Categorizing thought

[jamesonrocks]

What are the ways people have come up with to divide what is going on in the mind?

DichotomiesIt is almost of the hallmark of Western thought to create dichotomies. They aren't necessarily descriptive of how things are, but they provide frames of reference through which to view the world

Comments

I missed one

[jamesonrocks]

Aah, I forgot another person out there talking about how thought works: Temple Grandin

She is a professor who is diagnosed with autism and has been prolific in her writing and speaking on how thought works. Since her style of thought (almost wholly visual, with language being very abstracted on top) is different from the majority of the population (it is believed), her perspective and observations are pretty interesting.

You Should Join an MAT Program

[seouledout]

We spend an awful lot of time studying the naature of thought and learning in my MAT program. That makes sense of course, since it is the nature of the field I am seeking to join. Of course we have looked into the Myer's-Brigg's a little, the Multiple Intelligences a lot, and a few others. One that we devoted an entire 4 hour class period to was the Gregorc learning style. It analyzed our style and graphed it, and then the lecturers explained how to relate to each person. On the back side of the testing packet it broke the "Mediation Channels" into "Frames if Reference" which included "Thinking Processes." For example, I spiked out as "concrete-random" & "concrete-sequential," so as I think of things in csomme cases I am "intuitive, cutting-edge, impulsive independant" (CR) and in other cases I am "instinctive, methodical, deliberate" (CS). From there, we got further information on how to relate to people who fall into each of the categories

Re: You Should Join an MAT Program

[jamesonrocks]

Yup -- this is exactly what I'm intersted in.

Let's start with the easy one: what is MAT? Master of Arts in Teaching? :)

(Miller Analogy Testing is grad school entry test, so it doesn't seem likely to have a class in an elementary education program. Those were the most likely seeming answers from a Google search...)

Now for the one I already know I won't like the answer on: what texts are you using for this class? From prior conversations, I fully expect the answer to be "none". If so, I would be greatly appreciative if you could ask the prof for a recommendation on books that someone could get an overview of Gregorc/Mind-Styles and the others as it applies to adult education.

Couple more things...

One, I highly, highly, highly recommend A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine. Basic premise: there are several different key functions in the brain for learning, we all are stronger in some and weaker in others. Strengths and weaknesses vary through time. If a child is weak in the wrong one at the wrong time in school they will get labeled

Re: You Should Join an MAT Program

[seouledout]

Yes... MAT=Master of Arts in Teaching.

I am not sure how accurate the Gregorc test is. While the couple was lecturing I Googled it and looked at Wikipedia article. The article there says the test is bunk (but who knows if the author has accurate info). The book they were peddling is here (http://gregorc.com/books.html). I think it explains the results in more detail.

I can see some benefits to using these explanations of personality/learning style/thinking(?). I think the challenege is you can't test everyone you meet. Once you know you may be able to recognize it and then be able to apply it, but I am not sure.

I think the ones that apply most to us as teachers are the Learning Styles (Visual-Auditory-Kenetic-Tactile) and the Multiple Intelligences. Those two are all about input and output between students and teachers, I find all the little profiling tests interesting.

Re: You Should Join an MAT Program

[seouledout]

I will scan some of the documents I have on this (tomorrow when I am on campus), and send them your way, so you can see what I am looking at.

[cutlass_adept]

You might also want to throw in the NPA theory: http://primate_behaviour.homestead.com/