Re: Concrete vs Abstract (was Middle School PS Texts~)

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>]

Hi all-
        People switch back and forth among Piaget's stages.  This fact
was demonstrated experimentally by Case in "The New Structuralism in
Cognitive Development" (Karger 1993).  But we also know that adolescents
are still undergoing brain development.  Teachers are beyond that stage.
So it is highly inaccurate to characterize teachers as being at the
same level as middle-school students.
                                        Regards,
                                                Jack

On Tue, 27 Feb 2001, brian whatcott wrote:

> At 22:49 2/26/01 -0600, you wrote:
> > /// in elementary school the average teacher is still a
> > concrete thinker.  This means that elementary teachers
> > are at the same level
> > or barely above the students they teach! ///
> >
> > John M. Clement
>
> This idea of a progression from the concrete to the abstract
> is a charming fragment of a rather old theme in developmental psychology.
>
>  When you see a physicist writing equations in greek and roman letters
> whose significance may vary from moment to moment, without explanation
> (psi, epsilon, omega perhaps?) then you may possibly be seeing yet
> another example of someone attempting to demonstrate his mastery of
> the abstract, in recognition of the continuing power of this old tenet
> (in my, always humble, view.)
>
> :-)
>
>
> brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>  Altus OK
>                 Eureka!

--
While [Jane] Austen's majestic use of language is surely diminished in its
translation to English, it is hoped that the following translation conveys
at least a sense of her exquisite command of her native tongue.
                        Greg Nagan from "Sense and Sensibility" in
                     <The 5-MINUTE ILIAD and Other Classics>