââ¬Ëunrealistic and potentially harmful expectations by encouraging teacher fantasy at the expense of realityââ¬â¢ (Mitchell and Weber, (1999), pp. 181). Itââ¬â¢s these expectations formed from the cumulative cultural texts which lead to disappointment for both students and teachers. Although these ââ¬Å"hero teachersâ⬠stem from real people on the film reel their characters are over romanticised leaving new teachers at a turmoil between the pulling of the popular hero vs. the curriculum. The recurring theme and what can be argued as a centre focus of Mitchell and Webers exploration of the cumulative culture texts of teaching, is that they provide an opportunity for professional development through critical reflection and evaluation. An area in which we can link the contrasting nature between teaching pedagogies in popular culture for uses or reflection and evaluation, is the excerpt where Weber looks at To Sir with love and Dangerous minds. Both of these teachers have been portrayed as ââ¬Å"Hero Teachersâ⬠and both have a similar style of racially diverse and disadvantaged rebellious class. As goes with the hero teacher story both teachers break through the barriers faced by these particular children. Who have been recognised as the outcasts of classroom which have been ââ¬Å"turned aroundâ⬠by these teachers Miss Johnson and Sir. But with Webers close analysis between the two we can pick out distinct differences between teaching styles and can be used for some self-evaluation of how to compare your own teaching methods. For example Sir attempts to raise the students intellect through leading by example, guidance to high culture and teaching them self-control, respect and toughness of the mind (Mitchell and Weber, (1999), pp. 178 where as Miss Johnson is ready to step into their shoes on every level including language, dress and position to illustrate to the students that there will be challenges and obstacles in which they have to make their own decisions about. This style lead her to let her arm them with words and ideas in order to make them tougher (Mitchell and Weber, (1999), pp. 178). This little contrast illustrates show teachers can have the same goals and ambitions for their pupils but varying pedagogies will be best suited to you as the teacher and your students. Once this comfort has been achieved there is no wrong or right way to use the classroom. In short Mitchell and Weber argue that teachers should be using popular cultures view on teachers to apply this to their own self-evaluation and self-criticisms of themselves. As this can help us to re-invent and rejuvenate ones role and ones ambitions for what teaching is and how they want to go about teaching their classes on the daily basis. Part B Dead poetââ¬â¢s society (1989) gently slips into sub categorical role of the Hero Teacher in the cumulative cultural texts of teaching. It centres on the teacher John Keating (Robin Williams) taking the creative art of poetry and literature to the highest level of priority within his class room. While simultaneously throwing curriculum and structure out the window. Keating encourages students to go outside the box of Welton colleges standards and become free thinkers. Being a former student of Welton Keating encourages the boys to re-unite an old ââ¬Å"dead poets societyâ⬠in which the boys would come together and discuss the works of other free thinkers and fight back against the strict views of Welton and their familiesââ¬â¢ expectations. There are many different forms for representations of teachers within ââ¬ËReelsâ⬠but the most common and uplifting story which is what seels the movie seats and tickets are the stories of hero teachers. The story of Keating and his throw the curriculum out the window is not dissimilar to the texts in which discovered by Mitchell and Weber in the reading. As discussed before Keating only ads a further end to the spectrum of teaching styles covered in modern day representations of teacher life. The only big issue to be considered when looking back up on theses texts for the purpose of professional development is that they arenââ¬â¢t realistic for the common classroom. Movies always have the perfect conditions or itââ¬â¢s a stable environment designed to the specifications of whatever the director so chooses. Classrooms do not work this way there are many variables and this expectation of the hero teacher can smash the hopes and dreams of many graduate teachers in their pursuit for popularity. Thus we can see the turmoil the teachers in these movies are all perfect souls and do not have underlying ambitions behind becoming popular to students, some people may have hidden motives in which actual learning is set behind of become a hero teacher and getting the status level that people like Keating, Sir and Miss Johnson could achieve. Each in their own way. On deeper analysis of Dead Poets Society (1989) it can be used as a model of what not to do as a teacher. Such as the situation arising between the ambitions of student Niel to follow acting and the performing arts. But this is against the wishes of his parents and he secretly engages with dramatically activities at the encouragement of Keating. As a result the parents find out and a rift is set between Neil and his parents which leads to his death as he commits suicide from the pressure. Evidently this is a reminder of the importance to note the impact and jurisdiction of parents. As teachers we should not intervene in student lives beyond what is necessary, as seen in the movie this encouragement to break the boundaries think outside the box can go too far. Part 3 Essentially I consider that the representations can quite possibly have a positive effect which was well noted by Mitchell and Webber (1999) but can just as much negatively affect a pre-service teachers understanding of what it is for the teacher to do in the classroom. As discussed in part one by comparing to texts of similar contexts which apply to the three criteria of being a cumulative cultural text. These can be used as a mock model in which we can evaluate to ourselves what it means for us to be teachers. But furthermore it can give us insight into the many different ways of teaching. Such as the wildly differing spectrum offered through texts I have looked at. For example the Control styled approach of Sir (Mitchell and Webber, (1999)) and the more involved hold up the mirror lead style by Miss Johnson encouraging students to spread forth and realise their true potentials. Compared to that of Keating in Dead Poets Society who just through curriculum out the window and went for a creative independence lead teaching style. Thus leading to my next point that although there are positives to these texts there are equal negatives that can bring down the teaching profession or set unreasonable expectations on those wishing to pursue the career and become and educator. As mentioned in part 1 ââ¬Ëpopular texts wouldnââ¬â¢t be popular unless they managed to tap into particular desires of many readers [viewers]ââ¬â¢ (Mitchell and Weber, (1999), pp. 167). , This highlights the fact that overall these films are not real classrooms and give society and pre-service teachers either a false satisfaction or a welcoming surprise to be introduced into the world of educators. In conclusion I would have to say that the positive far outweighs the negative associated with the cumulative cultural type literature. Therefore texts uch as these can be classed as useful as well as providing a way for teachers to design themselves or re-evaluate their own teaching. It sets a positive eye for the community around teachers and promotes the profession showcasing stories in which teachers are truly making a difference to the lives or their students. These high amount of publication and popularity increases popularity of teachers and the profession in general. These benefits associated with the knowing you can use these texts to model yourself makes them useful.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
The 4 Gospels and their Themes
The 4 Gospels and their Themes The authors of the four gospels in the Bible had a specific group of people they wrote to and in this assignment I am going to look at those specific people and what the authors said about the life and work of Jesus. I am going to also going to look at the main themes of these four gospels, beginning from Matthew to John. The author of the book of Matthew is the Apostle Matthew who was one of Jesus` disciples. The gospel of Matthew was written in Greek. The author wrote to a particular group of people mainly Greek speaking Jews, even though the author wrote to certain group of people the writing does have a worldwide outlook. Matthew concentrated more on the fulfilment of the Old Testament than the writers of the other gospels. In Matthew Jesus teaching pointed to the blessings of the kingdom being extended to gentiles. MATTHEWS MAIN THEMES The main purpose of Matthew is to prove that Jesus Christ is the Messiah which means the anointed one. Jesus can also be interpreted as Joshua in Greek which means the Lord saves. Matthewss goal was to convince his readers that the King of kings has come, with this in mind he uses words and names that the Jews are familiar with. Also unique to Matthew is the expression, that it might be fulfilled which is spoken by various prophets.Ã [1]Ã THE MAIN PURPOSE AND FOCUS OF MARK The gospel of Mark was written by John Mark. Mark was a close associate of peter, it was from Peter that he received the tradition of things done and said by the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark has more of the preaching of Peter, put together by John Mark. According to early church tradition Mark was written in the region of Italy more specifically in Rome. In book of Mark John Mark explains Jewish customs and interprets Aramaic words John Mark seemed to have an interest in persecution and martyrdom. John Mark wrote that the suffering Jesus was also the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Christ and the Lord. MARK`MAIN THEMES Marks gospel is simple and holds an important account of the ministry of Jesus Christ, with an emphasis on more of what Jesus did than what he said. Mark moves quickly from one scene in Jesus` ministry to another. Even though Mark bases his emphasis on the humanity he does not neglect the deity of Christ. Mark wrote to strengthen and guide the Roman believers who were being persecuted by Nero. After the death of Peter and eyewitnesses to Jesus` life, this gospel message needed to be written down.Ã [2]Ã THE MAIN PURPOSE AND FOCUS IN LUKE The writers name is not mentioned but evidence points to Luke. The gospel of Luke was written to Theophilus and the message in this gospel was meant for his own instruction and also for those among whom the book would be distributed. Luke was probably written around A.D. 59-63. The book of Luke would have likely been written in Rome. Luke had an outstanding command of the Greek language. Lukes words in general seem to reveal geographical and cultural sensitivity. Lukes gospel centers on Gods plan to provide salvation to the world. LUKE`MAIN THEMES Luke was written to strengthen the faith of all believers and to give an answer to the unbelievers. It was written to displace and unveil the false reports about Jesus. This third gospel presents the works and teachings of Jesus that are especially vital for understanding the way of salvation. The first two chapters of Luke emphasize the Old Testament and its promises of a Messiah while the third and part of the fourth chapters show clearly that Jesus is the Messiah, who can fight against the evil one, Luke continues in the rest of the chapters to write about the life and works of Jesus and everything that had been revealed by the law, the prophets and the Psalms about Jesus had been fulfilled.Ã [3]Ã Luke often stressed the humanity and compassion of Jesus. Lukes favourite expression is the Son of Man. The disciples were witnesses of to this fact and their mission was to share this Good News with all nations. THE MAIN PURPOSE AND FOCUS IN JOHN Some translators have felt that Johns aim was to present a forth from a different view point the Christian message that would appeal to Greek thinkers. John would have been thinking of the Greek readers some of whom were being influenced by heresy. John` main purpose was evangelistic, to build up believers as well as to win new converts. John also focuses on Jesus` claim that He was God by including Christs seven I am statements. John records certain occasions when Jesus equals Himself with the Old Testament I AM. John 8:58 Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. JOHN` MAIN THEMES The writer of John also said that These are written that you may believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life in His name John 20:31. John also speaks of Jesus as the pre-existent divine Word who became a human being so as to speak the words of God, reveal the glory of Gods grace and truth, to put a bridge between the children of light and the children of darkness, to bring judgment on the unbelieving world and to give eternal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit to all believe and abide in Jesus. John wrote that Jesus was and is the saviour of the world.Ã [4]Ã John reveals the Bibles most important message, believe and follow Jesus, because He is the way to eternal life. John speaks of Jesus as the light of the world and the bread of life, the way, the life and the good shepherd. CONCLUSION The four canonical gospels are very detailed and factual about the life and work of Christ. Matthew writing to prove to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah, while Mark stressed the humanity of Jesus but he does not neglect His deity. Luke wanted to show that the place of the gentile Christian in Gods kingdom is based on the teachings of Jesus. Luke` main theme is the nature of Jesus Christ` messiah ship and mission. The gospel of Luke presents Jesus in ways that would appeal to an audience of high minded gentiles. The gospel of John is presented firstly with a prologue or introduction. John speaks of Jesus as one sent from God to reveal His love and grace to man. All the four gospels have unique story on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and they all speak of one person only Jesus who is the saviour of the Jews and the saviour of the world. All the resources I used are very helpful for doing a research like this one and I would recommend any theological student to use these book s when doing their essays or research work.Ã [5]Ã
Friday, September 20, 2019
A Definition Of Collaborative Learning English Language Essay
A Definition Of Collaborative Learning English Language Essay What is collaborative learning? This article looks at the definitions of collaborative learning and provides the reader with an overview of the definitions of collaborative learning, its various forms, and its goals, uses and scope vis-a-vis the traditional classroom and school system. It was midnight on a school night. I saw the light on in my 16 year olds room and went to tell him to go to sleep. His door was uncharacteristically open and I could hear animated voices from inside his room. I found him on Skype with a couple of friends. They were quizzing each other, working out numericals and clarifying each others concepts for a big physics test next morning. Have you worked on your homework math problems with a friend? Did you ever get together with peers in a group to understand a difficult theory in college? Did you ever brainstorm with other classmates on a school project? Weve all done collaborative learning at some stage of our lives; we just didnt know what to call it. The very dictionary definition of collaboration will tell us what collaborative learning means. The word collaboration brings together the Latin col- meaning with or together with the Latin labor or toil. For educationists, collaborative learning is a comprehensive term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together.1 How can teachers use Collaborative Learning? Collaborative Learning happens when students work together or are made to work together in pairs or groups: to understand or make meaning of a concept or text to create a solution for a problem (given in class or self-discovered) to explore a topic, a question, an area of knowledge to apply the principles learned in their curriculum to conceive of new ways to apply the knowledge they have learned in class to construct a tangible article or a physical object (for example, a report, a term-paper, a model volcano, a recycled-paper bag, a solar panel, anà electricà vehicle) out of the course-learning The above, of course, is an indicative and not a comprehensive list of the ways in which collaborative learning may be used by teachers. Forms of Collaborative Learning Many educators seem to confuse collaborative learning with the more structured approach of cooperative learning. Let us say that cooperative learning is a type of collaborative learning. The developers of cooperative learning models and strategies have laid out several specific components that teachers must control: a small, inter-dependent group determined by the teacher, face to face interaction, carefully structured activity leading to the accomplishment of a predetermined goal, individual accountability of every member of the group and a groups assessment and processing of its own work as a team.2 Other types of collaborative learning that may be used both inside and out of a classroom structure are discussions,à brainstormingà sessions, peer-teaching groups, workshops, team projects, group field-work, study groups, seminars, simulations, role-plays, case-studies etc. Collaborative learning, thus, can be specific, controlled and structured or it can be spontaneous, experiential and totally open-ended. Collaborative Learning in the traditional school system Of course, the traditional school system is at odds with the very spirit of collaborative learning. Schools, as they were conceived and as they are still administered, are essentially authoritarian constructs. Lectures are the preferred method of teaching and the formal physical, emotional and psychological set-up of the traditional classroom is confrontational. Teachers are still equated with discipline and consequences. They are the transmitters of knowledge and the evaluators of the students grasp of the information they have given to the students. They are the regulators of the competition that is encouraged between students through the assessments and recognition and rewards for individual achievement. Conversation is discouraged in traditional classrooms where learning is a solitary pursuit of an individual student faced with the information being given to him from the front of a classroom by a teacher who is the expert instructor. There are definitive syllabi for every subject with course content to be covered in a set period of time; there are lecture plans for every teaching hour and teachers are under pressure to ensure that their students have ingested the carefully planned and delivered information and are capable of regurgitating it as required during formal assessments. Memory is more important than assimilation. In collaborative learning, on the other hand, the process of learning is basically more important than what is learned. Students are taught, by hands-on experience, how to learn and not what to learn. When they learn, assimilation of the material is an absolute requirement as a student must take the material, absorb it, make it his own and then present it or teach it to others. Mere memorizing will not help the collaborative learner. Changing paradigms of an evolving system Collaborative learning, by its very definition, takes the power away from the teacher as guru and distributes that power among the students as self-sustaining, motivated learners who take ownership and responsibility of the entire process of leaning in an interactive, talking-to-each-other and engaged manner. The teacher becomes merely a facilitator, an expert designer of a students intellectual process and a mid-wife of a more emergent learning process.à 3 The traditional us versus them power-structure of the traditional school is obviously not conducive to the mutual trust that is required for purely collaborative learning. It is also relevant to point out here that like teachers, students too have to be prepared to take on the challenges and opportunities offered by collaborative learning. I must emphasize that collaborative learning is a tool, just like other teaching methodologies. It is up to the school and the teacher to use this or another tool depending on the objective, the task, the group and the preparedness of the students. A group-discussion may enhance a lecture; it cannot and should not replace it until both teachers and students are ready for the complete shift to another paradigm. As more and more teachers change their classroom strategies and re-orient their relationship to the curriculum from the traditional transmission to transactions that lead to transformations in the personal and social relations of the student to his curriculum,the school system is also slowly evolving and accommodating itself to the more student-centered, process-oriented and non-competitive model that defines collaborative learning. End-Notes 1. Smith, BL and MacGregor, JT, What is Collaborative Learning? in Goodsell, Maher, Tinto, Smith MacGregorsà Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education; National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning and Assessment; Pennsylvania State University: 1992. 2. David, Johnson Holubec.à Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the Classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company 1990 3. Smith and MacGregor op.cit
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