week 8 dq 1
I was going to talk about the structure and function of the Socratic method. However, I am thinking that might not be the desired answer (University Center for the Advancement of Teaching. n.d).
I am not a typical student, nor would I be a typical teacher (Weinberg, 2002). I am cut from a different cloth; in my classroom I present ideas and concepts which are usually brand new to the audience I am communicating with. There is a huge difference between how some people teach psychology and my ideas regarding the subject (Stavredes, 2011).
As for the question, to change society requires introducing ideas which fundamentally change the way the world around the individual is perceived. Example in the 1980s, it was entirely inconceivable to have 1000s of songs on a very small device in your pocket. A personal tape-recording device was the height of technology. One tape, either professional and or record yourself. That was personal music. A decade later and the ability to have an entire library of songs from dozens of artists in your pocket and listen to music for 12 uninterrupted hours. Same thing, the field of psychology allows for the introduction of ideas which can reshape the consciousness of the society.
A person can change the world. A person with a solid psychological headspace can provide extreme assistance to the world by helping individuals to see the world better.
Example the teachers of the elementary school student “Catherine Johnson”, those teachers figured out that she needed far beyond anything they could teach her. She was college ready at age 10. She grad school ready at 15. Thanks to her NASA was able to determine orbital insertion and dissension dynamics. It took the correct psychology to recognize young Catherine’s potential. To see beyond the little black girl in nothingville west Virginia. She needed far more than what anything within that entire area of the state could offer. In Psychology it is the duty of the teachers to help our future students to recognize the potential in those special students who can and will reshape the society they are in. Instead of punishing the standouts, the stand outs need psychology to help those around them to see potential and not be threatened by it.
Not being threatened by those who are far more talented academically is one of the primary goals of psychology students. Change the conversation away form a threat to encouragement. In my experience, many teachers and lots of students fail at this.
How could my ideas change over time. First the way I would like to reorganize how the field is taught would be great, right now you learn about psychology based on the popularity of ideas which depending on the idea does and does not have solid foundation of evidence to back it up. But students learn CRs, and OCs, then Skinner, Maslow, etc. x classes through the decades of Psychology up to and through about 1990 when the theories do not stop but the classes come to an end. I have a problem with that, since it demonstrates to the field that one these ideas should be studied as if they are scientific facts (which several do not qualify as anything more than an idea are not hypothesis yet). But since thinking is done in a neuropathway, should the learning process also be done in a neuropathway type structure (Yorio, & Ye, 2012). The ideas were not created in a step by step, they should not be learned in a step by step. I will face resistance, but that is just me, I like science and the scientific method. I am not a fan of the arrogant and egotistical saying “this is the power dynamic I like, that is the way it will be”. Sorry but if the power dynamic is not scientific, I have a problem with that. How will the implementation of my ideas change, good question. How will my ideas change over time, they will likely become more and more complex (Svinicki, & McKeachie, 2014).
References
Stavredes, T. (2011). Effective online teaching: Foundations and strategies for student success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Svinicki, M., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014). Vitality and growth throughout your teaching career. In McKeachie's teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed., pp. 331–337). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
University Center for the Advancement of Teaching. (n.d.). Guidance on writing a philosophy of teaching statement. Retrieved March 22, 2013, from http://ucat.osu.edu/read/teaching-portfolio/philosophy/guidance
Weinberg, A. S. (2002). The university: An agent of social change? Qualitative Sociology, 25(2), 263–272.
Yorio, P. L., & Ye, F. (2012). A meta-analysis on the effects of service-learning on the social, personal, and cognitive outcomes of learning. Academy of Management Learning & Education[EW1] , 11(1), 9–27.