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<\/a><\/p>\nIn other words: if I say that I know something<\/em>, schema theory tells me what that knowledge might look and act like<\/em> in the mind.<\/p>\n This theory rests on two key points.<\/p>\n First<\/strong>: a schema comprises a vast, interconnected web of declarative and procedural knowledge.<\/p>\n So, if I say “I know what a ‘pet’ is,” I’m claiming to have a “pet” schema. That schema includes declarative\/procedural knowledge:<\/p>\n Specific animals: dog, cat, goldfish, hamster.<\/p>\n Concepts, like “tame” or “belongs inside the home.”<\/p>\n Procedures, like “take for a walk” or “clean the litterbox.”<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>: in those schema, the bits of knowledge function together\u00a0fluently,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>which is to say\u00a0automatically<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If I tell a friend that I’ve gotten a new pet, she would IMMEDIATELY know a) that I’m talking about a particular group of animals, b) that my furniture might be in peril, and c) that our early morning walks might be disrupted if I’m bringing a dog along.<\/p>\n She doesn’t have to stop and think her way through all those pieces. They spring instantly to mind, because she has activated the “pet”schema.<\/p>\n Similarly, if I told her I’d gotten a pet lion, she would IMMEDIATELY think<\/p>\n “Lions aren’t typically pets!”<\/p>\n “I wouldn’t want a lion inside my house!!”<\/p>\n “I wonder who has to clean THAT litterbox!!!”<\/p>\n Those thoughs all happen unprompted because I’ve violated the “pet” schema, and she’s trying to make “lion” fit into it.<\/p>\n To review these two key points:<\/p>\n LOTS of intricately connected declarative and procedural information,<\/p>\n used FLUENTLY\/AUTOMATICALLY together.<\/p>\n That’s a (very basic definition of a) schema.<\/p>\n Two<\/strong> reasons (at least).<\/p>\n First<\/em>:<\/p>\n We teachers often struggle to identify our goal. Do we want our students to…<\/p>\n … achieve today’s learning objective?<\/p>\n … demonstrate proficiency in the curriculum?<\/p>\n … meet the state standards?<\/p>\n If yes, which of these goals takes priority?<\/p>\n In my view, the concept of “schema” brings all those goals together.<\/p>\n When students build effective and useful schema, they unite granular bits (say, “learning objectives”) into larger coherent and fluent wholes (say, “the curriculum” as a way of meeting “state standards”).<\/p>\n In other words, no matter which way we think about students’ acadecmic and curricular progress, we can talk about “schema.” Conversations that once seemed fragmented and incoherent can come together into a complex, thoughtful whole.<\/p>\n Second:<\/em><\/p>\n Cognitive science<\/strong> helps us understand the strategies that most effectively build schema<\/em>.<\/p>\n How do we get all those small bits (“cat, dog, clean litterbox, tame, not lion”) to fit together so they operate fluentely as a whole (“pet”)?<\/p>\n Well, let’s talk about working memory. And retrieval practice. And generative learning. And desirable difficulties. And…<\/p>\n In other words:<\/p>\n We can use the same conceptual structure (“schema theory”) to unite the content we want to teach with cognitive science.<\/p>\n We’ve got one big framework that captures both curriculum and pedagogy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n That’s (potentially) AMAZING AND HELPFUL.<\/p>\n \u00a0Just imagine how clarifying such conversations could be.<\/p>\n In a word: research<\/em>.\u00a0As far as I can tell, we ain’t got much.<\/p>\n When I ask about the research basis for schema theory — asking for a “research basis” is a hobby of mine<\/a> — I get incomplete answers.<\/p>\n Some folks refer me to scholars who wrote in the 1950s (or 1930s). That’s an interesting theoretical basis, but it isn’t current psychology research.<\/p>\n Others point to individual studies here and there. (Anderson\u00a01983 gets a lot of attention.) But those individual studies —\u00a0in my view — don’t (yet) remotely add up to strong support for the theory.<\/p>\n One scholar I spoke with responded with this question: “well, how would you research the theory? What study would you do?”<\/p>\n That’s an important question…but in this field we focus on research-based assertions. We can’t simply wave away the need for research.<\/p>\n I’ve been trying to make sense of this research field in recent months; I’m currently working with a friend to organize it all.<\/p>\n So, here’s the conundrum I face:<\/p>\n Schema theory could be spectacularly useful.<\/p>\n We don’t seem to have lots of research making a strong case for the theory (although LOTS of people act as if we do).<\/p>\n Of course, at Learning and the Brain, we’re ALL ABOUT the research. Until I see more, I’m always hesitant to espouse the theory — no matter how useful — too strongly.<\/p>\n First:<\/p>\n Oddly, schema theory lives a double life.<\/p>\n In Britain, it’s old news. I believe they went through a “schema theory” phase 20 years ago, and now Brits (well, Brits on eduTwitter, anyway) talk about schemas as if we all know what they are.<\/p>\n In the US, almost no one talks about them at all. (I am, as far as I know, the only person in Learning-and-the-Brain world to do so regularly).<\/p>\n Second:<\/p>\n Technically speaking, the plural of “schema” is “schemata” (think “stigma\/stigmata”). Very few people actually use that word. Some say “schemas.” Others use “schema” as both singular and plural.<\/p>\n Third:<\/p>\n If you know from schema theory, you’re quite possible vexed that this post is so inadequate.<\/p>\n I haven’t linked to Dr. Efrat Furst’s specatularly useful website<\/a>. I haven’t linked to Sarah Cottingham’s immensely helpful blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n I’ve even left out the famous restaurant example — everyone’s go to for explaining a schema.<\/p>\n This frustration has merit, because I’ve barely introduced a complex (and potentially vitally important) topic.<\/p>\n If you have studies you want to share, books to recommend, websites to laud, PLEASE let me know.<\/p>\n I’ll keep working out my thinking, and I’m hoping you’ll help me along the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the last few years, I’ve increasingly wondered if “schema theory” just might work a special kind of magic. If I understand it right (and if it’s true), then schema theory unites two distinct topics: the cognitive science behind good teaching, and the curriculum. Because that result would be, ahem, SPECTACULAR, the theory merits careful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":7176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[207],"class_list":["post-7170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lb-blog","tag-schema-theory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7170"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7178,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7170\/revisions\/7178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.braindevs.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Why Teachers Should Care About Schema<\/h2>\n
What Are the Limitations of Schema Theory?<\/h2>\n
Some Additional (Unrelated) Notes<\/h2>\n