Over 50 years Richard Sennett (1943-) has contributed to our understanding of the experiences of class, capitalism and the life of cities – and our appreciation of Homo faber – humans as makers, users of tools and creators of common life. Sennett is variously described as a sociologist, urbanist, planner and polymath. He is also …
Category archives: Learning
Making learning work: social enterprise and organizational learning
Shirley Brice Heath examines the growing coherence between the worlds of business and youth-based community organizations. She argues that this has happened within both the realms of theory and practice and that there are surprising implications for making learning work. contents: introduction · living experience · an illustrative case: youth theater · playing roles …
Continue reading “Making learning work: social enterprise and organizational learning”
The functions of supervision
The functions of supervision. Examining the different functions of supervision throws up various questions and issues. These questions include asking ‘in whose interest does supervision work?’ Confusion also arises concerning notions such as ‘mentoring’, ‘practice teaching’ and ‘clinical supervision’. Here we explore Alfred Kadushin’s model of supervision and the insights it brings to these questions. …
Key teaching activities
In this add-on to ‘What is teaching?’ Mark K Smith outlines nine key activities that teachers engage in. Teaching, he argues, is the process of attending to people’s needs, experiences and feelings, and making specific interventions to help them learn particular things. Contents: being present • setting challenging tasks • talking • explaining • showing …
Allen Tough, learning projects and lifelong learning
Allen M. Tough, learning projects and lifelong learning. Allen Tough deepened our appreciation of lifelong learning through his studies of the ways in which adults conduct learning projects as part of everyday life. Here we examine his contribution. Under construction Allen M. Tough (1936-2012) is best known for his research and writing around the processes …
Continue reading “Allen Tough, learning projects and lifelong learning”