TEACHING
METHODOLOGY
EAST MEETS WEST
at the threshold of a worldwide revolution in learning
DR RESENDE
2011
GOAL OF THIS LECTURE:
CHALLENGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
PROBLEM:
A new electronic learning environment
is replacing the linear, text-bound
culture of conventional schools.
SOLUTION:
We need to free ourselves from the
conventional education model.
GOAL OF THIS LECTURE:
CHALLENGES IN THE 21ST CENTURY
DEMOGRAPHIC EXPLOSION
1800 world's population = 1 billion
1927 world's population = 2 billion
1959 world's population = 3 billion
1974 world's population = 4 billion
1987 world's population = 5 billion
1999 world's population = 6 billion
2011 world's population = 7 billion
To meet the education needs of this demographic explosion,
we must think outside the box of conventional schooling.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS LECTURE

NEW LEARNING AGE: DIGITAL ERA
新学习时代：数字时代

NEW TEACHING METHODOLOGY: 4 SKILLS
新教学法：4种技能

EAST AND WEST FACE SAME CHALLENGES IN THE
21ST CENTURY 21世纪东西方共同面临的挑战

OVERVIEW OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
教学法综述：过去，现在和未来
CONTENTS OF THIS LECTURE

PRESENT: Education in China and America –
similarities and differences.

PAST: Foundations of Education in the East
and West - Confucius and Socrates.

FUTURE: Common Challenges for the East
and West in the 21st century.
EAST MEETS WEST
EDUCATION IN CHINA AND AMERICA
WHAT IS THE
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
LIKE IN CHINA? AND IN
AMERICA?
Personal Experience
EDUCATION IN AMERICA
EAST MEETS WEST
EDUCATION IN CHINA AND AMERICA
DO STUDENTS
HAVE SIMILAR
EXPERIENCES?
EDUCATION IN CHINA AND AMERICA
Compare and Contrast
EDUCATION IN CHINA AND AMERICA
Compare and Contrast
EXAM-ORIENTED
DISCUSSION
SELF STUDY
TEACHER CENTERED
GROUP STUDY
MEMORIZATION
SKILLS-ORIENTED
STUDENT CENTERED
COMPARISON
AND CONTRAST

STUDENTS ARE FORCED TO STUDY

FOCUS ON COGNITIVE SKILLS

ROTE MEMORIZATION

REPETITION AND IMITATION

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

GOAL: REALIZING PARENTS’ DREAM
CHINA
COMPARISON
AND CONTRAST

STUDENTS ARE FREE TO STUDY

FOCUS ON ANALYTICAL SKILLS

CREATIVE PROGRAMS

SELF-STUDY

ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION

GOAL: REALIZING ONE’S POTENTIAL
AMERICA
EAST MEETS WEST
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
LET’S LOOK AT THE
FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION:
SOCRATES AND CONFUCIUS
CONFUCIUS ON LEARNING

Confucius' pedagogical method: asking questions, citing
the classics, using analogies.

Learning as a process of observation of some type of
subject matter - books, objects, or people - followed by
reflection and inner change.
LEARNING = MATURATION
SOCRATES ON LEARNING

Socrates' pedagogical method: seeking truth requires
questioning and interpreting the wisdom and knowledge
of others.

Learning as a process of observation of the wise,
examining their lives, examining oneself and attaining
moral knowledge.
LEARNING = SEEKING TRUTH
CONFUCIUS’ METHODOLOGY

Set a good example
and inspire students

Combine theory and
practice

Guide students to
practise self-control
and self-analysis

Encourage independent
thought

Welcome criticism and
accept correction

Explain the present in
the light of the past
SOCRATES’ METHODOLOGY

Discover knowledge

Know your limitations

Use a dialectic
method, investigate
problems through
dialogue discussions Socratic method

Know your
weaknesses and
control negative
tendencies.

Life-long pursuit of
self-improvement and
moral standards

Use critical inquiry
SIMILARITIES

Learning as a personal and highly individual activity.

Learning as the seeking of virtue and self-control; thus,
raising individual moral standards.

Learning is not for an elite but for all and it encourages
competence through meritocracy.

Learning has a profound effect on society; it promotes
intellectual and moral development.

Learning fosters critical thinking which is laborious
work.
学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆
Study without thought is labor lost; thought without study is dangerous.
EAST MEETS WEST
AT THE THRESHOLD OF A
WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION IN LEARNING
WHAT COMMON CHALLENGES DO
THE WEST AND EAST FACE
IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
EAST MEETS WEST
AT THE THRESHOLD OF A
WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION IN LEARNING
FACTS
Fewer of us are reading books and
more of us are surfing the internet.
Current education system clearly shows that the
standardized testing regime and the outdated
curricula are wasting the potential of our youth.
EAST MEETS WEST
AT THE THRESHOLD OF A
WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION IN LEARNING
HYPOTHESIS
 Can we blend Confucius and Socrates’
wisdom with the current digital culture?
 Can we adapt the outdated educational systems
to a rapidly changing world?
How do we align the flexible cognitive frameworks
with the age of electronic learning?
EAST MEETS WEST
AT THE THRESHOLD OF A
WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION IN LEARNING
DILEMMA
Is technology propelling
a new age of enlightenment
or a faulty set of trivialities?
MARK BAUERLEIN’S BOOK
The Dumbest Generation (2008)
“The Internet culture
facilitates
egocentric, sociocentric
and ethnocentric views
which are profoundly
anti-intellectual.”
GERALD HUFF AND BROR SAXBERG
“Full immersion - How will 10-year-olds learn?”(2009)
“Technology Is an extension of our minds.
Immersive technologies such as
multitouch displays; telepresence ;
3-D environments; intelligent software;
and simulations—will transform
teaching and learning by 2025.”
BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY FOR
TEACHING METHODOLOGY?
FINDINGS
 Learning would take place both in and out of school.
 Teachers would no longer manage learning but would facilitate
learning, creatively adapting curriculum to their students' needs.
 Like any creative effort, this collective journey would include
errors, lack of good information, and false starts but the learning
process would be a continuum.
 Teachers could act as guides and focus on 21st century thinking
skills of critical reflection, empirical reasoning, collective
intelligence, and metacognition, thus developing a new approach
to education.
NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION
CRITICAL REFLECTION 批判性反思
It is essential to distinguish fact from factoid, reality
from fiction, and truth from lies.
Critical reflection enables us to see the world from
multiple points of view
and imagine alternate outcomes.
NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION
EMPIRICAL REASONING 实证推理
It is essential to base our methods of inquiry on direct
observation, objective analysis, scientific spirit and pragmatic
outlook. We need a healthy and viable approach to tackle the
world’s problems and live harmoniously.
NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION
COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE 集体智慧
All knowledge is social; we are not educational
islands. Therefore, we need teamwork, we need to
think collectively to solve common problems.
NEW APPROACH TO EDUCATION
METACOGNITION 元认知
We need metacognitive skills that lead to selfdisciplined, self-monitored and self-corrective thinking.
We need to align these flexible, expansive and
adaptive cognitive frameworks
with the age of electronic learning.
THE FUTURE OF
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CONCLUSION
We need to stop thinking of schools
as buildings and start thinking of learning
as occurring in many different places;
we need to free ourselves from the
conventional education model
that still dominates our thinking.
REFERENCES

Cookson Jr., Peter (2009) “What Would Socrates Say?” Teaching for the 21st
Century, Volume 67(1), 8-14.

Howe, N, Strauss, W, Matson, R.J. (2000) Millennials Rising: The Next
Generation. Vintage Books, N.Y.

Huff, G., & Saxberg, B. (2009) “Full immersion—How will 10-year-olds
learn?”Education Next, 9(3), 79–82.

Reynard, Ruth (2008) “21st Century Teaching and Learning: Assessing New
Knowledge” The Journal

Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1999) “Schools as knowledge building
organizations.” In D. Keating & C. Hertzman (Eds.), Today's children, tomorrow's
society: The developmental health and wealth of nations.

Siemens, G. (2004). “Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age.”

Soloman, G; Schrum, L. (2007) “Web 2.0: new tools, new schools.” International
Society for Technology in Education OR, USA.