KICD – UNESCO – IBE Curriculum Workshop Day 4 AM Thomas Cobb Faculty of Education, Université du Québec à Montréal Lili Ji International Bureau of Education Geneva

Student Final Presentations (2) 1. Language 2. Science

Is this what we were looking for yesterday?

http://www.learnalberta.ca/

The key is to look for “Program of study”

All knowledge…. Exists in composites of smaller ideas, emotions, etc One “item of knowledge” can be imparted to another in two ways: As a composite (whole, unit, etc), or In pieces For the receiving party to make into a composite for himself / herself Make into a composite = CONSTRUCT

Pieces of knowledge… Also known as DATA Raw data as opposed to fully formed, precast, theory

In other words… It’s all about the grain size of the knowledge And the roles of the knowledge giver and receiver In constructivism, the receiver takes on a large role So this is the bigger picture on the boring platitude that constructivism = learner centred

And the educational application of all this? That while “data” is not always the convenient unit for every purpose… We do not give children paper and matches and ask them to discover a conclusion about these substances… Data that is constructed into knowledge by the learners themselves, through activity and thought, will be STRONGER, more GENERALIZABLE, and especially MORE TRANSFERABLE TO NOVEL CONTEXTS Knowledge that cannot be applied to a novel context is dead knowledge (a.k.a. inert knowledge)

And this attaches to the competence approach how ? Knowledge for USE Is another way of saying knowledge for TRANSFER USE = USE IN A NOVEL CONTEXT

PRESENTATIONS Tea Break 11h00

13h – 14h Lunch