THE HIDDEN CLASSROOM: A LOOK BEHIND THE FAÇADE OF LEARNING

1. THE HIDDEN CLASSROOM: A LOOK BEHIND THE FAÇADE OF LEARNING - Peter Liljedahl

2. Pretending to try to solve a problem. • Doing their French homework in their Mathematics classroom. • Pretending to be using a cell phone as a calculator. • Copying homework from someone else. • Mimicking the teacher’s example. • Sharpening their pencil. • Passive note taking. • Pretending to have done homework. • Pretending to be collaborating. • Pretending to be doing in-class assignments. • Pretending to be studying. • Pretending to be reading. • Forgot something in the locker. • Going to the bathroom. THE PHENOMENON

3. Common Traits • there is a façade (seems to be directional) • it subverts the teacher’s intentions (not always deliberately) • it isn’t learning! SO WHAT TO CALL IT? THE PHENOMENON

4. The concept of studenting or pupiling is far and away the more parallel concept to that of teaching. [..] there is much more to studentingthan learning how to learn. In the school setting, studentingincludes getting along with one’s teachers, coping with one’s peers, dealing with one’s parents about begin a student, and handling the non-academic aspects of school life. (Fenstermacher, 1986, p. 39) STUDENTING

5. [T]hings that students do such as ‘psyching out’ teachers, figuring out how to get certain grades, ‘beating the system’, dealing with boredom so that it is not obvious to teachers, negotiating the best deals on reading and writing assignments, threading the right line between curricular and extra-curricular activities, and determining what is likely to be on the test and what is not. (Fenstermacher, 1994, p. 1) STUDENTING

6. Studenting is what students do while in a learning situation. conducive to learning conforms with the teacher’s wishes OR NOT OR NOT STUDENTING

7. studenting GAMING

8. METHODOLOGY

9. now you try one (PME 2013*) • grade 10 • homework (PME-NA 2013*) • grade 10-12 • note taking (TBD) • grade 12 • … * with Darien Allan INITIAL CONTEXTS

10. N=33 catching up on notes (n=0) NOW YOU TRY ONE

11. N=33 NOW YOU TRY ONE

12. HOMEWORK

13. HOMEWORK

14. HOMEWORK

15. HOMEWORK

16. don’t keep up n=16 don’t n=3 yes n=3 don’t use notes n=27 USE NOTES TO STUDY N=30 NOTE TAKING

17. gaming 63% gaming 90% USE NOTES TO STUDY NOTE TAKING

18. TAXONOMY OF GAMING

19. doing being … a student (Sacks) • practical rationality (Aaron) • law of least effort (Kahnemann) • motivation and avoidance (Hannula) • didactic tension (Mason) • goal regulation (Hannula) • self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan) THEORIZING ABOUT STUDENTS

20. PROBLEMS PRESENTED IN OTHER RESEARCH: • are seen as social engineering →teaching methods are seen as solutions in need of a problem • are far removed from individual teachers’ classrooms • are seen as abstract or theoretical • represent an ideal • do not easily bridge to the practical • are often seen as systemic THEORIZING ABOUT TEACHERS

21. THESE RESULTS, ON THE OTHER HAND, … • are recognizably problematic • are a recognizable reality • have verisimilitude • are familiar • provide a reality check YET … • are seen as important to change • are within the realm of things that can be changed THEORIZING ABOUT TEACHERS

22. QUESTIONS and ABUSE Q & A

23. THANK YOU! liljedahl@sfu.ca www.peterliljedahl.com/presentations

25. HOMEWORK

26. HOMEWORK