Context
Instructors' views on how training should be
facilitated - the content, instructional design,
process, assessment, and evaluation - will be
dictated by what they perceive to be
appropriate.
People's views are based on assumptions.
Some people assume that traditional driver
training is an effective means for changing driver
behaviour and do not question this assumption. When
assumptions are not questioned, practice does not
change.
Teaching, indeed all our actions, will always be
based on assumptions of some sort. What is
important for rigorous teaching is that the
assumptions that underpin training are well
examined.
Imagine if a person assumed that traditional
driver training was effective in changing driver
behaviour when in fact the research clearly found
that there was no
evidence of this. That person would naively
seek and support a training program that may well
increase a participant's chances of crashing!
In his book, Becoming and Critically
Reflective Teacher, Stephen Brookfield
examines both the positives and negatives that come
from our assumptions about training and learning.
He argues strongly for critically reflective
practice - the process of uncovering and
understanding the assumptions that guide our
practice. When teachers do not reflect critically,
they teach innocently. 'Teaching innocently means
thinking that we're always understanding exactly
what it is that we're doing and what effect we're
having' (p.1)
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