Education Theory, Uniting and Unitarian-Universalist News, Misc. Activities

[tcpip]

A substantial portion of this week has been getting stuck into my latest foray in studies, a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary and Adult Education back at my old alma mater, Murdoch University. Initial contributions include a Teaching Philosophy Statement, where I outline my support for neo-pragmatism and the social context of knowledge (Vygotsky) within the confines of cognitive development. Next task on the agenda is to engage in a critique of the weird combination of sociology and developmental psychology that Tanner and Arnett's theory of emerging adulthood. I really should see about how Murdoch is faring these days, and if anything remains of the genre fiction club I started in 1988.

Delightful dinner at the Sahara Bar on Wednesday night with the Interfaith Committee for St. Michael's Uniting Church. Main activities this year will be interfaith forums on social justice issues (e.g., asylum seekers, marriage equality, reproductive rights) and a study group on Karen Amstrong's Charter for Compassion. On a similar side of the road, have been informed that my address from last year Great Unitarian Political Leaders of Australia and New Zealand is a feature article in an upcoming Quest, the newsletter of ANZUUA. On Sunday facilitated the Philosophy Forum with PhD candidate (and former workmate) Pat Sunter speaking on philosophical issues in urban planning; touched upon some of the history (e.g., Garden Cities movement from the 1890s), as well as the ontological issue of being within a city environment, and the epistemology of knowledge dispersion within a city.

The weekend started with a decision to reorganise the study (well, more of a gaming room to be honest). The need to move furnishings around and purchase several more bookcases resulted in a trip to Ikea. There is no attempt to pretend that Ikea furnishings are good, merely functional - I believe it was Generation X that coined the phrase "semi-disposable Swedish furniture". That evening was Chiara's 38th birthday gathering (making it some 22 years since we first met). Spent a long and pleasant evening with her, family, and friends, and had a long chat with recumbenteer; caseopaya was planning on attending as well, but had been offered a free ticket to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which apparently consisted of excellent sound, but a dodgy crowd. Later on Sunday ran the second session of the Pirates of the Vistula scenario for Twilight 2000.

Comments

[shehasathree]

Grad Cert sounds good - I remember studying some Arnett's stuff on emerging adulthood back in the day. :)

[tcpip]

Well... I'm not barking up the entirely wrong tree to suggest that perhaps Arnett et al., are describing an extension of adolescence rather than some new developmental category am I? Also, some of the material seems very relativist. Job insecurity as a sign of "emerging adulthood"? Er, what?

[shehasathree]

Yes, I broadly agree. My take on it is that it's not *exactly* an extension of adolescence so much as what one might call 'uneven' development across different life domains, so that in some categories one might be said to be an adult while in others (e.g. financial independence) one might still be stuck in the 'adolescent' phase. And since we can think of categories such as 'adult' and 'adolescent' as at least partially socially constructed, job insecurity and so forth are more likely to lead to young people growing through emerging adulthood rather than simply finishing school and getting a job and being a 'real adult' the way they might have a few generations ago.

Does that make sense?
I actually quite identified with the concept when I studied it, since I was trying very hard to be more of an adult than an adolescent but was stuck living with my parents because I couldn't afford to move out, and the government seemed to think it was my responsibility to keep living with them until I could and their responsibility to pay for me (sort of) until I turned 25).

[tcpip]

Makes very good sense. The notion of uneven development particularly appeals to me, as a sociological recognition of a disparity between social roles and responsibilities and cognitive development. I twitched a bit etymologically as well with the term "emerging adult". Maybe it's my biological materialism or the time spent in the "young adults" section of the local library as, well, a "young adult".

[stawberi.livejournal.com]

Judging by the fact that the website still lists me as an exec and I left over three years ago, I'd say MARS isn't doing much at the moment. Membership was down before Murdoch took away individual clubrooms in around 2006 and then the communal clubroom a few years later.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

It's not surprising that the clubs took a big hit with the introduction of VSU. The closure of the club rooms really would have hurt a possibility of a common meeting point (although back in the day we just took over a good portion of the Ref).

It would be good to know who, and if, the current contact person(s) are.

[majortom-thecat.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm interested in the philisophical issues in urban planning. I'm getting ready to present at a conference on retrofitting the suburbs.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds! Lucky! Did she say anything about the openin act, Sharon Van Etton? She's another one of my favorites but I've never heard her live either.

I woke up with a question on my mind for no apparent reason but maybe you would know, considering what your studies are. You know how there are learning styles - are there convincing styles? Some people seem to be more convinced by anecdotes, some by logic, some by authority, some by direct experience. Is that a thing?

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm interested in the philisophical issues in urban planning.

I've prodded Pat to provide a copy of the slides.

Did she say anything about the openin act, Sharon Van Etton?

Missed the support act; apparently it was Mark Lanegan?

You know how there are learning styles - are there convincing styles? Some people seem to be more convinced by anecdotes, some by logic, some by authority, some by direct experience. Is that a thing?

A method for effective learning styles are not supported by empirical evidence, although there is evidence for student preferences. As for "teaching styles" in adult and higher education there is more of an emphasis on the social contextualisation of knowledge (e.g., practical and relevant application of knowledge, communities of scholars), increasing learner autonomy and participation (adults, by social definition, are voluntary learners with who are equivalent in cognitive structure), and 'deep' knowledge (conceptual and abstract understanding in addition to 'having the right answer').