4.+Chapter

ANSWER 1 **//There are many different ways of understanding, overlapping but not reducible to one another and, correspondingly, many different ways of teaching to understand//** > **//These facets are different but related, in the same way that different criteria are used in judging the quality of a performance. For example, "good essay writing" is composed of persuasive, organized, and clear prose. All three criteria need to be met, yet each is different from and somewhat independent of the other two. The writing might be clear but unpersuasive; it might be well organized but unclear and somewhat persuasive.//** > **//Similarly, a student may have a thorough and sophisticated explanation but not be able to apply it, or see things from a critical distance but lack empathy. The facets reflect the different connotations of understanding we considered in the previous chapter, yet a complete and mature understanding ideally involves the full development of all six kinds of understanding.//** > **//Empathy is affect, synonymous with sympathy or heartfelt rapport.//** > **//Misconception 2: Empathy requires agreement with the point of view in question.//** > **//Empathy is not sympathy. It is a disciplined effort to understand what is different, not a question of feeling what other people feel. Similarly, just because we work to understand what is different doesn't mean we agree with it. Rather, we come to understand it as plausible or meaningful.//**  ANSWER 2 **//To develop fluency and flexibility in perspective taking—if understanding is to blossom—a student needs to have a clear performance goal and to keep that goal in constant view as different points of view emerge. The case method in law and the problem-based learning method in medicine exemplify this point.//**
 * **//Have perspective: see and hear points of view through critical eyes and ears; see the big picture.//**
 * **//Can empathize: find value in what others might find odd, alien, or implausible; perceive sensitively on the basis of prior direct experience.//**

**//Therefore, students learn they are not "done" with a project or lesson simply because they worked hard, followed directions, and turned in a piece of work from a single point of view—their own. Instruction and performance standards must require students to see things from the perspective of the ultimate standards, the various players, and the primary audience—not their own intentions—as they doggedly try to solve a particular problem.//**

**//A more subtle and sophisticated perspective involves grasping the points of view behind teacher and textbook pronouncements. What is the point of view of the authors of the U.S. history and physics textbooks concerning what is true, verified, and important? Do other authors share those views? Do different experts, teachers, and authors establish different priorities? If so, with what justification and advantages or disadvantages? That this line of questioning seems too esoteric shows how far we are from giving students needed perspective.//**

 ANSWER 3 **//Understanding is always a matter of degree, typically furthered by questions and lines of inquiry that arise from reflection, discussion, and use of ideas—including our attempts to understand understanding. Our explanation of each facet involves three different takes on the concept://**
 * **//Introduce each facet with a brief definition, followed by an apt quote and questions that might be typical of someone wishing to understand.//**
 * **//Offer two examples for each facet, one from daily public life and one from the classroom, as well as an example of what a lack of understanding looks like.//**
 * **//Provide an analysis of each facet, offering a brief look at the instructional and assessment implications to be explored later in this book.//**