R3: Weekly response to readings from William James

R3

Weekly response to readings from William James

Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals

Question: Can you improve your memory capacity?  In Chapter 12 James discusses memory and its significance in learning.  He claims that there can be “no improvement of the general or elementary faculty of memory” (p. 61).  This assertion, along with the importance he placed on associations and connecting, made me think about improving memory and the possibility of it.  After some consideration, I would agree with James in that I do not believe you can improve the faculty of memory.  I do believe that you can strengthen your mind with more associations, better construction of connections, etc.  But these improvements are not the same thing as gaining more memory; as you cannot gain more memory capacity.  It seems as though memory is like a muscle of the brain, it must be exercised regularly in order to stay in shape.  Unlike a bodily muscle though, the brain cannot be expanded or enlarged.

Quotation:  “Be patient, then, and sympathetic with the type of mind that cuts a poor figure in examinations.  It may, in the long examination which life sets us, come out in the end a better shape than the glib and ready reproducer, its passions being deeper, its purposes more worthy, its combining power less commonplace, and its total mental output consequently more important” (p. 70).  This quote came at the end of Chapter 12, Memory, and really struck a cord with me.  I like the fact that James calls to attention the fact that one does not have to be good at school to be a bright and successful person. The quote makes note of the fact that passion plays a large part in success, not the ready ability to reproduce facts on examinations.  There are many ways of learning and many ways of knowing; this quote illustrates this in a succinct manner.

Passage/Direct Experience: Chapter 11, Attention, provides a conversation about the teaching art with regard to students’ attention.  James distinguishes between those teachers who are able to gain and hold their students’ attention versus those who cannot.  He states, “when all is said and done, the fact remains that some teachers have a naturally inspiring presence, and can make their exercises interesting, while others simply cannot” (p. 53).  As someone who has experienced many types of teachers and classrooms, I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.  Regardless of a teacher’s experience and knowledge, there is something else (inspiring presence) which brings alive a classroom.  This skill is certainly special and one that makes an impression on students and their learning.  This provides an excellent example of the non-learnable skills and perception that James’ continually references when talking about the teaching art.

Passage/Other Experience: James’ descriptions of conceptions as the only thing humans really have to “work with” when making associations, acquiring new knowledge and organizing impressions prompted me to think about this in terms of 21^st century technology.  I would agree that traditionally, someone’s prior knowledge and education played a large role in associations/connections and this would have certainly been the case at the end of the 19^th century when William James was giving these talks to teachers.  Times are now different, and technologies are enabling people to instantly access new information and concepts.  With the click of a mouse, new knowledge can be presented in an instant.  This accessibility has changed the conceptions each one of us has at our disposal.  The availability of these connections allows all of us to have a much broader cache of conceptions to “work with” when learning.

R2: Weekly response to readings from William James

R2

Weekly response to readings from William James

Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals

Question: My question was formulated after reading the passage beginning on page 34, in which James instructs one to use “every aid you know” when initiating a habit change; either acquiring a new habit or dropping an old habit.  His argument is that by using “every aid you know” the habit change is started with the strongest initiative (backing) possible.  This assertion led me to think about modern technology versus the world in which James lived at the end of the 19^th century.  Information is global and access has changed from the world that James knew and was talking about in his speech about habits.  This led to the question; does modern technology help or hinder you when it comes to changing habits? 

Quotation:  “But the fact is that our virtues are habits as much as our vices.” (p. 33). Soon after this quote, James encourages teachers to talk to their students about the “philosophy of habit” and its importance in shaping one’s character.  He believed that habits literally shaped one’s life, not only in mannerisms and actions, but on a biological level as well; that habits can shape the nervous system, the cells of a person.  In an educational context, this quote made me think of the time and attention that is spent on bad behavior in our schools.  The attention paid to bad behavior, and the prevention of it, seems to far outweigh the attention and time focused on encouraging good behavior, or even praising existing good behavior. 

Passage/Direct Experience: I really liked the fact that James mentioned the reactions from the “accomplished Hindoo visitors at Cambridge” in his passage beginning on page 37.  He recants how these visitors talked to him about the American culture of work, tension and anxiety.  They made comparisons to their culture where children are taught to mediate daily and the practice is continued into adulthood.  James makes note that the “good fruits of such a discipline were obvious” in the visitors and that it would be beneficial in America to adopt such a habit.  He concludes this passage with, “Yet, from its reflex influence on the inner mental states, this ceaseless over-tension, over-motion, and over-expression are working on us grievous national harm.” (p. 38).  I would agree with this statement over 100 years later.  I think the American work and educational cultures are focused on more, more, more versus what is truly best for the individual because what is truly best for individuals would probably include daily mediation time built into the culture; it would be an expected part of daily life.

Passage/Other Experience:  James takes the time to present a lengthy quote from Darwin on page 36.  This quote focuses on Darwin’s regret later in life for not continuing his interests and studies in certain areas such as music and poetry.  The quote ends with Darwin lamenting the atrophy of these parts of his brain.  Following this quotation, James expands on the notion that habits are only formed by regular exercise which builds associations.  In the context of our educational system, this passage made me think of interdisciplinary learning versus discipline-focused learning.  When our educational system begins to focus on one way of learning (i.e. – the scientific focus) then the students begin to atrophy in the other areas that are not focused upon (i.e. – arts, music).  In today’s educational system, funding and demand drive much of the curriculum.  However an interdisciplinary approach to learning, one that incorporates many ways of learning and focuses on the relations between disciplines, provides a learner with a much more rounded view of the world.  As James states, “The more copious the associative systems, the completer the individual’s adaptations to the world.” (p. 42).

Dreads

Here are a few pictures from when I had dreadlocks - these were taken in December 2008, right before I cut them off

This last shot is a replication of a photo from 2003, when I trimmed about 18" off my locks.

Here is the original picture:

R1: Weekly response to readings from William James

R1

Weekly response to readings from William James

Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals

One issue I found interesting while reading William James’ (1962) Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life’s Ideals, was the gendering of his language.  I realize that these talks took place in the 19^th century and thus I certainly take this into account.  While reading the book, I found it interesting that the teachers were referred to with feminine pronouns and the students were referred to with masculine pronouns, even though he states in the Preface that the talks at the end of the book were from addresses given at women’s colleges.  My question is this, does this gendering bother you as you read?  Do you even take notice of it?  If so, what are your reactions, feelings, etc. on it?  If you do not notice, do you gender your language? 

I particularly enjoyed the passage on page 13 that began with, “No truth, however abstract, is ever perceived, that will not probably at some time influence our earthly actions. . . We cannot escape our destiny, which is practical; and even our most theoretic faculties contribute to its working out.”  That entire paragraph was noteworthy in that it discussed the important of action, of conduct.  I found it notable as well that James was referring to action in the “widest sense,” not just motions, but rather thinking, speaking, reactions, etc.  I find truth in this passage; that even if our actions don’t immediately change based on a “truth” we learn today, chances are in the future our actions will be influenced by what we learn today.

In the next paragraph, James states, “You should regard your professional task as if it consisted chiefly and essentially in “training the pupil to behavior” (p. 13).   Throughout this chapter (The Child as a Behaving Organism) I thought about learning and applying learning with actions.  This particular passage and quote struck me and reminded me of learning how to sail; particularly learning what to do in a person-overboard situation.  I thought back to how it was to learn the maneuvers to rescue someone overboard and how different it is to learn it inside a classroom versus on the water.  Learning the maneuvers in the classroom cannot fully prepare one for what to do when you actually have to use those maneuvers.  It is with these actions that the learning is applied; and it is here that the teacher has indeed trained the pupil to behavior – or at least hopefully so!

James’ passages concerning reactions is one I would like to connect with Elliot Eisner.  William James describes how learners have return waves of impression that then influence future behaviors.  This cycle made me think of Elliot Eisner’s Forms of Representations.  Eisner’s belief is that knowledge is not static.  As a learner internalizes new conceptions of knowledge, beliefs are transformed.  This transformation manifests itself when this new knowledge is externally presented.  There will be inherent limitations to the external representation of knowledge based on the learner’s background, ability, language, etc.  However as the learner then internalizes new knowledge this process starts all over again.  Through this cycle, knowledge is transformed and acquired.  By using all of the senses, the learner is able to participate in this cycle more fully.  It is this cycle, or return waves of impressions as James’ would call it, that influence behavior and reactions.  After our class discussion I would not make the same parallel between what James was saying and the Forms of Representation as presented by Elliot Eisner.  I no longer believe the concept is the same.  Instead, I believe James’ waves of impressions have to do more with assessments and gauges of what was learned; what was impressed upon the learner.  Grades and evaluations are part of these gauges and James stresses that these are necessary to complete the cycle as learners often times want to know how they performed on a task or exam.