Dan Gendelman
Eshcolot
JANUARY 1999
Introduction
This research is being written after four years, during which I, together with colleagues, developed a program for Teaching to Think with The Aid of Games. I shall try, within the framework of this chapter, to examine the development of the program, the way I see it, during the current stage of the project. The objective of this chapter is to enable the reader to understand the philosophy guiding me in structuring the program for Teaching To Think with The Aid of Games, and at a later stage within this dissertation, I intend to evaluate the students’ understanding of the objectives of this program. This subject, the students’ understanding, shall become the central axis of our research, the reason for this deriving from my need, as an investigating teacher, to analyse the attitude of my main partners in the learning process – the children. In this review, I shall try to examine what has been done, and to lead the reader to understand the stage of the program in which we presently find ourselves. The objective of this research, as shall be presented in Chapter 2 of this dissertation, is “to reflect the understanding of the learners regarding the objectives of the program and to examine reflectively the central subjects that the teacher has to be better acquainted with, according to the understanding and the perception of the learners regarding the Teaching To Think with The Aid of Games Program.
It can be said that my process of working is by triangulating my various perceptions in comparison of those of the learners, so as to acquire a deeper understanding about the gaps existing between the worlds of the children – who, in my opinion are the best informed about their needs – and mine, the teacher who developed the Teaching To Think with The Aid of Games Program. This process is at all not an easy one for me, and I do not know in which direction this route shall lead the Teaching To Think Program, or me, personally. On the other hand, I feel that this is a real and important requirement for acquiring a better understanding and for carrying out a thorough investigation regarding possible future development directions.
As mentioned, I shall further on attempt to review the development of the Teaching To Think Program and the objectives of the program, from my point of view, and to share with you my thoughts and feelings as the developer of the program and as a teacher implementing it. Already in this dual definition of my functions, there is an inherent problematic that derives from the fact that these functions are not congruent, and therefore giving rise to situations containing contradictory considerations relating to decision making. This state of changing identities, and at times even of contradictory ones, finds it emphasised expression in this research. I fulfil the functions of researcher, of teacher of the developer of the program, of a thoughtful individual with his own personal inclinations. This state of affairs becomes the source for many difficulties I had to cope with in my research. For example, I cannot always prevent my identity as the developer of the program from taking over my discretion as a researcher – a state of affairs in which I might loose my credibility. In an attempt to cope with this problem, I shall try to be attentive to the different situations in which my various views conflict, and to share with you my emanating dilemmas. Notwithstanding, this situation also contains some benefits by providing an immediate and unmediated trial to the oretical ideas that I formulate, and in such a manner I alter details, consider the various issues from a number of angles, adapt them to the reality and come up with new ideas according to the feedback from the students and from my various considerations.
