 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
You
are here:
Recommended Reading
Engaging Minds: Learning and Teaching in a Complex World
by Brent Davis, Dennis Sumara and Rebecca Luce-Kapler
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 2000
ISBN 0-8058-3785-XReview by Jack Yantis
Engaging Minds is just that. At a time where most general texts for teacher education, be they for pre-service teachers or practicing ones, are written in a style that often induces mind-numbing fatigue, this nifty little book weaves a rich and thorough mélange of learning theories, teaching experiences and pedagogical practices through the lens of connectivity and complexity. Davis, Sumara and Luce-Kapler who are long-standing colleagues and teach at Canadian universities (Davis and Sumara at University of Alberta and Luce-Kapler at Queen's University) offer a plethora of information, perspectives and narratives that reinforce the fluid and emergent nature of real teaching.
The book is divided into five chapters around frames, structures, occasions, forms and lives. Each chapter is in three sections. The first section explores diverse concepts in perception, cognition, ability, identity and language and how they pertain to teaching and learning; the second provides stories of the authors' own teaching experiences and the third offers some specific suggestions for teaching. All of this is organized in clear, concise verbal and visual language to create "an unfolding conversation of what it means to educate and to be educated." Rather than generating a series of rules and procedures for controlling the outcomes, the authors' intention is "about complexity and indeterminacy – about creating the conditions for engaging minds." This book is highly recommended for any teacher, educator or administrator who needs to revitalize his or her own engagement to teaching and learning.
Jack Yantis has been actively involved in the worlds of performance and education for the last 25 yrs. He holds an MFA from New York University. Currently he is Associate Faculty, Center for Programs in Education, Antioch University Seattle, where he teaches integrated arts courses in their Teacher Preparation programs. He has taught in K-12 private and public schools in Washington State, Georgia and South Carolina. He is also a choreographer and director who has worked for several dance companies and community theatres and even still manages to dance himself. For more detailed information about Jack and his work in the world, go to www.jackyantis.com or email jmoving@mindspring.com.
©September 2005 New Horizons for Learning
http://www.newhorizons.org
info@newhorizons.orgFor permission to redistribute, please go to:
New Horizons for Learning Copyright and Permission Information
