Understanding pedagogical experiment as learning centers’ managing

“Inner Resources
To know how other people behave takes intelligence,
 but to know myself takes wisdom.
To manage other people’ lives takes strength,
 but to manage my own life takes true power.
If I am content with what I have, I can live simply and
 enjoy both prosperity and free time.
If my goals are clear, I can achieve them without fuss.
If I am at peace with myself, I will not spend my life force  in conflicts.
If I have learned to let go, I do not need to fear dying”

“Force and Conflict
The leader who understands how process unfolds uses as
little force as possible and runs the group without pressuring people.
When force is used, conflict and argument follow.
 The group field degenerates. The climate is hostile, neither open nor nourishing.
 The wise leader runs the group without fighting to have
 things a certain way. The leader’s touch is light. The leader neither defends nor attacks.
 Remember, that consciousness, not selfishness, is both
 the means of teaching and the teaching itself.
 Group members will challenge the ego of one who leads
 egocentrically. But one who leads selflessly and
 harmoniously will grow and endure”

“Here and Now.
 The wise leader knows what is happening in a group by
 Being aware of what is happening here and now. This is more
 potent than wandering off into various theories or making
 complex interpretations of the situation at hand.
 Stillness, clarity, and consciousness are more immediate than
 any number of expeditions into the distant lands of one’s mind.
 Such expeditions, however stimulating, distract both
 the leader and the group members from what is actually happening.
Be staying present and aware of what is happening,
the leader can do less yet achieve more”

Soft and Strong
Water id fluid, soft and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield.
 As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft and yielding will overcome what is rigid and hard.
The wise leader knows that yielding overcomes resistances, and gentleness melts rigid defenses.
The leader does not fight the force of the group’s energy, but flows and yields and absorbs and lets go. A leader must endure a great deal of abuse. If the leader were not like water, the leader would break. The ability to be soft makes the leader a leader.

 This is another paradox: what is soft is strong
(John Heider. The TAO of Leadership) [1, p.30-78]

There are so many words have already said about pedagogical experiment. All the main positions of this form of innovative teaching have been described and analyzed. So many examples of the experiments on different disciplines have been presented, introduced, discussed and greatly appreciated. So, the experiment as a kind of searching the decisive good results in solving the routine questions in the course of the English language teaching approved all expectations. Each experiment adds something more to the collection of the best methodical and educational findings of the teachers of different countries and nations.

We took into account some most rational stages of “Pedagogical experiment as Learning center establishment in the educational process” from the position of scheme of structural organization of the whole process and its’ concrete stable positions.

In the process of carrying out different approaches to the structure of pedagogical experiment and defining its concrete goals, key-questions, plan and conceptional idea, we paid attention to necessity of arising the students’ intellectual possibilities, emotional opportunities, logical vision of the problems’ development in the direction of solution, feelings, leading or lead orientation in communication, type of personality, degree of skills and habits of communicative integration in small and big groups. The Wisdom of TAO in different chapters and vision contains all necessary brilliant ideas about everything concerning personality, human-beings, life and death. And, what is the most important – witty eternal experience of the peoples’ development on the way of education, we may imagine as mankind’s self-experiment. That is why on the stage of testing our participants for a level of their readiness to being involved in experiment, we proposed that they should think over and explain as detailed as possible the conception ideas of four TAO-texts (see them in the beginning of the article) and be ready to answer the teachers’ questions. The idea and it’s realization happened to be very fruitful and interesting. It was a great contribution to the whole process of the experiment as a true natural base of understanding the community of any kind, communication of any kind, recognizing and estimating the personal duty and place in the sphere of creation living values.

All our life is exam, even in the process of learning, upbringing, teaching and producing professional art required while learning and practice.

Pedagogical experiment due to its structural scheme of conducting and result’s foreseeing is the space of true wisdom of understanding and self-expression.

When we say about learning center construction (as experiment’ intellectual and emotional foundation) we firstly mention about the whole structure, including such positions as: 1. Understanding learning centers; 2. Planning a learning center; 3. Setting up a learning center; 4. Management and evaluation.

Learning center in experiment is independent activities around particular theme emphasizing self-initiated learning and allowing for individual rates and styles. Teachers and students share in the planning of learning center activities. Students “learn “by concrete exploration, problem-solving, play and testing. At the heart of the learning center going on is respect for the skills and interests of the students.

Materials must be available to students for all levels of readiness to explain and discuss them. The agenda of the experiment (learning center) follows rules and regulations which must be clearly defined so that students can manage and maintain the area on their own. It is permissible and desirable for students to talk to each other: share ideas, materials, documents. All problem solve together.

Learning center must allow for different levels of attention span and competency in a minimum of value judgment and diverse learning style.

It is possible at the Zero mark stage let students do not make a distinction between work and play. Not only play may be fun, but work also.

Rules by the teacher are few and simple. Students have the right to establish new rules when the needs arises. The teacher works with the students to oversee the rules.

Group sharing is encouraged.

The most effective means of evaluation is evaluating a student’s skills by careful observation and discussion of his work with the teacher.

The global concept as a key-problem of the experiment (learning center) is to encourage students to share their ideas as well as the process of their work.

Paying into attention the main personal first achievement as formal education, teaching must let the student’s opportunity of answering the life-exam-questions’ on all directions of personality’ establishment in society’s reality. That is why at the preparatory stage of our experiment we used brilliant material, lighting all structural positions of personality’s development characteristics and features, emotional and psychological stability needs and demands, mental development, habits and skills of communication in different spheres and in different situations.

Let us come back to the brilliant texts of TAO, placed in the beginning of our text, when we again listen to, read, translate, discuss, play, learn by heart, write down compositions on it and ask questions to each other in our experiment.

In order to prevent one of the most difficult problems – lack of vocabulary to discuss, readiness to be open to mistakes and drawbacks in presentation of answers help those involved into communication. They share their points of view, learn about their personal psychological characteristics, tell about family’s tradition to be polite, open and interesting to those around and so on. The main motto are: “Taking action! At the day of judgment we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done”; “Testing yourself! You never know how a horse will pull until you hook him to a heavy load”;” If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”; “Living on less. If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. Marcus Tullius Cicero” [2, p.312].

Having read all the TAO texts proposed, the participants define on their own “a discussing schedule”, as a basis for interpretation of the discussion phenomenon.

We ask about What actually Occurs as a key-problem of learning center’s communication.

They look like:

1. Describe the behavior that is going on here. Describe your own behavior (in different situations given by a teacher in the course of experiment).
2. Describe the reasons behind the behavior that is going on here. Why are you behaving the way you are? Why do you suppose others are behaving the way they are? How are these reasons interrelated? How are they affected by the setting?
3. Describe the effects of the behavior that is going on here. Describe the effect of your behavior. Describe the effects of the behavior of other participants. Are these effects interrelated?
4. Why are the participants behaving as they are?
5. What effect is the behavior of the participants having on one another and on future events or outcomes?
6. What was the sequence of events?

Each of the participants will have a different perspective on the phenomenon. The participants might occupy distinguishably different roles. So, in accordance with students in a classroom study, the teacher asks questions like these ones: 1. Describe your experience to me (your friend, your mother, your teacher, etc.). 2. Tell me about what actually happened.3. How did the teacher behave? 4. How did the other students behave? 5. What caused things to happen as they did? 6.Why did you behave the way you did? 7.Why did the teacher behave the way he or she did? 8. Were there incidents, either good or bad, that occurred and that stand out in your mind? 9. Did you enjoy the experience? Was it interesting? 10. What did you learn from it? [3, с.543-547].

Answering the questions and discussing them in the field of correctly organized pedagogical experiment the students learn to estimate all situations taking place through inner context, react rightly and witty, appreciate those around for good thinking and correct decisions, be a useful part of communicative process oriented to perfect personal development of an individuality and a world around. It is possible if we learn to understand and use the importance of making decisions based on Ethical Principles.

1. Heider J. The TAO of leadership. The USA, Atlanta, Georgia, 1997, p.12.
2. Кэтрин и Росс Петрас. 367 законов и правил жизни от великих мира сего - Москва, 2009, С.226.
3. Азаренкова М.И. Значимость овладения методикой усвоения принципов научного исследования при обучении иностранному языку в военном вузе. – в Сборнике научных статей Международной научно-практической конференции «Воспитание и социализация в современной социокультурной среде» - Санкт-Петербург, 2019, с. 543-547.