Module 04: "Culture," Context, and Instructional Design

The readings on context were helpful to my understanding of this complex but important foundation in instructional design. I found the Tessmer and Richey article helpful in conceptualizing instructional context. The Rickertt piece displayed the chaotic nature of context in instructional design. I was surprised by the many factors that were out of her control while designing instruction. I was also interested to read that there were elements of context that were under her control but not known at the time. Communication with all stakeholders seemed to be an important aspect to designing instruction in another culture. It seems it is only through experience that a designer can learn what questions to ask from whom and when to ask them. The Tessmer and Richey Context-based Model goes far to define, isolate, and control issues of context. Yet, when applied in the real world they come against many elements in instruction that might be hard to predict. When a different culture is added things become even more unpredictable. While reading the Arias & Clark article as well as other readings I came to the conclusion that besides a SME a designer may find it useful to know a CME (Cultural Matters Expert) to help a navigate the uncharted waters of a different culture.

I was especially interested in Perkins’ idea of “area of responsibility.” If students mind holds part of the context of learning, can an instructor expect to fully comprehend each nook and cranny of background knowledge and future goals and desires? While an instructor must consider context and scaffold students in instructional situations, a student should also become proficient in adapting to different forms of instruction. Student responsibility is where I see motivation as being of utmost importance. If a student finds purpose in a particular unit of instruction, he or she may be more likely to make adjustments that an instructor may not be able to foresee. You can see in the Rickertt article students exceeding the expectations of the designer. The unexpected motivation of the students really pulled together the whole instructional experience.

The discussion on culture and context was interesting to me as I was able to pick a few classmates brains about how they view culture in teaching from experience. One student mentioned that it is impossible to fully understand and meet the needs of all the cultures in his classroom. Instead a holistic approach is more appropriate. Also, an understanding the things that might offend or detract from learning are important to consider when managing a classroom of so many different cultures.

The readings and discussions this week have caused me to think more about how I consider context and culture in each of my lessons and how I can better do so in my future endeavors. After five years in my current teaching position I am able to say I have a pretty firm understanding of the culture in which I teach. This took a fair amount of time, reflection, and effort. Next year I will be teaching in a brand new setting an international school in Hungary. I will have students from all over the world and will be teaching in a new setting. I am trying to decide how I can best approach this teaching situation with what I learned from experience and research. Here are my thoughts broken into a few quick points:

Design instruction with as much understanding and sensitivity to the cultures of my students as possible

• Be flexible and willing and ready to adjust
• Provide an eclectic variety of learning experiences (Collis, 1999)
• Make observations, talk to students, parents and fellow educators
• Be patient, reflect on lessons and learn from mistakes
• Understand that I cannot control everything in educational setting, and should not attempt to do so

I hope to look back on this posting before I start teaching and I hope to take time to reflect amongst the whirlwind of events that will occur in the next half of a year.