Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
INTRODUCTION
We can
There have
opment of the culture from which it emerged, and each has assisted in its decline to be a pallbearer at its demise.
exactly how many different effects occur, the least number of buttons associated with each effect, and which buttons are involved in these least numbered groups. This approach gives us all the simple cause- effect-relationship present. Pressing the buttons are the causes or "independent var iables" and the effects of the "dependent variables." The
possibility that a motor actually turns the wheels is of no
consequence because control is from the buttons.
What is there that is both vitalizing and destroying about educational systems? Can it be summed up in the
single word "enthusiasm" and the lack thereof?
Effect.
phase of enthusiasm, was the key. Since then, experimenters in the social sciences
have been doing their best to keep the Hawthorne Effect out of their experiments. vVhen they succeed they find no significant differences among teaching methods, cultural
However, years of experimental investigation of comparative methodologies has shown that there is only one cause which consistently makes performance better as long
as it is operative. This is the personal involvement of
dynamics a whole lot of things. What ahould we Bjs.ptscL'i When people are indifferent they don't accomplish very
much.
the learner, i.e. the Hawthorne Effect I Thus far, the only thins which has been shown to work is the very thing we
educators have been systematically trying to eliminate.
There is another way, of course. We can ask the
scientific research is based upon a very simple idea. Suppose we have a box with colored buttons on one end and
1.
contamination." Of course the added button may produce a totally new set of effects. This doesn't matter so long
Powell, J. C.
Ultimately, of
events.
explosion
side button, too, and compare the effect sets under the
who all seem very remote and impersonal and never really
doing anything ourselves all becomes very tedious. Tech
tendency of all researchers to focus upon a single depend ent variable information recall when methodologies
are being compared. Different methodologies may have different additional effects. Por instance, seminar and
nical skills become obsolete faster than we can develop them. And we know all this, and yet wonder why our youth
first rebel against the remote, impersonal "establishment" and then resign themselves and drop out. Thus it becomes
lecture methods may be similar on information recall but quite different on verbal fluency development or in vocab ulary development. Most methodology research has done little to try to determine such of these differential
effects as might exist.
Rigid
researchers to focus upon information recall as the sole dependent variable implies that educators assume that the only educational outcome worth thinking about is informa
tion recall.
The vitality which has carried us from steam power to the moon and to unprecedented prosperity in less than 150 years
is waning.
This single objective was certainly very important during the last half of the 19th Century and the first half of the 20th Century. During this time an individual could master a field of study and then in a garage or basement or
basement workshop produce a world shattering prototype. began with a squeal with James Watt's steam engine, and
It
ended in a bang with the A-Bomb. When a person could take his information somewhere do something with it see
where it was leading he could get enthusiastic about what he was doing. The enthusiasm possible from the near
ness of goals carried the learner across what would other
Sighs of this problem are everywhere. Corruption in government, contemptible self-seeking in major industries, militancy, resignation, escapism in the population, col lapsing civil order in many major cities, spiritual decay in our churches, spiralling inflation which is threatening to wipe out bur prosperity, and spiralling population growth and waste accumulation which is threatening life
itself. The flywheel of our culture is out of control
"Future Shock" Toffler oalls it.
wise have been endless drudgery. But the hugeness of nuclear research, space flights, etc, lends a remoteness
even for some of the major participants in the actual
Powell, J. 0.
6.
to transmit than ever before, our schools have come to the end point of the cycle in which information is no longer of
on many fronts; between world population and food supply, between waste disposal and the viability of our planet,
between the supply of nonrenewable resources and our life
tions all over again with ourselves? Every year, every classroom is a wealth of uncollected data, of unresolved
human issues, of diverse family trees which lead us directly to antiquity.
It's easy.
The
of books, pictures, films, etc. all of which are readily available, beautifully packaged for a price. The price, of course, is partly the cost of publication, the royalties
to the authors, the profits to the shareholders.
price doesn't concern me.
This
We
personal involvement. We didn't take those pictures, we didn't examine on site the remains they describe, we didn't
examine the roof joists to see how they were made before
electric hand tools and machine-made nails were available.
history of our community, on the lives of prominent people of bygone days, or about the cold monuments to the past
But if we were to get the children in our class to study their grandparents... suddenly the flatiron, the loom, the spinnet, the horse and carriage become vital and meaningful. The pictures in the books take on new meaning, the accounts
support what our grandparents are telling us, and fill in
We know that Dick and Jane play with a red wagon, and have a dog named Spot, but what is our dog's name? ,/hat
Adventure stories,
diaries, etc. come alive with the people who wrote them,
the people the books are about, the life of that time
Powell, J.
C.
7.
Prom, here we
move to the foods the families eat, the games they play, the activities of older and younger siblings, the respon
sibilities of family members, where and how are family members employed, etc. Prom here v/e can move backwards. Where did the family come from, who are the nearest rel
ecology, hostility are solvable by people with human relations and self-actualizing skills if these skills can
be made available at point of need. But how are these
atives, where do they live, what do they do, eat, etc. During this time major family events occur, A baby is born, a grandparent dies, the family buys a new
ear, or house, or they move.
goes out of business.
Effect we must involve our pupils in their own learning. But more than this. Water stops boiling when we turn off
the stove. Similarly, we lose this effect if we are not
I believe
forever renewing it. The study the children made of their community last year has little meaning to this year's
they can.
class.
all we need to know." In fact, although we may end up buying more books rather than fewer, there is no curriculum guide, no course of study, no ultimate single answer for the dynamic personalized and individualized curriculum. Furthermore, we are not abandoning much of what we are now doing in this changeover hv.t, rather, how we do it. The difference is the excitement, the fascination, the
eagerness, the quality of insight and the intellectual and
moral honesty and rigor which self-study engenders. What is the source of such a curriculum.
with a look at what is.
It begins
live, the kind and history of the dwelling and the land it
10.
PART
ONE
It is hoped that
Fortunately, our society needs more than one kind of educated person, and the demands for diversity are rapidly increasing. Also fortunately, each person is sufficiently
unique that with appropriate development of our human
Unfortunately, many aspects of our school system have not kept pace with the changing needs of a post industrial society. This problem may be caused by a too narrow viev/ held by some educators of what the school's role in the development of human resources might be. The five short papers which follow discuss a distributive
model for human resources development as related to the
educational enterprise.
There are several ideas in this chapter which may be novel to the reader. It is hoped that placing such issue
into a broader space and time horizon than is usually used will bring illumination to the issues now faced by
9.
12
training in the "helping professions" has multiplied spectacularly over the past two decades.
It is interesting to note that this pressure has been into the new "helping professions" of the social
worker, child care worker, etc. and not into the old ones of salesperson, waiter or waitress, or household help.
Suburbanites are still consuming their entire summer
ance of their yards, rather than getting together to hire a professional gardener for their block and then enjoying their yards at their leisure. Part of the problem arises from a misconstrued
egalitarianismj part from too rapid social and cultural change, but a large part of the problem arises from the
much slower growth in the development of service delivery
unprecedented advance in a new area in science and technol ogy. Before the Sun King was the agricultural revolution,
and before the peak of the Victorian era there came the industrial revolution. The former led to the surpluses of food which made large cities and the urban shift of popula tion possible, the second made the production and delivery of goods a viable source of economic support for urban
populations.
We have seen, as a result, a proliferation of material goods and a sophistication of their means of delivery to a point where some critics say that we are
about to be smothered in our refuse.
If society is to be humanized, a means for the delivery of service approaching the effectiveness of the railway as a deliverer of goods needs to be devised. In this paper I propose to put forward an approach to this
problem.
Space?
The problem, as I see it, is that the ability to translate theory into effective action is in fewer hands
than is the development of theory and insufficient hands to meet the present needs. Also, the theory development
tradition has tended to focus on the transmission of
J.
G.
Powell
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information about theories rather than the skills needed to apply these theories in a development sense. action and the transmission of action potential. However, action potential is more fragile under transmission conditions than the most fragile of cut glass. It cannot be packaged and delivered as a unit to its des
tination intact through several disinterested hands.
To
Furthermore, academic tradition has tended to deny that scholarly activity has a responsibility for the generation and dissemination of action potential. There is a knowerdoer dichotomy in our tradition. The concept of a knowl edgeable doer which arises from Maslow's concept of selfactualization is foreign to both the ranks of the academic
and the artisan.
understanding of the intricacies of the network they will be serving as a prerequisite for further development. Thus the first role of any institution is the laying of this advanced foundation. Such may be considered the role
of undergraduate education in the academic sense. This
We visualize here our population as a nodal network of varying density and assume that the social problems of
that population emerge as random events within the network
theory development and the application of developing skills. The purpose of this combination is to separate the
potential theoretician from the potential practitioner.
with frequencies roughly proportionate to population density. There may be a cynergy effect in direct relation to density for some kinds of problem (like crime, for instance).
develop human potential and to relieve human-to-human prob lems needs a delivery network paralleling the population
network leading to and from the experts who hold the
ability to generate action potential. This network must
theory generation and research role, as well as the devel oping of new theoreticians. The practitioner in the professional school has the role of translating theory into practice, training practioners, training trainers of practitioners, and training coordinators of practice
activities. The feedback from practice in the field serves
both for assessment of the effectiveness of service
theoretical examination.
The transmission of skill involves training time and careful detailed supervision of the training process.
the theoretician and the practitioner of the sort suggested here can be effectively established then the two-way link between theory and practice so desperately needed can be
J.
C.
Powell
15.
Much has already been written on the topic of the polarization between theory and practice. Sufficient to
say that the dichotomy between the theoretician and the practitioner has not been resolved where human resources development is concerned.
There are several reasons for this lack. with the two milieu are very different. To begin
The theoretician
He deliberately
be expected to be employees in the front-line institutions as supervisors, special service personnel and as
coordinators and managers.
tries to control all except one or two variables and he works with a narrowly defined objective for a short space of time. Developmental characteristics are usually inves First, long term
tigated on large cross-sectional studies rather than
The highest
in some form of clinical setting. (I will include the classroom with the clinic for my present purposes). He is
working with the total problem complex rather than isolated
parts of it and with large numbers of individuals over
protracted periods.
To begin
individually.
J.
0,
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are used for study and only one of several possible charac
hence lower social priority than human-to-thing or human-toidea relationships. Part of the problem arises from the
one characteristic is maintained but all aspects of each Client are under scrutiny, and in the classroom,(as in group therapy), the situation is now many-to-one as well as
having a broad basis for scrutiny.
instance, is a device for containing portable beverages designed to facilitate their consumption. As such, it is a
materialized service. There is no equivalent device for
variables under scrutiny and exponentially with group size.* In terms of demands upon time, information loads, actual and exponential case loads, and so on, the practi
tioner ia under considerably more pressure than is the theoretician. Furthermore, the theoretician can select his clientelle. The practitioner commonly must take all comers.
When the problem is put into these terms, several aspects of the problem become clarified. For instance, it
becomes evident that a systematic delivery system for
action potential is desperately needed. This need seems strange because we already have an excess of institutions
This is not to say that theory is unnecessary; quite the contrary,as our awareness of the complexity of problems of human resources development increases, so the demands for definitive answers for specified populations also increases. In this respect, the main problem of the
practitioner is that he is inundated with the case load and
engaged in various aspects of human resource development. Schools, hospitals, mental health clinics, social service agencies, colleges, and universities are only part of the potential list. The problem is not the absence of insti tutions and agencies, but the lack within these serviceoriented organizations of systematic procedures for the delivery of relatively nonmaterializable service.
Schools, for instance, tend to deliver information
Thus we see that the roles of these two groups are different; the information demands of the setting in which they work are different; and the proportion of theoreti
cians to the immediate needs for research is greater than the proportion of practitioners to the need for service. Part of this problem arises out of the tradition in our culture that human-to-human service has lower prestige. and
competence desired.
J.
C. Powell
19.
20.
employer.
competence needs of the experts in the various positions in the needs of the experts in the various positions in the
delivery network. It is now clear that in human resources development we are dealing with a nonuniform raw material and should be attempting to output a distincly nonuniform product. This does not mean that standards of performance
are useless but that, with over 7,000 major job classifica
tions now in Canada, standards as to particulars are very
diverse.
the public sector of the economy. The public is trying to hedge against inflation by pressing for a reduction of its
tax burden. The end result is shoddy merchandise and
from the average are removed, our population can be sub divided into six or seven generalizable groups which,
of the technologies.
These organiza
or situation. Also, the designers are often too far removed from the implementers for the action potential to
be effectively transmitted. This means that there is a
Second, there is a
critical need for a broader distribution of design skills
There does
the underpinnings of the updating of the technology it is possible to differentiate the roles of all personnel.
A third problem arises from the need to define the
boundaries between the several roles involved. Where
industrial psychologist who provides the link between the pure psychologist and the designer of the implementation
technology.
J. C. Powell
theory and practice represents two extreme ends of a communication network which generates a conflict of interest because the middle link is missing. Each is
POTENTIAL
colleges who engage in implementation research and design technology so that the discoveries of the theoretician can
be translated into action potential and transmitted to the front line professionals. Feedback can also provide the theoretician with a fertile source of new problems to
explore.
account.
Once the loop is closed so that cooperation rather than contention among the several roles is generated, human resources development can begin to be effective on a large
understanding of our present knowledge in his or her area of expertise. We have not always used the most efficient methods of gaining this understanding. We have, however, developed elaborate methods of transmitting accumulated
information which are attempting to help the expert keep
and systematic scale rather than the fortuitous basis for present successes. We need some new perspectives and some
new expertise to make this approach work.
The fifth and final need is for the generation of
abreast of the burgeoning knowledge in his particular area. The difficulty we face does not arise out of information transmission. Information is a materialiaable
fully integrated network. I am not suggesting that we abandon ingenuity or creativity in any role but that we
define the range and scope of ingenuity we particularly wish to encourage within each role and then try to adjust the delivery system in each locale to the peculiar needs of that community and to the idiosyncracies of the
commodity and with postal services, libraries, and inexpen sive electronics, its delivery is, for all intents and purposes, either nominal in cost or free for the asking. The two major costs are space for storage of information in
its materialized form, and time which is required to screen,
order, or otherwise process it into the forms suitable for specific needs. The most efficient methods now available
within these space and time constraints involve electronic
data storage and electronic data processing (EDP). In theory, our present information capability through the use of EDP ia the delivery of any information in any predeterminable form and in any reasonable quantity to any desired
physical location.
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C. Powell
25.
26.
careful specification, and more supervision during acquisition than does information. A secondary problem
arises out of the fact that high level competence in skills is more narrowly distributed in the population than
is high level competence in information transmission. What is needed, then, for effective human resources
The improved
efficiency for information transmission which EDP makes possible can be utilized to make training time available for skill transmission. Also, under certain insrtanxetional
technologies, skills and information can be acquired concurrently. These technologies are not in common use at
the present time mainly because skill in their use is
uncommon.
for the most part, stretched to their limit in the direct delivery of their skills. Also, the financial rewards for
in some city. With hospitals, doctors, and nurses poten tially overloaded, the medical authorities decide to train
one thousand volunteers in the administration of immuniz
development would be greatly facilitated if these experts could devote even some of their time to the training of individuals in the centrally essential fragments of their skills. The effect would be to deliver their expertise
of one Registered Nurse for each team. Such a team could immunize a city of a million inhabitants in a matter of
hours if enough vaccine were available.
the training can be done without disruption of the normal operation of existing institutions. These needs can, in this manner, be met with little additional costs.
The central group of experts would monitor the effectiveness of the delivery system to become the basis
They would
J.
C.
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also monitor the training program as a beginning in their study of program technology. They would ultimately, of
course, continuously elaborate both the technologies and the
implementation procedures *
of-need and back again. The first century of the of the industrial revolution has centred on the develop ment of transportation technology, facilitating the delivery of goods to point-of-need. The past fifty years has seen tremendous advances in communication technology facilitating the delivery of information to point of need.
How what we need to be able to do is to translate this
group can begin to train trainers. This latter activity is designed to disburse the expertise on a planned basis. This course of action may, at first, seem unpalatable to
the experts who have, there-to-fore, gained their liveli
information into effective action at point-of-need. Perhaps the next major breakthrough will be in skill delivery technology, facilitating the delivery of service
to point of need.
This paper has proposed that one method of dealing with this problem of service delivery is the development
of a person-to-person transmission net?/ork for action
The central problem for the delivery of service on the scale of current needs is that there are insufficient people with sufficient expertise to meet these needs.
potential from the high level expert to the front-line point of need and back again. This proposal frees the
expert from the need to deliver his expertise to everyone by dealing with only the most complex and demanding
problems and to increase his effectiveness by his
Also, there are insufficient economic resources to produce and pay for an adequate supply of high level experts to
meet these needs. The alternative is to fractionate the appropriate skills so that appropriate segments of these
delivery.
are not easily transmitted in the form of action potential through several hands from expert to front line worker. A person-to-person training network analagous to goods and information delivery networks needs to be established, linking the point where transmission and implementation technology is being generated to the front line point of
need.
30.
because the psychologist doesn't understand the requirements of the many-to-one setting of the classroom
and the educator doesn't understand the one-to-one
of action
We
distribution network which transmits action potential from expert to point of need than it is to implement this net
work. There is an essential prerequisite ingredient in
this network the absence of which is an insurmountable
coping skills. Approaches which treat one aspect only of this complex have only slight or short term success. Of
all the procedures developed to date the most effective for long term success involves the development of, or the improvement of coping strategies within the affected
individual or among the affected individuals. This
of bookkeeping budgets, and numerical control systems. However, his profound lack of understanding of people
shows in that his habitual stance with his own staff is
development is essentially educational, but in the sense of skill development rather than information transmission.
Information without skill in its use is of no value to a
each person must develop. The first level is selfunderstanding. A great deal has been written about this type of understanding, most of it revolving around some
Powell, J. C.
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understanding others.
skills in active listening and in observing behavior can make it possible to approach an understanding of others.
We must first penetrate their frame of reference, and from this develop a composite impression of their point of view. A more difficult course of action is for us to recognize when the other fellow's point of view is more appropriate
to the situation than our own. This second level of understanding can be expected to be very difficult for the administrator of our hypothetical instruction. His inability to apprehend the attitudes and needs of his employees in a way that is supportive of their needs and
constructive to the operation of the institution as a
This kind of team can only be maintained at optimum efficiency so long as it is addressing significant problems which demand the utilization of all assembled expertise.
whole is defeating the purpose of the institution. The third level of understanding involves the
ability of the individual to bring understanding between or among others. In our second hypothetical case, if
It is most difficult to accommodate a strong and demanding personality in any context, but it is easier to do so if such a person's talents are challenged rather than his integrity. An organization which has a high turnover of its very strong people either has little service to render and
is the employer of the other, the junior of the two has no An important strategy which can be utilized by administration is the common focus of pxirpose. If this focus is upon some external need which, through adequate investigation can be clearly defined, the roles of several
person first learns to trust his own judgment. Then, as his own perception of the complexity of the situation increases,
he discovers the need for trusting the judgment of others in areas where he is uncertain. If the others involved behave
In this context, the self-actualizing person is now types of expertise can be stipulated with sufficient pre cision that a team approach can be effective. The importance at level two of understanding. In order to reach level
Powell.
J.
C.
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To A PHOGRAK A biiiT OP CCURoPS?
another.
management of the affairs we delegate through the selection and/or the inservice development of the com petences of the others we choose to trust. The final step is to be able to help others to take
the same risks and threats to their personal status or
esteem so that they, too, can move into level two. When we have accomplished this final step we are at the third
level of understanding.
The knower tells the learner what he 'Should know, and the learner proceeds to memorize as much of the catalogue as
Rone of the individuals in our hypothetical cases have achieved level two of understanding which is the basis
Thus, we can see that trust is the essential ingredient in a skill transmission network. At the point of need, trust is even more important. The person needing
assistance must trust us enough to carry through with our
coping strategies, and we must trust them enough to show them how, and then let them do it themselves. Crises
same way that playing various athletic games exercised the body and that making a well rounded person involved exer
cise in all the disciplines.
trust).
Intervention, then, involves l) a short term lifting of the responsibility for decision making, 2) a deliberate training of the appropriate coping and/or delegating skills and, 3) returning of the responsibility for decision making
to the now more competent person.
language facilitates the rate and the scope of application of thinking ability, it does not influence its acquisition.
Prom my own perspective, process has at least equal
36.
J. C. Powell
35.
Subdivisions of Doing
Reflective
Reactive
comprehending them and relating them back to us we generated the knowledgeable person. Part of the problem has been that
Reactive Reflection
Operation
Enactive
Enactive
Enactive Reflection
Operation
ther complicated by Purth's (1966) finding that knowing how to talk or not, children learn to think anyway. We cannot, as educators, take credit for teaching children to think; only for the effectiveness with which they use their thinking
ability.
Modern
that of Maslow which can be translated into the present frame of reference as encompassing all four forms of doing,
with different forms coming to the fore on an interactive basis as the needs of the individual and the demands of the
situation change.
As I understand Maslow, he would classify a self actualizer as a person who, in the critical situations in his life space,tends more to be enactive than reactive. this analysis is accepted then it seems reasonable to If
the situation. It is from these two dichotomies that much of our theoretical confusion arises. The generation
of new knowledge from combining observations into new
The
Powell, J. C.
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capabilities are tuned to a functional level. Such a person would be expected to be able to take constructive initiative (including the encouragement of initiating actions from others) in the most important life situations.
initiative in both the cognitive and the affective domains. Because of the rather consistent generalities of
What is needed in
The first is a
generalized competence which is essentially social and interpersonal in character which makes it possible for the
person to cope with life. The second is a specialized form of competence which each person can develop as his or her
reason for existence and which becomes the basis for voca
tional and/or avocational pursuits. This is the special part of the person for which he is called upon by others to render service, and for which he is acknowledged as a
worthwhile and unique person in his own right.
An educational system designed to develop such
adapted to meet his emerging needs, interests, and com petencies. If these be self directed activity needs he will The amount of supervision he gets
be working largely on his own under a steadily declining
amount of supervision.
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responsibility. If these needs" are group or interpersonally oriented, then the classroom situation is organized into diads or larger groups so that these needs can be met. If a common information need arises for which
It is
not in any way deny the need for specialized activity areas
supervised by highly competent experts, not to mention the
need for specialization among learners. The thing that breaks down is the assembly-line pattern of long term
schedules of routine which characterizes the courses of
not that this tradition is wrong within the confines of a narrowly defined academic community for the generation of effective:theoreticians. Instead, we educators have been wrong in assuming that the form of education which successfully develops a limited number of superb theorists
study approach.
allocations.
program.
being developed than in places where information is being transmitted. Ideally, of course, all needs including
References
I have a personal preference for the Maslovian approach as I have defined it. In such a context the
Furth, Hans G.; Thinking Without Language N.Y. , Free Press, 1966.
development of Enactive Operation is the prime function of schooling. Prom this point of view the transmission of skills transcends the transmission of information in importance. Such an approach can only be accomplished in a programmed context since skills are developed only by practicing them and not by listening to others talk about
them.
I am assuming that all human activity is purposeful. If this be so, information by itself has no inherent value
For
SUMMARY
42.
two-way communication has several gaps in it. The most serious of these gaps are the near absence of people
needed resource. The oonoept of the knowledgeable doer which can be derived from Maslow's concept of selfactualization sets the stage for our approach to human
resource development.
person-to-person technology.
those who can deal with the complexities of a postindustrial society to those who cannot. Our present "clinical"
approach has proved ineffective for two reasons. First, the large volume of knowledge we insist upon superimposing upon skill development causes considerable time consumption
in the preparation of those who achieve these skills. For this reason those who possess the needed skills are too few
When viewed from this point of view, theory-practice controversies, and interdisciplinary rivalries reduce to
reduces the breadth to which he can disseminate, but it also restricts the manner in which he can deliver his skill. These two constraints restrict his effectiveness.
Experts are further restricted in their effectiveness
network analogous to the railway for goods, and telephone lines for information. The complexity of a switching station varies with the needs of a distribution point, A
similar diversity of available skill expertise can be envisioned for the service network so long as communication channels are open. That is, not all deliverers of personto-person service needs the same level of expertise.
The key ingredient in this network is trust. This trust is developed with the skills of those who have reached
because the competitive nature of current training proce dures encourage individual experts to at least ignore and
at most distrust the alternative expertise of those who
achieved skill by alternative routes.
In a situation where information is in surplus and skills in shortage, drastic changes in procedure are needed. A continuum is postulated from the person who
the third level of understanding namely, the level at which they can facilitate understanding among others. These
generates theory to a person who delivers service at point of need. However, this continuum which should permit
41.
individuals are self-actualizing within our present usage. Our prime need, then, is for more self-actualizing
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C.
Powell
43
PART TWO
people. These people can be developed by certain types of training program. These programs are humanizing, inte
grating, and focus upon the progressive expansion of the
learner's time and space horizons. As learning progresses the pupil learns how to take initiative for planning his
own progress. This self-teaching skill is imperative if
First, what
Second, what
There are, of
The ultimate
Within
each community. Thus developed the "cult of the expert." Today, however, our information delivery systems are cap
able of delivering our present surfeit of information almost
anywhere.
needs.
44
46
deals better with the problem, sometimes a particle model does. Both waves and particles are hypothetical constructs with certain mathematical properties. They do
the point of view that research has not resolved the issues. They then proceed to give both sides of a contro
versy, reporting as impartially as possible liberally citing the original sources. For the novice this approach
is most disconcerting because in the first place the author seems to have no opinion of his own. And in the
rage. The first point of view historically is that of the cognitivist who essentially agrees with Descartes "I think,
therefore I exist" and consider all behavior to originate
different track.
approach. It is also a model for an approach. Ever since Heiszenberg proposed his uncertainty principle the physical
scientists have known what the social scientists are only
well and gei* itself into an infinite regression when trying to identify the rewarding elements of complex material
environments.
A third approach which is a joint outgrowth of recent advances in neurophysiology, perception theory, and communication (computer-based) theory has arisen which
handles both the learning and the motivational problems
stream of particles or a succession of waves? There is no unequivocal answer to this question since it depends upon
45
J.
C. Powell
47
48.
preting observations.*
Of course not.
At this point I shall go out onto a limb and designate these "theories" by the alternative term "opinions." This
it is necessary to invoke an infinite regression to explain any open point in a system hence to explain creativity.
Let me put it this way. A digital computer has a
Any one
kinds of "facts" to work with. The first kind of fact is the fact of observation. That which we and others can make obser vable we can assert to have "objective" existence. An effect can be observable as well as an object. There is a third form
There
of reality, that of condition. Effects occur upon objects on ly when conditions are appropriate. The purpose of science is
to formulate opinions about the conditions under which partic
ular effects occur. Thus the second form of "fact" becomes a
that was lacking current. In cybernetic terms a computer is a closed system. If it were not a closed system it
would be unreliable. In the case of the human being, the
brain continues to add cells for the first sixteen years
fact of opinion.
An observation
can occur without an opinion which explains its occurrence. The dilemma of science which tends to deny observations which
This possibility
of life after birth and continues to add connections with every bit of new learning throughout life. There is a point somewhere in life where the rate of degeneration
exceeds the rate of progeneration. Just when this event
occurs is uncertain because closed minded individuals seem
suggests opinions can be wrong or they can be incomplete. One way of interpreting Church's Hypothesis is to suggest that
there will never be a single theory which will interpret all
phenomena.
V/e are all familiar with the single switch which operates
two lights in any combination. This switch has four positions (both off, one on, one off, the other one on, both on) which exhausts the possible combinations. A trilight works on the same principle. It has two filaments,
one of which gives 100 watts of light, and the other which gives 200 watts of light. Using a 4-way switch we can
choose to have the light off, or 100 watts, 200 watts, or
The concept
of mutation which genetics cannot explain is also necessary. Therefore the evolution theory is a metatheory whioh encom
passes genetic theory but goes beyond it.
9
This
A fourth position, the psychoanalytic one, also uses a hierarchical approach. Because this approach invokes mysti
cal states like "the unconscious mind," it can hardly be called scientific. However it handles emotionality better
than other theories.
Powell, J. C.
49.
50
Invention as I am defining it involves the generation of a new state of affairs to explore. This can be accomplished
The most common and obvious is the For instance, the invention of
materialization of an idea.
frequency of occurrence within a single person's life is discovery. I am defining discovery in terms of finding out This
discovery can be pursued systematically via the opinion procedure of science or systematically by seeking unex
fore gone unnoticed. The invention of the geometry of per spective drawing led to the discovery of the theory of
(purposeful) approaches.
tion of reward.
procedure has not refuted the existence of purposeful selfinitiated behavior as some behaviorists claim but
discovery of the full spectrum of eleotrioal effects, making possible our present electronic technology.
the formal advancement of any science.
The
Per
pigeon has to "discover" the desired terminal behavior by the success it has in inferring the sequence from the
successive approximations through which it is led. Either
Invention, the second form of creativity, has not been systematically explored by the behaviorists.
seen, and what we extract from the world to look at is colored by our view of the world. To break out of these
confines we must learn to observe more precisely, and to
Powell, J.
51.
52
formulate workable opinions which explain these observa tions. We must then learn to test these opinions with more
upon the revisors of textbooks to keep the children "upto-date". Many textbooks, however, are written by senior
possible in a closed system. In this case the discovery of an infinite regression is the discovery of an error in thinking. A good example of this situation involves the paradoxes of Zeno. In an open system, however, the discov ery of an infinite regression may be an error in thinking or it may be the point at which the system is open. The process that links observation and opinion is thinking. As already suggested, both the admissibility of
observations and the way in which they are interpreted are
the process whereby verifiable opinions are generated from systematic observations. This can be done by studying the way theories were developed. It can be done by having
the children discover "new" relationships in the sense used here. That is, the relationships are new to the children though not necessarily new to mankind. A thorough know ledge on the part of the teacher of the child's developmen
on family dynamics.
skills. This exercise is particularly important for chil dren trapped in a poverty cycle. These children must be able to realistically invent a new state of affairs fcr themselves if they are to break out of their environment.
It should be remembered that each such breakthrough effectively doubles their potential. Focus on information for these children is completely irrelevant since the usual information base in most school curricula is entirely outside of their experience. We must either start with their experiences or provide missing
Powell, J.
G.
53.
PEELING & EXPERIENCING
experiences or "both before we can even comtemplate discovery experiences, let alone invention experiences.
The invention of a material object is both more socially acceptable and potentially more immediately profitable than the invention of a new theoretical formu
lation.
particular opinions.
Hence, ex
problem is that our schools do not seek to develop inven In fact, both invention and discovery are
systematically discouraged in an information-oriented
so readily available.
related thereto.
These two are not the only types of fact possible,* since they do not include, among other things, emotional states. People can be observed to be having emotional ex periences, and with some sensitivity training can report their feeling states with considerable fluency and consis
his skill, his tools, and the medium, in the process than to produce one hundred of these precast nothings.
In its attempts to apply assembly line techniques to
tency.
education the schools have made themselves equally sterile. To change this we need to teach children how to observe,
how to think, and most of all how to be creative. We
The concept of facts I am presenting is rather more complex than a simple report of a state of* existence. People observe what they think they observe and feel what
As we shall see later in this part I propose eight different types of fact.
54
J.
C. Powell
55
56
they think they feel. A person's personal reality (what is real to him) may have little, if any, basis in what might
be called "objective reality." The simple fact is that in
many instances the concept of an "external objective real ity independent of the observer" often does not exist in
any knowable manner with our present technology. A good
omenon visible as we approach Mars or some aspect of the human perceptual mechanism is not yet known. planet. All we know
A complex
Sometimes
of our existence.
opinions when they are attacked. Also, the emotions are the most prepotent of
motivators. As educators we are obliged to understand the motivating effects of emotions, how they are learned and how they affect other forms of learning. Our cultural
tradition has tended to focus upon the overt control of our feelings. If we have feelings of any kind we are not to
(Heiszenberg's Uncertainty Principle) then arguments re jecting subjectivity lose much of their credibility.
Another argument used against the treating of
This approach to
from the successes they have an euphoria or tranquility which makes the unpleasant things in life ignorable.
positive emotional base. For such courageous people
In
58
J. C. Powell
57
term.
with anger, hate, envy, or fear, we have done more harm than good, no matter what short term gains in privilege or
power we might have made.
cess.
The great weakness of both the behaviorist and the perceptual theorist is their tendency to ignore or discount
the role of feelings about feelings in the self-actual!zing
process. Unlike observations, feelings have both valence (are positive or negative) and direction, i.e. are focused
toward some person or event. An accumulation of negative
focus of virtually all philosophies and religions from the beginning of man's expanded consciousness. Creativity is the cornerstone of this pursuit. We must not only be able to discover and invent, we must be able to communicate the
value of our discoveries and inventions to others. Discov
ings about these feelings is the source of our attitudes toward specific kinds of situation, and hence our personal
value system.
2.
See:
J.
C.
Powell
59
60
Also, the
effective delivery of service brings the additional reward of the respect and admiration of those we have served. Another aspect of the problem of dealing with
others and to read, review, and examine the creative com munications of our heritage. This approach can be facilitative where knowledge accumulation is concerned so long as the teacher presents these things in an entertaining and enthusiastic manner. That is, she must surround her telling
with positive affect (emotion) in order to communicate. Additionally, the roles of storyteller and entertainer both
have time honored status.
not easily justify to herself the manipulation of child ren's feelings. Children are expected to acquiesce as part
of the traditional deference which should be paid to adults.
When a child fails to do so for whatever reason, he is in
Sanctions (punishment) are expected and the teacher loses face (respect) if she fails to sanction confrontations to
This need to
Instead, she
This
being a performer oneself. It is also less ego rewarding because she must get her satisfaction from the glory she
helps others to gain.
feelings.
a self-effacing role is generally belittled and devalued. To provide the best possible education, we must ask our
teachers to act for the greater good in a manner that is
3' terns of Reciprocal affect. Thus when there is recip rocal positive regard (respect) each partner feels free to assort himself^confront) in the relationship In
this context confrontation is an extremely valuable
part of the educational process.
J.
0. Powell
61
62
and to share.
involves the enhancement of coping skills and the preser vation of integrity through both collaboration and con
should be preselected. This requirement of preselection similarly requires that the system superimposes its will upon the children in its charge. During a liberalization swing in society such as is now occurring, this superimposition is bound to produce a confrontation of wills. In a
context where the confronters lack confrontation skills,
frontation.
and hence the respect for each other (reciprocal positive regard) needed to make these confrontations constructive, anger and frustration destroy the communicative bond. Any attempts on the part of a teacher to maintain
her will in a dominant position during a confrontation
which has a cultural or subcultural bias must be in the
This danger
form of manipulation.
isolating the child and upon the assumption derived from the classical humanism
he
and the related valuing of mental discipline that all
Such an approach
people should be required to memorize in fair depth the oollected knowledge of mankind. Such a concept was still
reasonable until the latter part of the last century and
since then has rendered the totally pragmatic approach It can still be argued that every child should be
general loss of confidence in the educative process by the community at large. Most teachers learn to avoid this
sort of confrontation through adapting the content toward
the interests of most children and making the activities
sufficiently interesting and rewarding that most children object to interruption. If the teacher then deals with
deviance with kindness as well as firmness, she maintains
in current practice.
however, such cross-cultural confrontations are not neces sary. The need for a child to deal effectively with his
feelings arises out of the need to learn to communicate
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66
KNOWING & DOING
is true from any number of apparently supporting observations. Thus, the accepted definition "the process of knowing is related in a one-to-one correspondence with some form of objective reality," is itself patently false.
A less presumptuous approach to "knowledge" of this
Experince can best be defined in terms of the type is to simply refer to it as the accumulated store
Within the model we are proposing for human performance, experience has at best four process subdivisions.
recitation which has meant that those children strong in auditory memory and high in verbal fluency were "successful."
Another form of "knowledge" which is of interest to
The process
seven.
dictated to us from the culturally biased catalogue we call courses of study. In some cases, also, it will involve the reporting of accounts of specific observations designed to support these opinions. In this context, a person holding a contrary opinion is wrong, and one who cannot or will not recite the catalogue for whatever reason is ignorant or stupid, or both.
(a) beaks, (b) feet, (c) nests (d) wings (e) feathers.
How do we answer this question? Ducks have bills
ledge that an opinion is false from one contrary observa tion, but we cannot have absolute knowledge that an opinion
65
J.
C. Powell
67
68
no one right answer to this question. Not all "knowledge" is as badly contrived .or as trivial as these two examples.
discrimination learning.
But it can be argued that all contrived knowledge is trivial if we take the stance that the importance of know
ledge lies in its usefulness and not in its existence...
Observations which are made arising out of predictions made from the discovery of new opinions (or
the number of eggs a robin lays, plus the hatch rate, plus the mortality rate explains the population dynamics of
robins. The fact that an eagle has talons rather than
since understanding assists recollection it is probably safe to classify at least some forms of understanding as
knowledge also. It is at this point which we run into
modification techniques.
the reinforcing element.
For
the proposition "all learning can be reduced to discrimina tion learning" a single contrary example is sufficient for
disproof. The discovery of the cellural structure, of
criterion-referenced tests in education exemplify the realization that knowledge cannot be as easily defined as
once was thought.
An entirely different kind of "knowledge" is found in the self-sustaining behavior changes the learning
theorists talk about. These changes fall into two general categories discriminative changes and performance
changes.
learning can be reduced to discrimination learning. How ever, if we are focusing upon creativity rather than information transmission in our schools, discrimination learning is obviously not of ultimate importance since it cannot lead to our most important learning outcomes. This is not to say that discrimination learning may not be important; particularly with respect to the decoding aspects of communication. All I am suggesting is that the
is the development of the distinction between "b" and "p" required for reading. Some psychologists have suggested
uncritical overgeneralization which is sometimes being made from present research with rats and pidgeons to people by
J.
C.
Powell
69
70
The concept of initiative implies a secondary concept of purposefulness in behavior. Creativity is not possible without
then it must be skill. There is a problem in this approach as well. Shaping involves the successive approximation of
performance to some preselected target by means of contin
gency management. In this paradigm the learner is assumed
purposefulness. Additionally, the components of creativity, as I have already domonstrated, cannot be explained by the
behavior modification paradigm. It follows therefore that some observable behavior occurs for purposes other than the
immediate attainment of a reward.
and error behavior as the contingencies shift. The management of contingencies is not and cannot be performed by the lear
ner.* Within this framework a prediction for an observation
never before made, which is then confirmed through discovery or invention and communicated to others, is simply impossible. In the experiments where animals have been able to manage their own contingencies, their behavior has become unpredic table. In experiments where animals have been encouraged to
emit novel behaviors their behavior has also become
indescribable.
cation then those aspects of behavior which are purposeful become the focus and the present behavior modification para
digms must either be augmented or discarded.
Unfortunately, neither of the two alternatives, the perceptual approach nor the cognitive approach handle pur
not be predicted. Such an observation means that the shaping paradigm does not describe all behavior. For instance, it cannot describe creative behavior. In order to explain crea tive behavior it is necessary to invoke the concept of initia
tive. That is, at least some portions of some behavior originate from within the learner independently of his envir onment and will persist independently of his environment and
poseful behavior with much greater success because they, too, are trying to predict the unpredictable. The psychoanalytic
approach gets itself lost in mystical concepts of unknowable
More recently some behaviorally oriented psychologists have invented the term "auto3haping" for self-managed contin
gencies. Why not call it "initiative?" There would be no
either true or false. Its truth is then contingent upon a number of parameters which are independent of the proposition
72
J. C. Powell
71
itself. Also, H-value logic is open-ended which, as I have already indicated, is a necessary condition for the explan
ation of creativity. Do creative people think contingently
clear demonstration that some forms of performance are enactive. That is, the learner takes the initiative in his environment. A baby seeks the nipple at a very young
age.
Operation in 2-value (True-False) logic is incomplete. Knowledge, then, with a creative focus, is not merely information, or information plus routine skills. Bather, it
also includes knowing how to use information and when to use skills so that particular outcomes can be achieved. In this
context much of human activity is creative if only in a com municative sense. But such creativity also involves feeling
observed. Also, he can cogitate and come to conclusions without readily discernable stimulus antecedents or overt
behavior. Hence, both reaction and enaction can be reflective (internalizing) as well as operative (externalizing).
All three forms of creativity discovery,
etc. as well as observing. None of the facts nor of the proc esses relating these facts can be ignored. Knowledge, then, can be considered only in terms of the total accumulation of
experience a person possesses.
invention, and communication are both enactive and opera tive although they may have enactive (reflective) ante
cedents. The primary observable characteristic of a
when observations contradict it, or when the concept (like the neutrino) is, by definition, unobservable. I am not suggesting
that the universe is devoid of order. On the contrary I am
creative person is that he is both enactive and operative in his performance at least in some critical areas of his life. That is, there are certain situations where he is
not stimulus hound and where he chooses action rather than inaction as an observable course. It is not until a
merely suggesting that the models proposed heretofore as an explanation of this order are oversimplifications which for this reason are subject to their own error in spite of their logical consistency and observational support in strictly
controlled laboratory conditions.
also liberating to others can they be truly liherating to himself. He must act in such a way today that he has a
Finally, if knowing is, at least in part, purposeful, knowing implies doing. As discussed elsewhere* doing may be considered in terms of two separate dichotomies. Behavioral studies clearly show that some forms of performance are reactive. That is, the learner responds to change in his
environment. Similarly, the existence of technology is a
J.
C.
Powell
73
MOTIVATION PROM OUTSIDE OR IN?
of the first half of this century have assumed in good faith that education would fulfil the liberating function-
between rich and poor is no narrower in the developed countries than in the developing countries. Perhaps this
with the dynamics of behavior and consider all behavior to be motivated in some way. Teachers, on the other hand, are
is why the public has lost confidence in our schools. so, we have a ready-made solution at hand. Focus on
creativity. This means more than busywork or more
but learning by doing to the elaborate contrivances
If
Dare we do less?
about the psychological needs of the children in their oharge. It is essentially the mental health approach to
education which has encouraged a view directed to educating the child as a whole. Such an approach requires the teacher
It does not follow, how to consider the needs of the child.
All behavior
It is
possible that the environmental interactions which lead to particular current habitual behavior have been forgotten.
J.
C.
Powell
75
76
purposeful behavior.
ior.
seeking reinforcement can be construed as purposeful behav If the learners they work with did not respond to the
The
the measuring stick for actions gives a serviceable defin ition of a reality principle for evaluating these actions.
prediction of the outcomes of these behaviors in the lear ner's environment. Alternatively, some behaviors are clearly the product of external events, the startle response being
but one example.
Unselfish love, skill in human relations, tolerance of individuality in others are not automatically part of the
human behavioral repertoire. The second problem is that outcomes often have a very broad time and space distribution
making measurement very difficult.
then becomes, what is the relative importance of these cate gories of behavior? At this point I reiterate my stand that
internally-initiated behaviors are potentially more important than externally motivated behaviors because it is these
behaviors which are creative and therefore potentially
liberating.
Freedom of choice
approach is the assumption that satisfying a need does not eliminate needs, but simply changes them.
It is not until the person is able to meet all his lower
is not the only human need nor is it necessarily the immedi ate paramount need for all children. Also, unbridled action can have both positive and negative effects. This fact de
mands either external behavior control or internally-initiated
control of the use of choice. In this context values become
level needs that the highest pursuits of love, truth, joy, beauty, etc. become pressing to him. This approach has
distinctive ramifications to our educational system.
Such unfol
Particularly, he
C.
Powell
77
78
These are:
1) Hedonism
2) Deficiency
3) Growth
Growth theory is the obverse of deficiency theory and stresses the rewarding aspects of increasing coping skills. Need reduction does not explain very well the inclination of
4) Personality
The oldest of these is the hedonistic theory which stresses
the seeking of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. The sup porters of this position take a cybernetic or homeostatic
view of motivation. That is, they believe that there is a
vior.
Maslow's theory is
The common characteristic of these theories is the suggestion that there are internal (temperamental) variables which dic
tate how an individual responds to equivalent situations.
safety needs.
order needs.
problem solver with need or drive reduction being the objec tive. Many ingenious proposals have been put forward to cope For with problems which hedonistic theory does not answer.
vation that some behaviors are directly traceable as respon mental characteristics, however, leads to infinite regres
sions in all but the simplest of environments.
instance, if the learner is seeking equilibrium one would ex pect the learner to spend much of his time in a euphoric or
iorists who tend to be either hedonists or deficiency theorists argue that when a behavior is not directly trace able to an environmental event, the complexity of the environment serves to obscure the initiating stimulus. The initiating stimulus cannot have been obscure to the person
who responded however or he wouldn't have responded to it.
Hence the behaviorist is found to be "begging the question"
which is a logical fallacy.
The second fact of observation is that not all behaviors
deficiency drive known as cognitive dissonance. In fact, the concept of need as prime motivation is congruent with defic iency theory. The main characteristic of this theory is its
emphasis upon the negative, i.e. all need deficiencies are in
J.
C. Powell
oG
79
Motivation clearly
external) to need-definition to action (both internal and external as well as inaction) to some consequence. The ob
jective of a course of action may be drive reduction, problem solving, or growth, but the outcomes may not meet this objec
tive. Drives are reduced only to the degree that the needs
generating them are satisfied by the outcomes of the courses
of this point of view is that safety, and to a lesser extent security needs, are best met within the context of drive reduction or homeostasis. The next higher needs do not emerge until the lower levels are satisfied. Thus people are first and foremost homeostatic in performance. The ability of advanced technologies to provide for the
effective exchange of goods and services makes possible the satisfaction of these needs for large segments of the pop^
ulation with minimal effort. At this point social needs emerge and because social needs are largely other, or out ward directed, the behaviorists' point of view seems to be
generally most applicable.
of action initiated.
satisfy the need, they may frustrate the need, or they may divert the need, generating a new one. Typical of scientific research for instance is the observation that the exploration
of any problem seems to generate more questions than it
answers.
With the social needs being satisfied to an acceptable level esteem needs emerge. At this point personality
theorists make make their most important contribution.
to vary on both oultual and temperamental dimensions.
The
For
tiated fashion to a forest fire. They try to escape. People respond to a forest fire in a variety of ways ranging from fleeing to controlling, to fighting. This is merely one of
many examples which oould be cited.
Thus psychologists tend to be differentiated upon the basis of their orientation to motivation. Those psycholog
ists who focus upon environmental stimuli as antecedent to
behavior are behaviorists. Those who tend to focus upon the problem-solving aspects of behavior are cognitive theorists. Those who tend to focus upon the coping with ambiguityreduction aspects of behavior are growth theorists.
theorists.
Those
effacement becomes practical can meet their esteem needs with ease. At this point fulfilment needs emerge. Such individ uals tend to be entrepreneurial in their outlook and will tend to be either elaborating or constraining in their taCrtics. The tactics they use can be regarded as a scale of
gradations to either extreme with the borderline between
phenomenological theory.
My interpretation
Thus the extreme constrainer, the entrepreneur who exploits the vices or weaknesses of others for the enrichment
J.
C.
Powell
81
0 2
The ex
ers.
the practicing christian. In an open environment the ex treme elaborator is the move valuable person since he is the person who systematically opens opportunities for growth
among others. He is also potentially more powerful because
notable exceptions.
present social order. On the other hand, the higher the level of coping skills any individual has the less disrup tive , the more employable. the more open and dynamic that
person becomes.
Usually
professions as a result.
for instance, where they can act very freely within the con
we have this base of technology it is becoming less neces sary to manipulate the producers of technology because lower
A number enter
level needs can be met by manipulating the technology itself. Nor do the existing power blocks need to give up their
power. They can enhance this power by switching from con
they leave, or defeating and they conform. Some move to teachers' training colleges and universities where they find either an ivory tower where they can pursue their inde pendence with little direct immediate impact, or are con strained by the realities of the political environment into
which they feed the products of their services. Still others
consolidate this enhanced position by encouraging our schools to turn out an ever increasing proportion of skillful
elaborators. The critical element of this new educational demand is for
largely impotent because of bedgetary and manpower limita tions or by the sheer massiveness of the problem.
J.
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33
in others.
EVERYONE IS SPECIAL
For example it
It
teach others how to handle it (even when the problem is theirs and not ours). It is much easier to pursue the
routine approach than to examine the situation for its
precise needs.
incompetent as his degree of avoidance of the challenge of his responsibility to others in any given situation. To dare without knowledge is foolhardy; to dare openly with knowledge is insightful; and to learn from our mistakes when we dare is genius. We can teach both coping and daring concurrently. The necessary knowledge base will acrue along
Finally we
consider the ways in which these similarities and differences relate to the educational proposals we are presenting here.
At the outset the four types of fact we have discussed
with these other skills to the degree that coping and daring
are successful. The greatest advances in our civilization
occurred at the times of greatest daring. upon a planned basis. dared to try?
We now have
cultures. However even simple things like the sun crossing the sky to the south of us is only true north of the Tropic
of Cancer.
Third, within the constraints of personality differences Maslow's need hierarchy seems to apply to all of us. Fourth, if our present assumption that we are living in an open system is true then creativity is more important than
d4
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C. Powell
85
06
competence with existing information. The possibility that routine work can be automated makes the creative aspect of
humanity even more important.
Fifth, the primary characteristic of our most highly developed individuals is their elaborative ability to cope
with ambiguity across broad time and space horizons. Such evidence as is available suggests that this skill is learned
but must be nurtured in an open rather than a closed
educational system.
perament.
thereafter.
Sixth, the greatest weakness of our present socio-economic situation is that those highly developed individuals who lean toward elaborative action and supportive facilitation also
same age may begin talking at different ages, and so on. In effect, if we were to set up a list of the
developmental and maturational sequences we can observe and
tend to be individualistic and independent in their tendency to aotion. Alternatively, those who lean toward constraining
the actions of others for the benefit of the organizations
they manage combine forces into power consortiums which are
used to run our society to the general betterment of restricted segments of that society. Seventh, the general pattern of the motivation and the
achievement.*
have a profile which is a straight line across these lists. In plotting the milestones for each child in this way we observe that no child will have and maintain a straight line
and that no two children's profiles will be or remain
exactly alike.
development of skills seems to be similar for all children. Most children creep, crawl, and then walk, in that order. The ages at which various milestones are achieved by partic
Also, all of us change with time. Not only are we different from everyone else, but we are different from what we were days, weeks, months, years ago. In short, everyone
is unique and constantly changing.
but particular aspects of his observation and the emergence of various cognitive "schema" as well. That is, learning to
think also has a developmental pattern.
procedures I am proposing.
These observations are acknowledged by all educators. If I depart from others it is the way in which these observations
are to be used.
These differences are apparent from birth. To begin with the time from conception to birth varies considerably from child to child, as does size and weight at birth, and physical
appearance although babies look more alike at birth than at
A child's first "word" is usually "da-da." When 50$ of all children have said this word the age of the last of this group of children to say the word is the median age. We
know that the other half will say this word later, and that
some children with delayed speech may have a different
"first word."
J.
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87
age.
We try to maintain for each child as flat a profile That is, we try to make everyone the same.
as possible.
The
The auto
The
style from a closed parochial outlook based upon extended family and a small community to an open continent-wide style
based upon mobility and the nuclear family. It is probable
Oar range of
physical bodies rebel with nervous breakdowns, ulcers, heart attacks, addiction and habituation to mood altering chemical
ingestions. So warped are we away from our true natures and so burdened are we by the necessity of carrying the whole burden ourselves that we put our brains into a drowsy state
This is the point Toffler (1970) makes in Future Shock. The point is that there are always going to be trade-offs
and constraints. Man can fly
energy to do it.
but he expends considerable Also, the range of choice and the potential
The demands that the environ
cotics. This method has worked so well that our prisons, our mental hospitals, our welfare roles, our residential care
centres are full to overflowing with the casualties.
ment is making upon each individual is beyond the capacity of anyoxie to cope unaided. Finally, if werwere to attempt to do
all the things which need to be done and are within our
each of us to be ourselves.
and of service.
J.
C.
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89
90
defeating.
important.
team up with others. But our society is most open at the fulfilment end of the hierarchy where opportunities for elaborative action (and therefore free choice) abound. In
order to be free we must meet the lower needs first. This
unwanted offspring or by leaving themselves open to the possibility for extortion or other forms of undue influence from unscrupulous persons who have access to intimate inform ation. Integrity once lost is considerably more difficult to
regain than it is to retain from the outset.
Freedom of action to
be elaborative, that is to be steadily increasing the range of possible courses of action, must span long time and broad space horizons. Short-term expediency is generally constraning in the long run. It forces the decision maker to move
liason. The esteem needs problem can be resolved on a free exchange basis but socialization actions as singles are now
severely restricted, and neither person has the security of contract for what they have given up. On the longer time horizon children, though wanted and loved, also have the same
insecurity and if the couple separates, the damage to their children's self-esteem can be irreparable. Such liasons are
less dangerous to the individual from an undue influence
planning and careful execution of these plans. Keeping options open is the key to successful coping. But this approach is often misconstrued. A good example of how Maslow's need hierarchy can be applied to action decisions can be found in the "new morality" of today. (This term is
another.
a misnomer because the course of actions advocated are neither tially much more secure financially than is the nuclear
family or the shared households and does not suffer the poten tial of undue influences present in wife sharing arrangements.
The main weakness of the group marriage concept arises from
the fact that people need intimacy and privacy as part of their security and affiliation needs. However, a person can be very intimate with a very limited number of people. Encoun
ter groups have shown that larger groups than diads can be
ualness of the relationship makes no provision whatever for security needs. On a longer time horizon the two persons may have compromised their freedom of action by generating an
In addition to this, living in an open environment is stressful. People engaged in self-actualization cannot do it
J.
C. Powell
91
92
irresponsibility
family
man, wife, and their children. For this reason, it is best if it were
sanctuary quality.
set.
If we define morality in terms of action intended to enhance opportunities for ourselves and others, and immoral
necessary, and freedom is not gained by violating them. move in control patterns from constraint to restraint to
We
It is earned.
second. As two people they form a unit designed to meet the problems of living in a complex world more effectively than
either can achieve separately. Children in such a union have
two purposes. First, they enrich the relationship by grad ually extending the sharing and caring capacity of the couple.
each success and succor from our loved one at each setback.
In such a context it
satisfied his needs at one level influences -she opportunities he has available for satisfying his needs at higher levels.
Only when a
(transferring the strength) the motivation (restoring progress) and the sense of self-worth (from long-term success) in each child to solve the problem. An open
J.
C. Powell
93
OUT
OF THE DARKNESS
individual they are becoming with special competencies to share with others so that all can cope better. In this
concept of education we start with the observable fact that
In order to deal effectively with human characteristics we need to extend our concept of facts
somewhat further. One fact of observation is that some
The
everyone is unique and through an elaboration process we hope to achieve a workable form of the construct:
IS SPECIAL!
EVERYONE
Toffler. Alvin
An effective unitary
Another thing we have to account for in our approach is the diversity among humanity. Why do two people who observe the same event often give quite different reports of that event? .Vhy do some people succeed in our present
approach to education when others don't?
If each nerve cell is itself an analogue computer responding to energy configurations or patterns and are connected to each on a digital basis much of the operation of the brain can be explained. However, there still remains a problem that contact between one part of the
brain and another seems to occur without neural connection.
It is obvious that the brain resembles a digital computer in its structure, but its operation has remained a mystery.
96
J. C. Powell
9?
lifetime project. This type of flux cannot be expected to occur unless each individual involved has a high level of
temperatures.
and/or coherent. Ball lightning, for instance, is still an enigma, and northern lights are still regarded as a high altitude phenomenon in spite of the insistence of people who have lived in the north that this phenomenon
comes to the ground. Work with high energy plasmas have
"noisy." Our attention-focusing processes and our think ing probably drowns out these more subtle incursions
not yet clarified what makes for coherence or integrity in a force field, but very high frequencies seem to be
involved. We would expect, then, to find high frequency
emanations from an active brain.
psychoanalytic writings may be those parts of brain activ ity, such as breathing, which are outside our "stream of
consciousness." It may also include the range of sublimrinal and extrasensory responses which do not reach the conscious level. It is possible that hallucinatory drugs
Such
If this approach is correct then true love or true friendship might be explained in terms of the steady
increase in harmonious extrasensory flux between or among individuals as common experiences and understanding
increase.
will be needed.
reduce or remove from consciousness particular activities like breathing, and habitual behaviors after they have
expended.
J.
C.
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97
9b
observations to the objective bystander. If we can have operative output, what about
reflexive output?
tion of terms.
pay for this gain is egocentricity and alienation. If, however, we are too unrealistic in this process, our repeated failures to cope can lead to a data overload
wherein our consciousness cannot control or override the
This possible
II.
Reflective - Operative*
III.
Input - Output**
1. 2. 3.
4.
Reactive - reflective - input (Peeling) Enactive - reflective - input (Observing) Reactive - operative - input (Peelings about feelings) Enactive - operative - input (Porming opinions)
5.
6.
'
These two dimensions are developed in the section entitled "Knowing and Doing."
Newly introduced in this section.
100
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99
7.
Reactive - operative
8.
Enactive - operative
Figure 2
<ubC
of action.
DEHAVloA
standing levels, the subconscious may well be cleared of its ominous and threatening reputation and become the
center for spiritual growth rather than terror and action paralysis. It is interesting to note that a three-dimensional
Unconsciov
model for human performance is not original with myself. The best known one is Guilford's model for intelligence. My approach is quite different, however, since I am trying
to work out a model for total human performance and not just one aspect of it. If we can draw the present model as a cube we make some interesting observations. The exposed six faces can
be generalized as shown in Pigure 2.
iRRATrOftlAt
AW/o
INSERT PIGURE 2
HERE
J.
C.
Powell
101
102
Also,
irrational or
nonrational, and unconscious behavior become legitimate parts of observable behavior. These six faces are:
Information and
planning. 1.
2. 3.
4. 5.
must be "recollecting."
Where does Type II invention (materializing an idea) fit in? Perhaps between opinion-formation and
implementation. Would discovery be the opposite process to the materialization process, and so on... In retrospect, the model I have presented here has
proven to be very interesting in its development. Intro
6.
ducing a rational basis for ESP and other paranormal phenomenon and suggesting that these experiences are generally seated in the "unconscious" has helped to
pupilometry and eye fixation studies, and indirectly in memory and discrimination studies.
The eight small cubes or cells are our eight forms
seem to emerge from this unconscious area, the importance of positive interpersonal relationships (love) with their
positive ESP counterparts helps to explain the need for
other.
However, some
acknowledgement of an ESP component in life suggests that we are sensitive to the unconscious and unexpressed att
itudes of others as well as those openly stated. Hence, if a person's "vibrations" contradict their verbal and/or
nonverbal messages they become suspect. Cultural dif
entertailing.
The
Also,
J.
C.
Powell
SUMMARY
103
Little, W. A. Superconductivity at room temperature Scientific American. Vol. 212 (2) Feb. 1965.
From the arguments put forward in this part of the work
Of the several models proposed, one that is open and growth oriented would seem to be the most likely to explain
all human phenomena.
The model actually proposed is derived from Maslow but
Insert FIGURE 3
Here
this.
Others
106
between OBSERVATIONA and HABITUAL ACTIONS would clearly be shaping as defined by the behaviorists and possibly the
reverse would be discriminating.
Creativity seems to be a fact of observation as to the primary characteristic which distinguishes humans from other
W
2
0
animals. It is difficult to explain creativity within approaches which deny purposeful behavior. Also, it seems clear that morality can be defined in psychological as well
as philosophical terms once certain assumptions are made.
is 2. of
rfj-
If our universe is open rather than closed, the only logical way for mankind to grow is to expand the range of alternatives open to us by using our creativity. But selfish use of creativity or the abuse of our fellows by
alternatives rather than elaborate them.
IS
c of
context the "old-fashioned virtues" are actually part of the ultimate nature of the Universe rather than the opiate of the masses as Marx suggested. And the hero of the piece becomes the positively self-actualizing person just as
Maslow predicts.
P-
led me to the conviction that this positively oriented self-actualizing person is actually the practicing Christian. Much of the mystery goes, as does all of the
puerile narrowness most of which is derived from The Old
Testament anyway.
if the
integrated and coherent force field hypothesis holds. In this case such spiritual phenomena as mediumship and life-
after-death the indestructability of the man in harmony with his universe all become plausible within the knowledge
of the physical sciences.
C.
Powell
107
we habitually treat our fellows, including the way we educate them, nothing short of criminal. Is this opinion both the challenge and the prospect? If so, many exciting possibilities emerge let us
explore these ideas further...
PART THREE
points of view.
Is there more In
106
110
OUTS
OP
IT
"1
There are a number of writers in administrative
science who have been busily pursuing the latest band wagon of management systems analysis. Systems analysis is essentially a computer-based
hi
anisms (cybernetics).
central concepts: 1.
2,
input
process
3,
4.
output
feedback
some process and the transformed version then forms an output. Some form of regulation is built in through feed
back either to the process or to the input. As an example,
Thus, feedback
Powell, J.
Ill That Precious Moment
:.
112.
by their needs.
Outputs can be any of the full range of goods and services available in our elaborate economy. Also, parts
within the system can be analysed in the same manner as a
total system.
from the observation that human invention and discovery clearly demonstrates that the human network is an open and
dynamic system. We are faced with a dilemma. It is
evident that so long as the information levels are man
charts which are more elaborate but identical in principle to Figure 4.. Everything is so neat, so pretty, so sanitary
that it is very tempting to use systems analysis for
everything.
information transmission and behavior modification (both of which can be considered static and closed) is amenable to a systems analysis approach. Alternatively, a school
system oriented toward the uniqueness of the individual
But systems analysis contains a number of problems if applied indiscriminately. To begin with, every system
operates within a field of other impinging systems. Where a simple system is concerned, the impingement of these
and the elaborative development of creativity is not amen able to systems analysis as an overall approach to planning. With these concepts in mind systems analysis can be used to look at parts of a school system, provided that it is used creatively and it is kept in mind that in open
systems the whole is often greater than the sum of its
As systems
parts. It should also be remembered that a procedure based upon inappropriate assumptions is only useful within very
narrow limits and in the absence of an alternative more
appropriate procedure.
113
The basic principle of accountability arises out .of a commendable idea. People spending or receiving public funds should be held responsible for ensuring its appro
priate use.
objectives, the design of programs to meet them, and the determination of resource requirements to implement these
programs looks like a problem for systems analysis.
What is not so obvious is that some kinds of
The easier it
objective.
Figure 5.
that preschool children would have trouble answering this question with the "correct" response "C." The problem is that each of these answers is "logical" and each is possible within special conditions. If we assume that the toy boat is
J.
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115
116
correct.
objective. The lowest is represented by the young child who has insufficient understanding of "floating" to be able to select among the alternatives, or level 0 understanding.
For a child to arrive at the "correct" solution in these
circumstances it must be either a matter of "chance" in
The next higher level of understanding involves the child's ability to transfer the concept correctly into novel
situations.
skills leading up to it for which systems effective. The seeking of single answers trived problems are easy to structure and Hence most accountability approaches have
program in advance.
tended to concen
wer without understanding the principle hence the only cer tain method of separating level 0 from level 1 understanding
arises in the ability of the child to explain as well as
state the true state of affairs.
Three "R" skills. No evidence indicates support in general education terms for any one set of content over any other,
and with a surfeit of information available selection becomes
seems to be "normally" distributed as would be expected for "random" events, and the retention or "decay" curves and the
each might occur. Once again, a first encounter with a given problem requires insight. So, we have three levels, the per
son who doesn't know, and discovers, the person who knows and
can apply, and the person who knows, and who applies and who
elaborates through discovery and/or invention.
The message
Let us reconsider Figure 5 If the water is grozen alternati-ve A gives the correct transformation. If the mast is fastened to the side of the bottle alternative B is
correct. And finally if the water is frozen and the hull
is preheated and inserted just prior to tipping the bottle then alternative D is correct. In other words, there is a
*0
00
I
3
o
I
R
(T
120
adults write the wisdom of the ages. It may be that the child is "mentally retarded" or "emotionally disturbed" or "delinquent." In any case, the child is either viewed as needing protection or needing removal from society to
protect society.
in order to preserve a limited number of employment pos sibilities for adult workers, or to enable both parents or the single family head to work. Or it may be that the
child has proven dangerous to himself or others or otherwise
needs "therapy" in a "closed" environment.
In this paper I will present my own formulation of the Carlton paper. I have already proposed a threedimensional model for human 'behavior. It is reasonable to
incompetent, the superimposition of adult will upon the children is quite legitimate. This superimposition jus
tifies the almost exclusive use of extrinsic motivation in the development of a learning atmosphere.
Arising out of the Cartesian tradition of the blank
page, we also find a focus upon knowledge. Knowledge is seen as a commodity of high value. It is the narrowly held expertise of the professional, and as such the route
to "upward mobility." Knowledge in a scientific sense is also "theraputic" because we can use it to tell us what is
(Knowing - Doing). Finally, we can parallel the dimension of Mode of Environmental Interface (Input - Output) with
"Approach to Authority" (Public Concensus - Individual Responsibility).
When we approach the school from these three
"true" and "right." Because of the "punishment" emphasis of the entrinsic motivation, learning is not expected to be
fun. Therefore, information, when transmitted in the
school.
In
It may be simply
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Powell
121
122
Even the
ity.
the group.
For this
in the community.
Such a school is often as much a social center for
legitimate both logically and practically in a range of special situations wherein "incompetence" can be assumed.
The tendency of some "working class" parents to avoid
contact with the school may arise from their view of the
school as a baby-sitting institution which is charged with the responsibility of making their children competent.
setting.
school.
acceptance of the familial model, as are the schools of closed religious sects.
issue.
A.
basis of incompetence, but on the basis of the preservation of the "good name" of the family, community or school. The primary focus where information is concerned is "getting along." (Jetting along with others socially,
do little to develop creativity. To be effective, however, these schools must be small, and the community feeding the
school have a relatively stable population. The increase
J.
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124
The inventive
breakthrough which opens new possibilities is often beyond level one of affective understanding (understanding oneself).
The Religious Model It will depend upon the situation whether schools espousing the religious model are more or less open than familial schools. Where the sense of family is extended upon lines of religious affiliation the geographical and
economic model.
allocation.
model for schools are concerned those who know how to han
dle resources efficiently are the ones who should have the
world.
skills. Hence doing rather than knowing becomes paramount. For efficiency's sake, people are to be as interchangeable as possible so that the minimum qualifications at any level
of accomplishment must be as uniform as possible. Motiva tion is extrinsic and based upon material rewards for
Discipline tends to be
Such
schools often produce a very pleasant working atmosphere, particularly with the "in group." Outsiders, however may
In these latter respects, the economic approach, although varying widely among examples, tends to be more open than
As we will see later, the establishment of familial schools in city center may prove an effective strategy
for breaking the poverty cycle.
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126
That Precious
Moment
125
of powerful individuals.
as an approach to authority.
differences in the dominant cultural values between regions and upon the ability of special interest groups to motivate
their membership to action. Thus the political model
or regional special interests (as contrasted with universal ity or the Heavenly Kingdom) knowledge becomes focused upon
"good citizenship." This term is variously defined but generally stresses national heritage and tradition, patri
ally held more broadly than in the economic model and per
suasion becomes more important than knowledge, the political model is generally more open than the economic model.
The Collegial Model
otism (as exemplified by national heroes) and selfsacrifice to the greater interest of the nation. Such skills as we encourage are considered as assets or resour
Another sharp contrast can be drawn where the collegial model is concerned. This approach tends to focus
interest in regulating, certificating, accrediting, etc. the various aspects of education in order to "ensure a
minimum standard of excellence" in the overall operation of
the school.
It was Jefferson who said that "the function of
upon the necessary knowledge base for the development (in graduate school) of invention and discovery skills. At its
ultimate, the prime focus of the endorsers of the collegial
approach is the pursuit of new knowledge for its own sake.
regulations of public behavior, the allocation of scarce resources, and the provision for national security. To
Since resear
J.
C.
Powell
127
128
These are the seven models which Carlton presented although I have discussed them in somewhat different terms.
The Humanizing Model
keep those who are likely to "tarnish" the image of the pro fessions out of them. Screening is rigorous and inter
personal competition stiff. Openness in intellectual areas
This
standing (brings understanding among others) which shifts the learner's approach to authority from consensus (even among a community of experts) to individual responsibility in the sense of shared competence or "Brother's Keeper." Deliberately opening alternatives for others is the most open of all possible courses of action. Since this approach tends to help others to be their best possible selves, I am calling
this approach to education the Humanizing Model. Of course I consider this last approach the ideal one
in the "concensus of ignorance" which the political model can generate, many educators are now advocating an attempt
but I have no illusions that it could (or perhaps even should) be universally implemented in the near future. Also, there
are situations where each of these eight models are approp riate. Clearly, children who are a danger to themselves and/or
others need something akin to the custodial model. As Maslow
For youth who might otherwise be trapped in a poverty cycle the economic model approach to making them employable and hence meeting security needs may be a legitimate approach to
secondary education for these individuals. Before a person can stand on the strength of his own competence, he must still be able to have some form of strength to protect him
Like the political model, the community focuses upon level two of affective understanding (i.e. understanding others) but the purpose of this focus is "enlightened
self-interest" rather than "persuasion."
self from the tyranny of the ill-advised or ignorant group. The religious model would seem to have superiority in this aspect of education just as the collegial approach seems to be necessary to produce first line theoreticians. The familial model seems to have proven very
effective where very young children are concerned in both
J.
C.
Powell
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146
interrelated.
3.
pupil-art not teacher-art. And the desks only rarely will be found in row patterns. In fact, chairs, tables,
carpets, cushions replace desks in the more progressive
schools of this type.
We should ask several teachers how they are implementing the philosophy of the school. They should be
each child separately, designed to meet his or her unique development needs, with interaction planned to encourage solidarity and a sense of belonging to a special group.
Interpersonal conflict and the malicious
able to tell us exactly how they do this, show us examples of pupil work which illustrates the procedures they
describe.
punishing manner which merely aggravates the problem). Individualized programs are more effectively operated if the school does not purchase class sets of textbooks. Also, grouping by interest is more effective in many instances than grouping by achievement. We should also observe a good deal of sharing and helping of each other. Older pupils will be actively helping the skill development of younger ones. Teachers
Schools of this type work best for the eight to eleven age group or Grades three to six, and can be some what larger (say up to twenty teachers) than the familial
schools.
workbooks or stencils.
learning materials.
between the familial and the custodial. The familial school being full of singing, laughter, and sound of
J.
C.
Powell
147
148
activity.
presence.
able to genuinely prepare youth for vocational entrance. I realize that this approach shortens the training time and in the short run puts heavy demands upon the new
so. However, I have a checklist available for parents who want a guide to assist them in assessing the type of school they are observing and its quality. The economic model for schools relates primarily
to secondary and post secondary institutions.
respect I have a particular bias
In this
which is that if an
require more competent people for their solution than the combined potential output of all the world's schools over the next generation, if we could start this more effective
approach tomorrow.
appropriate development of children is produced by the schools before the age of sixteen, post secondary voca
We cannot
The child, by
If he. or she
long for such short-run contingencies. No, to be effective human resources development planning must lead expected conditions by at least ten years, and better, twenty, or a full generation. How then, should a prospective pupil or his or her parents select a school for vocational prepar ation? To begin with, most vocational schools today tend to follow a boom or bust cycle. An an example, in recent
years the sale of gasoline-powered equipment for industrial and recreational use has vastly exceeded the number of
auto mechanics shop, and many people will think the same,
so that when the energy crunch hits about twenty years from
now repairmen for internal combustion engines will be a
glut on the market.
150
J.
C.
Powell
149
level occurs.
To
for the western nations to fail to control current infla tion and to have the resulting depression lead to a third world war. Wartime has always been a time of rapid
technological growth.
potentially profitable areas for consideration. In agri culture, also, both government policy and agribusiness are
moving to assure supplies and stablized markets.
resourceful person. As our population becomes more affluent and better
through the second generation space probes, the beginning of colonization and the beginning of the third generation
interstellar probes during his or her expected working
career.
Hence
informed they are becoming more discriminating in their purchasing habits. For this reason, marketing technology,
which is burgeoning now, and will continue to do so for
fifteen or twenty years and will then level off. We
trends. Recreation, counselling, education, all have bright futures as our orientation shifts from things to
people.
should not enter this area if our training time is longer than five years because all the ground floor positions
will be gone after that time.
If we are looking to a period of training of five to ten years, then transportation technology is ideal
since important shifts toward mass transit are foreseeable
It will
tations, however, provide momentum as well by attracting both high power students and high power faculty. The key
word is INVESTIGATE.
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C.
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151
152
The decision tree is then corrected or augmented with the findings of the investigation and the best route
The
chosen.* The tree should include both short and long term goals. For instance, the Grade Nine pupil may have to pass Math 10 with an A to be certain of an Honors High
School graduation, and he may need the latter to be cer
schools.
Schools which demand achievement must also provide opportunities for development within their offerings. The
They
Parents
There is no such thing as failure when a reality testing approach like this is used; only setbacks. It is
because the self-actualizing person approaches life in
To do less
Vocational and professional schools at the present tend to take a shorter view than this. They pride them
selves upon their placement rates in the first job fol
Faking it is a game in
Who
lowing graduation.
I personally am in my fourth
Hence momen What
There is a mathematical procedure for determining the best route which is too involved to be discussed here.
154
The
Benjamin Pranklin,
"Open the door, Richard," runs the first line of an old song. Someone is not responding to the needs of others.
This is what alienation is all about.
perspective and become alone.
When each of us
to Europe as a model.
What
Based upon
Lyceum (supposedly because of its Greco-Roman origins), the Gymnasium, or (in England) the Grammar School (because
Latin grammar was taught there), this school was a formal
approach to education.
recitation
and "Socratic"
come about much more accidentally and much more subtly than even Fromm considered in his remarkable essay Escape from
Freedom.
to the point of expressing the predetermined outcome of a sequence of questions. The approach was justified by such
Baconian (scientific) method of enquiry.
Century the so-called Age of Reason,
Part of our problem in education in North America arises out of our uncritical borrowing of an educational
Available on request.
153
tion in Europe when we borrowed the original models. We missed an important point, however. The education of European Aristocracy for the entrepreneurial, diplomatic and military careers was superimposed upon an
J.
C.
Powell
155
156
oversimplification.
fare.
to talk. Content analysis of great literature was a deep ening experience elaborating the understanding of materials
which were common knowledge among these children.
an elitist education for the elite.
It was
As such it was an
than on inheritance.
success.
extremely effective method for the preparation of the youth for the leadership roles they were expected to assume in an essentially static society. The system had another advantage. In a society where the bulk of the population had no formal education but who were being needed more and more in the record keeping segment of a burgeoning indus
trial complex people could be repositories of information
and were of immense value.
system.
We often forget that both public libraries and mass education are actually 20th Century phenomena.
talking about such complex concepts is not generally very broadly effective, and attempts to get pupils to practice
democracy have generally been abortive.
Part of the problem has been that the school
cultural background. But a two-level education system here was untenable because of our deep involvement in the great
egalitarian experiment. It is natural that we chose the
preneurs in Europe.
Democracy is a system of
American children, however, their first encounter with "great literature" was in school, as was shown when the
detailed analysis was conducted. The effect of this situ
remote from their experience anyway), and to develop a hearty dislike for this type of material along with the
anti-intellectualism characteristic of our present North
American culture.
problems than the industrial or post-industrial society. The first requirement of the democratic system is a well informed electorate, like the aristocracy of ancient Athens or the House of Lords in England. In both of these
cases the governors were selected from the well educated
segment of society.
J.
C.
Powell
157
158
also responsible to the well educated segment of the society. In addition to being a gentlemen's club, the
democratic form of government also originated as an off
done more, and done more harm, than any other approach to
education.
world that is not in some form of deep political trouble at the moment. This is not to say that any of the other
forms of government which mankind has experimented with are any better for a postindustrial society. Probably the best form of government for a postindustrial society is the adhocracy coined by Bennis. But in order to work, the
network of trust being discussed in this book is necessary
function is to preserve the professions for a select few The basis for the selection process is interpersonal
democracy as a form of government is more flexible than any other when transition to new, even more open, forms of
governance are being considered.
Psychologists
It is important, then, that pupils know the kinds of knowledge and skills which are necessary to make democracy or some more open form of government work. It is obvious
that honest and honorable people need less regulation of
their activities than do others. Resource allocation is
environmental, and maturational factors which affect the timing of this point of readiness. Some children can and
do learn to read at the age of three, others may be nine
still a necessary function and the supervision of service delivery is still essential.
or ten before they can start this complex process. Putting five and six year olds together into a common reading pro gram provides opportunity to excel, for some, and dooms
others to failure. The failure is obvious and immediate.
handled,
early adolescence following the development of a strong sense of ethics, and before vocational or professional
The teacher, and some of the pupils obviously make sense out of those peculiar marks on the page. Some manage to "fake it" by becoming skillful picture readers, and developing excellent memories. However, as they advance through the grades the pictures in the books become too
few and the memory burden too great. Thus, the first pupils who learn to read have, and generally maintain, a
J.
C.
Powell
160
159
competetive edge.
If this form of
often suffer serious damage to their self-concept; the most intelligent and sensitive are hurt the most deeply. Collegial schools continue this weeding out process,
pitting pupil against pupil until only the most facile have managed to survive. Each ia honed against the other
until his tongue is razor sharp, his wit is acid, and his willingness to score points for himself by tearing another to shreds is deeply ingrained. He is then prepared to
enter the sterile and puerile "publish or perish" world of
the academic.
To humanize our society we must learn how to live together not apart. Although each has a contribution
sanctity of his knowledge haven by insisting that knowledge for the sake of knowledge is the only legitimate pursuit of man. Men of action are ignoble individuals because they
condescend to do things.
It
Furthermore, to develop the penetrating theoretician, it may be necessary to subject those inclined in this way to
precissly this kind of rigorous training.
(Anchor). 1954.
with the insistence by the supporters of the collegial model that we must subject all children to this devastating
process for the sake of producing a limited number of
intellectual leaders. Rather, I believe that the model is too broadly applied, and that it generates the lack of trust across disciplines which has prevented the full
utilization of professional human potential to date.
162
number of alternatives and pursue work in a project or contract format. Counselling, particularly vocational
The cus
respect the main difference between the familial and the community schools is that in the familial school most con
tracts are confined to the parents of the children in the
school. In the community school these contracts are with
the community or philosophical constraints. If inappropriately applied both of these can be alienating as
well.
business, entertainment, etc. as well as with the parents. Observing such a school we see a wide range of course offerings, and the pupils generally industriously
engaged. The student government is usually strong and carries a responsible role in the internal operation of the
school.
drama, etc.
students (or in the secondary school, the pupils) so that a mutual exploration of environmental and theoretical
issues is established.
a broad competetive and team work reputation. Such schools often have specialized programs in such areas as performing arts, usually having more applicants than positions.
Staff meetings are interesting and generally
At the present time, this model seems to function best after preliminary competences have been established, as in a progressive and dynamic graduate school. Some extraordinary secondary schools have managed this same
atmosphere.
Similar
productive. The principal of the school is usually a strong personality who keeps the meeting moving briskly, and keeps them focused upon the issues under discussion. These meet ings deal , in general, with matters of import. It is usually fascinating to watch such a person chair a meeting. He usually endeavours to have every issue require a "yes"
or "no" decision. If more than two different opinions are
J. C. Powell
163
164
Princeton, Sloane
expressed he will subdivide the issue into two or more issues in order to restore the "yes," "no" balance. Thus he keeps building decision trees on issues, and guiding
Western Ontario.
generally dedicated, hard working, and intelligent individ uals, through lack of adequate training, schools are gener
ally rather badly managed. This fact may be part of the reason why the public has lost confidence in our schools and has expressed this loss of confidence by restrictions
in budgets over the past five years. I have attended four high schools as a pupil, taught
If
in seven, and supervised in several others, totaling about twenty. Only one of these would I classify as a genuine
community school. This is the only statistic I have to work with, which suggests about five per cent of all sec ondary schools are of this ilk. I stand to be corrected on this and have prepared some measuring instruments which can
be used to determine the status of any particular school in the eightfold system presented here. I have neither taught in nor observed a humanizing
style.
school although I have heard about several which suggests that they are rare enough to be newsworthy. Perhaps one
in one thousand schools. About one in twenty teachers seem
Small
pay their manager two to three or even more times the salary a secondary school principal is usually paid. When competing on the market for management talent, there is generally no contest. Only rank beginners, or the unsuc cessful will apply at these rates. Hence, attempts to put
businessmen in as principals have generally failed. Alternatively, appointing teachers out of the
expect organized chaos to reign. Students would be com peting with their own past performances, setting their own
objectives, evaluating their own progress.
In addition, much emphasis would be placed upon the sharing of emerging competences, upon developing human and
interpersonal relations skills. As such, formal subjects of study may not exist and classrooms would be expected to be
166
J. C.
Powell
165.
style.
centers.
Nor will we find timetables in the traditional Meetings are scheduled as appropriate
Pupils will be engaged mainly in individual and group projects under the facilitative supervision of the teaehers. Sometimes contracts will be used to help set objec
tives and standards. Pupils may spend much of their time
outside of the school building in newspaper archives,
schools could provide training in how to manage such an oper ation and the futurology outlook. The better humanistic
university libraries, the municipal council chamber, the courtroom, etc. Curriculum emerges as a continuing process from the study activities and the shifting interest matrix as pupils gain, and increase their competence. To accomplish such a schooling, a strong foundation
must be laid beforehand.
with elsewhere.
in communication arts and technology could provide the knowhow in the engineering of learning environments. Unfortun
The staff will spend long hours working through cooperative curriculum development, and in committee
meetings with students keeping all activities coordinated and program content tight enough to meet diploma demands. Staff meetings, on the other hand, tend to be perfunctory and rubber stamp because practically all policy is set up
in committees involving all pertinent individuals including
community members as needed. Another distinctive feature of this type of school is the fact that there is no clear transition point between
Finally, such a school would be expected to devote a heavy emphasis to avocational as well as vocational inter
ests. Long time horizons, and broad space horizons are
treating
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170
SUMMARY
However, where I
direct route.
collegial.
( ) provides a scenerio from the extrapolation of many present trends in education. It sounds in many ways
similar to the community and humanizing schools described
in this part of the present book.
school buildings.
However, he makes the same error as other theories in trying to expound one ideal approach rather than a
composite.
My own approach is to propose a variety of alternatives depending upon the situation and the nature of the poten
tialities of the pupil population. Figure 6 gives a network diagram illustrating this point.
the needs, aspirations, learning style, competency level and community situation of each learner. Once these several
variety of learning atmospheres must be available. The eight models for schools help us to bring these diverse
considerations into focus and also help us develop a means for dealing with them.
This part of this book has proposed that there is no such thing as the school system. Rather, there are a
of this book looks at the diversity among learners, both fundamentally and along the developmental continuum.
Schools of the future will be more characterized by
Any of the outcomes can be achieved from any starting point although some paths may be circuitous, this time depending upon the progress of development and the emerging
goals of the learner.
PART FOUR
YOUR WAY OS MINE?
ON GROWING UP
child is so different from another that the suggestion that we attempt to individualize instruction is overwhelming. In the life sciences, however, as we progress further,
we find certain fundamental characteristics repeated over and over again. The same is true with children. As educators we do not need to meet all the needs of each child at the same time. Ordinarily, two or three, or
halves of the brain can act independently to influence the nature of human interaction, and hence human culture.
In this case, we would tend to expect two or perhaps three general orders or classes of human culture, one
kinesthetic group of cultures (K culture), a language oriented or literate group of cultures (L culture), and
possibly an integrative form of culture which relates to
lappings among these various cultural groups. convenience, I will treat each as distinct.
However, for
The
172
J.
C.
Powell
173
174
socialists tend to broadly divide our society into three classes. Freud talks of three subdivisions of the person
Harris, (I'm CK -
You're CK) talis about the Parent, Adult, Child triad of transactional analysis. (1969) Guilford analyzes intel
ligence in three dimensions. Three is common in folklore
The nonlinear aspect of thinking would tend to produce intense emotional responses, and to generate deep hos tility as well as intense joy. To preserve safety such cultures would tend to try to avoid confrontation and per haps to seek tranquility in meditation and through mystioism. Thus we would expect such phenomena as serial love
In this
In this
oriented) and a work hard, play hard philosophy with a hedonistic emphasis of work as little as possible, grid
play as much as possible. If the worker feels that he is
being exploited (gaining les3 than his employer for his efforts) he may engage in a variety of subterfuges such as
sabotage, rip-offs, slack-offs, absenteeism, etc. In our present terms such a person tends to function
primarily in a reactive fashion and hence in the bottom
physical action), aesthetics (love, truth, beauty) and creativity (illogic or nonlogic), and possibly emotionality
which seems to emerge from this part of the brain.
half of our cube. We would find feelings, and feelings about feelings predominating in input, and expressing un
conscious drives and displaying largely habitual and reflex
If we were to extrapolate from present knowledge to a culture based primarily on left hemisphere functioning,
what do we get?
(stereotyped) behavior.
We can recognize in this description the paleolithic (old stone age) man whose culture would seem to have survived from preclassical times among the illiterate
peasants of Europe, the tribalisms of Africa and of the North American "Indian." Its flowering seemed to have
To begin with, the short time and narrow space horizons would tend to make the person live in the present only.
J.
C.
Powell
175
176
The
cultures has an ancient and noble history, derived as it is from the hunting and fishing cultures of man's antiquity.
This expres
approach to business.
the patronage approach to power in contrast to the cor ruption approach of the K cultures.
subtle corruption.
Patronage is not
intelligent in a different manner than the linear logic characteristic of intelligence tests. The collapse of
these cultures into their various degenerate forms may be
overt, and need not involve direct transfer of money. More common with patronage is the ascriptive transfer of power by individuals for the purpose of gaining privilege from
the powerful.
The historical origins of the 1 cultures is much more recent than the K cultures, being perhaps no more than ten
The right hemisphere of the brain wherein may be seated linear logic and language, would be expected to produce
sharply different from the K set of cultures.
when used formally would suggest that such cultures would have relatively longer time and broader space horizons than
the K cultures.
populace. The L cultures have never represented the total population of any country, but being power oriented and
very efficient in the management of materials these cul
tures have dominated their geographic regions wherever they
Marriage, for instance, would be long term affairs, if only for the sake of the children. Cheating would be permissible, provided one is not caught. In fact, reason
justifies all in the L set of cultures so that we can expect this set of cultures to be amoral (having no morals)
rather than immoral (not able to live up to the cultural
gifts.
J.
C. Powell
177
178
cultures as well.
Representatives of the L cultures tend to be enactive and tend to represent the top half of our cube. These are characteristically represented by people who bury their emotions, endeavor to observe accurately, form supportable opinions based upon observations and linear logic, and
These
Such a person
is unbeatable, in life the pinnacle of a service-oriented movement, in death a hero or martyr, an object of
adulation.
Not very many famous people have reached this pinnacle in two thousand years of history Jesus, of course, and
You will notice that I am suggesting that the impact of these cultures have been dramatically swift less than
two hundred years in Western Europe, less than 150 years in North America, less than seventy years in Russia, and less than thirty years in China has transformed essentially
agricultural economies to industrial ones.
The M Culture
steadily increases as point of contact with Universal Power Some, like Kuhlman and Roberts become foci for healing, others like Dixon become prophets, or like Rous seau, Pestalozzi, Montessori, Dewey, or Neal become teachers.
The power of these individuals far exceeds their
contemporaries.
competence.
because the explicit founder of this culture formed less than two thousand years ago is a single person, Jesus of Nazareth. Second, I use the singular because this culture
has a number of universal aspects which tend to bring its
That is,
K cultures tend to be regionalistic in viewpoint, 1 cul tures tend to be nationalistic in viewpoint, and the M
culture universalistic in viewpoint.
relative obscurity.
J.
C.
Powell
179
people.
THE EYE OF
THE BEHOLDER
have developed the cynergy which characterized the indus trial revolution produced by the L culture.
There is a controversy raging behind the scenes among philosophers and psychologists about the nature of reality. Close examination leads the most solid objects to become
mostly empty space. We have to revert to sense data
If our schools deliberately set out to produce selfactualizing people, rather than to prevent their develop ment as we do now, this marginal transformation would oceur very quickly and the transformation could be accomplished in thirty to forty years. Is there a need for this much haste? The prophets of
The
for continuity in experience. The focus is generally on the inclusion operation rather than the disjoint exclusion op eration. For instance electromagnetic energy is seen as a
spectrum ranging from very long radio waves through short
doom and gloom give us about fifty years before the popul ation explosion in K culture areas swamps our L culture by
sheer weight of demand for food. About the same time scale is given by the antipolutionists before we poison our oceans to the point where we shut off our supply of oxygen.
waves, visible light and ultimately, X Rays and cosmic rays. This spectrum is seen as continuous. Perhaps it is, although the possible effects of different wave length are substan
tially different.
The nuclear arms race with India now in the club, and Israel and the Arab nations clamouring at the door may give
us even less than fifty years.
is a very different phenomenum from light, and is more akin to mechanical forms of energy transmission. Gravity must be a form of energy since it imparts an acceleration to objects
yet it seems to be discontinuous with either sound or
electro-magnetic phenomena.
In my view,
redesigning education to develop 3elf-actualizers is the most effective and simplest method to accomplish this task.
continuous hence the impression of empty space. Are there other forms of energy which we have not yet detected? Most probably. Spiritual forces for instance
sometimes affect photographic processes but in a discon
Harris, Thomas A.
A practical guide to
transactional analysis
J.
C. Powell
181
162
Ft GU R E
This pressure for continuity has had its impact on educational practice as well. We have been searohing for the one method which is most effective for teaching. In this we have failed miserably. As recently as this year
method would not be likely to develop the verbal fluency of the learner as well as the seminar method, nor the written fluency as well as the project method. Why do we continue,
then, to compare these three methods only on information
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acquired? If the methodology is discontinuous, the results should be also. In this situation it is helpful to know that alternative methods of teaching do not interfere with the amount of information transmitted. This knowledge means that we can get on with the job of teaching other things than "knowledge" in addition to "knowledge" with impunity.
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to say about these three aspects of learning later. Finally, the evidence is growing that children themselves are discontinuous in their learning. They do not all learn
J.
C.
Powell
187
WHY DOH'T WE GROW UP?
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and emotionally ill children should be cut in half again since the special problems of these children not only doubles the load on the teacher, but their special needs place demands upon each other which interferes with learning
if more than six children are present.
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changes and maturation, changes of biological origin. However these two processes are so closely interlocked that
it is virtually impossible to separate them.
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he is willing to think about that these are also inseparable. We have already seen Maslow's hierarchy. Our question
now is how do we use it for planning how to teach?
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iently different from past experiences that a new experience category or a reorganization or reinterpretation of past experiences or both is required. However the "K" culture punishes interpretations of experience outside of the milieu
and the "L" culture punishes emotionality particularly among
be
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accommodation possible.
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190
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189
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sanctuary. The short time and space horizons and the intense intragroup bonds tend to make a wide range of accommodations
unnecessary because their effects are either overlooked or have more impact upon outsiders and enemies than they do
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J.
0. Powell
Powell
195
realizable happen. "Good old-fashioned Morality" is the best course for mankind, not simply because it says so in
the Bible, but because God's message to Moses and his rel atively unsophisticated times was based upon a full know
The concept
In an interesting little book cal
Havighurst's ooncept of developmental ta.< prepares lists of specific developmental be successfully accomplished at particulf further development to continue effectivi
It would seem from this discussion th!
4.
To destroy themselves
mean that they need to. We have barely begun to tap human potential. What we now need is to get the knowledge and skill being developed by our top experts quickly from point of generation to point of need. By quickly I mean without the 15 to 50 year lag that our present educational system
has built into it.
fascinating results occur from this pres< Table was prepared by plotting Erikeon's Maslow's and spattering Havighurst's dev into the appropriate cells thus generate,
arrangement is by phase and the vertical hierarchy.
We can do it.
Who, thirc
N.Y., Harcourt,
find out.
pation of Achievement" which emerges dur school years. This observation brings t literature on self-concept, achievement
which are reportedly related to academic
J.
C.
Powell
197
198
attention.
find in ourselves as causes of difficulty or inability to attend? The most obvious is fatigue. Accompanying the
(power). Still others use them to demonstrate that the judgment of mere teachers cannot be trusted (revenge).
these instruments because they know how to give tests but they don't know how to deal with children. If they are very busy giving tests they can avoid being called upon for
about his sleep habits from parents and/or his peers as well
as from the child himself.
more protective of girls.
immobility is typical of a great deal of our theraputic activity today. We take tranquilizers instead of facing the
causes of tension or stress which is troubling us.
sympathy rather than empathy.
We seek
If the inattention is accompanied by puffy eyelids, scaling on the face or hands, wheeze or chronic cough,
watery eyes, and the fidgets, we can suspect an allergic
reaction. If accompanied by sudden changes in emotional
If the inatten level personal stress may be the problem.
confront.
tion occurs with some activities and not with others, then
we can suspect that the stressful activities are beyond the
child's level of skill development. If inattention accompanied by cocking the head from one
That is
Any creative
person who tries to get short-term credit for his own crea
distress them.
child copies material from the board. Does he overcomplete, undercomplete, distort parts into different shape, rotate or
reverse part or all of the copied material?
does he reproduce auditory material.
Similarly, how
Can he sequence
J.
C. Powell
199
200
correctly?
own words?
nonsense syllables?
simple observation any sensitive teacher can make. In twenty minutes we had a plan of action that worked. The
tory stimuli but not to others? All of these questions can be quickly answered by the teacher who stops talking long
enough to watch and listen.
Does he
Then plan
participular form? Does he confuse adjectives with adverbs, become upset with inverted order or guess wildly from
some structural clue like the initial consonant?
five per cent of the children with problems we should seek expert assistance immediately. Our request should be care
BRING
buh
r-r-r
in
guh
bear:
want not confirmation that a problem exists, or fancy phrases. The true expert visits the classroom (several times if need be) and first checks the teacher's observations
Upon investigation I found he had an auditory memory of only two elements (determined from digit span and nonsense syllable tests). The teacher and I discussed his problem and decided to reduce every word we possibly could to two
parts. Thus: Stimulus: BRING
report.
Response:
Br - r - r
ing
bring:
)
blends
This approach has several advantages. First, it acknowledges the teacher's competence. Second, it gives the expert a chance to see the child in the setting which is involved in the problem. Third, it gives the expert an opportunity to quickly catch up in his knowledge of the child to a point equivalent to that of the teacher. If the
expert then spots something which the teacher has missed, the expert is also acknowledged as fallible (heaven forbid)
and can learn more himself or herself. Finding an answer for the sticky problems give the expert more to look for iii
J.
C.
Powell
201
202
played
vative procedures gleaned from teachers in the area are Thus the loop is closed. The most advanced practices are
Discipline without
Tears.
ness of the implementation of these procedures (including successful innovations by the teachers) are fed back to the regional oenter as seeds for further research. Of course,
teachers and school support personnel are also involved in
research.
available.
properly role-
204
particular approach to teaching or to school system man agement , we need to know what roadblocks we might
encounter.
The
Power is, in simple terms, the ability to act in a given situation. There are several aspects of this
ability. These are:
professional.
back recently when universities shortsightedly overextended their programs for the purpose of financing their community
1. 2. 3.
Capacity or competence to act. Situational opportunity to act. Breadth of impact of the course of aotion.
4.
aspirations and produced an "oversupply" of professionals when the governments of the industrial nations (also short sightedly) shifted their attention away from fundamental
research in response to the egalitarian clamour of the economic underprivileged. Of course, the needs of the
I will deal with each of these in turn and stipulate in conclusion some basic considerations for accomplishing a
goal.
ful dimension.
the economy.
is paper authorization. Capacity to act is made legitimate by a diploma, certificate, or job specification. This paper usually states or implies the zone or nature of
203
206
J.
C.
Powell
205
First
support and cause less disruption to the existing power structure than do fundamental changes. It is easier to add vocational wings to Secondary schools than to get Secondary
schools to develop job-entrance skills. It is easier to build schools without walls than it is to get teachers to collaborate in service delivery. It is easier to produce elaborate unitized instructional systems than it is to meet the individual needs of pupils. Also, we can imply to the uniniated that the vocational wing means job training; the
role in laying the foundations, by providing the momentum, and providing a facilitative environment.. On the other
least in part) or seek this objective. For instance, I have suggested that self-actualization is not, in general, a legitimate objective in a custodial or familial school setting. The setting itself is inappropriate. The founda tions can be laid in these settings, but the explicit
skills needed beyond these fundamentals cannot be accom
Even slight progress can be a tremendous long run break through. Such activity is not for the impatient or easily discouraged. It is also the most rewarding type of change. The benefits are many for all concerned including the
change agent himself. A word of caution, however. The person who affects a fundamental change and hangs around
in that particular situation to glory in his or her accomplishment usually destroys the gains made. This occurs because, to last, the gain has to be consolidated.
plished. The roadblock in the custodial setting is the incompetence assumption, and in the familial setting, the
need for within-group solidarity.
reassigned as soon as the changes begin to become func tional. If the organization is insufficiently flexible to move the change agent then he or she ehould have the
Also, most
J.
C.
Powell
207
208
Some
One approach to group dynamics involves the power shifts which occur. People are constantly lending or removing support from each other as the situation changes. Support is neither universal nor unconditional, and an individual's
power is dependent upon the support he or she possesses at
any given point in time.
tion demands.
Breadth of Impact
Teachers can,
ence.
comparison.
It was not until we know which aspects of this complex process are most effective with which kinds of pupils in which kinds of setting that we can systematically produce large numbers of young people to whom we can confidently
trust the future.
Somehow we must break down the alienation which our
personal gain, that is, for patronage. The exception to this is the powerfully self-competent person. Ordinarily the self-powerful person does not gain a position of power
although he or she may have considerable influence on
occasion.
culture has forced upon our teachers so that they can learn
to work together to bring their collective wisdom to bear
survival.
J.
C. Powell
209
210
In addition, the competent person builds support among the powerless around him by helping them to become more
by the experts themselves to the point of need. That is, if the point of need is recognized by the needy and the needy feel endangered enough to seek assistance. We find
such service delivery tending to be confined to the "help
establish a network of trust among the people he is serving. This network of trust is his power base.
ing professions" and perileral to uhe fuudajkfeuiitil power structure of our society. Also, the pressure upon the
powerful.
Suppose, however, the competent lent support to the less competent by assisting them to increase their competence
of the competent person is all that is needed to force the patronage system to back down. This observation explains why self-actualizing people are also powerful people.
Concluding Remarks
The roadblocks arise from courses of action which some
improvement to gain from the highly competent and have a legitimate reason to lend support to such a person. If the
competencies differ both groups gain through the sharing of competencies. In this collaborative setting a network of
trust can be established. In such a setting the most
one person or group perceives as being disadvantageous to their person or their objectives. Such esteem-lowering
situation.
support in accordance with the demands of the present situation and the short, middle, and long-term objective of
the group or groups involved.
actions as sympathy (as contrasted with empathy) or advicegiving as contrasted with collaborative planning (or
facilitation) or negative confrontation (quarrelling rather than discussing) all are roadblocks. Apparent attacks on special prejudices, vested interests, or powerblooks also
can cause others to try to prevent the success of our
actions.
He may already know how to successfully implement the procedures he enquires about. However, seek ing such advice can help him to avoid the pitfalls of special regional circumstances. Also, his success in following the advice lends support to the currently power ful which would give them reason, presently, to support
him.
attempts at friendliness or otherwise failing to under stand the other person can lead to unintentional hurts, and block communication. Finally, premature negative judgment of the intents of others breaks the bond of trust and blocks any subsequent action. Above all, we should
accept in others as well as in ourselves the very human propensity to make mistakes. Mistakes arise from
J. C. Powell
211
everyone's part, unknown and/or unknowable factors oper ating, or our asking inappropriately for action from
When we are working with people we need a means of identifying the nature and location of the problem or
problems to be solved. Several years ago I developed an approach to human
In order to be able to expand upon these two operations a third one coupling them is required. This gives us three
These are:
2.
Exclusion
3.
Coupling
J.
C.
Powell
214
213
2.
Exclusion
A / B
A is different from B
As substages, counting involves attaching numerals in succession from a previously memorized sequence to each member of the Chain 1, remembering the last numeral in
sequence. Performing this same operation with Chain 2 and then comparing the resulting two numerals against a SAME DIFFERENT criterion.
Coupling does three things. a. It extends the field of scan - a form of inclusion.
b.
o.
Now let us look at several problems. First, if our learner makes a one-unit scan then not only is A = A but also A = AB because the scan stops with the completion of
scanning the first unit. Now consider the problem: AB = BA
This problem is
similar to the conservation problem which Piaget discusses. In order for a computer to pick up the equivalence the
following heuristic is needed.
Consider: AB = BA Chain 1: AB Chain 2: BA
seven years to gain this level of sophistication. However, depending upon scan and decision speeds, and upon whether coupling permits "clustering" and/or "sampling," these
three strategies are not only a necessary and sufficient
set for all the logical decisions known to man, but in this
latter case can be very efficient.
Compare:
Step 1:
"b,d,p,q."
DIMENSION 1
DIMENSION 2
of elements? (Answer yes or no). If "no" exit (Chains are not equiva lent).
If "yes" continue...
Step 2: Does Chain 2 contain an element
equivalent to the first element in
Chain 1 (answer yes or no). If "no" exit (Chains are not equival
ent) . If "yes" repeat Step 2 until either a "no" is encountered, or until all
elements of Chain 1 have been
UP
Right
DIMENSION
2 DOWN
P
compared.
Only when this last comparison is "yes" are the two Chains
equivalent.
Target
t "
Powell
The learner needs perceptual stability and the ability to make these discriminations before "p" can be successfully
discriminated. The child at least is conserving and ap
proaching concrete operations before these capabilities are present. This observation implies maturity between the ages
of five and seven years must be acquired before this task
are those behaviors of yours which are unacceptable to me. I also own a problem in this case. Fifth, there are those behaviors of yours which are unacceptable to you and,
read at five and one-half years may be too soon for some
children. Evidence suggests somewhere between one child in four and one child in eight are not able to make these dis
criminations at five and one-half years. Hence the pro
duction of special learning disorders, by. the school'. It is a well established biological fact that although maturation generally follows similar patterns, the precise
sequence varies to some extent, and the precise timing of particular events in the sequence varies widely among
individuals. Because of this timing variability independent maturational milestones have no natural order although they
may have a "most common" order.
I
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YOU
OWN
PROBLEM
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;
My behavior unacceptable
to me
Your behavior to me
: :
unacceptable :
The problem with teaching reading at five and one-half years of age is that we have to assume that the most common
order (which actually occurs about forty per cent of the
time) is the only order which occurs.
: : !
Although we know that the general sequence is from tactile - kinesthetic, to visual, to auditory, children may fixate in any of these or in combinations of them. Also, if any one of these is slower to develop than is common, the
balance is disrupted and "normal" teaching will not be
successful.
: : '.
Your behavior
: YOU
OWN
unacceptable :
to you
A PROBLEM
from
At
Beyond this maturational problem are the child's experiences which can serve to advance or inhibit advance
ment in any or all of the sequences.
this point his behavior becomes unacceptable to us. We OWN THE PROBLEM which we promptly sell to him AT THE EXPENSE
OF HIS SELF-ESTEEM.
This brings us to the interpersonal model which Dr. Wearne and I are developing. We can divide our life space
218 217
J.
C.
Powell
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refuse to comply. We do not ask the child what he is
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capable of doing, would be interested in doing or would be willing to attempt. We do not select learning experiences
on the basis of the fact that they are a vital part of the.
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than helping him to develop his own thinking and to discover his own relationships, using the work of others as a model
to imitate for the foundation but to go beyond into his
own landscape.
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true, good, and beautiful. This is the New Testament. This V 9 is the "suffering of little children to come." This is the
beginning of the Millennium.
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Why do we pressure children to be adult before their time and yet refuse to release them when they begin to demand equal privileges? Hush...for this is the clarion call... listen, do you hear it, the trumpet of Gabriel? For there
it is loud and clear in the laughter of children we are
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220
SUMMARY
The basic procedures a teacher should use for teaching can be derived from Figure 6, temperament considerations,
The essential argument of this part is that the diversity On the other hand, it may be suf ficiently systematic that a small finite number of adaptable strategies will accommodate the great majority of these
among children is great.
diversities.
and a combination of Tables 1, 2, and 3. This combination can be used to determine the general thrust of all class room activities once the status of each pupil and of the
smaller than the experiencially-based diversity. Physicallybased diversity would seem to require diversity in teaching strategy. A limited number of strategies may be sufficient
to meet these learning needs.
Experience-based diversity is much easier to accommodate
with content adaptation. Content, unlike the learning environment is capable of virtually unlimited adaptation.
The problem here is that the traditionally content decisions
are made external to the classroom and process decisions are
made internally. The result has been the neglect of process both in educational research and in program planning.
Hy point of view is that the role of these two
basis of the pupils1 experience-base and emerging interests. The diversity of this experience is clearly evident from
the brief summary given in Table 3.
219
WITHIN THREE
WALLS
The classroom is a place of almost incomprehensible diversity, and of extreme contrast. It falls upon the
teacher to bring order out of a potentially chaotic
situation.
In
open.
part I look at the classroom from several points of view in an attempt to explain why open education has failed and how to correct this problem. I do not go into details about the specific "how to" of
classroom techniques. I shall leave this discussion for
This gap
subsequent works.
understandings and personality dynamics that a teacher planning to run an open classroom needs to consider.
increases, her ability to bridge the gap usually increases as well so that the children in her charge make progres sively larger average gains up to the limits of the process within whole group instruction.
It is natural for teachers to attack the most
obvious contrast first. In the first place, her success and all of her training (with the possible exception of
developing areas of the world, making this focus both Third, when doing was a required out
come, it has been found that up to a point the knowledgeable
222
J.
C.
Powell
223
224
tending to work with preselected groups in the higher levels, this information transmission focus can be expected
to remain the primary one of education far beyond its use ful tenure, unless, concerted and deliberate intervention is
undertaken.
This contrast
becomes evident to the teacher only if she begins to focus upon more than the class average performance such as her "success rate," the reasons for wrong answers on tests, or
some similar problem. This range of performance is the product of the multiple interacting individual differences
within the class and is the usual entry point for the
incompetent in her class. In general, the verbally fluent express themselves well and acquire information quickly,
Being part
the focus.
and perhaps fourth year of teaching. Some teachers become particularly skillful at keeping the nonverbal group occupied with interesting nonverbal activities that lead to obvious intellectual (but not verbal) fluency. Their development, as a result, never progresses beyond the non
verbal level of development.
fluent out of his class.
however, the critical variables become the range of diver sity present interacting with the degree of deviation of pupils from the easily educatable, docile, verbally fluent,
broadly interested child. Arguments over class size rage
because most teachers do not directly attack the diversity
with tenure and political influence can preselect the nonThe easy focus with the verbally
problem. Often they don't have either the skills needed or the time or opportunity to develop these skills, and be
cause practically all studies of teacher and method effec
J.
0.
Powell
225 226
radically. Her focus shifts from control and information transmission to the specific ideosyncratic needs of each individual child. These needs cover a broad spectrum and often are not directly related to information accumula
they become more fluent. Second, the increase in success of these children tenas to contribute to a more, positive attitude towards the subject matter, making them more willing to learn. The drawbacks of this approach involve
more preparation time on the part of the teacher because instead of preparing what to tell the children she has to prepare activities which involve the children themselves
tion.
Also, although there are individual differences among teachers in this matter,
mission" teaching.
arise for the children with respect to vocabulary and con cept development in advance of the teaching situation rather than inferring it from class participation res ponses. If the tasks she sets are too easy they will quickly bore the class. If they are too difficult, the
children won't be able to do them and we are back to
where we started.
longer than one, or at most, two years' duration. Also, the nonacademic effects of "whole child" focus are seldom,
if ever, measured. In short, We do a great deal of verba
lizing about "whole child" teaching, but only occasionally practice it, and even less frequently study its advantages
the difficulties these children are having are more broadly and quickly identified when they are talking and writing about the concepts involved than when they are listening to the teacher talk about them. If nothing else, such activ ities tell the teacher what to talk about, and from what viewpoint and not what level to approach these concepts.
A second drawback of this approach arises from the
instance, a focus on the development of verbal fluency for the nonfluent, although very slow going at the outset, lias high payoff in academic average performance of the whole
class. This improvement occurs for tv/o reasons. First, the quality of the answers of the nonfluent improves as
fact that increasing the verbal output of the students increases the teacher's marking load by a factor of thirty or forty depending upon class size. There are several ways of reducing this load. These include peer marking, pupil self-evaluation, spot checking, teacher aide markers, and colleague cooperation. However, if the teacher is to ex pect that this increased workload is to be systematically attempted by the children, then she must insure that the efforts are systematically looked at by someone other than the child himself with sufficient frequency that it is
228
J. C. Powell
227
It is a
independent learners.
If they find
then be in jeopardy.
that they can do most of what they attempt they will sus
If they find they enjoy what they do
and cooperation can be developed in the context of the responsibility of the strong to share their strengths.
This is one
method of individualizing instruction, namely, the clus tering of deficit by type and the treating of the posses
sors of these deficits as a group.
In a diver
she must, in fairness to the children pursuing an independ ent course, periodically review their work with them to
assure them of their continuing success and to ensure that they are not encountering problems which are beyond their
present capability.
direct
She must, in
There is a
effectively.
vating of all approaches for the children because they are pursuing their emerging interests. It is the most reward ing of all approaches for the teacher because to be
effective she must be an important facilitator at all levels of achievement for the children in her charge.
initial gains.
J.
C. Powell
229
230
variables.
scale can be made. The seconu responsibility "of these institutions is to do a cost benefit analysis on this
ging. On the other hand, for the teacher to focus upon the diversity in the classroom requires better training, more
material resources, and a smaller class size than are currently available. The relative absence of this latter
approachs and the virtual absence of research into its
benefits has led to a complete ignorance on the part of the taxpaying public about the advantages of such a procedure
in relation to its cost.
232
KNOWLEDGE OR WISDOM?
Another problem arises. As the demands upon each individual become increasingly specialized, the amount of
particular knowledge each person requires has been growing beyond all precedence. Again, EDP (electronic data proces sing) can assist but to do so it requires the person to
possess a great deal of flexibility in thinking and infor
Research into educational methodology has produced two generally consistent conclusions. First, there is little
difference among the various possible methods where infor
mation application skills. Information has a very broad range of applicability and is, for this reason, seldom
mechanically stored in the form best suited for most con
the user to be able to transform, or to know how to trans form (using EDP) this information into the form most
suitable for its present need.
search of a particular "best method" of teaching is in vain. Second, the mental discipline hypothesis that particular kinds of knowledge exercise the mind in particular ways is
false. The conclusion we can draw from the refutation of
This statement brings us back to our comments about the different kinds of fact. For instance, the process which generates opinions from observation is thinking. Different "disciplines" gain their distinctive characteristics in two ways. The first distinctive characteristic relates to the nature of observations which any discipline considers to be
admissible, For instance, electro-magnetic phenomena are not ordinarily considered applicable to sociology. On the other hand, interpersonal data may be applicable to both
sociology and social psychology.
Curiosity has been shown to be one of several competing vital needs of humans. On the other hand, the pursuit of
knowledge as an activity independent of human needs or the human condition cannot be validated.
The second way in which two disciplines are distinct involves the kinds of transformations of information which are permissible during the opinion generation process. For
It is also evident that any successful person must have a storehouse of readily available knowledge in memory in
order to perform his or her day-to-day responsibilities. This knowledge must be both in the general information and
special purpose categories. However, with conversational mode computer terminal becoming available, the need for
memorizing information may be diminishing.
231
This generalization gives us a tool for the classification of opinions in accordance with the nature of the observations
J.
C.
Powell
233 234
One way of
2.
3.
generate all known phenomena related to this data, or to supply a reasonable explanation why these phenomena do not
occur in this case. In addition, "correct" solutions also have the property of predicting unknown outcomes which can be experimentally verified.
Work by people in the field of diagnostic testing have chal lenged the third assumption in this special area. Piaget's work provides indirect evidence that the second of these is
false. More recently my own work has clearly refuted all three assumptions in the context of multiple choice tests.
Assumption No. 1 (linearity) is still true for True - False tests. By implication my finding suggests that the tra ditional approach to testing is invalid except where simple
recall is involved (if there is such a thing as "simple"
recall).
developed.
Second, is the procedure "correct" as described above? Third, which strategy the learner applied to the data set under consideration. When the teacher focuses exclusively on is it "useful?" That is, does the procedure produce a large right answers he or she tends to teach information rather number of as yet not observed phenomena which can be tested?
Concepts like simplicity, parsimony and elegance have
than thinking.
and been wrong? The answer is that it was not wrong. Until recently the information transmission model has been both necessary and sufficient for the needs of our society. We are in the process of entering an era where information
transmission is somewhat less necessary and is clearly no
What charges need to be made? Essentially, an elaborative education requires qualitative rather than quantitative
changes (except perhaps where class size and school size are
236
J. C. Powell
235
concerned).
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these three patterns. Part (a) shows the lecture wherein the message flow is in one direction only, from teacher to pupils. Actually this process is more complex than this as
we shall see shortly.
Part (b) of Figure shows a "tutorial" pattern. This is the typical pattern for the "Socratic Method" of teaching.
Message flow is two-way (interactive) with all traffic being
routed through the teacher.
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These procedures are similar to the ones used by In this way undisturbed attention is optimized. The pupils learn in proportion to the amount
ensured.
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Those who do
best in school in the typical lecture or tutorial setting have a great deal of understanding before they enter the
school situation. Thus most of their learning in school is
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observation may occur because it is the teacher who typ ically does the data gathering, selection, and consolidate
If the pupil has been exposed to much of the same data the
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pupil does not have the same breadth of exposure to the dati
base what the pupil learns is either dependent upon his own
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J.
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239
240
See
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CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
The
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The role of the teacher in this latter situation changes. He or she is no longer the filter through which all infor
mation used in the classroom must pass. develop their own structures.
Instead he or she
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J.
C.
Powell
242
241
several ways until the best fit for present needs has been found. Properly managed, the information content handled
This increase
years of teaching experiences. However, also in my experience, once these strategies are made explicit many
more than five per cent can effectively use them. Invariably the pupils' enthusiasm for learning and both the quantity and quality of their output increases with the successful introduction of interactive learning. Further
taught.
learning . (Not to mention the interpersonal skills they are also developing). It is this increase in facility in
data management skills which has the long term pay-off and
ultimately leads each pupil to independent learning.
Structure cannot be abandoned as has so often been assumed
in this way?
instruction.
instruction.
ation.
However, in my experience about five per cent of all tea chers discover this approach in its various forms within
244
for its social rather than its intellectual attributes. The alienating forces in the school have helped them to
consolidate their "E" culture characteristics.
head within the school, or if not they are usually forced out of the school. These two groups represent the largest portion of the pupils in whom creativity is not yet
destroyed.
The groups
Those who are engaged in conversion tend to identify with the staff rather than their peers and are consequently rejected by both groups. It is this group which frequents
the guidance office, for instance. A limited number of pupils become focal points for the suppressed aggression of staff and pupils alike.
generally become the class clown.
Those
A few "shy" types are so utterly destroyed by all the covert hostility that they spend all their energy in trying to be inconspicuous. The size of the group engaged in
situation withdrawal is another indication of the amount of
This group
Con
own way extracting from their peers and from the instructors
than in others but it nevertheless is strong. In fact, the basic outcome of the degree to which a school is alienating
may be the amount of peer conformity evident. By forming material interactive study groups these pupils enhance their
social lives and meet school expectations simultaneously.
according to their own needs. These individuals are quietly nonconforming. They often puzzle the teachers because they
are "potential" leaders.
roles.
Second,
243
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J.
C.
Powell
247
OPERATING
MOOALtTV
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(See : Over)
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3 m
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orientation.*
(Namesly:
understanding
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The ideal teacher, then, is one who focuses upon helping others to become.
with respect to others.
mi
w 2
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a teacher?
book.
P c -y
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Precept 1,
Focus on Understanding
c *; 2
t
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5 ft *
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ft.
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5
* A measuring instrument focusing on both pupil and teacher activities is under development.
tarn
*
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< 8
'e1
5S
J.
C.
Powell
249
250
rules.
personal shortfalls. He or she demonstrated by enhanced pupil success. Relationships with peers and authority
figures follow the same pattern.
Precept ^.
Precept 7.
not.
changed.
pupils.
basis.
Precept 5.
spiritual food.
We become
Meditation is a help, but the best sanc There are no temporary routes
to become.
objectives.
The insti
tuary yet devised by man if we are prepared to treat it as such. The ideal teacher is happily married in this sense.
Protect Ourselves Prom Others
Precept 9.
Not everyone in the world is thoughtful, kind, or honest. We must learn to protect ourselves from the tho^^ghtless,
misguided or unscrupulous acts of others. This means that
J.
C. Powell
251
252
and flexibility.
for high-sounding frills. Children learn to think logically but it takes them at least 16 years. Their growth is a
bootstrap operation, one skill building upon the other until
a dynamic whole is produced. Therefore the ideal teacher
Precept 11.
To lose an
pupils do their investigations carefully and thoroughly and communicate their findings to others skillfully. Gaining
these skills and learning to share is what humanistic
education is all about.
problem.
The person who lives up to these precepts is not a paragon in the usual sense. Provision is made for the probability
that mistakes will be made.
transportation.
moon we must provide the ability to generate the means of The purpose of this book is to make
precisely such provisions.
accidently.
implementation of action.
Precept 12. Use the Positive Approach
to try, to test their trials, and to share their results. This is a challenging approach in which there is no room for
Destructive or exploitive
fakers or exploiters.
the risk
Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other jLnjnates , N.Y. , Doubleday (Anchor), T9~5T7 '
254
formations to be planned.
to this data.
should he be? The answer to this question must be answered both retrospectively and prospectively. Johnny's present status is certainly the product of his range of experience. But it is also a product of the
1. 2. 3.
4.
As compared to whom else? As compared to what else? What should he be able to do?
What must he be able to do so that I
him?
can teach
But this
comparative data which gives the anchor points for inter pretation of present status. The most functional form in
210
teachability question.
which this third form of data is presented has proven to be average development statements for a comparable group of individuals. This third form of data is of equal impor
tance with the other two.
three forms of data needed.
1. Where is he now?
2.
3.
J.
C. Powell
255
256
Johnny's present status with the average and to indicate wherever possible the antecedent factors which seem to
have contributed to deviations from the average on this
into the scene so that they can be assisted in supporting Johnny's development. If the parents cannot supply, for
any reason, all the desirable support, other persons and
agencies should also be enlisted.
profile, both for deviations above and below the base line.
At this point the teacher is now in a position to
begin to map Johnny's potential. Her first map must be very tentative, and will be primarily concerned with the design of learning experiences projected to ameliorate low points and strengthen peaks in his profile. As she imple
ments these plans and observes the profile changes which occur she can begin to elaborate this map within the context of the way in which these experiences are designed. At this point a new kind of information input
becomes essential. This new kind of information involves
Third, it is
The degree to which Johnny's gains match, the expectations generated by present effectiveness knowledge represent the degree of confidence our teacher can place
on her map of Johnny's potential. She now has a tentative map along with a confidence
profile characteristics.
Involving others
knowledge she should share her- knowledge of Johnny with him. It is only when Johnny fully understands his own learning style and his temperamental characteristics that he can
system of informational support for the teacher so that she can function within the dynamics of this system.
J.
C.
Powell
257
258
Most kindergartens and our best grade one classes now function in this way. However, with the economic and human limitations within which we must function it is not
gained will be quickly lost unless maintained through practice either arising from an abiding curiosity and
refined interest, or through vocational demands.
and increase in their realistic logical depth. Developing an outward outlook and maintaining a reality base requires
considerable finesse and must have support relinquished in
appropriate amounts.
organize, and use information for himself. He needs to organize, and use information for himself. He needs to learn how and when to make decisions, how and when to share
useful for direct educational planning beyond the ages of eight or nine years. However, recent developments in the
special education area, regarding behavioral objectives
and in cognitive development should make it possible for a team of teachers to do the initial development of &-ny
tentative protocol which might be needed.
school system backed up by an equally sophisticated infor mation system which brings many community resources to bear
for educational, social, and vocational assistance and support. Community resources are called upon for field
teachers there is also the problem of communication between one level of school and another, and between one school
programs for all the other Johnnies and Jennies in the system.
Summing it up
As Johnny moves through school his needs change, and so.therefore, must his program. Ultimately he will move into the adult world with whatever independence
Skills, self-support and self-initiative skills he has
J.
C.
Powell
259
A BOOTSTRAP OPERATION
The focus and central source for the data in this system is Johnny himself, Johnny's information system is part of a
network which emanates from, and feeds back to, all the chil The supervision, management, and coordination of this total information complex is the respon
sibility in a differential manner of all the several personnel in the school system.
I have attempted in each section to end upon either a note of inspiration or of challenge. Since this is the last part of this present work the challenge will be ever
stronger and more explicit.
To begin with our schools are faced with a dilemma. With ninety per cent of all scientists who ever lived alive
OECTA Review.
And yet, most courses in English literature at the college level terminate about 1900 A.D. There are certainly not as
260
262
J.
0. Powell
261
FIGUR1
\z
"Types
of
Learning
texts.
=z.
\ Forgetting
Uj
u
The simple truth is that many of the "facts" which are taught in school are either out of date or demonstrably false. New knowledge is being generated more rapidly than
it can be processed through the typical committee and
2
<
* o
DE VEUO PN\NTA L.
L~ARNIN6
i
n
c
RNI*J<3
(JNDEf^
MB/GUlTy
HSouiOATIoN
>
Hence it
(J
PHASF
8
NTBNANCF
phase:
computer
Instead, if
Understanding
Begins
the data we process since with reality testing procedures being developed and an electronic library immediately at
TvPt
hs\
CD
<S>
CD
feUOW
LeA.NiN6
+-
($)
264
J. C. Powell
263
FIGURE*
13
Teaching Str.at-e.<3^
necessary.
No.-i
Not only does data not need to be accurate to demonstrate process but finding errors well concealed in inaccurate data
Cur\] "Tracking
More important
is discovering
TFACHER'S fijucSTiosJS
The first is
X
Actual
L*ARNtNcz cvfi/e"
IX
fundamental structure. To develop this skill the learner need3 to be taught how to set his own standard and objec
k
-1
I
0
T
STE* TOO
UHDERz / 'I
ST*.NO N<i
U*/
ev t/vryp^cT^ci.y
L.A&GE s-rtrP
IN
<PwS3T/tfV
-T/MS
-TOCHER IS
each learning type clear. Type 1 is characterized by very rapid learning. False starts and errors disappear rapidly
as the learner converges upon the appropriate new behavior.
tfWTraY PupiUS1
AB/ANTAfifS
Type 2 learning is characterized by slow progress many errors and false starts. Understanding develops more rapidly than success until the point of full understanding
is attained. Then Type 1 learning begins.
PRoC,ftS
12>BcAOS P
Unlike the computer which cannot tolerate ambiguity the human brain has a tremendous capacity for dealing with ambiguous stimuli. With clustering and sampling procedures
I3comE TboReo,
266
FIGURE
J. 0. Powell
AH
265
Stretching
gTC>
tracking."
Insert FIGURE
13 Here
#
(&EGIHS HtRE
The basic idea of curve tracking is to try to enter the teaching cycle at the level of student understanding and to
t
0
develop this understanding at the pace of the typical curve. This procedure starts with very small steps and increases the pace as the ability of students to respond correctly
increases. All steps are expected to remain within the
RAPID UPAHNIN6
STEP
is >PeCTfc
error rather than a stretching experience. This approach reaches its pinnacle in programmed instruction. Pupils often become bored with the latter parts of a programmed course as their ability to learn outstrips the 3mall steps
in which the program is written.
Insert FIGURE
14 Here
(See : Over)
cLfARLV ffVioFN-r
AfTER INIT/A*
2DlS/\D\/AA/rA<5'.S V/g:p.S
Vnrricour t o
J.
C. Powell
267
:68
be unable to keep up with the pace his or her pupils set. For this reason it takes two or three years to set up one
year's program.
cope with frustration and ambiguity. As they do this the size of leap they can make increases. They become keenly aware of their own progress and are excited by it. They
learn to expect stretching and tend to approach even the simplest problems at a highly complex and sophisticated level often to the extent that they are able to discover the
fallacy which oversimplification has introduced.
Progess by this latter procedure is rapid to the point Great vistas explode before the learner's eyes, and he or she becomes hooked on learning.
of being spectacular.
This stretching procedure is both a powerful tool and a difficult procedure to employ. It should be attempted
sparingly at first until the novice becomes skillful at curve tracking and knows how to pitch tasks at various
levels.
provide the stairway. Mind stretching is this stairway. The upper levels of human potential are unknown. In my own
case I have seen a "slow learner" gain ten reading grades in
one year. A city center Grade 6 class made six times as
Teachers working under my direction have experienced the same dramatic successes. Pupils in secondary math have
270
USED BY TEACHER
classroom.
impact is the tremendous diversity evident. Not only is each child different, but each child is at different levels
of development in various subdivisions of his or her
performance.
:Level of ; under
Control
standing
Cognitive
Affective
Psychomotor
system applied
: :
Learning
: -1
disordered
Emotionally
disturbed
Disabled
Theraputic
When we focus upon sameness it is the among-individualsdiversity which is of primary importance. In this context,
: o
Ignorant
Egocentric
Awkward
Overt control:
As I have
Constraint
: l
Awareness
Self-knowing
Controlled
+Empathy
indicated earlier it is this competition between individuals If the focus is to be upon within-individual-diversity,
OthersRestraint : Transferable oonsciousness Coordinated +Confrontation :
Collaborative
Mediative Dexterious
;
:
+Consultation
Teachers will be happy to hear that this means that "marking to the curve" has no place in an individualized approach. When primary focus is upon competition with one's own
past performance then age and grade norms or criterionreferenced tests are more appropriate than scaled norms.
J.
C.
Powell
271
272
Within this context the role of the teacher in terms of communication traffic control becomes clear. He or she
Since self-
actualizing individuals tend to be self-competitive, it follows that the schools should focus upon developing
self-actualizera.
focuses upon skills development using content initially derived from each child's direct experience. Prom here the
experiences of the children are steadily and systematically enhanced. That the children be interested in the things
they are exploring is more important than that particular
content be covered. This conclusion can be taken first
It is encouraging to note that the most outstanding characteristic of humanness is creativity. Also, the most outstanding single characteristic of young children is
curiosity.
oping.
Using the stretch procedure judiciously, in a proper balance with all four types of learning, can be expected
to generate an exciting learning atmosphere.
continuous.
The teachable
points in each child's experience will become almost That precious moment of intimate communication between a
learner and his environment will become a frequent and general experience. By learning to share these moments with
J. C. Powell
273