It says, “Meditation is deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding,application,and prayer.”So right from the beginning you see, you hear the major difference here between mysticism and Christianity.
Granted, there are differences. But, are there any similarities between mysticism and Christianity? Any common ground with regards to meditation?
Based on reading these letters as indicators of participatory readiness,we find it difficult to reconcile the thousands of youth voices activelyengaged in the LTNP project with the popular media narrative of youth civiccomplacency.
Why does this narrative exists then? What are the premises for this narrative that are specifically countered by this research?
Placing youth writing within this national context, these letters speak tonew demands on political structures in the United States and challenge a statusquo that historically disempowers youth of color and working-class individu-als.
The web 2.0 world has created a new context for empowering voices and creating affinity groups. Combined with changing demographics we should expect this change to continue and accelerate. Harnessing these phenomenon for learning experiences is obviously essential.
These contrasts between schools in both forms of argumentation andtypes of evidence used suggests different emphases in instruction withregard to what makes a convincing argument as well as what counts as evi-dence. These findings indicate that teacher instruction in areas such asdefending and supporting an argument could play a substantial role inhow student civic writing practices are developed likely reflecting teachers’varied instructional support of student participatory readiness (Allen, 2016)and instructional expectations across grade levels, courses, and states.
This shows the real power of a classroom. Students are trying to be persuasive regardless of whether or not they have a platform or training. LTNP gives a platform, but the variation of argumentation seems to be reflective of the cognitive development emphasis or strategy at play in their respective schools. It would be valuable to have students do LTNP and use it as an evaluative tool for one's class, determining the student's proficiency with various forms of argumentation and evidence gathering.
One potential expla-nation is that these data reflect the deep inequality in students’ collegeopportunities and expectations.
I had been thinking this. Students will often write about what is most important to them, or what they are confident speaking about. A lower income student who comes from a family where higher education has not been pursued or valued may no feel confident to write about education costs, even if they are intensely worried about it.
The sites selected were identifiedas swing states
Why swing states? And what about other markers (urban, rural, located in conservative or liberal leaning counties, etc.?)
FRL data
Could use a citation for this info or an explanation for how to get it.
While students may prac-tice forms of civic writing in schools, civic literacy practices are particularlyattuned to preparing youth for consuming and interpreting the messagesthey receive (e.g., Hobbs, 2011; Wineburg, 2018). As Monaghan and Saul(1987) note, society is ‘‘much more interested in children as receptors thanas producers of the written word’’ (p. 91).
This is reflective of the "data-transmission" pedagogy that is still prevalent today. Constructivism requires some level of creative endeavor, learning by being a producer and not merely a consumer. Teaching students to "receive" information with a critical eye and ear is a key aspect of developing civic maturity.
uncivil political discourse’’
Written in 2016. If written now would probably go much further in negatively describing the civic/political climate of today.
While Allen’s work is largely framed as a way todirect the meaningful support of educators to encourage the civic participa-tion of young people, we instead take student letters as evidence of, ratherthan an intervention on behalf of, youth’s verbal empowerment, democraticknowledge, and participatory readiness.
I think this is a key aspect of this research project, that they see the LTNP as an expression of a already-occurring activity (you engagement of issues) and not as a novel activity. If we can harness what students are already doing, and give them platforms and support for these interests that tie into academic endeavors then we have connected their learning experience to real life. This project may increase the students voice, but it really is just a guided magnification and evolution of what they already do on their own.
Resnick, M. (2017). Lifelong kindergarten: Cultivating creativity through projects, passion, peers, and play. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
I love this book!
REQUIRED TEXTS/READINGS
Is there a timeline for this reading? Are we reading the whole book? I like to read ahead whenever possible so I have more time to dedicate to projects.
One of the ultimate goals of high school is to prepare students to be successful after they leave. What distinguishing features or qualities should characterize the graduates of your school and/or community?
I work mostly with college students, not high schoolers, will this be an issue?
design curriculum for a specific learner and learning context
I think this is the aspect of the class I'm most excited about!