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Dear Nick Your response contains some rich content and you engage helpfully with John's response. Your input is very much appreciated and inspirational, thank you. In fact, a number of the points you raise regarding the social element of learning are closely tied to my interest in constructivist learning and communities of practise. The latter two concepts are closely aligned with the ideas I had appealed to, but clearly need to expand on, in my article. Thanks also to John and David for helping to develop this discussion. Yours most gratefully Best wishes Margaret ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dr Margaret MacDougall Medical Statistician and Researcher in Education Centre for Population Health Sciences University of Edinburgh Medical School Teviot Place Edinburgh EH8 9AG Tel: +44 (0) 131 650 3211 Fax: +44 (0) 131 650 6909 E-mail: [log in to unmask] http://www.chs.med.ed.ac.uk/cphs/people/staffProfile.php?profile=mmacdoug On 17/05/2013 11:45, Nick Bowskill wrote: > > Hi Margaret/Everyone, > Setting aside the 'behavioural' and the 'science' aspect, for a second, > the concept of 'learner-centred' is really interesting isn't it? It also > fits nicely with the popular & political idea of student's being > individually 'responsible' and individually 'accountable.' From there > you can map that onto the promotion of individual notions of reflection > and autonomy. > > It all sounds reasonable until you dig a bit deeper perhaps. Despite > that apparent 'fit' of all the instructional elements, it's a view that > importantly takes a limited account of social, cultural and > psychological influences that are all about (as John mentioned). > > Ironically, it is possible to think about being 'learner-centred' from a > more social perspective. This would also develop 'situated learning > theory' with its view of 'context' as a psychological perception. If we > extend the quite limited 'situated learning theory' and instead think of > the psychological perspective as being situated within a social > identity, we might then work with the activated identity as the basis > for learning and development. We would reach the individual via the group! > > Oddly, this might then also give some theoretical support for this > social-identity approach as 'behavioural' because when we identify with > a group we favour one group over another (Tajfel). Specifically, that > favouritism is not always a voluntary or conscious decision. So from > such a view, you *could* perhaps argue that there is a behavioural > element to this new modified concept of learner-centredness (a bit of a > limited view of a very rich theory though) > > Social identity theory is also much more predictive than descriptive > (compared for example with activity theory, situated learning theory, > etc. etc.). Even so, it still isn't an exact 'science' either. > > So, I would struggle to develop a 'learner-centred behavioural science' > approach even if I could imagine a particular interpretation of it, as > described above. Margaret, in short, I suspect that the person quoting a > 'learner-centred behavioural science' approach may have an > 'instructional design' background. It has some of those 'instructive' > tones about it. > > Interestingly, the social and psychological view of learner-centredness > (which I set out above) would also require us to ease up on the idea of > individual's as being solely responsible and autonomous (although > sometimes they may be). It might then be more accurate to describe > responsibility as 'shared' in order to take account of those social, > cultural and psychological influences. > > > Best Wishes, > Nick > > -------------------------------------- > Nicholas Bowskill, > SharedThinking > The Social Identity Practice for Learning > Web:http://sharedthinking.co.uk <http://sharedthinking.co.uk/> > > > Nicholas Bowskill is a Kelvin-Smith Scholar at University of Glasgow. He > is lead tutor for SEDA online workshop on Introduction to Educational > Change and an online tutor (Education) at University of Derby. > SharedThinking is an independent consultancy. > > > > On 17 May 2013 10:56, John Hilsdon <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > Hi all____ > > __ __ > > I agree with David’s broad categorisation of this terminology. ____ > > __ __ > > ‘Behavioural Science’ suggests to me an assumption that human > behaviour is explicable via approaches characteristic of empirical > science – experimental, quantitative and generally individualistic – > i.e. treating students as atomistic. ____ > > __ __ > > The phrase ‘learner-centred’ also implies to me a rather a-social > view of students as ‘just’ engaged in learning (and further > suggesting passive recipients of ‘knowledge’) rather than as human > beings in their social contexts interpreting the practices around > them and making sense of them – i.e. a learning development > approach. ____ > > __ __ > > I think Margaret’s reviewer may want her to be more psychologistic – > i.e. drawing upon the cognitivist and behaviourist learning theories > popular in that discipline … ____ > > __ __ > > John____ > > __ __ > > __ __ > > *From:*learning development in higher education network > [mailto:[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>] *On > Behalf Of *David Andrew > *Sent:* 17 May 2013 10:37 > *To:* [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > *Subject:* Re: Learner-centered behavioural science____ > > __ __ > > My understanding is that behavioural science is a term used to group > psychology, sociology and other subjects that study human behaviour > - the use of the two words would generally indicate the tradition of > behaviourism and narrowly defined scientific approaches although the > term Applied Behavioural Science is used for very different > approaches - I did the Diploma in Behavioural Science at what was > then North London Poly which included bioenergetics, gestalt and > other 'humanistic' approaches, and there is still a Journal of > Applied Behavioral Science > (http://jab.sagepub.com/content/early/recent) which continues that > tradition (but probably in more modern forms). > > So the background of the term is contradictory. > > A search in the journal of applied behavioral science found not > matches for learner-centered - so the term itself is still proving > illusive! > > David > > Margaret MacDougall wrote: > > > > > ____ > > Thanks for the prompt responses, David. > > I have been asked to address reviewer feedback in response to a > manuscript I submitted for publication. One (anonymous) reviewer has > commented that in terms of background, my manuscript needs "deeper > exploration and discussion of ... learner-centered behavioural > science." They don't explain further and therefore I am currently > sending out some feelers to see if the expression "learner-centered > behavioural science" strikes a chord with anyone involved in > research in student learning. > > If anyone has relevant suggestions as to possible meanings, I would > be most happy to hear from them. > > Best wishes > > Margaret > > > > On 17/05/2013 09:54, David Andrew wrote: > > ____ > > Getting zero results on google is quite unusual these days but that is > the result for that phrase - in case anyone else was thinking of > looking. > > It suggests it doesn't exist - where did you come across it Margaret? > > David > > Margaret MacDougall wrote: > > ____ > > Hello > > Are any of our list members familiar with the notion of > learner-centred behavioural science? If so, I would be interested to > learn how they interpret this notion. > > Many thanks > > Best wishes > > Margaret ____ > > > David Andrew, > HEA CPD Manager > Senior Tutor > > <http://www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/> > > The Learning Institute > Queen Mary, University of London > > Mile End, London E1 4NS > > > > 02078822803 <tel:02078822803> > > 02081446753 <tel:02081446753> > > Book an appointment with me at http://doodle.com/DavidAndrew > > > > > My profiles: Twitter <http://twitter.com/acprac> Google Plus > <https://plus.google.com/114444405837840833554/posts> ____ > > __ __ > > __ __ > > ____ > > David Andrew, > HEA CPD Manager > Senior Tutor > ____ > > <http://www.learninginstitute.qmul.ac.uk/> > > The Learning Institute > Queen Mary, University of London____ > > Mile End, London E1 4NS____ > > > > 02078822803 <tel:02078822803>____ > > 02081446753 <tel:02081446753> > > Book an appointment with me at http://doodle.com/DavidAndrew____ > > > > > ____ > > ____ > > ____ > > My profiles: Twitter <http://twitter.com/acprac>Google Plus > <https://plus.google.com/114444405837840833554/posts> > ____ > > -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.