Using Texts to Teach Cognitive-Affective Curriculum

Abstract

<p><em>The study addressed a cognitive-affective gap in the textual content of a primary</em><br /><em>English curriculum. The research design was qualitative in nature. In the first part of the study, document analysis of the textbooks from grades1-5 was done to prove that empathetic and pro-social themes were under represented in them. The second part of the study was an intervention in which teachers were apprised to highlight empathetic and pro social themes in texts and teach them. The third part of the study noticed if the use of cognitive-affective texts raised awareness among students about the said themes and significantly affected their interest in academic work. The findings from document analysis, observations and interviews indicated that empathetic and pro-social themes were under represented in the textual content. The observations of integrated cognitive-affective lessons brought forth a significant increase in student interest in academic work and raised awareness about the stated themes. This was also authenticated by teachers and students in focused group interviews. The study was significant in terms of raising the importance of the stated skills at the primary level and prove that cognitive-affective use of textual content in schools could raise awareness about affective skills and prepare helpful and caring individuals for the society.</em></p><p><em><br /></em></p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> cognitive-affective, curriculum, empathy, social-emotional learning,<br />textual content</p><p><em><br /></em></p>

Dialectical Unity: Interactive Interweaving of Conflicting Variables within Second Language Developmental Processes

“…The findings reveal that social emotional skills such as empathy and pro-social thinking taught through the selected texts can not only develop emphaticaffective skills, vital for children as future citizens, but can also generate better language development and academic engagement. This is a real contribution to the body of research on the possible cognitive affective co-relation in the educational context where educational activities interact with the "cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains" (Dar, 2018). From these lines of thought a possible dialectical unity among these variables can be inferred, even though it is not directly investigated.…”