Subject: a new study

Posted by John Heinbokel on 12/9/2005
In Reply To:a new study Posted by Hasret Nuhoglu on 11/20/2005

Message:

Hasret,



I was not sure if your message was in specific response to my inquiry about curriculum development, but, even if not, it’s too closely related not to respond.



First, good luck with this project. I have little formal Education training, so I tend to struggle with some of the formal constructs of the field. Therefore, I appreciated the description of the “learning cycle” available on your blog. It has some similarity to the “Ladder of Engagement” that we have described explicitly on our web site (http://www.ciesd.org/understanding/engagement.shtml) and in a keynote address at a recent SD in K-12 Conference (link to that presentation on our web site). We have found it to be a valuable construct with which to organize and describe our work – both in working with educational applications of SD modeling and in our other consulting work. I see close, if not perfect, correspondence to its 3 steps and those of the learning cycle.



I was not sure from your note if your study was designed to explain why SD has been difficult to introduce and maintain or whether you intend to go into schools and implement and assess a program to actually do so. In either case the work will be important and of interest to the rest of this community. One of the elements of SD in K-12 education that has intrigued and frustrated me for years is why do some educators find it SO rewarding while we have not seemed to be able to spread it effectively into classroom and organizational settings any more quickly and widely than our anecdotal reporting suggests. Serious, theory-based and quantitatively supported research has to be beneficial to better understand that apparent contradiction.



If we here at CIESD or CLE can be of service as your study proceeds, please don’t hesitate to contact us, either via this List for a community-wide response or one-on-one as appropriate.



john

Follow Ups:

a new study - Hasret Nuhoglu 12/12/2005