Posts com a Tag ‘Comportamento Humano’
Human natures — genes, cultures and the human prospect | Paul Ehrlich
Se você é um cientista social que não admite que as palavras ‘evolução’ e ‘cultura’ habitem a mesma frase — como fiz de propósito no título acima —, então não leia este provocativo livro de Paul Ehrlich. Mas se você é um cientista natural que acha que a genética explica sem maiores dificuldades todos os aspectos do comportamento humano, o conselho é o mesmo: não leia este livro. Ambos os tipos de leitores ficarão desconcertados e correrão o sério perigo de mudarem suas opiniões.
Paul Ehrlich tem autoridade para escrever um texto como esse, capaz de abalar as convicções dos dois lados da polêmica questão das relações entre a evolução biológica e a cultura humana. Biólogo, professor de estudos populacionais e de ciências biológicas da Universidade de Stanford California (EUA), ele é nada menos que um dos inventores da questão ambiental contemporânea. Escritor prolífico, é autor e co-autor de dezenas de artigos e livros, entre os quais figuram pelo menos dois clássicos da moderna literatura socioambiental das décadas de 1960 e 1970 — The population bomb e extinction: the causes and consequences of the disappearance of species —, que colocaram os temas da superpopulação e da extinção de espécies na pauta ambiental planetária. Ehrlich resumiu boa parte de suas próprias pesquisas biológicas e ambientais, em combinação com uma excelente exposição sobre os fundamentos da ecologia, num belo livro de divulgação científica traduzido para o português (O mecanismo da natureza, Campus). Foi também um dos primeiros cientistas a se empenhar publicamente na proteção da biodiversidade e na promoção do princípio de sustentabilidade ambiental das atividades humanas. Leia Mais
In the Global Classroom 1 – PIKE; SELBY (CSS)
PIKE, Graham; SELBY, David. In the Global Classroom 1. Toronto: Pippin Publishing,1999. 256p. In the Global Classroom 2. Toronto: Pippin Publishing, 2000. 260p. Resenha de: BOYD, Kenneth. Canadian Social Studies, v.36, n.1, 2002.
This two-volume set originated at the Ontario Green School Project where educational planners noticed there was a widening gap between the school experiences of the students and global reality. They decided to create a resource that would help students to increase their understanding of local and global issues through collaborative and participatory learning processes. In the Global Classroom 1 and 2 are designed to help teachers approach several areas of concern including accountability, which tends to focus attention on statutory requirements rather than on human potential, and the concept of worldmindedness which stresses that the interest of individual nations must be viewed within the context of the overall needs of the planet. At the same time, Pike and Selby stress the idea that children learn best when encouraged to explore and discover for themselves. It is recognized that students cannot be programmed. At the personal level the books focus on the interconnectedness of an individual’s mental, physical and spiritual make-up. Students have to understand how personal well-being is entwined with the economic and political decision-making of governments around the world. The authors hope that by using these books students will come to see how global environmental trends are influenced by human behavior and changes in local ecosystems.
Individual students should be helped to understand that their perspective on any issue is but one among many; that there are a variety of cultural, social and ideological points. As educators, we have to provide students with such opportunities across the curriculum. These books look at areas or topics dealing with relevant global education knowledge, skills, and attitudes. There are countless possibilities for integrating these into the traditional subjects of the curriculum. Integration is important to understanding the world as a system and exploring its relationships. In the Global Classroom 1 and 2 give teachers and students many helpful suggestions for activities in which the students can engage. Student development goes hand-in-hand with planetary awareness. Global education is critical to the development of students who can prosper in the complex global system and who can contribute to building a more just and sustainable world.
Students’ learning should be self-motivated and directed, focussing on the needs of the students. By using these books students will experience a blend of teacher-led and self- or group-directed strategies. The suggested activities are organized by theme in order to facilitate their use across the curriculum and to promote an interdisciplinary approach in the classroom. Key activity concepts are explained at the beginning of each chapter. A matrix of concepts and activities follows each introduction. Connections to the other chapters are given underneath the matrix. Activities that explore similar or related concepts, though perhaps from different perspectives, are highlighted. Pike and Selby suggest that by exploring such connections in a sequence of activities students can better appreciate the interconnected nature of global issues.
The suggested time frame serves as a rough guide to the length of time necessary for students to understand the activity. Most of the activities are designed to fit within a 40 minute lesson. Materials and other necessary requirements for the activities, such as classroom layout or space, are also included. The resource lists assume an average class size of 30 students, though most activities will work successfully with groups ranging from 15 45. Student worksheets and other photocopy material often appear after the activity descriptions.
Pike and Selby provide step-by-step descriptions, written from the student perspective, of how the activities proceed. They offer a rationale for each activity, often provide further guidelines for teachers to maximize student learning, and frequently include questions for debriefing the activities. The questions serve to gear the students’ thinking toward issues and perspectives that may not have been considered or articulated. An extension section suggests ideas for specific follow-up work, either in class or outside school.
These global education activities are designed to be flexible learning tools that can be used in either infusion or integration modes of implementation. Their inherent flexibility offers countless possibilities for modification and adaptation, thereby meeting the particular needs of curricula, students and teachers. In the Global Classroom 1 deals with such concepts as Environment and Sustainability, Health, Perceptions, Perspectives and Cross Cultural Encounters, Technology and Futures. In the Global Classroom 2 deals with the concepts of Peace, Disarmament, Deterrence, Rights and Responsibilities, Equity, Economics, Development and Global Justice, Citizenship, and Mass Media. I found many activities that I would certainly use in my classroom. I would have to decide on whether others are as appropriate for student use.
Kenneth Boyd – Rosetown Central High School. Rosetown, Saskatchewan.
[IF]Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry – BAIN et al (CSS)
BAIN, Colin; COLYER, Jill; NEWTON, Jacqueline; HAWES, Reg. Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994. 284p. Resenha de: MANDZUK, David. Canadian Social Studies, v.35, n.4, 2001.
Canadian Society: A Changing Tapestry is an appealing textbook that introduces secondary school students to the social sciences, in general, and human behavior and social trends, in particular. The book is comprised of nine chapters that cover the following broad areas: the human species; social behavior; human communication; the impact of culture; social institutions; alienation and conformity; aggression and violence; social issues; and, the future. The authors introduce each of the major issues explored in these chapters with key words and terms and conclude with relevant follow-up activities that involve skills like interpreting, analyzing, communicating, and synthesizing. In addition, each of these chapters concludes with a discussion of careers in the social sciences and active learning opportunities such as debating, observation, and research possibilities.
In my mind, three of the nine chapters are particularly relevant for secondary school students; they are Chapters 5, 6, and 8 on social institutions, alienation and conformity, and social issues respectively. Chapter 5, for example, addresses social institutions such as the Canadian school system, the Canadian justice system, and the Canadian military. Teenagers’ feelings about peer groups and family influences are also explored. Chapter 6 discusses the concepts of alienation and conformity. In this chapter, the authors examine how teenagers experience alienation in school and in the workplace and the social pressures that cause them to conform. In addition, the concepts of obedience and deviance are also examined.
I believe that one of the most engaging and extensive chapters is Chapter 8, which addresses social issues. Some issues that are examined are illegal drug use, family violence, and gun control. Bain, et. al. point out that social issues like these have a variety of solutions which are frequently incompatible with one another; in other words, if one solution is adopted, the others are automatically ruled out. The authors, for example, pose the dilemma of what to do with first-degree murderers. Some people believe that they should be rehabilitated while others believe that they should be executed; therefore, because people who have been executed obviously cannot be reformed, these solutions come into direct contact with one another. The authors use this scenario to argue that, in order to solve the important social issues of the day, we must follow a structured process. They go on to describe a detailed 12-step process for solving such issues.
In step 1, Bain, et. al. explain how to translate general concerns into defined problems. In step 2 students are asked to identify alternative solutions. In step 3 the students are expected to decide among the alternatives and develop criteria for evaluating them; and, in step 4 students are asked to rank the criteria according to importance. For example, criteria such as protection of society, reforming offenders, and financial cost to society are suggested when considering what to do with people who commit serious crimes. Step 5 involves another stage of the problem solving process where students begin to collect data using strategies such as content analysis, anecdotal notes, and focus groups.
Step 6 highlights organizing data using tools such as Venn and tree diagrams, classification charts, and cross-classification charts. Step 7 encourages the predicting of consequences. Step 8 focuses on forming conclusions; and, step 9 moves into assessing conclusions. The final stages of the problem solving process, steps 10 through 12, involve preparing, presenting, and evaluating conclusions.
Although I find this extensive process to be worthwhile, I wonder if it might be too lengthy given the audience for which it is intended. In other words, my hunch as an experienced teacher is that students would still gain an appreciation of the complex nature of social issues if the process were simplified. In spite of this criticism, however, I do believe that the authors are right on the mark with this approach to introduce the social sciences to secondary students. They have tried to make this text as relevant for Canadian readers as possible and they have tried to appeal to a younger audience by integrating cartoons and other visuals such as photographs, tables, and graphs. I strongly recommend this text for secondary schoolteachers who are interested in introducing their students to the social sciences in a balanced and thoughtful manner.
David Mandzuk – Henry G. Izatt Middle School. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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