Hi everyone,

I am just (Saturday) back from a conference in Fort Worth--The 
International Mind Brain and Education Society (imbes)  I was able to 
follow up on what some workers in this field are doing.  In brief,  one 
ruler is used to measure both the individual and the curriculum, in 
terms of levels of development.  This is Piaget taken many steps 
further, and the same with Kohlberg.  The levels have names:  reflexes, 
actions, representations, abstractions.   Not everyone will get to 
abstractions, say, because their environment does not require them to 
develop in this area.  Also, different domains will show at different 
skill levels, according to how much time a person puts into learning in 
a specific domain, e.g., mathematics. Yes, there is interaction between 
the individual and the environment--notice too that in this context 
"environment" means other people, also.  The levels can be mapped and 
charted.  The same "ruler" can be applied to curriculum.  The most 
solid learning takes place when it is constructed by the individual, 
that is, the individual learns through direct experience.  Direct 
experience is reflected in the growth of synapses in the brain.  The 
brain is plastic and develops through experience.  This is directly 
contrary to the learning that Freire called "banking,." or the modern 
idea that the child just down downloads the world outside into the 
brain.  For more information and a short but useful bibliography, 
google "Useful Metaphors for Tackling Problems in Teaching and 
Learning."  This article does describe college experience, but the 
overview is useful, I think

Andrea
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