Instructional Theory and Development

I realized today that I do not understand or fully appreciate what other theorists are saying about learning and instruction. I have not had the time (or I have not made the time) to seriously consider the implications and the nuances of the instructional theories that have been presented to me over the course of my IP&T program. The details are more important than I have realized. Dr. Gibbon's article in response to the Smith and Boling article give some critical considerations regarding instructional theory. They are like questions to ask myself as I am trying to understand a theory. I have been so focused on trying to develop a personal road map of what the theory lay of the land looks like that I have not taken time to appreciate the beauty of the landscape. I have been a cartographer and am now faced with the need of become a landscape artist. I need to be able to understand the details to really understand the theories and I realized today that I do not understand the details. I feel like I have come to understand myself and my own theoretical foundations better lately, but at the expense of an understanding of others. I need to know what others think and why. I will begin this new journey of discovery at once. I am excited to keep growing in this new way.

I rather like the cartographer vs. landscape artist analogy. I think it richly describes my development and my dillema.