Schiller, Hillel A. "Steps To a Process Curriculum." (Papers of International Conference on Process Thinking & Curriculum Reform, 2007): 115-143.
Abstract
This paper introduces a tactic and
a strategy to revitalize pedagogical methodology. It characterizes the
teacher not only as a facilitator but more to the point as a
"connector." This role is characterized as a "cognetic" process-the
process of making connections.
But no instructional method is apt if the curriculum it serves is
defective. My first supposition asserts that all teaching and
learning are formative processes. The authentic goal of the
teacher is to assist in the forming of a human mind. The goal
of the learner is to purposefully form his or own mind.
The new tactic is a technique used
to broaden and deepen a student's knowledge. It is a process
called "Contextual Perceiving." CP is a fundamental perceptual process
gauged to enhance non-linear thinking. It delineates
"horizontal" and "vertical" forms of learning. To support
this thrust we present criteria for recognizing humanity's three
perceptual contexts. These universal contexts rest on the
base of the psychologist James J. Gibson's conception of "ecological
perception" (1966, 1979). We describe Gibson's view of the
two roles of the perceptual process. One role extracts
information from the physical world. The other is that of
conceptual thinking process. One role extracts information
from the physical world. The other role is that of conceptual
thinking that creates abstract symbolic knowledge linguistically from
sensed information and intuited feelings. We then introduce
the cultural "meme" a second level of replicator in addition to the
biological gene that is at work in human life and cultural evolution.
The empirical process nature of
learning is presented as the Epigenetic Learning Hierarchy
(ELH). The basic concepts of Motion, Process, Structure, and
Symbolics are related structurally in an evolutionary tetrahedronal
model. This unifying conception demonstrates how analysis can
occur within synthesis.
Finally there is offered a tentative outline of the AEIOU ecologically
based curriculum approach. This uses a "classical" format of
content for the early learning teacher in particular. The
development in broader subject matters can be expanded systematically
in higher grades a la the spiraling curriculum idea of Jerome Bruner.