Running head: WILLIAM JAMES 1

William James: A Teacher Perspective France Goulard, Natalie Kenney, and Michelle Deen University of Calgary

Good job, well reasoned, 35/35

William James: A Teacher Perspective In 1899, the publishing of William James book, Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals, created widespread interest because it applied new scientific psychology to the improvement of teaching. However, James realized that knowing psychology does not necessarily guarantee that teachers will be more effective in the classroom, nor is psychology something from which teachers can develop definite programs and methods of instruction for immediate use in the classroom. For James, the most general elements and workings of the students mind is all that the teacher absolutely needs to know. If a teacher can understand how a students mind operates, then they can use effective instructional strategies with that student to ensure that they are successful in the classroom. This philosophy is similar to the current educational approach of differentiation. Since James time, there has been a transformation in society and schools, where effective teachers in contemporary classrooms have learned to develop classroom routines that attend to, rather than ignore, learner variance in readiness, interest, and learning profile. Throughout his book, James proposes a conception of what students are like (rapidly changing streams of consciousness), and insists that this concept should guide a teachers approach to students and teaching, which is consistent with the foundational principle of differentiation - to modify teaching and learning routines to

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address a broad range of learners' readiness levels, interests, and modes of learning. Overall, James stresses that teachers must employ flexible and creative techniques if they are to stimulate those flexible and creative responses in the student that are essential for genuine education (Myers, 1983).

One of the major criticisms of differentiation is that teachers are already so overwhelmed due to an increase in class sizes as well as an increase in student needs that they do not have the time or resources to implement differentiation. James supports this notion by claiming that teachers are overworked already and that everyone who adds a varying amount of unnecessary weight to their burden is a foe of education. However, as more and more teachers implement differentiation in their classrooms, they may soon realize that as students become successful when they are taught based on their own readiness levels and interests, they may have less (fewer?) behavioral concerns to contend with and their work load may become more manageable, which is an idea that James does not explore in his book. The purpose of this paper is to describe Jamess philosophies on education and behavior, reactions, student-centered instruction, memory and attention. These topics will then be discussed in relation to contemporary teaching practices. Education and Behavior One of the main themes in James book is his belief that education

should be described as the organization of acquired habits of conduct and tendencies to behavior. He supports this theme by explaining that teachers should regard themselves as being responsible for leading students towards attaining certain behavior. This ideal is still relevant in current teaching practices as teachers are realizing that the purpose of education is to help students develop automatic skills (habits) in various areas of well-being, such as academics (e.g., learning strategies) and social development (e.g., social cognition and social skills) so that they can behave appropriately in a variety of situations once they have completed school. Moreover, James theory that instilling appropriate habits in students will help create thoughtful, independent, generous and energetic citizens as students become adults is still an important principle embedded in current educational practices. Overall, the central aim of education, in James time and modern times, is not to serve as a vehicle for conveying information but rather to provide students with the skills to help them learn how to evaluate the information available to them. The Necessity of Reactions James argues in his book that the older pedagogic method of learning things by rote in the classroom and reciting them without thinking about them will make it hard for students to retain that information in their minds. This idea is still relevant in current classrooms where students need to be taught and shown proper strategies for learning (e.g., retrieving relevant prior knowledge, organizing information, elaborating, summarizing, etc.) which will

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enable them to store the new information in their long-term memory (Ormrod, Saklofske, Schwean, Harrison, & Andrews, 2006). Over time, their automatic reaction will be to apply these learning strategies to any new information presented in the classroom. James continues his discussion by stating that the largest improvement in recent years has been in secondary education through the introduction of manual training schools because it has produced citizens with an entirely different intellectual mindset and skills. This notion parallels the education system today with the offering of courses such as Industrial Arts and Home Economics programs in Junior High and High school, which enables students to develop independence and self-efficacy skills. Additionally, offering these types of programs to students can help them make abstract concepts concrete. For example, students are able to see and learn how subjects like mathematics are applied (e.g., balancing a grocery budget or measuring a seam). James theory on manual training schools also resembles Co-operative type courses, where students get to participate in the workplace while still attending school and thus, learn different skills that can foster independence and self-efficacy. His comments further emphasize different types of intelligence and learning styles, which may have contributed to Howard Gardners theory on Multiple Intelligences and the current movement towards differentiated instruction. Student-Centered Instruction In chapters six through ten, James focuses his discussion on the

importance of student-centered instruction. As previously mentioned, students streams of consciousness are experienced differently. It is the way students experience, manipulate and encode such environmental input that begins to guide the direction for instruction. Foremost, James states that education consists of various reactions acquired at home or at school (native reactions) with the teachers task being to supervise the acquisition of these reactions. Specifically, familiarity with the native reactions of students provides the educator with a basis to teach them alternate ways of reacting and interacting with new knowledge, with the purpose of facilitating learning. Teachers must also strive to understand the developmental stage of the student along with their native reactions to engage them in student-centered, differentiated instruction. James further explores the concept of native reactions and their impact on educational practice. Of note, the native reaction, curiosity, which James defines as an impulse toward better cognition is the precursor to what we currently term inquiry-based instruction. (good pt.) In other words, educational practice and teaching methodology are targeted at the learning needs of the students and is tailored to their interests. James gives an example of inquiry-based instruction by explaining to teachers that instruction must be age-appropriate (e.g., avoiding long lectures to younger children) as well as making instruction relevant to the childs interests and needs. In keeping with his focus on current theories of child-centered instruction, James then describes the importance of integrating both

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instructional methods and new material with previously learned information and concepts. In this sense, an educator is providing the student with a cue to grab their attention, as well as increasing the probability that new material and concepts will become part of the childs knowledge bank through integration with previously-held (previously-developed?) understandings. In the following section, James discusses both imitation and emulation as valuable native reactions that provide further avenues for teaching practice. These concepts closely resemble Vygotskys Zone of Proximal Development, developed almost 40 years later (Ormrod et al., 2006). Although the term ZPD had yet to be coined, James acknowledged the necessity of meeting students in the zone between what a student has already mastered and what they can achieve when provided with support. James further emphasizes that the needs of students are not static and change as students move past their current level of both chronological and intellectual development. Each students individual needs and strengths are considered, creating a truly differentiated instructional approach. Moreover, James highlights the laws of contiguity and similarity for promoting the association of ideas and suggests that students should be compared to little pieces of associating machinery and that it is the educators responsibility to increase the amount and quality of the associations that students learn and retain. Furthermore, James makes reference to the current instructional strategy of using multiple cues to build associations, which also enables teachers to differentiate based on students learning styles. For

example, James advocates [coupling] the desired reaction with numerous constellations of antecedents, - dont always ask the question in the same way; dont use the same kind of data in numerical problems; vary your illustrations, etc., as much as you can (James, 1899). He recommends teacher utilize a multi-sensory approach to instruction, thereby offering numerous opportunities to build connections. Throughout James work, he continually stresses the importance of basing instruction on student interest. This lies at the heart of contemporary instructional practices of developmentally-based differentiated instruction. Children attend more naturally to information and concepts that are age appropriate as well as engaging (Ormrod et al., 2006). Similar to most teachers today, James views children as active learners and emphasizes the role of the teacher as encouraging students to think critically and make meaningful connections between concepts. Attention In his discussion to teachers, James also notes the importance of sustaining attention during instruction. Specifically, he explains the difference between voluntary attention (attention that requires effort and cannot be continuously sustained) and passive attention (attention that requires no effort). Additionally, he states that attention is a process whereby incoming currents from the periphery arouse it and currents from memory and imagination reinforce it. This belief is consistent with the current conception that attention is not just a behaviour but it is also a mental process (Ormrod et

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al., 2006). It is not enough that students eyes and ears are directed toward their classroom material, their minds must be directed towards it as well. James realizes that there is a large amount of classroom material that is unappealing to students and that the teacher must use external methods to arouse their voluntary attention for certain periods of time, such as summarizing; using illustrations and examples; changing routines; and teacher modeling. Similarly, teachers today can help students by providing a stimulating classroom environment in which everyone wants to pay attention. Students are more likely to be attentive when they have exciting new things to learn every day, when teachers use a variety of methods to present classroom material, and when the teacher is lively and enthusiastic about a topic (Ormrod et al., 2006). Moreover, teacher modeling is an extremely important instructional strategy that can affect behavior. Students usually view their teachers as being competent and feel that they can learn something by watching them demonstrate a skill. Therefore, teachers must teach not only by what they say but also by what they do. Additionally, James mentions that the genius of interesting teachers is their ability to take material that is already engaging for a student and connect it with new material to be learned in order to capture the attention of their students. This concept is also pertinent for current teaching practices because if the curriculum is made relevant to students lives and needs, they are more likely to stay in school, and also more likely to learn and achieve at high levels (Ormrod et al., 2006). To increase the relevance of school,

teachers must continue to place academic skills within the context of realworld tasks, and particularly within the context of students local environments, which James alludes to by asking teachers to awaken interest in their students by eliciting connections between the subject and the students nature so that the student will be attentive to the subject. However, it may have been beneficial to teachers at this point in James discussion to have him delve deeper into what he meant by the nature of the student. Throughout the text, he mentions that individuals are different in how they interact with the environment around them but he does not examine nor explain individual differences based on socioeconomic status (SES), culture, and gender, three important differentiators in todays society. For example, students who come from low-SES may have poor nutrition, which may be associated with poorer attention and memory. Students who come from different cultural backgrounds with very different norms regarding acceptable behavior may find school a confusing and incomprehensible place, which may also affect their attention in the classroom. Even in James later chapter on apperception (the act of taking a thing into the mind) he notes that individuals have different apperceptions but he does not reflect upon how the SES, culture or gender of students can affect their apperception. Memory Another central theme in James book is his discussion on how the student who is passionate about a subject and systemically associates the subject with prior knowledge in his memory will be the most successful in the

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classroom. This concept coincides with current educational theory on meaningful learning. The process of meaningful learning involves students recognizing a relationship between new information and something else already stored in long-term memory (Ormrod et al., 2006). Some students approach school tasks with meaningful learning in mind they turn to what they already know to try to make sense of new information. These students are likely to be high achievers in the classroom compared to other students who use rote learning strategies without thinking about what they are memorizing. James also offers several instructional strategies on memory that are currently utilized in classrooms. For example, he mentions that teachers must enforce upon their students habits of continuous application, such as referring to material again and again, relating material to other things, and frequently reviewing the material in order to help students retain the information within their memory. Likewise, teachers today can help students more effectively remember classroom material if they help them connect it to numerous pieces of information in their existing knowledge base, and if they are taught to continually study and practice it within a variety of contexts (Ormrod et al., 2006). Furthermore, the most significant instructional strategy that James provides for teachers in this chapter (and in previous chapters) is the modern concept of multi-modal teaching strategies. He explains that teachers must engage the class through as many channels as possible, such as talking, writing, and drawing on the blackboard; permitting students to talk;

and make them write, draw, and exhibit pictures and plans. Multi-modal teaching methods will enable students to retain information in various ways by developing several associations within their memory. Two areas on memory that James should have further developed and are pertinent in the current literature on instructional strategies are the notions of automaticity and organizing information. When students continue to practice information and skills they have already mastered, they eventually achieve automaticity. Students who can retrieve what they have learned quickly and effortlessly and use it without thinking can free up enough working memory to attempt more complex tasks in comparison to students who are unable to make certain facts and procedures automatic (Ormrod et al., 2006). Automaticity is achieved through practice, which James does mention is important for students to retain information; however, he does not delve into how teachers can engage students in practicing information. For instance, in present classrooms, teachers can routinely incorporate basic knowledge and skills into a variety of meaningful and enjoyable activities, such as problemsolving tasks, group projects, and games. Secondly, even though James was aware that memory is dependent on an organized system of associations, it would have been helpful if he had introduced practical strategies to the teachers to reinforce his idea that when students relate new concepts to concepts they already know, they are more likely to learn the material meaningfully and therefore, more memorably. (metacognition? Study skills?) For example, one useful way of organizing

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information is outlining the material or making a concept map (a diagram that visually depicts the concepts of a unit and their interrelationships). By focusing on how key concepts relate to one another, students can organize the material better and also realize that learning is not just a process of absorbing information but instead involves actively making connections among ideas, a point that James emphasizes throughout the text. Conclusion More than 100 years ago, William James recognized and described a conceptualization of differentiated instruction that is still relevant today. This is evident in the organization of most teaching programs as well as in a review of current research in the area of instructional practice. Psychologists, educators and other paediatric professionals must recognize the importance of ensuring that the developmental level of the child, as well as an understanding of their native reactions are used to plan and guide program implementation. There is a growing recognition of the benefits of differentiated instruction in the area of Inclusive Education as well as with typical learners. Differentiated instruction is gaining empirical support through examination of the benefits of this type of approach to education for all learners (Ormrod et al., 2006). Moreover, specific teaching methodologies such as the Montessori Method and the Reggio Emilia approach (more commonly used in Western Europe) are based on this theory and are having an impact on the direction of current educational research. James also emphasized that psychology is a science and teaching is an

art, and that an intermediary, inventive mind must make the application, by using its originality (James, 1899). He viewed the role of the teacher as that of a creative, intermediary role to take child development theory and apply that understanding to instruction. James specifically addresses many of the issues that remain focal points in cognitive psychology and learning theory. Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals specifically discusses child development, teaching strategies, attention and memory in detail, emphasizing the importance of these functions in learning as well as how they interrelate to create a successful learning environment. Throughout Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals James conveys the importance of uniting both a passion for teaching and learning with an understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of paediatric development. Furthermore, he refers to the necessity of using targeted, purposeful action to harness the natural creativity and curiosity of children. The marriage of these functions is the root of strong instruction and the creation of a successful learning environment.

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References James, William, (1899). Talks to teachers on psychology and to students on some of life's ideals. New York, NY, US: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company. Myers, G. E. (1983). Introduction. In W. James, Talks to teachers on psychology and to students Press. Ormrod, J. E, Saklofske, D. H., Schwean, V. L., Harrison, G. L., & Andrews, J. J. W. (2006). Principles of educational psychology: Canadian edition. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Canada. on some of lifes ideals. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University