Cognitive Apprenticeship

I have always found the work/thoughts of both Dewey and Vygotsky to be both interesting and helpful aids to my own teaching philosophy and methodology. In fact, I am currently reading Dewey's book "Democracy and Education" which I would recommend to any future or practicing educator. Recently I have adopted Dewey's views of "learn by doing" as somewhat of a motto for my teaching methods. That is to say, in order for a student to fully grasp, understand, and retain the content; they must apply/use it in a real-world situation. This is one of the core traits of apprenticeship. Rather than dealing simply in abstracts, the student learns the content through application.

Many of my most meaningful learning experiences have been in the form of apprenticeship (outside of formal education as well as within). The very skills I teach today, I learned through apprenticeship at an after-school job rather than in a school setting. Even the student-teaching process which every educator must go through is somewhat of an apprenticeship program. The student is placed in the care of a practicing educator where he/she observes the professional and slowly takes on the same responsibility while being coached and aided by the teacher. Although some would disagree with me, I feel that the student-teaching experience prepared me more for teaching than any other experience in college. There are few things that can compete with one-on-one coaching with an expert who guides you through formal application of a trade or skill.

Until reading the articles and watching the lectures, I hadn't considered the application of apprenticeship in areas such as reading an math; which I found to be a very interesting concept. If this method works for teaching complex skills and trades, why can't it work in other areas. I feel this is especially novel in something like a math class where most of the concepts are so abstract and detached from real situations (in many cases).

Another thing I had never considered was an adaptation of apprenticeship to multi-media, distance ed., or online learning. To me, the purpose of the process was one-on-one contact with a professional. I definitely agree that there are some barriers to applying apprenticeship through multi-media and web tools. Where this method may work for things like math and reading, I think it would be less applicable in some of the situations I have mentioned earlier such as student teaching or learning trade (such as woodworking, sculpting, printing, etc.) These are skills where it is most helpful to have the professional to observe the student as he/she carries out the task and then guide-coach them along the way; something that would prove highly difficult when relying on multi-media. For instance; when I teach a student to use a table saw, I feel it is best to stand next to them while they perform the task. This is for several reasons. First of all, the student is more comfortable having supervision or a coach (especially if this is the very first time they have used such a dangerous tool). Secondly, I am there to stop any mistakes before they occur; preventing injury and hazards. Third, I can provide feedback as a mistake is being made or improper usage occurs. Instant feedback allows for immediate correction. The process can be repeated over and over and I can gauge the students progress and gradually allow the student to work on his/her own (scaffolding). I feel that this would be impossible if I were contacting them through something like elluminate.

However, I realize that replacing a classic apprenticeship to teach a trade through media was not what the articles had in mind. I am simply raising the idea that it multi-media would not suffice in all situations (although it could be perfectly sufficient in others).