THE THEORY-PRACTICE DIALECTIC FOR INNOVATING EDUCATIONAL

PRACTICES: THE CASE OF DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION

Bert van OersVU University Amsterdam

Dutch – German ISCAR meeting Amsterdam, February 21st,

2013.

Topics of my talk

• Short sketch of historical background

• Mission and some starting points

• A few examples: contributions to theory and practice

• Conclusions and future issues

Short sketch of historical background

• Precursors

• Political climate

Mission and some starting points• Children’s well-being

• Need for stimulating interactions

• Zone of proximal development

• Appropriation of academically relevant cultural tools

• Morally informed autonomy

• Respect for subjectivity

• Holism

Methodical starting points

• Final evaluation of theory is its value for practice

• General theory that guides thinking about concrete problems

• Teacher is a creative pedagogue

• Two-sided learning process

• Dialectical relation between theory and practice

Summary of starting points

• Emphasis on well-being

• Focus on sociocultural emancipation

• Broad development

• Non-linear implementations: two-sided discursive learning

Some examples

• Learning to teach in Developmental Education

• Young children’s learning to produce and use schematic tools

• Reconceptualisation of play

• Inquiry-based learning

Learning to teach in DE• Teaching is a cultural-historically developed practice

• Learning to teach is learning to participate in an educative cultural practice

• In terms of habitus:‘the habitus could be considered as a subjective but not individual system of internalised structures, schemes of perception, conception, and action common to all members of the same group or class, and constituting the precondition for all objectification and apperception’ (Bourdieu, 1977, p. 86).

Meaningful schematisation in young children

• Collaborative solution of theoretical problems with practically acceptable outcomes

• Tools for structuring actions

• Addressing resistance

Reconceptualisation of the notion of play

Practical need for reconceptualisation(looking for theoretical solution of practical problem)

Play is a mode of activity: Play format:

Rules High Involvement Degrees of freedom

Gains of the reconceptualised notion of play: Role of adults Understanding of playful learning Development of playing

Inquiry-based learning:GENERAL STARTING POINTS

• Learning in a community of inquiry;

• Playing the role of researcher

• Doing research on relevant science, mathematical, literacy, historical …… questions;

• Reflections on questioning, hypothesising, method

• Reporting

Inquiry as play

Start out from personally relevant questions (fostering involvement);

Increasing accent on conceptual, strategic and social (morality) rules;

Some levels of freedom in the regulation of actions: choice of tools, arguments, interpretation of goals, ways to report;

Inquiry-based learning:DIDACTICAL STRATEGIES

In conclusion

• Developmental Education is a theory-driven concept, based on the interaction of practical and academic theories.

• Implementing DE is based on a concerted

collaboration of different stakeholders, that contributes to the understandings of all partners.

…….. and beyond……

• CORRECTION:– Theory – practice distinction is basically false– Interacting theories– Practice – practice dialectic

• Some questions for further discussion: where we can get by construing innovation projects

in this way? What are the problems? Limitations? What is counted as evidence to show the value of

DE? (rule from academic practice?) How to integrate family practices?

THE PRACTICE-PRACTICE DIALECTIC FOR INNOVATING EDUCATIONAL

PRACTICES: THE CASE OF DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION

Thanks for your attention:

Bert van Oers

bert.van.oers@vu.nl