The three Web sites I have chosen each present materials for use in classroom or learning contexts. They all espouse constructivist learning with goals of engendering critical thinking, discussion and in-depth analysis. I have considered each of them with a view to adapting, importing or applying their content and educational resources in a non-traditional learning setting such as a viewing and discussion program in a public library or a facilitated civic discussion series in a community center. Although these programs require pre-registration demonstrating a commitment on the part of the participants, they are free and open to the public.
Choices.com is a multiplatform, multipurpose site for Choices for the 21st Century Education Program an ongoing national initiative that “seeks to empower young people with the skills, knowledge, and participatory habits to be engaged citizens who are capable of addressing international issues through thoughtful public discourse and informed decision making." An initiative run by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, it offers “teaching resources on historical and current international issues, provides professional development for classroom teachers, and sponsors programs that engage students beyond the classroom.” The Web site serves a number of purposes:
- Showcasing its curricular resources which are developed with middle and high school students in mind and marketed to teachers.
- To market choices teacher training to educators and administrators.
- To promote “the Capital Forum” a state level outreach program that engages high school students in legislative issues and operations.
Because I am referencing this site with the development of a civic discussion program based on global issues for out-of-school adults, I will focus primarily on the curricular resources of this
site.
The core content of the Choices site is its curriculum units and series. Although some resources are free and downloadable, Choices materials are generally not free, but it is an educational non-profit and the curricular units are somewhat reasonably priced, at $20 per unit, or $100 for a 5-6 part series. A discount is offered for downloading rather than ordering printed versions of units. Because the Choices programs have been designed for use in American classrooms, most of their offerings guide students through a critical analysis of world events and issues in relation to
Beyond the curricular units, Choices has added a great deal of video and digital content to the site, the most notable feature is their new Scholars OnlineBrazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso give his take on multilateral trade agreements, or United Nations Senior Political Affairs Officer Susan Allee answer the question “what are human rights?” These videos are very brief, often under two minutes, but they are free and accessible and one can immediately imagine students responding to the questions raised and perspectives proffered. Other video content, specifically tied to curriculum, is podcast and subscribable via Itunes. Even the units such as “U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World” (in its 13thmultimedia content. feature which offers an array of interviews with Global experts on current issues. Students can listen to former edition), have been supplemental materials that have updated with Web links and
Choices has also posted sample video of a high school class participating in a Choices program and a video of a program at the summer teachers institute.
In addition to these video offerings, Choices also offers an excellent "Teaching with the News" series that is largely free - it aims to "provide(s) online curriculum materials and ideas to connect the content of the classroom to the headlines in the news. Topics cover a range of foreign policy and international issues and their “Policy Options” briefs, lesson plans and excercises are available as free, downloadable pdfs. The policy briefs offer “divergent policy alternatives, each driven by different underlying values, each with merits and trade-offs.”
However, one must really dig through the site and the lesson plan summaries to find the Policy Option pdfs and the Scholar’s Online free offerings.
Analysis
What impressed me most about this site was the evidence of inclusion of a wide array of perspectives. The materials take no stance but offer fair and balanced perspectives of the issues and events they explore, presenting compelling arguments for divergent policy stances.
Unfortunately without a subscription, other than the "Teaching with the News" units, I could not examine the specific lesson plans, teacher’s handbooks and other materials that are not available free on the Web site. There is no real explanation why the "Teaching with the News" units are free - I suspect that they are not as in-depth as the rest of the units. The extensive curricular materials that are available offer interested educators a “taste” of the resources only. That said, I found their available resources to be unparalleled in terms of their ability to explore current issues and events in an accessible but sophisticated way that will engage and challenge students.
However, their Web site leaves much to be desired. Unless one was familiar with the reputation of the Choices curriculum and/or program offerings, little about this site would one in. Unlike the other two sites I have considered, the core resources are not free.
The priority of the site is clearly to sell the curricular materials, however the issues they cover are comprehensive and extremely current and the quality of the materials is truly excellent. The financial cost associated with keeping such breadth of resources current and meaningful is not insignificant, however, given the resources of the Watson Institute and
The Choices format may be replicable in public library and community center contexts. So, for me this site raises the issue of importing a challenging model, one entirely based in traditional school learning, into an informal education context. Generally I agree with Cole's view on the somewhat superficial nature of the imprinting of instructional discourse on learners: “when the question becomes difficult, even educated adults…fall back on everyday knowledge and modes of interpretation.” In the context of the program I would like to create, although continued cognitive development in adults is certainly a potential benefit, the “distinctive features of the microenvironment of schooling” (p. 105) associated with these program models could present a barrier to potential participants. Free public programs attract a wide spectrum of literacies, education levels, cultural background, ages and learning experience. And adult “students” in these programs are there by choice, because they want to learn. Generally speaking the instructional discourse mode of teaching is not appropriate (p. 105), and a learning environment that welcomes multiple world views is critical. Happily, the Choices materials that I reviewed go far beyond instructional discourse and are sure to engender in-depth discussion, independent thinking, contribution and analysis.
In order to move forward with a Choices program for public audiences, I would need to review the core curriculumin depth and adapt it somewhat from a teacher's to a facilitator's perspective. Again, here I would plan to integrate Gutierrez and Rogoff's best practices.
I hope that these types of informal education programs for adult audiences provide what Cole referred to as ‘contexts of use” that will polish up any “tools of intellect” that have fallen into disuse. Based on my observations, he would be gratified at the speed with which all levels of learners sharpen their tools.
Works Cited:
Cole, M. (1990). Cognitive development and formal schooling: The evidence from cross-cultural research. In L. C. Moll (ed.), Vygotsky and Education.
Gutierrez, Kris D., and Barbara Rogoff, "Cultural Ways of Learning: Individual Traits or Repertoires of Practice." Educational Researcher 32 (2003): 19-25
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