text:
Nov 12, 2007
Note: I'm posting this as an example of the reading I have done while reviewing an academic paper. These are my notes on Kirschner, Sweller and Clark's paper Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist,
Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching.
Interestingly, as I review these remarks, not one author has landed on the fundamental problems with the paper. More later.
Primary reference:
Kirschner, P.A., Sweller, J. & Clark, R.E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41, 75-86.
Mark Montgomery
:Textbook Evaluator
Despite the article's great strengths, it sometimes devolves into an empassioned plea for more direct instruction. As the authors state at the end of the introduction, the article is not a dispassionate presentation of the evidence. Rather its goal is to discredit constructivism.
The goal of this article is to suggest that based on our current knowledge of human cognitive architecure, minimially guided instruction is likely to be ineffective. The past half-century of empirical research on this issue has provided overwhelming and unambiguous evidence that minimal guidance during instruction is significantly less effective and efficient than guidance specifically designed to support the cognitive processing necessary for learning.
Note how the authors set up a dichotomy: "minimally guided†vs. "guided.†As in most education research, the nuances of reality are just too complicated to address. There are, in practice, various shades of "guided†instruction. On one extreme is the "all drill all the time†school of rote memorization–or 100% guidance. On the other hand is the Rousseavian "let the kid just explore everything all the time, and I'll just provide a safe space for those explorations†(or 0% guidance). I understand that the authors of this article need to set up categories in order to analyze instructional methods. But be real, folks: the way these things are put into practice by actual teachers with actual students is much less extremist than the academics, pundits, policy makers, and bloggers would have us believe. Most educators I have ever met, dealt with, taught beside, or watched instruct fall somewhere in the glorious, gray middle.
Miles Berry
The authors cite research in which constructivist approaches have produced lower test scores than approaches using direct instruction. Whilst this isn't news, and the 'no significant difference' phenomemon is well documented elsewhere, it does rather come back to a question of what's being measured - if the measure of success is recall of facts and their application to relatively familiar problems, then it's not entirely surprising that pedagogic approaches which emphasise this dimension will produce better results. The experience of teaching to the test is far from uncommon, and high input methods such as detailed revision notes, worked examples and practice papers are certainly felt to be effective by many, if effectiveness is determined by performance on narrow spectrum tests, as indeed it is in UK and US education.
One of the main problems with the authors' argument is, to my mind at least, their failure to acknowledge much by way of a social dimension to learning - their comparison seems largely to be between content delivery led by a teacher and alternative approaches in which learners work things out for themselves.
Of course, traditionally this third way was limited at school level, where the learning network was restricted to those in the class, most of whom would be at roughly the same level, their teacher, the textbook and maybe the school library, but with net access from our classroom and desktops, the number and variety of others with whom learners may engage is orders of magnitude greater. Not only does this extended learning network provide more sources from which students may learn, it also open up a whole host of opportunities for them to teach - as they explain new concepts to each other, and work together to solve problems, I'm sure that the quality of their learning is enhanced, as is the likelihood that such concepts can make it into longer term memory.
Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
University of San Diego
I think there is also an issue of each of these methods of instruction in terms of different disciplines. In psychological science "direct inquiry" can lead people hopelessly astray, especially if they begin with incorrect constructions on which to base their future decision making.
As we all know, misconceptions about psychological science abound.
Richard Hake
Cognitive Science and Physics Education Research:
What We've Got Here Is Failure to Communicate
It appears that the work of physics education researchers (PER's) is virtually unknown to some
cognitive scientists CS's. Several years ago I stumbled upon Allan Collins' (1999) valuable
article "The Changing Infrastructure of Education Research.†Collins wrote: "Recently
researchers have begun to study teaching and learning in the context of real-world learning
environments,†citing Brown (1992) and Collins (1992). This puzzled me since PER's have
been studying "teaching and learning in the context of real-world learning environments†for
about three decades. In Section IV, "Empirical Studies,†of McDermott & Redish's (1999)
"Resource letter on physics education research,†I count over 80 articles, dating from McKinnon
(1971), that feature classroom research. However, it must be admitted that relatively few of
those articles meet the criteria for "design based research†(DBR) suggested by Brown (1992),
Collins (1992), and Kelly (2003).
Another example of what I would regard as a communication failure is provided by the
previously mentioned paper of Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark (2006) with its seemingly non-
sequitur title "Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the
Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based
Teaching,†even despite PER evidence reviewed by Hake (2002; 2005b; 2007a,b; in press) for
the effectiveness of all but extreme "discovery teaching.†Kirschner et al. wrote:
Klahr and Nigam (2004) in a very important study, not only tested whether science learners
learned more via a discovery versus direct instruction route but also, once learning had
occurred, whether the quality of learning differed. Specifically, they tested whether those
who had learned through discovery were better able to transfer their learning to new
contexts. The findings were unambiguous. Direct instruction involving considerable
guidance, including examples, resulted in vastly more learning than discovery. Those
relatively few students who learned via discovery showed no signs of superior quality of
But here again, as with Klahr and Nigam (2004), "direct instruction†appears to mean to
Kirschner et al. (2006) pedagogy rather similar in some respects to the "interactive engagement†methods shown to be relatively effective by physics education researchers, as can be seen from the Kirschner et al. abstract [my insert at ". . . .[insert]. . . .â€]:
Evidence for the superiority of guided instruction. . . [read "interactive engagement�]. . . is
explained in the context of our knowledge of human cognitive architecture, expert–novice
differences, and cognitive load. Although unguided or minimally guided instructional
approaches are very popular and intuitively appealing, the point is made that these
approaches ignore both the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture and
evidence from empirical studies over the past half-century that consistently indicate that
minimally guided instruction is less effective and less efficient than instructional approaches
that place a strong emphasis on guidance of the student learning process. The advantage of
guidance begins to recede only when learners have sufficiently high prior knowledge to
provide "internal†guidance. Recent developments in instructional research and instructional
design models that support guidance during instruction are briefly described.
Sigmund Tobias, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
I have been impressed by one aspect of the constructivist (let me use that term as shorthand for discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry based teaching that are the subject of the Kirschner et al., paper) position not commented on in the article. It has been claimed, most recently at the Games conference described above, and it seems intuitively reasonable that these approaches induce higher student motivation than approaches relying more heavily on deduction. On the other hand, I am unaware of a study comparing motivation on constructivist and other types of materials.
Traci Sitzmann & Katherine Hildebrand, Training Evaluation Team, Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab, Alexandria, VA
Working memory is limited in duration and capacity when processing novel information. Minimally guided instruction burdens trainees' working memory by requiring them to sort through irrelevant information while locating information that is relevant to their jobs. Working memory cannot be used to commit relevant information to long-term memory while it assesses the relevance of material. In contrast, direct-guided instruction provides trainees with material that is directly applicable to their jobs so working memory can be used to commit training content to their long-term memories. -
Barak Rosenshine, University of Illinois-Urbana
Despite years of research on instruction, and despite research findings such as those which Kirschner et al. (2006) present in their article, constructivism remains the dominant position of curriculum departments in colleges of education. The curriculum departments in colleges of education favor constructivism, and they are able to withstand those empirically oriented educational psychologists who tend to favor direct guided instruction.
The curriculum people always win. Constructivism is a lovely romantic idea of students pursuing their interests and learning on their own, and there is no force of data that can withstand those emotional ideas. Constructivism, after all, is not data-based; rather, it is an emotion about kids and teaching. Chall (2000) called such notions "romantic,†as opposed to "rational,†and apparently the absence of data to support romantic beliefs does not reduce their attractiveness to adherents. I'm surprised that after all these years people like Kirschner et al. and Richard Mayer (2004) don't understand that the curriculum people always win on this point.
Unnamed student of Paul Kirschner
A cognitive-load approach to collaborative learning: task and learner characteristics
While all levels of education are making use of collaborative1 learning techniques in
both traditional and electronic learning environments, the effectiveness of these types
of education/learning has still not been proven. The results are mixed (at best) and
educators often have to implement extra measures to either ensure that the
participants work together (e.g., requiring a specific number of contributions in
electronic environments or requiring attendance in face-to-face environments) or
ensure that all learners engage in the learning process (e.g., implementing roles,
scripts, and assessment schemes). The basic assumption of this project is that if
individual learners are to work together effectively in groups, the architecture of their
cognitive system and the characteristics of the task must be understood,
accommodated, and aligned. Specifically, this means that the characteristics of the
(group) task must be such that the cognitive system of each of the individuals is not
capable of accommodating its solution AND the group communication and
coordination activities necessary for effectively functioning as a team (i.e., the
cognitive transaction costs) do not impede the collaboration process. This project
uses a cognitive load theory-based approach to develop a method to determine a
groups cognitive load and to investigate how task complexity (i.e., intrinsic cognitive
load) and the learner characteristics expertise and age can inform the design of
effective group-based environments for lifelong learning.
Doug Holton
Problem-based learning (see this overview) in particular is anything BUT "minimally guided." See for example this article by Cindy Hmelo-Silver and Howard Barrows (father of PBL) which details the role of the facilitator in PBL. Kirshner, Sweller, and Clark appear to have created a straw man argument that no one actually believes. Why bother responding to something like that? For one thing, it has been published in a peer-reviewed research journal, and thus can and will be interpreted as scientific "truth." This has happened before. As Hake discusses in his listserv post, an earlier 2004 article by Klahr and Nigam entitled "The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction" has been used by conservatives to argue that good old fashioned lecture is the best way to teach. So we have to respond to these types of articles and engage in a dialog and not merely dismiss one perspective or the other.
D-Ed Reckoning
Summary from D-Ed Reckoning - Part 1
[ Good Diagram ]
Experts are skillful in an area (domain) because their LTM contains a huge knowledge base of information concerning the area (domain). This knowledge base permits experts to quickly recognize the characteristics of a given situation and serves as a basis for them to determine what to do and when to do it. For example, expert problem solvers derive their skill by drawing on the extensive experience stored in their LTM and then quickly selecting and applying the best procedures for solving problems...
Because WM presents severe limits on the amount of information that can be held in mind simultaneously and on the duration for which it lasts once attention is withdrawn from it, WM is often described as the bottleneck of the human information processing system.
Summary from D-Ed Reckoning - Part 2
Inflexible knowledge is the unavoidable foundation of expertise including that part of expertise that enables students to solve problems by applying existing knowledge to new situations. We call this expertise "problem solving skills." As students work with their knowledge, their store of knowledge in LTM becomes large and increasingly flexible. In other words, the mind's concrete form bias is overcome by the accumulation of a greater store of related knowledge, facts, and examples. The end product of flexible knowledge is expertise which is deep structure of a large domain of knowledge. It is this expertise that we associate with higher-order or critical thinking skills and it can't be taught directly.
Summary from D-Ed Reckoning - Part 3
First the bad news. Practice does not make perfect. If you practice or rehearse to perfection, you will be perfect today. You will likely not be perfect a few days later. It is not good enough to learn something to mastery, you have to overlearn it, past the point of mastery, if you want to retain it in LTM. With sufficient practice the skill or knowledge will become automatic.
No one has yet found a short cut or golden road around the need for sustained practice for learning.
To educators, practice is disparaged as "kill and drill." They don't like it, so they want to avoid it. They are looking for a shortcut around the need for distributed practice to get students to mastery. Fundamentally, they are looking for magic. This is an ongoing theme in modern education. Look at nearly every education reform in recent time and you'll see a common characteristic--the desire to reduce the need for practice.
Summary from D-Ed Reckoning - Part 4
Knowledge helps students in three critical ways:
1. it makes it easier to learn new information,
2. it makes it easier to remember new information, and
3. it improves their ability to think by circumventing the thinking process and by freeing up space in working memory.
Summary from D-Ed Reckoning - Part 5
The theory underlying constructivism is that people learn best in an unguided or minimimally guided environment , generally defined as one in which students, rather than being persented with essential information, must discover or construct essential information for themeselves. Thus, constructivism requires the novice student to search a problem space for problem-relevant information to discover the essential information, i.e., the solution to the problem posed.
Bear in mind, the goal of instruction is rarely just to search for or discover information. The goal of education is to give learners specific guidance about how to cognitively manipulate information in ways that are consistent with a learning goal, and store the result in LTM.
Allegedly, constructivism helps students to derive meaning from learning materials. However, cognitive load theory suggests that the free exploration of a highly complex environment generates a heavy WM load that is detrimental to learning. This suggestion is particularly important in the case of novice learners who lack proper cogntive LTM structures to integrate the new information with their prior knowledge.
while there is little doubt that students remember material they generate themselves better than material that is handed to them. This "generation effect," as it is called, is indeed powerful, and it is due, in part, to forcing the learner to think about the meaning of material (although other techniques can do that as well). Part of the effect does seem to be unique to the actual generation of the answer, over and above thinking about meaning. For this reason constructivists believe that discovery learning should be employed whenever possible. However, given that memory follows thought, one thing is clear: Students will remember incorrect "discoveries" just as well as correct ones.
I find it interesting that the 'summary' in D-Ed Reckoning bears little resemblance to the actual article.
Public Testimony
To the National Math Panel
Dr. Martha Schwartz
November 6, 2006
long-term memory can be considered as the central and dominant structure of human cognition. Long-term memory refers to the enormous pool of knowledge stored over the years and accessible as required. For example, knowing how to read, write, swim, play chess, walk and all the other tasks that we have learned to perform are stored in long-term memory.
However, the current dominant tendency in education is to promote discovery learning.
Kirschner, Sweller and Clark state the following: "Yet many educators, educational researchers, instructional designers, and learning materials developers appear to have embraced minimally guided instruction and tried to implement it†(2006, p. 6). What's more, much of the literature on ICT endorse this approach as if the capabilities of the tool, the computer, exert some magical power over the learning process.
According to Clark and Feldon (Mayer, 2005, p. 108): "There is a persistent belief among some segments of the education and training communities that the most effective learning experiences are those in which learners navigate unstructured multimedia learning environments or solve novel problems presented without instructional support.â€
This should come as no surprise since research on ICT has often been criticized for its lack of rigor and objectivity. Joy and Garcia share this opinion: "Practitioners and consumers of
asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) need to be aware that much of the research in this field is seriously flawed, rendering many of the conclusions inaccurate or open to debate†(2000).
The Integration of ICT in Teaching Practices in Francophone Minority
Settings: Tendencies and Challenges
Clermont Gauthier
Without going into details, it is interesting to review some of the principles enunciated by
researchers and which point to practical directions for teaching.
Multimedia principle. People learn better from words and pictures than from words alone.
Split-attention principle. People learn better when words and pictures are integrated and
not separated.
Modality principle. People learn better from graphics and narration than from graphics
and printed text.
Segmenting principle. People learn better when the message is presented in segments
rather than as a continuous unit.
Coherence principle. People learn better when extraneous material is excluded from the
Personalization principle. People learn better when the words used are in conversational
style rather than formal style and when the words are spoken by a human voice rather
than a machine voice.
Guided-discovery principle. People learn better in discovery-based environments when
guidance is well incorporated.
Worked-out example principle. People learn better when they are presented with
worked-out examples.
Self-explanation principle. People learn better when they are encouraged to generate
explanations during learning.
Animation and interactivity principle. People do not necessarily learn better from
animation than from static diagrams.
Navigation principle. People learn better in hypertext environments when navigation aids
are provided.
Site map principle. People learn better in an online environment when the interface
includes a map showing where the learner is in the lesson.
Fernette and Brock Eide, Eide Neurolearning Blog
When medical students are instructed with case-based instruction - they have superior clinical practice skills, but inferior basic science test performance. So what's the matter with this? Seeback and Kirschner deemphasize this result by mentioning, "But the negatives include lower scores on basic science tests, more study time and a pattern of ordering significantly more unnecessary tests at a much higher cost per patient with less benefit." But who would you rather have for a doctor - one who practiced medicine better or one who knew more answers on a pencil-and-paper test.
Alice Kolb & David Kolb
Experiential Learning Theory Bibliography
Doug Belshaw
As Kathy says, 'he was explaining that for these musicians, playing this amazing music appeared that easy. Relaxed. Not frantic. There was no desperate need to fill all the space.' All well and good, but how is this relevant to educators?
Newbie teachers/trainers often make the same mistake. We fill in every available space, just like those first-time desktop publishers who "abhor a vacuum†and cram words and clip-art into every square millimeter of a flyer.
But real learning takes place between exposures to content! Long-term memory from learning happens after the training. The space between the lessons and practice is where the learning is made permanent. If we don't leave that space, new content keeps rushing in to overwrite the previous content, before the learner's brain has a chance to pause, reflect, and synthesize the proteins needed for long-term memory storage.
Kuhlthau, C. & Todd, R. (2007) Guided Inquiry. Retrieved June 14, 2007 from http://cissl.scils.rutgers.edu/guided_inquiry/introduction.html
Kuhlthau and Todd's research into effective inquiry learning indicates that it must be guided and that the key is in the interventions provided by the teachers and library team. It can no longer be hands off.
"Guided Inquiry is carefully planned, closely supervised targeted intervention …. ……. (by)
teachers to guide students through curriculum based inquiry units that build deep knowledge and deep understanding of a curriculum topic, and gradually lead towards independent learning. â€
Brian Waddell
Teacher Librarian
Karori West & Kelburn Normal Schools
If you can't beat them, join them: Integrating ICT and guided inquiry learning, a practical solution.
Cognitive load theory at UNSW
Cognitive load theory (CLT) is an instructional theory derived from our knowledge of the evolutionary bases of human cognitive architecture and the instructional consequences that flow from that architecture. A key aspect of the theory is the relation between long-term memory and working memory, and how instructional materials interact with this cognitive system.
Work on CLT was initiated in the early 1980's at the School of Education, UNSW, and has generated a large range of instructional effects that can be used by teachers, instructors and researchers. We work on projects designed to facilitate learning in curriculum areas such art education, engineering, mathematics, music, reading, science, second language acquisition, and writing, as well as looking at the role of technology and multimedia in learning. Ten Doctoral students working in these areas and using a CLT framework have graduated since 2001.
In recent years, many groups of international researchers located primarily in Europe and the United States have adopted CLT as a theoretical paradigm. We collaborate with a large number of these groups in publications and conference presentations related to CLT. One of the consequences of this collaboration has been the publication of many special issues of leading international journals devoted to CLT, which are listed below.
Dr. H. Leemkuil
When these activities are successfully performed players will gain implicit as well as explicit knowledge during game play. Implicit knowledge is contextualised and difficult to verbalise and therefore difficult to transfer to others or other contexts. Explicit knowledge can be verbalised and can be transferred more easily. However, when some of these activities are not performed or only partially completed, this might influence game play and/or learning from the game.
What's Wrong With Our Schools?
The paper "Applications and
Misapplications of Cognitive Psychology to Mathematics
Education†should be required reading for educators and
math consultants. It is written by three of the most distin-
guished cognitive scientists in the world, John Anderson,
Lynn Reder and Herb Simon, and they argue that educa-
tional movements like constructivism have "questionable
psychological foundations.†Drawing on their own work, and
on numerous studies in cognition, the authors challenge
the central claims of the constructivist school, for example:
that training by abstraction is of little use, that real learning
occurs in authentic situations, that construction needs to
be done in a highly social environment, that knowledge
cannot be instructed by a teacher but rather it can only be
constructed by the learner, that knowledge cannot be rep-
resented symbolically and that knowledge can only be
communicated in complex learning situations.
In The Neuropsychology of Mathematics: Diagnosis and
InterventionSteven Feifer and Philip De Fina argue that
"teaching students proper decision making skills and algo-
rithmic procedures can profoundly influence mathematics
In "The Expert Mind,â€
which I discussed in this book, Philip Ross argues that
studies in cognition show that expert abilities can be fostered
in children through practice and rigorous instruction.
In "Mindful of Symbols†cognitive scientist Judy DeLoache
argues that "less may be more when it comes to educational
books for young children.†DeLoache found that the more clut-
tered and distracting the pages of a reader are, the less children
learn from the book. DeLoache also tells a success story:
Using blocks designed to help teach math to young
children, we taught six- and seven-year-olds to do
subtraction problems that require borrowing (a
form of problem that often give young children diffi-
culty). We taught a comparison group to do the same
but using pencil and paper. Both groups learned to
solve the problems equally well—but the group using
the block took three times as long to do so. A girl who
used the blocks offered us some advice after the
study: "Have you ever thought of teaching kids to do
these with pencil and paper? It's a lot easier.â€
Respected education analyst Diane Ravitch succinctly defined them in an essay (May 12, 2005) in the Wall Street Journal:
On one side, beloved by schools of education, are the century-old ideas of progressive education, now called "constructivism." Associated with this philosophy are such approaches as whole language, fuzzy math, and invented spelling, as well as a disdain for phonics and grammar, an insistence that there are no right answers (just different ways to solve problems), and an emphasis on students' self-esteem. ... By diminishing the authority of the teacher, constructivist methods often create discipline problems.
On the other side are those who believe ...
* that learning depends on both highly skilled teachers and student effort;
* that students need self-discipline more than self-esteem;
* that accuracy is important;
* that in many cases there truly are right answers and wrong answers (the Civil War was not caused by Reconstruction); and
* that instructional methods should be chosen because they are effective, not because they fit one's philosophical values.
Convenient chart: http://ceopa.org/documents/EdWarChart.PDF
The Ongoing "Education Wars" - Commonwealth Education Organization [Pennsylvania]. Excerpt:
"Most parents have little awareness that an education war is raging over how and what their children are taught, and how education should be delivered in America's schools. The war has formed a fault line running through teacher's lounges, PTOs, school boards, professional organizations, legislatures, colleges and universities, and the various academic disciplines. It is a war between the 'traditionalists' and the 'progressives.' Two divergent underlying philosophies are causing the 'war.' The traditionalists believe that children should be given a strong foundation, rich in content, in a structured environment by teachers trained in their disciplines. Important, relevant facts should be learned and memorized so they become the foundation for higher-level thinking and problem solving. In contrast, progressives believe that children are capable of directing their own learning given the proper guidance, stimulation, and learning environment. Student failure is often blamed on social structures and restrictive traditional classroom practices that they say suppress the natural inclinations of a child toward learning.
What Is an Educrat? by Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle, January 4, 1998.
"What is an educrat? ... I use [this term] because it captures a special kind of person in the education world: pinheads who are so process-oriented that they are more excited in the process of learning than the myriad wonders that can be learned. Simply put, educrats believe in process -- as opposed to educators, who believe in results. Educrats focus on how children learn. Educators focus on what they learn. ...
"What is the difference between an educator and an educrat? ..."
The remainder of this powerful article gives many succinct descriptions of those differences! Highly recommended.
Assessing Problem Solving in Simulation Games
CRESST model of learning
Isabelle Girault, David Cross and Cédric d'Ham
Different studies (Arce and Betancourt, 1997; SeÌreÌ, 2002) emphasize the importance of the
task of experimental procedure design in a learning context. However, the required design is a
difficult task for students (SeÌreÌ and Beney, 1997). Consequently, students are hardly ever
allowed to design their own experiment. The study by Tiberghien et al. (2001) showed that
"to learn how to plan an investigation in order to address a specific question or problem†was
the least frequent process objective. Although this paper does not focus on direct learning
gains, th2000).
Students' adaptation to a new situation:
the design of an experimental procedure
25 Learning Principles to Guide Pedagogy and the
Design of Learning Environments
*** ICT U Can!
"There is a misconception that Inquiry means letting the kids loose on learning with 'minimal instruction'. Inquiry is not an either / or dichotomy. It does not mean that you either teach them or let them teach themselves. It is a rigorously framed and supported structure that relies on the elements in Vygotsky's zone of proximal development to guide students through their learning. In Kath's model, Inquiry means engaging students in deeper more meaningful learning than direct instruction alone can offer."
("Australian Educator Kath Murdoch...
Kath is the author of the book "Classroom Connections" and we follow her inquiry model in our classrooms in my ICT cluster in Dunedin.
Kath states: Why inquiry?
- Vehicle for integration of the curriculum
- fosters connected rather than episodic teaching and learning
- Caters for range of learning styles
- Transferable process
- Taps into students' curiosity
What view of the child does an inquiry approach assume?
Kath states: In an inquiry approach, we must firmly believe in students as:
- curious
- searching for meaning
- intelligent in a range of ways
- experienced - something to offer
- thinkers
- collaborators
- active
- risk takers
- co-learners
- co-teachers
There is a fundamental assumption made right at the beginning: "Learning, in turn, is defined as a change in long-term memory.†For learning as remembering, certainly guided instruction is best, as the authors claim. But, is learning just about remembering?
Read/Write Web
Nice post that lauds the participatory aspect of e-learning 2.0, pointing to a colorful slide show by Judy O'Connell, highlighting two major aspects: new literacies that are almost all social skills; and the ability to read, write, and interact across a range of platforms. These are applied in Andrew Churches's revision of the verb lists in Bloom's taxonomy.
"Andrew shares this diagram he created with Cmap Tools, the no-cost graphic organizer tool (right-click the image to view it at a larger size):
The mind map above is shared with Andrew's permission. What do you think of the work he's done?"
Artichoke defends the paper...
When I ask teachers "Why inquiry?†many suggest that in adopting inquiry based learning, the pedagogy of student centered exploration will (in some ill defined way) introduce an "authenticity†to the "sequestered/isolated in some age sorted institutional space for 6 hours a day†classroom experience.
Teachers claim that the inquiry classroom will,
- Rescue us from the dislocation between classroom learning and real life learning.
- Disconnect us from "learning for the test and then forgetting learningâ€, and reconnect us with motivated for real life learning.
- Protect us from "Formica Learning†– the learning that results in a veneer of inert knowledge that coexists alongside deeper naïve beliefs.
They never stop to ask if inquiry is a wag the dog pedagogy, they never ask if we have misidentified what "matters most" and what "matters least" in learning, and they never ask about face validity versus construct validity wrt learning
Do students who experience inquiry based learning environments have an understanding that is deeper, more integrated, more coherent and at a higher level of abstraction than students who learn in "one size fits all†environ--
and in the comments...
Ahh Jedd, I agree that this is an article that is certainly worthy of some "learning circle critique†in New Zealand staffrooms,
My interest is not in the article argument itself so much as the way teachers` interpret what the academics represent as constructivism and inquiry learning.
I can believe many of the claims made because I have been nudged by all of the following Kirshner et al thinking when working with schools on constructivist pedagogies in New Zealand.
- Surprisingly Extensive Scaffolding: Because students learn so little from a constructivist approach most teachers who attempt to implement classroom based constructivist instruction end up providing students with considerable guidance aka scaffolding
- Subsequent Tests: Learners required to solve problems perform worse on subsequent test problems than learners who study the equivalent worked examples – fits with cognitive load theory
- Worked examples: Novices studying worked examples – are invariably superior to novices discovering or constructing a solution to a problem
- Learning nothing: Learners can engage in problem solving activities for extended periods of time and learn almost nothing
- Expertise reversal effects: issues for how we teach gifted students in inclusive classrooms
- Process work sheets add value to learning
- 100 million blow flies can't be wrong effects: Despite knowing less after instruction – less able learners liked the experience of inquiry
The extensive scaffolding is "a case in point" or "a point in case" – I can never figure out which creates more buy in ….the Magnet and I have developed a pedagogical framework for inquiry that addresses some of the concerns identified by Kirschner et al, and we have been using it in the schools we work with over the past year.
It identifies the role of both teacher and the role of the student, in determining the learning experiences for understanding, through Herron's four levels of inquiry, (Herron, 1971).
The inquiry design framework we have developed celebrates the ponderous buttock by allowing fence sitting across all levels of "L†word understanding – and supports pedagogical approaches allowing:
- Teacher driven confirmation/verification approaches (behaviourist learning theory approach), [Problem, procedure and solution given]
- Teacher student driven guided inquiry (constructivist learning theory approach) [Problem and procedure given] or [Problem given]
- Student driven and constructed open inquiry (co-creator connectivist learning theory approach).[Students investigate their own topic related questions ]
Both teachers and students can use the same design template to detail the learning experiences and questions planned for the inquiry. Teachers often use Level 0 Inquiry (confirmation/verification), to plan immersion activities for students before they are challenged to develop their own questions for Level 3 student driven open inquiry. Gifted and talented students can do it alone right from the start.
Academics will loathe the eclectism but teachers have enjoyed the pedagogical clarity it gives to planning
Albert Bandura
Edwin A. Locke
The authors address the verification of the functional properties of self-efficacy beliefs and document how self-efficacy beliefs operate in concert with goal systems within a sociocognitive theory of self-regulation in contrast to the focus of control theory on discrepancy reduction. Social cognitive theory posits proactive discrepancy production by adoption of goal challenges working in concert with reactive discrepancy reduction in realizing them. Converging evidence from diverse methodological and analytic strategies verifies that perceived self-efficacy and personal goals enhance motivation and performance attainments. The large body of evidence, as evaluated by 9 meta-analyses for the effect sizes of self-efficacy beliefs and by the vast body of research on goal setting, contradicts findings (J. B. Vancouver, C. M. Thompson, & A. A. Williams, 2001; J. B. Vancouver, C. M. Thompson, E. C. Tischner, & D. J. Putka, 2002) that belief in one's capabilities and personal goals is self-debilitating.
their team on the playing field in a self-doubting frame of mind;
otherwise they will play complacently. We would lay heavy bets
against a team coached according to Vancouver's control theory.
A resilient sense of efficacy provides the necessary staying
power in the arduous pursuit of innovation and excellence. During
social cognitive theory is founded on an
agentic perspective to human self-development, adaptation, and
change (Bandura, 2001). This theory specifies four core features of
human agency, which include intentionality, forethought, self-
reactiveness, and self-reflectiveness. People form intentions that
include plans and strategies for realizing them.
Bill Kerr
Their arguments that inquiry learning approaches:
…ignore both the structures that constitute human cognitive architecture and evidence from empirical studies over the past half century that consistently indicate that minimally-guided instruction is less effective and less efficient than instructional approaches that place a strong emphasis on guidance of the student learning process. (Kirschner et al (2006).
There is commentary by artichoke at this wag the dog blog entry and also at this wiki entry which provoked some critical discussion. Read both arti's original and the comments.
I'm revisiting the Kirschner et al critique of constructivism (Bill Oct10, 2006)
The URL of the paper has changed, just tracked it down, the new URL is here(pdf)
also go here for gel papers:
gel = guided experiential learning.
there are quite a few papers that look interesting, including one on the role of deliberate practice in the role of acquiring expertise, which I agree with Ericsson
the contradiction b/w the Kirschner and Ericsson papers is resolved thus:
constructionism / constructivism does work provided it helps to motivate individuals in effortful study - constructionism can achieve this more readily than other methods, not for all, but does work for those who become motivated - the teacher needs to be expert and understand what is happening
constructionism as developed by Papert et al is a method of subtle (environmental) intervention, yes, there is scaffolding but it is relatively unobtrusive - with scaffolding being removed (the teacher getting out the way and letting students create) where appropriate - other approaches may not enable able students to flourish in this way, they may always keep students chained up
the point is that constructivism used in this way is a form of guided experiental learning, it is just that the method of guidance is much more sophisticated and can create more interesting / enjoyable classroom environments, for both students and teachers
this was certainly explained clearly by Harel and Papert - only Papert's 1980 book Mindstorms is cited in the references, a lot of very good research is ignored in this "authoritative" study
constructionism / discovery learning does not work as some sort of generalised "weeties for the brain" in traditional School environments - however, the claim that children often learn more (through play) before they come to school than they learn at school ought to be not forgotten in thinking these issues through
"Games are... the most ancient and timehonored (sic) vehicle for education. They are the original educational technology, the natural one, having received the seal of approval of natural selection. We don't see mother lions lecturing cubs at the chalkboard; we don't see senior lions writing their memoirs for posterity. In light of this, the question, 'Can games have educational value?' becomes absurd. It is not games but schools that are the newfangled notion, the untested fad, the violator of tradition. Game-playing is a vital educational function for any creature capable of learning." (Crawford 1982)
the bit in Kirschner et al about long term memory I think is refuted in this paper
The Expert Mind. Read the section on chunking, particularly the last couple of paragraphs:
"Ericsson also cites studies of physicians who clearly put information into long-term memory and take it out again in ways that enable them to make diagnoses. Perhaps Ericsson's most homely example, though, comes from reading. In a 1995 study he and Walter Kintsch of the University of Colorado found that interrupting highly proficient readers hardly slowed their reentry to a text; in the end, they lost only a few seconds. The researchers explained these findings by recourse to a structure they called long-term working memory, an almost oxymoronic coinage because it assigns to long-term memory the one thing that had always been defined as incompatible with it: thinking. But brain-imaging studies done in 2001 at the University of Konstanz in Germany provide support for the theory by showing that expert chess players activate long-term memory much more than novices do.
Fernand Gobet of Brunel University in London champions a rival theory, devised with Simon in the late 1990s. It extends the idea of chunks by invoking highly characteristic and very large patterns consisting of perhaps a dozen chess pieces. Such a template, as they call it, would have a number of slots into which the master could plug such variables as a pawn or a bishop. A template might exist, say, for the concept of "the isolated queen's-pawn position from the Nimzo-Indian Defense," and a master might change a slot by reclassifying it as the same position "minus the dark-squared bishops." To resort again to the poetic analogy, it would be a bit like memorizing a riff on "Mary had a little lamb" by substituting rhyming equivalents at certain slots, such as "Larry" for "Mary," "pool" for "school" and so on. Anyone who knows the original template should be able to fix the altered one in memory in a trice."
Papert on instructionism, pedagogy and constructionism:
"The word instructionism is intended to mean something rather different from pedagogy, or the art of teaching. It is to be read on a more ideological or programmatic level as expressing the belief that the route to better learning must be the improvement of instruction - if School is less than perfect, why then, you know what to do: Teach better. Constructionism is one of a family of educational philosophies that denies this "obvious truth." It does not call in question the value of instruction as such ... The constructionist attitude to teaching is not at all dismissive because it is minimalist - the goal is to teach in such a way as to produce the most learning for the least teaching ... an African proverb: If a man is hungry you can give him a fish, but it is better to give him a line and teach him to catch fish himself"
(The Children's Machine, 139)
Kirschner et al say "Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work" No qualification there, in that headline grabbing dogma. I say, it can work, but you need good teaching materials and an expert teacher.
Constructivism is not a new idea. It was susinctly put by Plutarch, 2000 years ago. "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." Learning is not a one way transfer of information to the learner, the "chalk and talk" that has characterised schools. A passion for learning is essential. (Tony, May?)
Constructionism, with a N:
Papert's beliefs are rooted very firmly in Piaget's findings about children's learning. Papert worked with Piaget for 5 years, applying his own expertise in maths to help build Piaget's theories.(2) Two points from Piaget stand out:
- Children build or construct their own intellectual structures.
(this statement is qualified below in discussion). Hence, Papert has restructured maths by inventing the computing language logo to fit the natural development of the child.
- Children build on what they know. Piaget's term for children's continual balancing of existing cognitive structures with new experiences is equilibration.
Piaget found that incredible amounts of learning occur without formal teaching. In his work, Papert tries to discover and promote the factors that are causing this "hidden" learning and also asks: Why is it that learning often does not occur with formal teaching (and often does occur without formal teaching)?
Harel and Papert (1990) argue that some materials are better with regard to the following criteria:
- appropriability (some things lend themselves better than others to being made one's own)
- evocativeness (some materials are more apt than others to precipitate personal thought)
- integration (some materials are better carriers of multiple meaning and multiple concepts)
So, learning materials such as the logo programming language, LEGO TClogo control technology, Instructional Software Design Project (a sophisticated teaching approach) or GameMaker (another evocative low entry high ceiling programming language) in combination with an expert teacher (not just technically expert either) are necessary for the constructionist approach to be effective. (Bill Oct10, 2006)
Fairly comprehensive comments, including discussion, explaining constuctionism at the game learning wiki
NEED TO MOVE THE BEST OF THAT MATERIAL OVER TO HERE! (Bill 23Dec06)
Papert's Principle: Some of the most crucial steps in mental growth are based not simply on acquiring new skills, but on acquiring new administrative ways to use what one already knows
- from Minsky's Society of Mind, 10.4
This was used by Papert (in the 1960s) to explain the results of Piaget's conservation experiments. There is a diagram showing the agents involved in Minsky's book. Most previous theories had suggested that children developed different kinds of reasoning as time goes by. Papert suggested how the different ingredients were organised. a mind cannot grow very much merely by accumulating knowledge, it must also develop better ways to use what it knows.
Jeremy Hiebert
Online Self-Organizing Social Systems David Wiley was kind enough to direct me to a paper he wrote with Erin K. Edwards a few years back: Online Self-organizing Social Systems: The Decentralized Future of Online Learning.
I had seen references to it, but couldn't find a copy. This look at online self-organizing social systems ("OSOSS") from a learning perspective is similar to papers I found earlier from David Passmore.
Passmore also looked at PerlMonks (my thoughts here) and investigated learning in Slashdot (my thoughts here), and came to similar conclusions.
From Wiley and Edwards: "While none of the existing OSOSS consider themselves learning communities, learning is happening among their users, and happening in an extremely innovative manner."I'm seeing some evidence to support this in 43 Things, especially in reference to explicit learning communities that form around learning goals.
James Paul Gee
Video Games, Learning, and "Contentâ€
(mostly about how experiences need to be shaped to aid learning)
Learning in video games—learning in terms of the Situated Learning Matrix—is not "anything goesâ€, or "just turn the learners loose to do their own thing.â€41 There is a good deal of guidance in games. Guidance from the game design itself, from the NPCs and the environment, from information given "just in time†and "on demandâ€, from other players in and out of the game, and from the resources of communities of practice built up around the game.
Postscript to a Debate Between Constructivists and Supporters of Explicit Instruction
Sigmund Tobias
The publication of the article by Kirschtner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) led to a series of rejoinders to that paper (Schmidt, Loyens, Loft & Paas, 2007; Hmelo-Silver Duncan, & Chinn, 2007; Kuhn 2007; Sweller, Kirchner, & Clark, 2007). You may recall that the original article was also discussed in Issues No 3 and 4 of this Newsletter [provide link]. In addition, the original article stimulated the scheduling of a debate at the 2007 conference of the American Educational Research Association regarding the paper's main assertion that approaches to minimally guided instruction (constructivism, discovery learning, problem based learning, etc…) had failed. Debate participants included two critics of minimal instructional guidance: Paul Kirschner, the first author of the article assisted by comments from the paper's second author John Sweller, and Barak Rosenshine, a well known critic of minimally guided approaches to learning. Defenders of constructivism included two noted scholars identified with that orientation: David Jonassen, and Rand Spiro.
The purpose of this note is to report a narrowing of the differences regarding the issues posed in the Kirschner et al. (2006) article in the debate as well as in some of the rejoinders to the article (see Hmelo-Silver et al. 2007; Schmidt et al., 2007) and to suggest some research and theoretical development that may ultimately resolve the issues posed.
In the debate the constructivists agreed that some form of direct, or explicit instruction (Sweller et al., 2007) may be useful for students with little prior knowledge of well structured domains. Similarly, Kuhn (2007) acknowledged that there is a place for explicit instruction, and Schmidt et al., (2007), as well as Hmelo-Silver et al. (2007) agreed that some instructional guidance was necessary. During the debate, the constructivists also agreed that some form of guidance, or instructional support (Tobias, 1982) more generally, was essential in all instructional approaches. The constructivists suggested that instruction in ill structured domains, such as problems in medical diagnosis, advanced engineering design, even teaching students the meaning of a complex concept such as "justice†were difficult if not impossible with explicit instructional approaches and could only be managed with instruction following a constructivist orientation. The critics of the constructivist position acknowledged that ill structured domains presented difficult problems and ought to be approached by a variety of means.
A consensus developed in the debate suggesting an interaction among prior knowledge, organization of the subject matter, and instructional method similar to the multivariable aptitude treatment interaction research recommended by Cronbach (2002. The constructivist debaters especially suggested that students' prior knowledge was a key variable in these interactions, confirming expectations regarding the importance of prior knowledge for instructional adaptations (Tobias, 1989, 2003; Gustaffson & Undheim, 1996). It should be noted that while prior knowledge has been extensively studied in previous aptitude treatment interaction research, there were relatively few studies varying domain structure, a variable that could be profitably followed up by future research.
Instructional Support and Domain Structure
In order to achieve progress in the clarification of these issues it is important for theorists to be more precise about the definition of two terms: guidance or more generally instructional support, and the structure of a domain. Sweller et al. (2007) acknowledged the importance of greater specificity about what guidance meant. Clarification of all forms of instructional support more generally requires specification of a hierarchy so that terms like "minimal†support could be anchored in specific instructional actions rather than vague terms. For example, does asking students to repeat an answer provided by the instructor consist of more or less instructional support than providing knowledge of results, or "worked examples� Similarly, where do forms of support such as providing explanations, whiteboards, prompts, or hints, to mention some of the supports described in the articles, fit in a hierarchy of instructional support?
It would also be useful to have specific descriptions of how domain structure may be determined. Clearly subjects like the multiplication tables, for example, constitute a well structured domain, and medical diagnosis of rare disease entities is an ill structured domain. Perhaps a second hierarchy ranging from ill structured to well structured domains should be specified, and instantiated by examples such as those given above, to facilitate research on the interaction among prior knowledge, instructional support, and domain structure.
Specification of Cognitive Processes
It should be noted that all instructional approaches need to specify the psychological processes engaged by teaching methods. Even though learning may be strongly influenced by the communities with which learners affiliate, and perhaps even by the environments in which learning occurs (Tobias, 2003), the psychological processes presumably engaged or enhanced by participation in communities need to be specified. Do constructivist activities enhance such processes as attention, retention in working memory, or storage and retrieval from long term memory, to mention only some examples? Similarly, which of these processes, or others, are invoked by explicit instructional methods? Furthermore, which of the approaches stimulates more frequent processing of instructional material either with the processes suggested or by others?
The accuracy of Kirschner et al. (2006), the rejoinders to it (Schmidt et al., 2007; Hmelo-Silver, et al., 2007; Kuhn 2007), and the response to the rejoinders (Sweller, et al., 2007) will ultimately be decided by research, rather than by rhetoric or debates. As noted some time ago (Tobias, 1982), different instructional approaches can lead to varying outcomes only if they either engage different cognitive processes controlling learning, or invoke those processes more or less frequently. Now, that some of the different views have been somewhat clarified by the publications and by the debate, would be a good time to conduct research concerned with the cognitive processes engaged by different teaching methods. Such investigations will ultimately settle the issues discussed in the debate and in the publications dealing with the issue. I join Sweller et al. (2007) in urging that further experimental research is needed, and would add that in order to be most useful, such research should aim to identify and examine both the cognitive processes engaged by the instructional methods used, and the frequency with which the cognitive processes are used by different instructional approaches.
question of finding what you're looking for - do 'beliefs' exist...? Churchland, etc
measuring... like measuring the distance from the edge of the world..
now we have never seen the edge of the world, so we'll crate a baseline reference and say other things are closer & further - so London is, say ... 3000 kn from the edge, and we're at London +500, whatever
and this becomes a system of criticizing subsequent things... like that new tech, a 'globe'
... you can't measure distance to the end of the world, all the calculations are wrong and don't accord with observation
so... you had a 'belief' and you had 'more'... but what are they?


text:
All Products
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AKA: | "The Road" |
Synopsis: | Simple-minded girl, played by Fellini's wife, Masina, is sold to a brutal, coarse circus strong-man and she falls in love with him despite his abuse. They tour the countryside and eventually meet up with a gentle acrobat, played by Basehart, who alters their fate. Fellini masterwork was the director's first internationally acclaimed film, and is, by turns, somber and amusing as it demonstrates the filmmaker's sensitivity to the underprivileged of the world and his belief in spiritual redemption. Subtitled in English. |
Directed by: | Federico Fellini |
Producer(s): | Dino De Laurentiis |
Cast: | Giulietta Masina, Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani |

subset: commoncrawl


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The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a hotelier, Victor Obano, for allegedly turning a 23-year-old female job seeker into a commercial sex worker in the Ijegun area of the state.
The police said Obano, who owned Tisa Hotel, allegedly lured the victim, Elizabeth, from Akwa Ibom, promising her employment in Lagos State.
Obano allegedly thereafter turned the job seeker into a sex worker in the hotel.
Our correspondent learnt that Elizabeth, a mother of two, reportedly got tired of being a commercial sex worker, and on October 5, told her elder sister on the telephone what she was going through.
The sister was said to have informed the police at the Anti-Robbery Squad of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba, leading to Obano's arrest.
Our correspondent gathered that another accomplice, a commercial sex worker, identified as Grace Edet, who allegedly was Elizabeth's supervisor, was also picked up by the police.
Speaking with our correspondent at the command headquarters, Ikeja, Obano, who admitted to have brought the victim from Akwa Ibom, said he only assisted her to find a means of livelihood.
He said, "I am the manager of Tisa Hotel in the Ijegun waterside. I am not a human trafficker. It was only this lady that I brought from the village. I met with her father and he explained her predicament. She is 23 years old. She has two kids and she was living a miserable life. So, I decided to get a job for her.
"The police arrested me because I seized her phones. They said I did not want her to contact her family members, but I collected her phone because I did not want her to have an affair with several men.
"It was her elder sister who reported the matter to the police. The victim is with her brother presently. The arrangement was that I would be paying her and she would also hustle in the hotel and send the money to take care of her father.
"The police should let this matter be settled amicably. It is a family issue."
The accomplice, Edet, told our correspondent that Obano had instructed her to train Elizabeth in commercial sex.
She said, "I have worked in the hotel for some years. I am a commercial sex worker. When the manager came back from Akwa Ibom earlier in the year, he returned with the lady. He handed her over to me, saying I should teach her some tricks of the trade.
"I did not know the arrangement between them. When I asked the lady why she was brought, she replied that she was asked to hustle at the hotel. So, I do not have any fault in the matter."
A police source told our correspondent that Obano allegedly had more girls he used as commercial sex workers in his hotel.
The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects, said the command would not tolerate any form of crime, urging the public to always avail the police of credible information.


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Hysteria . Kammerflimmer Kollektief
quecksilber 7
2004. cd . dl
Re-release of this long-deleted Kammerflimmer Kollektief classic feat. 15min+ of new studio recordings.
An assemblage of intriguing electro/acoustic elements. Incorporating samples, analog synths, and a plethora of stringed instruments (including an acoustic jazz ensemble), "Hysteria" taunts the fine line of control between abstraction and realism, with a beauty that's stunning at times.
Kammerflimmer Kollektief
The Kammerflimmer Kollektief plays music, which should not be written down, for it would scorch the paper. The project, whose music meanders between precision and freedom, has been founded in 1996 by Thomas Weber.
Up to now, the Kollektief has released eight albums in all sorts of line-ups. Live performances all over the world are realized as a trio (with Heike Aumüller and Johannes Frisch).


text:
Direct trade and ethically sourced hand beaded earrings from Maasai Women in Tanzania, East Africa.
Your purchase of this product directly supports Maasai Mama's with micro-businesses, invests in supporting tradition, and each pair is custom made.
We are committed to partnership and trading with the same Maasai Mama's, and we return regularly to shop from their store on the street corner in Mnazi Mmoja in Dar es Salaam.
1.5cm width and 4cm length.
Each pair of earrings come in a handmade African Wax Print gift bag.
Please note that due to handmade nature of this item, earrings will have irregularities. We have added high quality, nickel free earring hooks.


text:
You are here: irt.org | FOLDOC | delta
1. A quantitative change, especially a small or incremental one (this use is general in physics and engineering). "I just doubled the speed of my program!" "What was the delta on program size?" "About 30 percent." (He doubled the speed of his program, but increased its size by only 30 percent.)
2. [Unix] A diff, especially a diff stored under the set of version-control tools called SCCS (Source Code Control System) or RCS (Revision Control System). See change management.
3. A small quantity, but not as small as epsilon. The jargon usage of delta and epsilon stems from the traditional use of these letters in mathematics for very small numerical quantities, particularly in "epsilon-delta" proofs in limit theory (as in the differential calculus). The term delta is often used, once epsilon has been mentioned, to mean a quantity that is slightly bigger than epsilon but still very small. "The cost isn't epsilon, but it's delta" means that the cost isn't totally negligible, but it is nevertheless very small. Common constructions include "within delta of ---", "within epsilon of ---": that is, "close to" and "even closer to".
Nearby terms: Delphi « Delphi Technique « Delta « delta » Delta-4 » delta conversion » Delta-Prolog
FOLDOC, Topics, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, ?, ALL


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Thanks in part to some of the stimulus money of 2010, Amtrak California will be receiving 42 new rail-cars to service the three in-state routes it runs. Sadly, that process is slow, and the builder of those trains has only just been announced, with deliveries not set to begin until 2015.
With rail ridership on a non-stop upwards trend now, what can the state rail agency do to increase capacity in the short term?
The answer lies in buying used.
Or in this case, VERY used.
California earlier this year made a subdued announcement about the work they're doing to bring new train cars to the valley. I haven't seen the media report on this, but there was a presentation a few weeks ago that shed light on the work.
Amtrak has purchased 14 rail-cars from New Jersey Transit and will rebuild them to be suitable for use on longer distance routes. That is, the interior will change, the exterior, not so much. That means the San Joaquin will be going from the bi-level coaches we love to older single level (and high floor!) models.
So, why did NJT sell these trains? Well, they're not the newest chickens in the coop…
Coaches were built as Arrow I EMUs in 1968-1969 and were overhauled into push/pull coaches in 1987-1988
In other words, these train cars were built before Amtrak even existed (Amtrak started in 1971).
The cars will be complemented with the addition of existing single level Amtrak diners and baggage cars. Basically, there are going to be three new trains. 14 coach cars will be divided as two 5 car trains and one 4 car train. Each train will have a diner and a baggage car.
That means, the San Joaquin is going to get much longer to handle the same type of capacity per train. Current trains look like this:
Engine-Coach-Coach-Diner-Coach with some trains having an additional coach at the end, so 5-6 long.
The new trains will probably look like this:
Engine-Coach-Coach-Diner-Coach-Coach-Coach-Baggage with one train having one less coach car, so 7-8 long.
So what do these things look like?
Outside, they look like this:
The insides currently look like this:
That's not what we'll be riding. The cars are being rebuilt to resemble the interior of modern Amtrak California cars. That means 4 seats per row instead of five, folding tables at every seat, with shared tables in the middle, room for baggage and large restrooms. Also, a bike rack. Oh, and MUCH more leg room.
Besides the tables, standard Amtrak ameneties like power outlets and free wi-fi will be included. Naturally, the entire interior will look brand new (as it will be) instead of 40 years old.
So basically, this:
Getting new trains is good news, as it means more flexibility. Three more trains make it easier to add a 7th and 8th daily train on the San Joaquin, or, elsewhere. By placing the trains in the valley, they could keep current schedules and have three bi-levels be made available on the other routes.
And that is the downside to this. The three trains are destined to the valley, and while the insides will be new, they do come with one significant downside.
They're high floor models, while the current stations are designed for the low floor trains. That means, to get on and off, there will be stairs. The doors are also narrower than what we're used to, because they were designed for commuters and not travelers with bags. They will also be manual instead of automatic doors.
Today, it is very easy to stroll onboard.
The Comet?
Not so much.
All this means that the stops are going to take MUCH longer, especially if you consider the number of elderly passengers riding. And while the trains are accessible to the disabled, those in wheelchairs will have to wait for a staff member to get and operate a lift. Potentially, this could mean over 15 minutes added to the run times of the route.
If the new trains mean that they can finally add the long promised 7th daily train, then this is a welcome inconvenience. However, if the new trains are simply a way to whisk away the more attractive bi-levels to the other two California routes while lowering the quality of service in the valley? That would be a bad way to reward the San Joaquin passengers who have been riding the train in greater numbers every month.
As of now, Amtrak has not released their plans for these new trains, except for stating they won't be ready to roll for at least another six months. I'm crossing my fingers that the announcement will come with improved service. Perhaps it would be best if local politicians and media push for that?
Pictures are a mix of my own and Amtraks. The presentation where they came from, with a few other details, can be found here (PDF).
Also: The new blogger interface has been pushed upon me. It's terrible. Why do web companies feel that the best way to grow their company is to inconvenience their users? I don't get the business model at all, and I hate having to deal with it.


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Tipsters: Windows Phone 7 'Mango' release to add HTML 5 support
In addition to talking up Windows tablets and slates at the January Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Microsoft execs also are expected to use the conference to give another push to Windows Phone 7. But the first "major" update to the WP7 platform may not hit until August or September of 2011, my sources claim.
In recent weeks, there have been rumors of both January and February "minor" Windows Phone 7 updates. I'm also hearing talk of a major fall update (codenamed "Mango"), which will precede Windows Phone 8 (codenamed "Apollo"), slated for late 2012.
The Mango update is supposedly bigger than the January and/or February update, according to my sources. Mango is more like a Windows Phone OS 7.5 -- and may even be named that when it debuts.
I'm thinking the January/February update might actually be a single update. That first update is supposedly how Microsoft will deliver copy and paste to users. WinRumours.com reported recently that a possible second update will introduce enhanced developer controls for applications, access to programming interfaces that will allow for greater multi-tasking, in-app downloads and better customization.
Mango, according to tipsters, will add Silverlight run-time and HTML 5 support to Windows Phone 7, Far Eastern language support and other features and functionality. (Silverlight already is the primary development platform for Windows Phone 7 devices, but a Silverlight browser plug-in isn't yet available for the phones.)
I'm wondering if it also might add more enterprise functionality, as the first Windows Phone 7 devices are consumer-focused phones, as Microsoft execs themselves have acknowledged. The first crop of Windows Phone 7 devices only support a subset of Exchange ActiveSync's feature set, for example. As Windows Phone Secrets author Paul Thurrott recently noted, Microsoft officials have said they plan to gradually flesh out that list.
To be clear, none of this information is being confirmed by the Softies. I asked Microsoft for comment on its Windows Phone 7 CES plans, as there is talk that CES might be the launching pad for the first Verizon and Sprint CDMA Windows Phone 7 phones. I also asked about Microsoft's plans for updates, including Mango, in 2011. I received no response.
What kinds of features do you think are on the 2011 "must add" list for Windows Phone 7 if Microsoft is to really jump start sales (which are currently thought to be under 500,000 devices)?


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So far, twenty-three thousand and ninety six people have seen me online. They include my mother, my father, my little sister, my grandmother, my grandfather, my boss, my sixth year Biology teacher and my boyfriend James.
When Leah Oliphant-Brotheridge and her adopted sister Su go on holiday together to Magaluf to celebrate their A-Levels, only Leah returns home. Her successful, swotty sister remains abroad, humiliated and afraid: there is an online video of her, drunkenly performing a sex act in a nightclub. And everyone has seen it.
Ruth Oliphant-Brotheridge, mother of the girls, successful court judge, is furious. How could this have happened? How can she bring justice to these men who took advantage of her dutiful, virginal daughter? What role has Leah played in all this? And can Ruth find Su and bring her back home when Su doesn't want to be found?
Viral by Helen Fitzgerald is published on 4 February 2016 by Faber and Faber.
So, Viral is the book with that opening line. The line that the publishers wanted the author to change. The line that will be the deciding factor when the big supermarkets look at it, and think about stocking it on their shelves. The line is a shocker, there is no doubt of that, but it's also an extremely good hook, it's also relevant, and it's also actually not that offensive at all. Compare it to the content of best-selling novels such as Fifty Shades, or to stuff that goes on in computer games, and it's actually quite tame.
But, the line is a conversation piece, and yes, I admit it is the reason why I wanted to read Viral. I wanted to know what the rest of the story was like; the writing, the plot, the characters ... I wanted to know more about it than just the first line. I'm really glad that Helen Fitzgerald stuck to her guns, and continued with that first line, because by God, the other lines in this story are excellent. This is a book that will send shivers down your spine, it's not frightening in the usual sense, but it's bloody scary when you realise that this really could happen to anyone.
Su and Leah, sisters, eighteen years old, just finished their A Levels, going to Magaluf to party. Su and Leah don't really get along. Su wants to love Leah, but Leah is determined to be the biggest bitch possible. Su was adopted as a baby, from North Korea, and Leah came along soon afterwards - the miracle baby; her parent's natural child, the one that they thought would never be born.
Su is bright, studious, wants to be a doctor. Leah is bubbly, popular, rebellious and determined to make Su's life a misery. However, the deal is that if Leah wants to go to Magaluf, then Su has to go too. Their mother Ruth has made that clear from the outset, Su will go, even though she really would prefer to stay at home, and Leah will put up with it.
By the end of the holiday, one of the girls is the star of an online video, watched by thousands, shared by thousands. No, not Leah, the party girl, but quiet, virginal Su. Suddenly she's known everywhere, but not for something to brag about, no the camera captured her sucking twelve cocks in Magaluf, in exchange for one sweet, sickly orange alcoholic drink. Su's life changes, forever.
The ease in which the video goes viral is crazy, it takes no time at all. The impact on Su and her family is absolutely massive, and whilst the video itself is the catalyst, the fallout has obviously been brewing for a long time.
Helen Fitzgerald gets under the skin of her characters and exposes their inner weaknesses so very well. Ruth, the girls mother is one hell of a creation, she's intelligent and well-respected but there is a hidden, dark side to her that is terrifying to observe. Her ruthlessness and determination is quite astounding and her responsive actions give so much away about this family and its dynamics.
Viral is a roller coaster of a ride. It's a portrait of a family, it's a documentary about the power of social media and it's blisteringly good. Revenge and tragedy, self-discovery, bravado and vulnerabilities, all of these and so much more. I have huge respect for Helen Fitzgerald's writing.
My thanks to Sophie from Faber who sent my copy for review.
Helen Fitzgerald is the best selling author of Dead Lovely (2007) and nine other adult and young adult thrillers, including My Last Confession (2009), The Donor (2011) and most recently The Cry (2013), which was longlisted for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year.
Helen has worked as a criminal justice social worker for over ten years.
She is one of thirteen children and grew up in Victoria, Australia.
She now lives in Glasgow with her husband and two children.
For more information about Helen Fitzgerald, check out her website helenfitzgerald.wordpress.com
Follow her on Twitter @FitzHelen


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April 20
"Ceasing to struggle because of our defects when there is opposition to a serious mistake can lead us to that form of pride called pusillanimity, lack of courage and strength to bear misfortune or undertake large enterprises."
--Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God, Vol. 2
For Reflection:
Am I being tempted in this way today? Regarding what? How can I overcome this temptation?
(Quote from Graceful Living)


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When you establish a trust, you name someone to be the trustee. A trustee does what you do right now with your financial affairs – collect income, pay bills and taxes, save and invest for the future, buy and sell assets, provide for your loved ones, keep accurate records, and generally keep things organized and in good order.
The Key Takeaways
● You can be trustee of your revocable living trust. If you are married, your spouse can be co-trustee.
● You can also choose an adult child, trusted friend or a professional or corporate trustee.
● Naming someone else to be co-trustee with you helps them become familiar with your trust, allows them to learn firsthand how you want the trust to operate, and lets you evaluate the co-trustee's abilities.
Who Can Be Your Trustee
If you have a revocable living trust, you can be your own trustee. If you are married, your spouse can be a trustee with you. This way, if either of you become incapacitated or die, the other can continue to handle your financial affairs without interruption. Most married couples who own assets together, especially those who have been married for some time, are usually co-trustees.
You do not have to be your own trustee. Some people choose an adult son or daughter, a trusted friend or another relative. Some like having the experience and investment skills of a professional or corporate trustee (e.g., a bank trust department or trust company). Naming someone else as trustee or co-trustee with you does not mean you lose control. The trustee you name must follow the instructions in your trust and report to you. You can even replace your trustee should you change your mind.
When to Consider a Professional or Corporate Trustee
You may be elderly, widowed, or in declining health and have no children or other trusted relatives living nearby. You may simply not have the time, desire or experience to manage your investments by yourself. Also, certain irrevocable trusts will not allow you to be trustee due to restrictions in the tax laws. In these situations, a professional or corporate trustee may be exactly what you need: they have the experience, time and resources to manage your trust and help you meet your investment goals.
What You Need to Know
Professional or corporate trustees will charge a fee to manage your trust. However, the fee is generally quite reasonable, especially when you consider their experience, the services provided, and the investment returns that a professional trustee can deliver.
Actions to Consider
● Name someone to be co-trustee with you now. This would eliminate the time a successor would need to become knowledgeable about your trust, your assets, and the needs and personalities of your beneficiaries. It would also let you evaluate if the co-trustee is the right choice to manage the trust in your absence.
● Evaluate your trustee candidates carefully and realistically.
● If you are considering a professional or corporate trustee, talk to several. Compare their services, investment returns, and fees.
Select, educate, and advise your successor trustees so they will have support and know what to do next to carry out your wishes.
Posted in: Estate Planning


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What is Acute Inflammation?
Inflammation is the body's normal protective response to an injury, irritation, or surgery. This natural "defense" process brings increased blood flow to the area, resulting in an accumulation of fluid. As the body mounts this protective response, the symptoms of inflammation develop. These include:
- Swelling
- Pain
- Increased warmth and redness of the skin
Inflammation can be acute or chronic. When it is acute, it occurs as an immediate response to trauma (an injury or surgery)—usually within two hours. When it is chronic, the inflammation reflects an ongoing response to a longer-term medical condition, such as arthritis. Inflammation is not the same as infection. Infections are caused by bacteria, fungus, and viruses, and infections sometimes produce inflammation. However, infection and inflammation are treated very differently. Your foot and ankle surgeon can best determine the cause of your inflamed tissue.
To reduce inflammation and the resulting swelling and pain, injured tissue needs to be properly treated.The earlier you start treatment, the better. Treatment for acute inflammation consists of "R.I.C.E." therapy— which stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. For acute inflammation in the foot or ankle, your foot and ankle surgeon will recommend the following:
- Rest (Stay off of your foot as much as possible to prevent further injury. In some cases, complete immobilization may be required. Your doctor will decide whether you will need crutches and whether movement of your foot or ankle is appropriate.)
- Ice (Icing, which decreases blood flow to the tissue, thus reducing swelling and pain, should be continued until your symptoms resolve. Wrap ice cubes—or a bag of frozen peas or corn—in a thin towel and place the pack on the injured area for 20 minutes of each hour you're awake. If your skin turns blue or white, discontinue icing for a few hours. Two cautions: Never apply ice or frozen bags directly to your skin and never leave an ice pack on your injury while you sleep.)
- Compression (Keep the inflamed area compressed by wrapping it in an elastic bandage or stocking. Compression prevents additional fluid accumulation and helps reduce pain. Wrap the bandage more firmly at the toes and less firmly at the calf. If your toes tingle or your foot throbs, the wrapping may need to be loosened. If the tingling or throbbing continues after loosening the wrap, contact your doctor as soon as possible.)
- Elevation (Keeping the foot elevated reduces the swelling by allowing excess fluid to drain to the heart. The proper way to elevate your foot is to keep it level with or slightly above the heart. Place one or two pillows under your calf, and make sure your hip and knee are slightly bent. Never keep your leg extended straight out.)
In addition to the above measures, your foot and ankle surgeon may prescribe a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen, or another type of medication.
If Pain Persists or Becomes Worse
The symptoms of inflammation typically improve within two or three days. If your pain and discomfort do not improve three days, call your doctor or go to an emergency room to determine whether a more serious problem exists.
As with any medical problem, it's important that you follow your doctor's instructions carefully regarding your injury or postoperative care.


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After 80 years on the path to success, SSI SCHAEFER is today a leader in planning and implementing comprehensive logistics systems including the software solutions. The market, its demands and the needs of customers have changed. Today's customer-driven markets call for a new focus – a sector-specific one. Michael Mohr, Executive Vice President Sales Automation, and Dieter Zeiml, Senior Vice President IT Realization, discuss the new orientation of the sales organisation and perspectives in intralogistics.
Michael Mohr: Our sales team is globally active, seeks to make contact with customers and sells solutions and products. In recent years, we have been noticing a new movement – a transition towards more holistic system requirements and relating to this, ever more specific and demanding customer expectations. For example, a brewery has entirely different requirements of its warehouse logistics to an e-commerce fashion company; pharmaceutical companies are likewise completely different. For this reason, it is important to speak our customer's language and also to recognise their market situation and to develop individually tailored solutions. Whether it's the IT or the hardware, we have to develop the right range of services for each customer and respond to their demand. To achieve this, we have specialised in the following six market sectors, in which we combine specific expertise: food retail, food & beverage, retail & wholesale, healthcare & cosmetics, industry and fashion.
Dieter Zeiml: IT means analysing our customers' intralogistics processes to then automate, support, optimise and visualise them using our software solutions. Our WAMAS® logistics software can do all this, making it an outstanding, scalable solution for all six market sectors. Let's take the example of e-commerce; this is a driving force and is at home in all market sectors. There is no such thing as a universal "e-commerce functionality". You have to differentiate between market sectors. With our new orientation, we are able to develop the exact solution that the customer needs – even for e-commerce. We can compose the right package of services for the individual demands.
Michael Mohr: Within the framework of this orientation, we are carving out market segments that we can serve professionally, globally independently and optimally. In doing so it is important to us to use synergies from different projects in the global market sectors. Fashion customers in Asia can, for example, benefit from our experiences with customers in America. This concentrated expertise will also be supported by local experts in the hubs; our national subsidiaries. Eventually, the central expertise in our global sales organisation will be completed by the expertise of the individual regions – for the benefit of the customer.
Dieter Zeiml: Our customers follow different business models and therefore focus on heterogeneous specifics. For each of them, different processes take precedence, to which the software solution must also be adapted. We have recognised this and now take it into account in our approach to market sectors.
Michael Mohr: Both in sales and IT, we are now much closer to the customer and so can respond to their requirements even more individually. What distinguishes us at SSI SCHAEFER, is that as a system provider we develop unique solution packages. And that's exactly what the market expects. Our product portfolio includes all kinds of modules and components that can be integrated, that are associated with each other thanks to intelligent and scalable software solutions. As a general contractor for construction and intralogistics we realise a turn-key system solution. Customers want to know how the machines are set up and linked to each other or precisely which processes have been integrated, but most important is the final, working solution, and that is exactly what we offer the customer.
Dieter Zeiml: This is true both for the hardware and the software. Even if the same components are used in individual solutions, the focus is on the specific customer solution. Of course, synergies are used between different market sectors: there are functionalities that everyone draws on, but there are also specific applications. We have the particular advantage in IT of being able to interact between sectors, as all our software engineers speak the same language and so can act across sectors. The sector-specific language is a particular feature that requires expertise to transfer the requirements to our WAMAS logistics software and ultimately to the customer solutions that are being implemented. We are now implementing this way of thinking and acting throughout the entire SSI SCHAEFER Group.
Michael Mohr: As SSI SCHAEFER, we are now very focussed, with our specific orientation towards market sectors. Our aim is to even better understand market and customer demands, to take on new challenges and to continue to successfully implement our projects. Opting for this structure has already proved to be the right decision after only a short while and will confirm and strengthen our leading market position. To that effect, we have already been able to form clusters that assign special products to the market sectors. The trend towards product developments for specific sector requirements must also be recognised. With this approach, we are looking ahead to the future with optimism and are looking forward to further exciting topics in the individual market sectors.


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The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War, the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson's #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.
After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar's crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.
Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin's scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.
At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition's envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.
- Paperback: 1264 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books (October 30, 2018)


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"Straighten out your wrist, Brotha!" When my boxing coach yelled these words, I knew his call was about more than perfecting my jab.
I have experienced the demands of Black masculinity and the responses to my failure to perform properly are not all that different from the experiences of failed masculinity that I felt within Black lesbian communities.
But it is true, I am now a young Black American Male. People usually assume that I am somewhere between the age of 15 and 20. I'm 28.
The world is unkind to Black bois. The world is unkind to Black girls. But the way our gendered bodies are policed is different. Black bois are assumed thugs, thieves, rapists, and overly aggressive.
I knew this already, but I feel it more now like when I got kicked out of a Hollywood store because the owner assumed I was there to steal something.
He didn't just make that assumption. This white man came over and hovered over me yelling for me to get out and to never return because "he knew my kind."
I spoke calmly, but he kept yelling. I couldn't help but think, "this man can't see or hear me."
He could only see what he believed to be true about young black bois, and it didn't matter who I was, who I had been, or who I might become. My future and past were predetermined in his mind.
I was the dangerous body that needed to be policed.
And Black women have it too. Bearing the brunt of pathology, the Black woman has been told that she is the reason why Black people suffer. Because she has been too strong and emasculating. Because she is crazy and angry.
She needs to be put in her place by Black men and those outside her racialized community.
When my boxing coach told me to straighten out my wrist, it came after lots of criticism around my push-up form, my strength (or weakness). The way my body moved was sub-par especially in comparison to this ripped Black man.
I have gone from being a big, strong looking Black woman to occupying the body of a young, lanky Black man. The more my body masculinizes, the more I feel my femininity stands out as contradictory to those who invest in normative types of masculinity.
So What is Masculinity? How Did I Come To Learn How To Wear It?
When I was in high school, I learned there was a code to same gender loving life. You were either masculine or femme, a stud or her girlfriend.
I was told that my look was confusing. People couldn't tell what I was. Someone told me that I was sporty "femme." I didn't know what that meant but I was happy that I had a name to call myself, a place to belong.
The first woman I went on a date with was masculine presenting, a stud. She had a way of making me feel her masculinity as a direct opposite to my femininity.
I didn't like the room I was given to move or to not move.
I know that this interaction was circumscribed by chivalry. She opened my door and closed it. She paid for dinner. Something about this interaction made me feel trapped.
I decided that I would be nobody's femme and therefore I must be like her, a masculine woman, a stud.
I wanted to be in control.
I took the summer to learn my gendered role. I became a stud. And it worked because I was able to get the attention of the femmes that I was attracted to.
In those early teenage years, I mostly learned from other studs how to be. I remember the first time I learned about stud misogyny. I was 18 or 19 at the time and I was at a house party in the Bay.
There were many beautiful Black women in the space. There were studs and femmes. The host was a stud who wore cornrows, baggy jeans, and perhaps a polo or a jersey. She was good looking, but somehow I knew that was something I wasn't supposed to articulate aloud.
I remember looking at her and examining the family photos that had been on display in her house.
The girl in the picture was different. She was femme. She smiled.
I wonder if the girl in the picture felt like she needed more room. I wonder if the stud she had become gave her more room.
I wonder how that room, that liberation that she felt came from dominating feminine women or perhaps the feminine that might have been a part of her.
I remember walking in on a conversation between two studs. One told the story of how her girlfriend broke her chain and how upset she was.
The other stud chimed in, "If that had been my girl, I would have slapped her."
Everyone laughed, but I was afraid.
That's probably one of the earliest moments that I felt uneasy about being a stud and the kind of masculinity we were creating and inheriting.
Another lesson in studly masculinity came for me when I was in college. I had fallen for an older femme woman.
We'd spend time walking and holding hands in the New England chill. She taught me how to be a good stud.
"You should always walk on this side of the street, so that I feel protected."
"You should always open the door for the lady."
I was getting schooled in old-fashioned chivalry and I was good at it. I was in love with it. The giving, the idea that I could somehow protect.
But it wasn't simply that I could protect. There was an insistence that I MUST.
Anything else meant failure.
What if I was afraid? What if I needed to feel/be protected? Well, that was the sacrifice of normative masculinity.
After I had top-surgery, I needed help with my carry-on bags when flying. I wasn't able to raise my arms above my head. No one could see that I needed help. I didn't have any visible wounds, so I had to ask.
I asked a white stewardess for help and she glared at me. She was annoyed and she didn't want to help me. I explained to her that I had just had surgery and still annoyed, she told me that next time I would need to check my bag if I couldn't do it myself.
I was a young, seemingly able-bodied Black man. I wasn't elderly.
Why did I need help?
How can we expect to create healthy men and bois, if they live in a society where asking for help is met with punishment and enforced shame?
Is there room for vulnerability in masculinity? We must make room.
Who I Am Today
I walk in the world today as an effeminate Black transman. Queer, indeed!
I never want to straighten out my wrist. I want it to flare, I want it to paint flame across canvass because I am unafraid of femininity.
It is the place from which I garner my strength.
The term Masculine of Center has been one that I have clung to for sometime now. Masculine of center (MOC) coined by B. Cole of the Brown Boi Project, recognizes the breadth and depth of identity for lesbian/queer/womyn who tilt toward the masculine side of the gender scale and includes a wide range of identities such as butch, stud, aggressive/AG, dom, macha, tomboi, trans-masculine etc.
When I discovered it, I thought, "Finally, a term that can hold me!"
But as I sit here today and write, my center feels feminine. Is there room for that? We must make it.
I have always carried with me both masculine and feminine energies, but I have often been forced to choose one over the other depending upon the space around me.
I have been on hormones since July 2011. I had top surgery in May 2012. It is 2013 and while some things have clearly changed physically and emotionally, some things have stayed the same.
I still bleed every month. For many this may seem to be a contradiction to my masculinity or maleness, but I cherish the moments.
I am thankful that my body carries both masculinity and femininity at its core, because at the end of the day, what we should all be striving towards is balance.
We need to build relationships between men and women that allow space for both parties to grow.
We need to build relationships between men and men, women and women, that allow space for both parties to move freely.
The gender binary affects us all in detrimental ways. And while masculinity may seem to offer more room, it also has its limitations.
And femininity, if only understood as masculinity's property, is detrimental to women and other people who identify as femme.
Hi, my name is Kai M. Green. I am a Black Transman. I am a Black feminist and my center is just as feminine as it is Black.
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Kai M. Green is a filmmaker and a spoken word poet who examines through film and poetry questions of gendered and racialized violence and a PhD candidate in the department of American Studies and Ethnicity at The University of Southern California. Learn more about him on Youtube and his blogs, Kai's (Bi)Weekly Jams and In The Darkness: My Dissertation Journey, book him for speaking engagements here, and follow him on Twitter @Kai_MG.
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