While debate has surfaced over the years about leadership as a discipline and whether or not leadership can be taught or learned, the more recent debate is over how best to teach leadership in the context of formal classrooms (Doh, 2003; Parks, 2005; Riggio, 2013; Zimmerman-Oster & Burkhardt, 1999). According to Wren (2001), the pedagogy used to teach leadership does make a difference. Wren contends “the unique nature of leadership requires its study to be a combination of intellectual inquiry, behavioral innovation, and practical application” (2001, p. 5). Three common elements have been associated with directly impacting student leadership development: a) opportunities for service/volunteering; b) experiential learning; and c) active learning through collaboration (Cress, Astin, Zimmerman-Oster, & Burkhardt, 2001). Active and collaborative learning and the opportunity to practice leadership in real-world contexts has been found to positively affect student learning of leadership (Cress et al., 2001; Astin & Sax, 1998; Wren, 2001). While research exists on leadership development programming, few studies have focused on teaching methods, instructional approaches, or leadership studies curriculum design (Jenkins, 2012).
A comprehensive list of leadership pedagogies was created by Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, & 2009). Based upon the work of Conger (1992), Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, 2009) identified 40 sources of learning that are common in leadership development programs geared for college students. Jenkins (2012) further refined the list of instructional strategies to 24 using the work of Allen and Hartman (2008a, 2008b, & 2009) as well as a panel of experts and the researcher’s expertise and experience. Instructional strategies used by Jenkins (2012) include: case studies, class discussion, exams, games, group projects/presentations, guest speakers, icebreakers, in-class short writing, individual leadership development plans, interactive lecture/discussion, interview of a leader, lecture, media clips, quizzes, reflective journals, research project/presentation, role play activities, self-assessments and instruments, service learning, simulation, small group discussions, story or storytelling, student peer teaching, and teambuilding. Komives et al. (2011) reviewed seven powerful pedagogies which can be useful to leadership educators in a variety of contexts. These pedagogies include: experiential learning, team-based learning, peer education, sociocultural discussion, service-learning, mentoring and advising, and contemplative practice.
Signature pedagogies have been defined as the types of instruction and teaching that are at the forefront when we refer to preparing members of specific professions (Shulman, 2005). These pedagogies seem to define how knowledge is counted and how things become known in the field. Shulman (2005) contends that effective signature pedagogies involve active student participation, promote deep engagement of students, and encompass a learning environment where students are visible and hard to disappear and be anonymous. Signature pedagogies are generally interactive and students are accountable to their fellow students as well as the instructor. According to Marzano (2007) pedagogies that are effective are more than just strategies but encompass three critical areas: use of effective instructional strategies, use of effective management techniques by the educator, and use of effective class or program design strategies.
Jenkins (2012) investigates signature pedagogies for leadership education and found that class discussion was the pedagogy used most frequently in leadership education and may be the signature pedagogy for leadership education. Sociocultural discussion was highlighted as a pedagogy useful to leadership educators by Komives et al. (2011). Though not specifically applied to leadership education, DeAngelis (2009) contends participation in formal and informal issues-based discussions where students discuss controversial topics or where students who come from a variety of backgrounds discuss topics relevant to themselves provide students with tools to understand competing priorities and the ability to find links among contrasting perspectives.
According to Dugan and Komives (2010) empirical research on leadership development has indicated the environment where discussions take place have been shown to be the most significant predictor of leadership outcomes. Though not specifically focused on leadership education, research on the outcomes of discussion-based pedagogy indicates that if discussion topics are ones of emotional importance, clear significance, and conducted by effective facilitators students can have a transformative learning experience even if the make-up of the students in discussion are not diverse (Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001).
Jenkins (2012) also concludes that other pedagogies such as group and individual projects and presentations, self-assessments and instruments, small group discussion, and reflective journaling are also pedagogies used most frequently in leadership education. While the investigation by Jenkins (2012) of signature pedagogies in leadership education revealed that discussion was the pedagogy most used by leadership educators, it was recommended that future studies “delve into the quality of their impact, effectiveness, and student learning outcomes” (p. 20). This study examines undergraduate student perspectives of pedagogy used in an undergraduate leadership elective course to describe how students view the effectiveness and impact of the use of pedagogies.
Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative, descriptive study was to explore undergraduate student perceptions of the pedagogy used in a leadership course. The specific objectives addressed in this study include: 1) examine student perceptions of the effectiveness of pedagogies used in a leadership course and 2) describe student perceptions of the learning environment when using certain pedagogies in a leadership course.
While Jenkins’ (2012) study reveals support for class discussion and other pedagogies as signature pedagogies in undergraduate leadership education, these pedagogies have not been investigated in terms of their quality, effectiveness, and student learning outcomes. The environment where discussion occurs has been determined to be a significant predictor of leadership outcomes; however, much of the research conducted on discussion-based pedagogy was not specifically focused on leadership education (DeAngelis , 2009; Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001).
This study used a basic qualitative approach (Merriam, 2009). According to Merriam (2009), a basic qualitative study is used when seeking understanding of how individuals make sense of their experiences. The study examined the reflections of undergraduate students in an undergraduate leadership elective course taught for the first time to understand how students perceived the effectiveness of the course including their views of the pedagogy chosen and learning environment created. This basic qualitative study can also be considered evaluation research as this study evaluated the pedagogy used in a leadership course. According to Patton (2002), “When one examines and judges accomplishments and effectiveness, one is engaged in evaluation. When this examination of effectiveness is conducted systematically and empirically through careful data collection and thoughtful analysis, one is engaged in evaluation research” (p.10). The population for this study were undergraduate students (n = 28) in a leadership course elective during a two-week mini-mester format. The undergraduate students represented a criterion-type purposive sample as only students enrolled in the leadership course during the summer 2013 semester were part of the study population (Patton, 2002). The course included males and females, traditional and non-traditional students, African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian students, students majoring in a leadership degree, and students majoring in other degrees who had no prior leadership coursework.
Participants in this study were those students enrolled in the leadership elective course for the summer 2013 semester. This course, taught for the first time, served as a leadership elective for students and focused on learning leadership through the media. The course was offered face- to-face; however, it was offered in a compact 2-week mini-mester format. Instructional strategies used during the course included current event readings, class discussion, reflection, small group discussion, presentations, field trips, and lecture. Data used in this study consisted of reflection questions given at the end of the semester.
Students had the option to complete these questions as part of an evaluation of the course. Students were told this was an experimental course and their feedback would help in determining whether this course should be taught in future semesters. There were 28 undergraduate students enrolled and all submitted reflections; therefore all were participants in this study. The prompts for the reflection questions consisted of the following:
Compare and contrast the learning you experienced in this class versus the learning you have experienced in other classes. What was better for you as a learner (student) in this environment and structure? What was a challenge for you as a learner (student) in this environment and structure? Is this type of class effective for learning leadership? Why or why not?
Discuss the leadership topic you learned the most about from this class. Explain the leadership issue and what you learned about it.
The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method in accordance with Glaser and Strauss’ (1967). Trustworthiness of the study was established through Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) concepts of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Credibility was established through peer debriefing with other leadership educators (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Transferability was established through the use of purposive sampling and thick description of the participant reflections throughout the findings of the study (Erlandson, Harris, Skipper, & Allen, 1993). Dependability and confirmability were established through the use of audit trails and peer audits (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The data were coded (S1-S28) before the analysis process began to ensure the confidentiality of the students and the respective data codes were included after the quotation to create an audit trail.
In qualitative research, one characteristic is that the “researcher is typically the primary instrument for data collection and analysis” (Merriam, 2009, p. 15). The instructor served as the researcher and thus, primary instrument for data collection in this study. While this should be acknowledged as a potential source of bias in the study, careful attention was made to monitor the bias by giving students the option to respond to the reflection and it not affect their grade in the course. Students were encouraged to be honest with their responses and reassured that their responses would only be used as a means to determine if the course should be taught again in the future. As another way to limit bias, reflections were coded by someone other than the instructor before analysis was conducted. Peshkin (1988) noted researchers’ subjectivities can be the underlying factor for distinctiveness of the research and “one that results from the unique configuration of their personal qualities joined to the data they have collected” (p. 18).
Context for the Study
The researcher believes it is important to understand more of the context for this study, specifically the leadership course for which the study was based upon. This course was a three-credit hour undergraduate leadership elective course and taught in a 2-week format; it was offered between the normal spring and summer full semesters. The course in this study was primarily taught using class discussion as the pedagogy. There were only three lectures, which consisted of about 50 minutes each given during the 45-hours of instruction time. The other hours of class time were spent engaging in class discussion, guest speakers, field trips, and student-led class discussions. The final project in the course was the student-led discussion of a current leadership event. Content for these student-led discussions was obtained from the New York Times in Leadership project. The instructor used a scaffolding approach for guiding students into leading their own discussion. Students started out with small tasks when speaking to the entire class and by the end of the semester were able to engage their fellow classmates in a discussion about leadership issues using current events. The instructor also modeled several class discussions about leadership current events for students before they engaged in their discussion.
Students were assembled into pairs to lead their discussion after three days into the course. To assemble students into teams of two for their student-led discussion, students were asked to list two students in the course they would prefer to work with and two students who they would prefer not to work with on a team. Only the instructor was privy to the information provided by the students. From this information, the instructor chose the pairs who would work together. The instructor believes this method worked well with this class size and the duration of the course. Students felt like they had buy-in into their class partner, but also were not just allowed to pair up with a friend. In their team, students led a discussion using a New York Times in Leadership article assigned to them. As part of this discussion, students prepared discussion questions of which two needed to address the top levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Students individually answered their own developed questions using complete references and citations.
The student team also developed a brief “check for understanding” of other students in the course to ensure they had read the article. Students then led a 45 minute or longer discussion in class using the questions they had generated. They were also encouraged to bring in other information to be used in the discussion such as video clips and other content-related articles pertaining to the topic. A few leadership topics outlined in the New York Times article and discussed by students included gender and leadership, authenticity and leadership, race and leadership, role of values, vision, and mission in leadership, negotiation and leadership, communication and leadership, effect of leadership styles, entrepreneurial leadership, gaining credibility as a leader, role of culture in leading others, establishing trust as a leader, and effect of experience or pedigree on leadership ability and context.
Other assignments in the course included participation points, a reflection comparing and contrasting leadership from each of the three field trips that were a part of the course, a reflection on one of the leadership discussions, a quiz on evaluating information in the news, and the creation of a guide for a leadership discussion by generating six questions about a video clip, article, or news segment. Students observed three different media outlets including a newspaper organization, a television organization, and a sports web forum organization.
Student perceptions of pedagogies used in a leadership course were investigated using student reflections of the course. Students seemed impacted by the discussion-based structure of the course. Objective one of this study sought to examine student perceptions of the effectiveness of pedagogies used in a leadership course. Even though the instructor did focus on using discussion as the primary pedagogy for the course, students were not directed to reflect specifically about the discussion-based pedagogy used in the course. Student perspectives were grouped into three themes for this objective: contribution to overall effectiveness, openness to different perspectives, and learning from peers.
Contribution to Overall Effectiveness
Out of the 28 students surveyed, 26 of them made reference to the discussions in class.
Overall, all 26 students had positive things to say about the group discussions. Student 14 simply stated “I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say.” Yet another commented about the structure of the discussions, “I believe this class is an effective way to learn about leadership because, as our instructor, you never told us what to think merely what to think about and allowed us to be the leaders in generating discussions” (S8).
Student 28 also remarked about the structure of the class through their reflection:
The environment of the class to provide open discussions, that really had some depth was a huge difference compared to any class I have had before. People in the class weren’t afraid to voice their ideas or thoughts, which added a great benefit to our discussions.
Students 14 and 19 reflected generally on the concept of discussion used in class:
The open discussion in this class really gave me a more open mind to the material that was being taught. This class really put us on the spot and set a standard of expectation for all students to understand what was being taught about leadership traits, but it gave an opportunity for students to explain what it meant to them and how their life experiences brought them to that point. (S14)
This was my first ever class based heavily on discussion and I really loved it. I learned more about topics when I was being asked questions about how I felt and how they played into my own life. I also learned more from my fellow students than I have in any other class. I feel like it made me learn more talking about the situations and applying them to articles or my own situations than just being talked at and then asked to regurgitate it on an exam. (S19)
Openness to Different Perspectives
Students remarked that the discussion opened their minds to new perspectives, as well as challenged them to think critically and evaluate information. S24 said, “The discussion in this class also changed some of my viewpoints and opened my eyes to perceive some issues in a totally different light” and furthermore “The challenge for me as a student in this class was the absolute necessity of thinking critically and evaluating your logic before presenting it to a group of intelligent people.” Student 17 commented “Being actively involved helped challenge my own thinking and opened my mind to other possibilities and conclusions I would not have reached on my own.” Yet another student commented “By this class focused mainly on discussion, it forced you to come to class prepared so you could participate in the discussions” (S27). S24 also reflected:
Students wanted to get involved, and before they would speak in class they would be challenged to truly think critically and make sure they understand the information and have developed solid logic before bringing their opinion to the attention of the class.
S20 commented about the importance of being open to other views. “Normally, we as humans see things completely one sided, but here I was able to see several different angles on a topic. It really taught me how to respect and take into consideration other people’s views and beliefs.” Another student reflected on how the course challenged them to be open-minded. “Being actively involved helped challenge my own thinking and opened my mind to other possibilities and conclusions I would not have reached on my own” (S17).
Learning from Others
Students reflected on how they learned more from hearing others’ perspectives in the course because of the discussions. One student compared their learning from others in the course to other types of learning, “I learned more from other students than I ever could have from a textbook or vocabulary words” (S14). Student 21 also reflected:
I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say. This gives you many points of view on each topic and helps it to go more in depth than most classes.
S24 reflected on the power of having different viewpoints, “It was very powerful to have different viewpoints from different life experiences speaking up on ethically challenging issues and seeing the opposite side of the spectrum from myself displayed through a person with different life experiences.” Student 8 reflected on how they benefitted more from the interaction of their peers:
…about 80% percent of classes are not even worth showing up for when all the information is strictly for the test. I really enjoy discussing more and feel I get more out of it when I can learn from peers. I felt that our group got along well and encouraged discussion from everyone. It was great to know we could respectfully challenge views, and I feel as if I gained a new perspective on certain issues.
Objective two sought to describe student perceptions of the learning environment when using certain pedagogies in a leadership course. Student reflections revealed students were able to 1) overcome challenges with discussion because of the environment of the course and 2) class logistics contributed to the effectiveness of pedagogies used in the course. These two themes emerged from the data and seemed to contribute to how students perceived the effective use of pedagogy in the leadership course.
Overcoming Challenges with Discussion
While there was no negative feedback to the group discussions, something to note is that 17 of that 26 said that the group discussions were a challenge for them because of various reasons. The students that saw the group discussions as a challenge felt that the environment of the class helped them to overcome any issues with the discussions. Student 21 reflected on overcoming the challenge of talking in front of the class:
My main challenge was the first day of discussion and forcing myself to talk in front of everyone, but once I did it went great. I believe that this class was very effective for learning leadership because of the discussion. You not only hear what the professor has to say, but also what everyone else has to say. This gives you many points of view on each topic and helps it to go more in depth than most classes.
Student 14 also reflected on the challenge of speaking up in front of others, “I admit, yes, it was a challenge to get in front of class and speak or answer questions, but the environment that [instructor] set up really made it easy for conversation flow” while Student 1 commented:
I think a challenge for me was actually speaking up in class, there were times that I really wanted to put what I had to say out there, but I was nervous about getting negative feedback or getting into arguments with other students.
Logistics of the Course
Twelve of the 28 students surveyed mentioned the class logistics as a factor in why the course was effective for them. Specific characteristics included number of students in the course, size of classroom, and length and duration of time each day spent on the course. A reemerging theme was that students saw the small class size as an asset that played a role in bonding the students together making it easier to participate in group discussions. Two of the 12 students did not like the course being during a minimester for personal reasons (not being able to work). One specific characteristic noted in regard to logistics of the course was the size of the classroom.
Student 1 commented specifically about the actual classroom being smaller:
What was better for me was the smaller class size and even the fact that the classroom was smaller. I have been in a few smaller populated classes, but the rooms would still be big and everyone would be spread out from one another not making it easy for everyone to be heard or even engaged in conversation together.
Another characteristic that was mentioned by students as contributing to the effectiveness of the course is the number of students in the course. Several students noted the degree of comfortability in the course, “Comfortability would usually not happen in a class that is bigger than this and only 50 minutes, 2 times a week” (S14) and “I enjoyed the smaller classroom size because even though the class was only two weeks, everyone seemed to get to know one another and be comfortable in a short period of time” (S22). Student 11 also made reference to size contributing to comfort, “The size of the class and the amount of time we got to spend together made us a tight knit group that was comfortable talking and learning from one another as well as the instructor” (S11). Another student also reflected on how the size of the class contributed to their comfort level,
I enjoyed the size of the class. It was small which I prefer in a class, we were all able to interact with one another and got to know each other well and I think that is a big key is getting comfortable around your classmates. (S16)
Length of time spent in class each day was noted by students as contributing to their perceptions on effectiveness. One student simply noted “Comfortability would usually not happen in a class that is bigger than this and only 50 minutes, 2 times a week” (S14). Specifically, Student7 reflected:
I think that the setting of everyday for long periods of time was necessary for us to build up the comfort level necessary to freely express how we feel on individual topics. I think that this class being taught in a mini-mester is a much better design than if it were a full semester course.
Student 18 reflected on how their attitude changed about the duration of the course:
…obviously it was shorter than my other classes, which at first coming into class the first day, I had a bad attitude, thinking oh god I have to be at school for 5 hours, but then as I started to get acquainted with everyone and saw some familiar faces, it wasn’t that bad and I really started to enjoy it. The short duration of the class was good because I got to know everyone’s name by the end of the semester, which in most other classes I’m lucky to know a few people’s names by the end.
Student 2 reflected on how the duration of the course contributed to the facilitation of discussions, “I do believe that I benefited greatly from the two-week, five-hour-a-day approach to this class. As a body of students, we were forced to bond quickly which helped facilitate our discussions as we became comfortable with each other.” Student 21 reflected on the length of the course by noting “I loved that it was only a two week course and was very small. I was able to not only learn a lot about leadership, but a lot about my classmates and how other people may think as well.” Yet another student reflected on how the duration of the course impacted their interactions with students, “I think the learning experienced in this class was very effective, more so than any of my other classes because of the interaction with students was so frequent and up close and personal” (S12).
Discussion & Conclusions
In this study, the class discussions were referenced in student reflections quite frequently as a leadership pedagogy that was effective for students in learning leadership. Even though students were not prompted to specifically reflect on discussion as a pedagogy used in the course, 26 of the 28 students did point out how their learning was affected because of the class discussions. Other pedagogies or instructional strategies employed in the course could have been referenced such as the class field trips, reflections, and other class activities. Discussion was determined to be the pedagogy used most frequently by undergraduate leadership education instructors and could be considered the signature pedagogy for undergraduate leadership education (Jenkins, 2012). This study lends support for discussion as not only a pedagogy used by leadership instructors, but one that can be effective for learning leadership as perceived by undergraduate students.
Research points to the environment where discussion takes place as being a significant predictor of leadership outcomes (Dugan & Komives, 2011). In this study, students made reference to the environment of the course and how it affected their comfortability and thus learning effectiveness. Students specifically noted class logistics including the interactions with students being more personal, the smaller size of the class (room size and number of students), and the shorter duration (minimester) of the course as contributing to the effectiveness of the course. Therefore, it is recommended that leadership educators consider the environment for discussion if they want discussion to be an effective pedagogy for teaching leadership. If a small class size is not practical, perhaps an instructor could invoke smaller groups within a larger class that might have similar effects.
Pedagogies are more than just instructional strategies, but also encompass use of effective management techniques by the instructor, and effective class or program design strategies (Marzano, 2007). Based on the findings in this study, the class discussions had positive effects on students when they were coupled with the short duration of the course, small class size and meeting location, and purposeful interactions with their classmates. Students believed these factors impacted their ability to be comfortable with their classmates and be open to discussions that helped them learn about leadership. While not mentioned by students as contributing to the effectiveness of the course, the “behind the scenes” management and design strategies used by the instructor could have contributed to the effectiveness of class discussion. Some design and management strategies used in the course included the scaffolding approach to leading a discussion, allowing students to participate in shorter duration presentations and discussion prior to their final discussion and the method for choosing their partner for the final class discussion assignment. Therefore, it is recommended that leadership education instructors consider not just the instructional strategy to employ when teaching leadership, but also consider other management and design strategies such as class size, location of meeting, how groups are formed, and, if using discussion, how you as the instructor can make students feel comfortable in the classroom.
To be effective, discussion topics should be of emotional importance, have clear significance, and be conducted by effective facilitators (Dessel & Rogge, 2008; Schoem & Hurtado, 2001). Though the make-up of this course allowed for the sharing of diverse perspectives, according to Dessel and Rogge (2008) and Schoem and Hurtado (2001), discussion can be a transformative learning experience for students even if the make-up of students is not diverse. It is unclear from this study whether the diverse make-up of the course contributed to student perceptions of the effectiveness of discussion for learning leadership. Some students noted they learned from diverse points of view in the course and it made them more open- minded (S8, S14, S17, S20, S24). The findings did indicate the impact of the facilitator as two students did make specific reference to the instructor or facilitator impacting the effectiveness of discussion: “I believe this class is an effective way to learn about leadership because, as our instructor, you never told us what to think merely what to think about and allowed us to be the leaders in generating discussions” (S8) while Student 14 stated “the environment that [instructor] set up really made it easy for conversation flow.”
Recommendations for Research
This study examined students’ perspectives of pedagogy used in a leadership course; however, there was no measure to control for student learning in this study. Future studies should account for some measure of what students learned to determine if the learning acquired by students is affected by the pedagogy used to teach the course. Discussion-based pedagogy may be perceived by students to be effective, but does it actually effect how and what they learn?
The leadership course examined in this study was unique in that it was taught in a short timeframe (two weeks). The course also had a small number of students and was designed for students to lead and participate in discussions. Future studies should examine other settings and environments to determine whether or not discussion can be effective in learning leadership in these settings and environments.
Leadership pedagogy is more than just instructional strategy (Marzano, 2007). Future studies should specifically be designed to account for the variables of effective management techniques by the educator and use of effective class or program design strategies. Effective management techniques and class or program design strategies which surfaced in this study included class logistics (time for class, size of classroom, number of students), activities designed by the instructor, and the environment created by the instructor. More research should be employed to assess other specific management techniques and program design strategies which impact the pedagogy being used to teach a leadership course.
This study evaluated one leadership course and included a small group of students. This study should be replicated in other settings where a primary pedagogy is used by leadership educators. As Jenkins (2012) also recommended, future studies should assess pedagogies used to evaluate their quality, effectiveness and achievement of student learning outcomes.
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Learning based on the theory of Learning… Does not take place in an empty vessel A social process where interaction with other learners and teachers are needed Result of individual … 2. Broadening the way we communicate information in the classroom can connect all students more to the topic at hand, and especially students with language challenges. Thomas, A. According to Process learning, the opposite is true.... Has anyone ever told you that you need to have a clear goal in order to achieve something or get better? For auditory learning, you could have a friend quiz you on the flash cards. For instance, we can all remember listening to a teacher talk, and copying notes off the chalkboard. Thomas, A., Thorne, G., Small, R., DiSanti, P., & Lawson, C. (1998). Identify three different classes and describe what types of activities you typically do in these classes. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Beyond monet: The artful science of instructional integration. The differentiated classroom. —Audre Lorde, writer and civil rights activist. & Thorne, G. (2008). Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. For kinesthetic learning, you could move the flash cards around on a board to show a food web (food chain). Higher order thinking. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Rosemont, NJ: Modern Learning Press. Psychologist Robert Sternberg lists six components of mental self-management: (1999). Also, all students should be explicitly taught how to build concept maps (graphic organizers that connect all components of a concept, and may also connect one concept to another concept). Follow your instructor’s guidelines for submitting your assignment. The VAK/VARK models can be a helpful way of thinking about different learning styles and preferences, but they are certainly not the last word on how people learn or prefer to learn. They are interested in how activitiesinteract to achieve different results. Higher order thinking. Finally, they attend to mechanical and grammatical rules. & Thorne, G. (2008). 5. Similarly, researchers concerned with cognition are drawn to uncovering th… Each student in the group is assigned a role such as the leader/involver/taskmaster, the clunk expert, the gist expert, and the timekeeper/pacer (positive interdependence). 2. Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning … Read/write learners have a preference for written words (readings, dictionaries, reference works, research, etc.) Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Physical movement can help to “wake up” a mind. References The results have led The Learning … -Learning is a process … Social constructivist scholars view learning as an active process where learners should learn to discover principles, concepts and facts for themselves, hence the … Toronto: Bookation, Inc. The process of learning can be subdivided into cognitive (knowledge), affective (emotions), and psycho-motor (skills).This process of learning until recently followed the conventional means of learning … Discover Your Learning Style and Optimize Your Self Study. Memory is the complex process that uses three systems to help a person receive, use, store, and retrieve information. Having computers in place for all children helps level the playing field for the graphomotor klutz. Required fields are marked *. (2008). Believe in yourself (self-efficacy). This tactic is ideal for promoting intellectual discussion and improving reading comprehension of expository text in mixed-level classrooms across disciplines. A person with metacognition also monitors and regulates how he learns. For example, a teacher may ask second graders how to divide a pan of brownies evenly among the 20 students in the class, and then connect their solution to the concept of equivalent fractions. … For example, consider how you might combine visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles to a biology class. Higher Order Thinking What might your preferred learning style(s) tell you about your interests? Students with good language processing skills usually do well in school. Vail, P. (1994). Students with handwriting difficulties may benefit from the opportunity to provide oral answers to exercises, quizzes, and tests. Learning Process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to be provided, Educational Psychology moves on the laws, principles and theories of learning. In the classroom, tension slams the steel door of the mind shut. Psychologists named the process respondent conditioning because it describes changes in responses to stimuli (though some have also called it “classical conditioning” because it was historically the first form of behavioral learning … Students should be asked to identify the important information, formulate test questions and then answer them. However, when it comes to learning, one size doesn’t fit all. Rolheiser, C. (1996). In order to engage, motivate and teach all learners at optimal levels, teachers must understand the learning process in general, understand and respond to students’ individual emotional and cognitive profiles and select instructional strategies and tactics that are effective for diverse learners. -Learning is an evolutionary process. Seek out an environment where you can make a difference. Learning is an active process that is based upon the individual pupil’s ability to perceive, comprehend, react to, and integrate with past experiences of which the curriculum is composed. It is easy for most of us to pay attention to things that are interesting or exciting to us. The Learning Cycle Understanding the Learning Cycle can help both teachers and learners enhance the learning process. As adults, we should model our own metacognition, talk about metacognition, and give meaningful examples of metacognition often and well. Using visual communication such as pictures and videos to reinforce verbal communication is helpful to all students, and especially to students with receptive language challenges. While completing the learning-styles activity, you might have discovered that you prefer more than one learning style. For example, while Kyle might prefer listening to recordings to help him learn Spanish, he might prefer hands-on activities like labs to master … Higher order thinking (HOT) is more than memorizing facts or relating information in exactly the same words as the teacher or book expresses it. Kyle was excited to take a beginning Spanish class to prepare for a semester abroad in Spain. Motivation Review the three main learning styles and the definition of multimodal learning. Successful intelligence. All students will benefit from systematic, cumulative, and explicit teaching of reading and writing. Thomas, A. Simultaneous processing is the process we use to order or organize information in space. Paying attention to attention. It is a process by which the individual acquires various habits, knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary to meet the demands of life. "When the connection from the perirhinal cortex back to those layer 1 neurons was cut, the animals … To successfully use differentiated instruction, a teacher must first have a firm understanding of each of the cognitive components of the learning process, what they look like when they are working, and what the specific subcomponents of each look like when they are breaking down. Know your strengths and weaknesses. A student with metacognition can answer the question, “How am I smart?” The first part of metacognition is thinking about thinking. Successive processing is what we use to order or organize information in time and sequence. Thousand Oaks. Paying attention to attention. For visual learning, you could create flash cards containing images of individual animals and the species name. By the end of this section, you will be able to: Consider experiences you’ve had with learning something new, such as learning to tie your shoes or drive a car. Parents and teachers should be aware, however, that many children with graphomotor challenges may also have difficulty with the quick muscular coordination required by the keyboard. But what are learning styles, and where does the idea come from? Thomas, A. What communication means in the learning process. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. The three memory systems are (1) short-term memory (e.g., remembering a phone number you got from information just long enough to dial it), (2) working memory (e.g., keeping the necessary information “files” out on the mind’s “desktop” while performing a task such as writing a paragraph or working a long division problem), and (3) long-term memory (a mind’s ever expanding file cabinet for important information we want to retrieve over time). Sternberg, R. J. Thomas, A. Making the learning process more visible helps students become better learners by making them more aware of their own habits. The teacher’s job is to construct lessons that connect to the learner. Using a great strategy at the wrong time, or mismatching a strategy with breakdown for which the strategy will yield no gains, will frustrate students and teachers alike when the strategy fails to produce the desired result. Learning is an essential as well as fundamental process of life. 1. There are six interactive components of the learning process: attention, memory, language, processing and organizing, graphomotor (writing) and higher order thinking. The learning process has often become more difficult than necessary because of the bad feelings people get when they make mistakes in learning. However, when it comes to learning, one size doesn’t fit all. Walter Burke Barbe and his colleagues proposed the following three learning modalities (often identified by the acronym VAK): Examples of these modalities are shown in the table, below. Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more specifically defined as "learning through reflection on doing". -One of the richest resources of learning is the learner himself. Language, learning and a place called school. Recruiters are looking to hire individuals with Data Science skills. Learning activities are what students actually do in your … Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Organization: Processing and ordering information. For example, in addition to studying his written notes, he might listen to a tape of the vocabulary words, as well. They may benefit from writing written explanations and descriptions of the information contained in charts, graphs or diagrams. Arianna Vedia Aug. 1, 2019 ... 280) is learning what it takes to win from the edge in the NFL and becoming more sound as a pass … He knows how he would best learn a new math procedure and which strategies he would use to understand and remember a science concept. Most students, especially those with weaknesses in written language, will benefit from using a staging procedure for both expository and creative writing. (2008). Graphomotor skills: Why some kids hate to write. Bennett, B. It is also helpful for students to list their most frequently occurring errors in a notebook and refer to this list when self-correcting. Learning styles are also called learning modalities. Developmental variation and learning disorders (Second Edition). Ajax, Ontario: VisuTronx. The two language processing systems are expressive and receptive. Mansaray, David. Consequently, short, highly structured lectures or group discussion times should be balanced with frequent breaks or quiet periods. When we are relaxed and calm, our learning processes have a green light. Educational care (Second Edition). All students will benefit from self-testing. They may benefit from software programs such as Inspiration that organize concepts and information into visual maps. "The Four Stages of Learning: The Path to Becoming an Expert.". In Säljö’s categories two to five we see learning appearing as processes – memorizing, acquiring, making sense, and comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. Behaviorist Learning Theory (or Behaviorism) utilizes key ideas from the work of … Paul Brooks Publishing Company. Relating how algebraic equations need to be equal or balanced on both sides to the benefits of dividing candy or cookies evenly between friends also connects to prior knowledge. Students who have difficulty with both short-term and working memory may need directions repeated to them. Auditory learners best learn through listening (lectures, discussions, tapes, etc.). You probably began by showing interest in the process, and … Kyle took the quiz, but when he got the results, he was surprised to see that he had earned a B-, despite having studied so much. It is not an act of will but rather an act of coordination among those functions. It is wise to find acceptable, non-destructive ways for these students to be active. It is important to remember that when a student understands something, it does not guarantee that he will remember it. This strategy is useful not only for students who prefer to combine learning styles but also for those who may not know which learning style works best for them. Paying attention is the first step in learning anything. Neil Fleming’s VARK model expanded on the three modalities described above and added “Read/Write Learning” as a fourth. Follow your instructor’s guidelines for submitting your activity. Many of us, like Kyle, are accustomed to very traditional learning styles as a result of our experience as K–12 students. Many educators consider the distinctions useful, finding that students benefit from having access to a blend of learning approaches. Apply your preferred learning styles to classroom scenarios. Various branches of … There are six interactive components of the learning process: attention, memory, language, processing and organizing, graphomotor (writing) and higher order thinking. Using this tactic, students are placed into cooperative learning groups of four to six students of mixed abilities. People have different learning styles and preferences, and these can vary from subject to subject. Students who have receptive language challenges such as a slower processing speed must use a lot of mental energy to listen, and, therefore, may tire easily. A creative choice might be to write a play about tolerance, create a dance that communicates the emotions of the Holocaust, or write a poem or paint a picture that tells a story about how you feel about the conditions in Darfur. People have different learning styles and preferences, and these can vary from subject to subject. Learning theory may be described as a body of principles advocated by psychologists and educators to explain how people acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Identify a class you are currently taking that requires studying. -The process of learning is both emotional and intellectual. By Carol Rolheiser is listed in the reference section following this article and is a helpful resource for teachers who want to incorporate more student self-evaluation in their classrooms. When you think of learning, it might be easy to fall into the trap of only considering formal education that takes place during childhood and early adulthood, but learning is actually an ongoing process that takes place throughout all of life. (2008). Mastery of the … In order to enhance the likelihood that all students will elaborate on new information, teachers should activate their prior knowledge and make new information meaningful to them. Before his first vocabulary quiz, he reviewed his notes many times. Self-evaluation…Helping students get better at it! The teaching learning process under this model places emphasis on lectures, recitations, and demonstration and the learner is seen as a passive recipient of this information. (2008). A practical choice might be to show how we can apply the lessons learned from the Holocaust to how we treat one another in our schools. Students who have trouble remembering sequences of information but who are strong in simultaneous processing should benefit from graphic organizers, and making diagrams or flow charts of sequential information such as events in history rather than the standard timeline. Metacognition is thinking about thinking, knowing about knowing, and knowing how you think, process information, and learn. He understands the best way for him to organize an essay – whether he would be more successful by using an outline, a graphic organizer or a mind map. 6. When they can see the overall narrative of their learning … (2008). Next they may organize their ideas. Teachers should model this process for all students. Applying more than one learning style is known as multimodal learning. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. The learning process is something you can incite, literally incite, like a riot. -Learning is sometimes a painful process. -The process of problem solving and learning are highly unique and individual. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Consider which subjects and eventual careers you might like. & Thorne, G. (2008). David Kolb’s learning theory is based on a four-stage learning cycle. Thomas, A., ed. He has mental self-management. Third, they may look at sentence structure. As such, education requires a self-aware and self-correcting set of processes that respond to changes circumstances at … Tactile/kinesthetic learners prefer to learn via experience—moving, touching, and doing (active exploration of the world, science projects, experiments, etc.). Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. Cambridge, MA: Educator’s Publishing Service. Brooks, R. & Goldstein, S. (2002). Education is a system; teaching is an action; learning is a process. Customized Professional Learning Services for Schools, School Districts and Individual Teachers, October 26, 2010 by Center for Development and Learning Leave a Comment, By The Center for Development and Learning. It is difficult for most of us to pay attention to things that are not. Stages of the Learning Process Consider experiences you’ve had with learning something new, such as learning to tie your shoes or drive a car. When something is not interesting to us, it is easier to become distracted, to move to a more stimulating topic or activity, or to tune out. Capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Oral instructions may also need to be repeated and/or provided in written form. Explain how you could apply your preferred learning style(s) to studying. Ultimately, this is where we hope students who attend our schools will be upon graduation. These … Memory: How it works and how to improve it. It is a hard process of 12 to 16 years minimum. These laws do not exist to make the process difficult, but are designed to educate you about the rules of the road and ensure you practice safe driving habits before being allowed to graduate to the next step. Practicing cooperative learning allows each student’s processing and organizing strengths to be utilized to the benefit of the group. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning… Others find the idea of three or four “styles” to be distracting or limiting. When a student shows signs of inattentiveness and/or restlessness, teachers can provide the student with opportunities to move around. Give choices for projects and exams that include analytical, practical and creative thinking options. Thorne, G. & Thomas, A. Organization: Processing and ordering information. Metairie, LA: Center for Development and Learning. Learning is … On the other hand, school expects that children become experts in several subjects – e.g., math, language, science, social studies, a foreign language, the arts. Emotion: The on/off switch for learning. In his first category we find both process – acquiring – and product – a quantitative increase in knowledge. Kyle’s professor suggested that he experiment with different ways of studying. New York: Simon & Schuster. The ability to learn is possessed by … Is Your Curriculum Aligned to the Science of Reading? Note that the video has no audio. As might be expected, educationalists often look to process definitions of learning. Tomlinson, C.A. Teaching and learning involves the process of transferring knowledge from the one who is giving to the one who is receiving. Language, learning and a place called school. Research suggests that it’s good for the brain to learn in new ways and that learning in different modalities can help learners become more well-rounded. A student who understands that she may need to use a particular strategy to help her working memory function better or that taking frequent breaks will help her stay more focused on her homework assignments is much better off than thinking that she is stupid or lazy.


The Civil War Sailor's
Cavalrymen were not the
only warriors who went into battle as passengers, though they were far more plentiful than their "webfoot" counterparts. Throughout
the Civil War the navies of both the North and the South suffered from a shortage of manpower. On both sides the demands of
the armies were so persistent that there were never enough sailors, especially experienced men, to complete the crews of all
the ships in service. This proved particularly true in the South, where the pool of available seamen was very small under
the best of circumstances. Stephen Mallory, the Secretary of the Navy, got the Confederate Congress to pass a law in 1863
whereby any man serving in the army who volunteered for the navy was to be transferred. Mallory claimed that hundreds of men
volunteered, but that their military commanders would not release them. In the North, trained seamen were diverted into the
army by enlistment bonuses, by local competition to fill regiments, by a desire to try something different, and by the draft.
Sometimes it became necessary in both the North and the South to divert soldiers into naval duty. Usually the soldiers were
not too pleased by the assignment. Some became disciplinary problems or deserted, but a number adjusted to the demands of
the war and gave a good account of themselves.
One part of the Confederate Navy, at least, had no difficulty in attracting
men: the ships Alabama,
Florida, Shenandoah, and other famous commerce raiders.
The commanders of such ships completed their manpower needs by drawing on the crews of the vessels they captured. The Confederates
paid high wages and in gold. Those factors and the prospect of being a prisoner made a crucial difference. But the result
was that a high percentage of the crews of these famous ships were foreigners.
In the South a young man wishing to join the navy had to have the consent
of his parent or guardian if he was under twenty-one years of age. His counterpart in the North needed parental consent if
he was under eighteen. No one under the age of thirteen was to be enlisted in the North, or under fourteen in the South. Height
requirements for the Union Navy were at least five feet eight inches; those for the Confederacy were four feet eight inches.
At the other end of the spectrum, no inexperienced man was to be enlisted in the Union Navy if he was over thirty-three years
of age unless he had a trade. If he had a trade, thirty-eight was the age limit. In the South an inexperienced man with a
trade could join if he was between twenty-five and thirty-five. Inexperienced men without trades were shipped as landsmen
or coal heavers. Free blacks could enlist in the Confederate Navy if they had the special permission of the Navy Department
or the local squadron commander. Slaves were enlisted with the consent of their owners, and some of them served as officers'
servants as well as coal heavers and pilots. Before the war the United States Navy had tried to restrict the number of black
men in the ranks to one-twentieth of the crew. During the Civil War, however, the chronic shortages of men led Secretary of
the Navy Gideon Welles to suggest to the commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron that he open recruiting stations
ashore for the enlistment of blacks or contrabands. As a result of this and other activities, the Union Navy had a high percentage
of blacks in the lower ranks. The normal pay scales in both navies ranged from $12 a month for landsmen and other inexperienced
hands to $14 a month for ordinary seamen and $18 a month for seamen. Boys were rated as third, second, or first class in ascending
order according to their knowledge and physical ability. Third-class boys were paid $7 a month, second class $8, and first
In both the North and the South it was customary to send the newly recruited
men to a receiving ship. These were usually old frigates or other sail-powered ships that were stationed at navy yards in
the North and functioned as floating dormitories. In the South old merchant ships were used at Richmond and at other major Southern ports. A recruit arriving on board a receiving ship
reported to the officer of the deck. His name and other details went into the ship's books, and be was sent forward. Usually
be received only the clothing needed for immediate service. In the North no civilian clothing was allowed, though shortages
of uniforms later in the war sometimes made it necessary to modify this rule in the South. When the recruit arrived at the
forward part of the receiving ship, he was given a number for his hammock and another for his clothes bag and was assigned
to a mess.
While on board a receiving ship the recruit learned the rudiments of navy
life. He learned how to address and to respect his officers, petty officers, and shipmates. Much time was spent in various
kinds of drills, such as learning to handle sails, rigging, boats, and cutlasses, as well as the procedures for repelling
boarders. The manpower demands of the Union and the Confederate navies meant that the amount
of time a recruit was on a receiving ship ranged from a few days to a few weeks. Anything not learned on the receiving ship
had to be learned in the hard school of active service. Periodically the commander of the receiving ship would receive orders
to send a certain number of men to a vessel preparing for active service, or as replacements for a ship that had lost men
through death, illness, or desertion.
Once a man reported to a ship in the regular service, he was assigned to
various stations at the guns, on deck, in the tops, in a boat, at a mess, and in a hammock. Each had a number to be remembered.
So, on a man-of-war, a given recruit or veteran might define his niche in the following way: He belonged to the starboard
watch, was stationed in the top of the mizzenmast; he belonged to the third division of the battery, attached to gun number
eight, where he was the first loader. In the event of a need to board an enemy vessel, he was the second boarder in his division.
When it was necessary to loose or to furl sails, his post was at the starboard yardarm of the mizzen topgallant yard. In reefing
sails his position was on the port yardarm of the mizzen topsail yard. When tacking or wearing the ship, his place was at
the lee main brace. If the anchor was being raised, his duty was at the capstan. In a boat he pulled the bow oar of the captain's
gig. Until all these assignments became second nature to him, the recruit might forget his numbers and have to refresh his
memory by consulting the station bill, where everyone's position was recorded.
On gunboats and monitors all the duties associated with masts, rigging, and
yards were eliminated, of course. These ships were also much smaller than a steam frigate or some of the merchant vessels
converted to warships. But on these smaller ships there were still quarters, guns, and decks to be kept clean, and there were
still watches to be kept. On all coal-burning vessels it was a constant problem to keep the ship and the guns clean. The actual
work of coaling a ship left black dust everywhere. About the time that the dust was under control, it was time to recoal.
Any man with experience in the merchant service found life on a warship quite
different, at least at times. In the merchant service, for example, when raising the anchor, the men at the capstan might
sing a sea chantey. In the Navy this and other tasks were performed in silence lest some order from an officer not be heard.
Loud talking by the men while on watch was frowned upon for the same reason. In warships of both the Union
and the Confederacy, the shipboard routines were performed to the sound of shouted orders, boatswain's pipes, or a drum, depending
on the situation covered.
Joining the crew of a warship was apt to be quite a memorable experience
for the recruit. Here he found himself among a wide variety of men. There were some older, weatherbeaten types who had been
at sea for many years. In contrast to these were the young men of seventeen, eighteen, or younger, away from home for the
first time. There were foreigners, including some not many months removed from their old environments in Europe.
There were black men, including many who had recently left the slave status. Also caught up in such groups was an occasional
North American Indian, or a Pacific islander. In a very real sense a man-of-war was the world in miniature, especially on
Union ships. Crews of Confederate gunboats and other vessels that defended Southern harbors, inlets, and rivers were apt to
be more homogeneous, especially early in the war.
For the Northern recruit particularly, adaptation to the cross section of
humanity that comprised the crew was often difficult. Their early weeks and months in the Navy might be marked by personality
clashes, accusations and counter-accusations, and fights. Marines and officers had the duty of stopping any affrays. The man
who struck the first blow might find himself confined to the brig, in irons and on a diet of bread and water for twenty-four
hours, as a warning not to persist in such conduct. A man who was wronged by another soon learned to settle his score indirectly
rather than by fighting. His tormentor might find the rope of his hammock cut while he was asleep, or have a belaying pin
dropped on his toes, or become the victim of other "accidents."
In the Union and the Confederate navies it was the specific duty of the commanding
officer to see to it that ordinary seamen, landsmen, and boys were instructed in steering, in heaving the lead to determine
the depth of the water, in knotting and splicing ropes, in rowing, in the use of the palm and needle to do sewing, and in
bending and reefing sails. Mastery of these duties was necessary if the recruit hoped to qualify for promotion to seaman or
to become a petty officer. Coal heavers with any intelligence at all could master the requirements necessary to become a fireman.
In addition, the men were continually drilled in exercising the guns, in handling small arms and boats, and in using the boat
howitzer. Anything not learned on the receiving ship was thoroughly learned on a ship in regular service. In the Confederacy,
whenever the needs of war made it necessary to transfer from one ship to another, the men had to have additional training
because no two ships had engines or guns that were exactly the same.
In both navies the daily routine was somewhat the same, depending on the
size of the ship, the preferences of the captain, the season of the year, the needs of the moment. Sailors might begin their
day as early as 4 A.M. if the ship had to be thoroughly cleaned or was scheduled to be coaled in the morning. Otherwise, a
typical day might have gone as follows:
At 5 A.M. the marine bugler sounded reveille. The master-at-arms, or one
of his corporals, and the boatswain's mate from the current watch ran around the berth deck shouting at the sleeping men and
slapping hammocks. The men were ordered to get up and to lash up their hammocks and bedding into a tight, round bundle. These
were then carried tip to the spar, or upper, deck. Here the hammocks were stored uniformly behind heavy rope nets, called
nettings, along the bulwarks. Storing the hammocks here gave some small additional protection from gunshots and from wood
splinters dislodged by cannon fire. The nettings also provided a barrier against boarders. In theory, a well-trained crew
was supposed to rise, lash their hammocks, and deliver them to the spar deck in seven minutes. In practice, it may have taken
that long to get some men out of their hammocks.
About 5:07 A.M. the crew got out sand, brooms, holystones, and buckets and
washed down the decks. Usually the berth deck was scrubbed with saltwater, and the spar deck was holystoned by teams of men
working under the direction of a boatswain's mate. In addition to the decks, the brass fittings and other bright work were
Metal tracks on which the gun carriages turned were burnished. The guns themselves
were cleaned. On ships that carried sails, the rigging, halyards (ropes for hoisting yards or sails), and blocks were checked
and maintained as necessary. Once the ship was cleaned, the sailors might fill the buckets with saltwater to wash themselves
and to shave, if they so desired.
In a man-of-war, boys assembled at the port gangway at 7:30 A.M. for
inspection by the master-at-arms. The boys were expected to have clean faces and hands, hair combed, and clothes clean and
tidy. Their pants were supposed to be rolled up. After the inspection, each boy was expected to climb to the top of the masthead
and come down. Each boy did his best to get up and down first. Sometimes the last boy down had to climb up and down again.
The theory behind this routine was that it made the boys agile and gave them a good appetite for breakfast.
At 8 A.M. the boatswain piped breakfast. Cleaning equipment was put away
and buckets were returned to their racks. Each man reported to his respective mess, which consisted of from eight to fourteen
men. Members of a gun crew, coal heavers and firemen, and topmen would have their own messes, often determined by the watch
to which they belonged. Marines and petty officers messed separately, and the boys were distributed among the messes. Each
member of the mess took his turn as the orderly or cook, though sometimes one person would be hired by his messmates to do
the job on a permanent basis. It was the job of the orderly to unlock the mess chest and take out the tableware and cooking
utensils, as well as the food allotted to the mess each week by the ship's cook or by the paymaster. The individual kept track
of his own knife, fork, spoon, and mug. For breakfast each man was served one pint of coffee without milk, as well as a piece
of salt junk, or hard, salted beef. After breakfast the dishes were cleaned and returned to the mess chest.
Then, at 9:30 A.M. came the call to quarters. Guns were inspected to see
that they were properly secured and ready for any emergency throughout the day. Once this was done, the men relaxed at their
stations by writing letters, reading newspapers or books, or dozing.
Noon was the fixed time for lunch, so at that hour the men reported to their
messes. Now they had a piece of beef or pork, vegetables, and coffee. Cheese might enhance the meal from time to time. On
blockade duty there were opportunities to acquire fresh provisions from the shore areas, and these broke the monotony of the
average meal served at sea.
The crews of the Confederate cruisers usually ate well as a result of their
captures of merchant vessels, but for the rest of the Confederate Navy, items like cheese, butter, and raisins, while technically
a part of the ration, were never available. Tea and coffee could be obtained from blockade runners, but at a great cost. Even
so, the Confederate Navy usually ate better than the Army. One and one-quarter pounds of salted beef, pork, or bacon was issued
to each man every day. As late as 1864 the men of the James River Squadron got meat three times a week.
After lunch the men might return to the stations they had left, or portions
of the afternoon might be filled by various kinds of drills. Blockade duty proved so monotonous most of the time that commanders
had to exercise their ingenuity to keep the men occupied. Training sequences were not the same on any two successive days;
thus there was no predicting what would come next on the agenda. As Charles K. Mervine, a boy attached to a blockading squadron
ship, wrote in 1863: "The life of a sailor is not one of a real and regular work, his hours of rest may not be uniform but
they are more or less regulated. The details of a programe [sic] of any day on shipboard cannot be as fixed as in other forms
of labor, yet its original outlines are the same day after day."
At 4 P.m. a light evening meal was served by the various messes. In this
and the other meals, the timing was related to the watch sequence of four hours on and four hours off. Mealtimes were when
the watch was relieved. From a nutritional point of view, there were objections to this format because in a twenty-four-hour
sequence all the meals were crowded into less than eight hours. Since the noon meal was the main meal, men who stood watch
at midnight or in the early hours of the morning might be quite hungry.
On blockade duty individual captains could alter the watch routine by splitting
the period from 4 P.M. to 8 P.M. into two 2-hour watch segments called dogwatches. This meant that there would be seven watches
instead of six in a twenty-four hour period. If this was done, no watch would have to take the midnight to 4 A.M. shift for
two nights in succession. An alternative was to divide the crew into three watches so that each man would be on' duty for
four hours and off for eight. Still other captains went so far as to use quarter watches, or one-fourth of the working hands,
or half of each watch. In this system the watch would be divided into first and second parts, which would constitute the quarter
watch. There were, however, those who believed that the use of quarter watches was unwise in dangerous waters.
The watch procedure was also used in coaling the ship. Such work might begin
with the port watch and function in a prearranged order. Coaling might begin about 7 A.M. for the Union ships on blockade and be finished
by noon, if the crew really worked at it. If they did not, and the work continued into the heat of the afternoon, the process
could take as much as twelve hours. Because everything depended upon the time of arrival of the coal ship, there was no consistent
time for the operation to begin. If the process began in the late afternoon, it might continue all night.
At 5:30 P.M. the sound of the drum called men to their quarters. Once again
guns and stations were inspected to see that everything was ready for the night. This was especially important, for the hours
of darkness were the times when the blockade runners were most active. Once the inspection was finished, the boatswain's pipe
announced that the hammocks could be removed from the nettings and prepared for sleeping. Then came the period of relaxation
for all who were not on watch. The men might write or read letters, or read newspapers and books. At this time and in other
free periods during the day they repaired their clothing. Dominoes was a popular pastime. Cards were strictly forbidden. Gambling
was also outlawed but went on covertly. It could range from simple games of calling odds and evens, matching money, or bets
associated with daily activities, such as how long it would take them to overhaul another ship, to more formal games with
At idle times in the afternoon or evening the men might also listen to music
if they were fortunate enough to have a banjo or fiddle player on board. A larger ship might have some semblance of a band.
On many vessels minstrel shows or theatricals were staged in the early evening, written and produced by the men themselves.
Black crew members performed in minstrel shows along with their white comrades. On ironclads and monitors, of course, space
was much more limited, and therefore so was the range of entertainment. In this as in every war, mail from home and from loved
ones was looked forward to with great anticipation.
The daily scrubbing the ship received tended to keep the lower decks somewhat
damp. This, combined with the daily humidity on the Southern stations, especially in the summer, made for a generally stuffy
atmosphere. On monitors and gunboats the heat of the engines warmed the metal plating and the decks. There was also the smell
of burning coal and sometimes of sulfur. The men tried to enjoy the fresh air as long as possible before retiring, for during
the night the atmosphere on the berth deck sometimes became so oppressive that they had to congregate around the hatches for
a breath of air.
Those who wished to smoke went to the forward part of the ship. Cigars and
pipes were lit by a taper from a whale oil lamp and carefully extinguished. Hand-rolled cigarettes had been introduced into
the United States from Turkey
in the late 1850's but did not become popular until many years after the war. Friction matches were strictly forbidden on
ships because of the danger of fire, and no uncovered light was allowed in any storeroom or in the hold. Lamps were carefully
chosen to avoid any that used explosive oils for fuel.
On some ships it was a common practice to allow time after dinner for general
horseplay, tomfoolery, and skylarking as a means of relieving tension. Other captains thought that tension was relieved by
scheduled boxing matches in the afternoon. On more sedate ships the hours after dinner were the time for a quiet smoke, for
telling or listening to a yarn, or for writing and reading.
Problems relating to the abuse of alcohol were common on all ships and in
all ranks. The enlisted man's daily ration of grog, or one gill of whiskey mixed with water, was abolished by act of Congress
in September 1862. In the Confederate Navy the enlisted men were entitled to one gill of spirits or a half pint of wine per
day. This continued throughout the war, though a man could receive money in lieu of the spirit ration if he chose. Originally
this compensation was set at four cents a day, but it rose to twenty cents a day by the final years of the war. The Congress
gave the Union sailor an additional five cents a day in lieu of the spirit ration. In both the Union
and Confederate navies there were constant efforts to smuggle liquor on board ships, and some of these plans proved successful.
Private vessels that sold food to the Union ships on blockade sometimes sold liquor in tins described as oysters or canned
meats. Despite such ingenuity, the supply never matched the demand. When a man was discovered drinking or drunk, the usual
practice was to place him in irons in the brig. On some ships drunks had saltwater pumped on them until they sobered up.
For the Union ships on blockade duty, tattoo normally sounded at 8 P.m. This
was the signal for the men to go to their sleeping quarters and retire. Lights and fires were put out and there was to be
no noise. Elsewhere the usual rule was that when the sun set at or after 6 P.M., the tattoo was beaten at 9. When the sun
set before 6, tattoo was at 8. For the men of the Union blockading squadrons, going to bed
was often accompanied by the latent fear that the ship might be the victim of a torpedo attack before morning. This was especially
true after the Confederate submarine Hunley succeeded in sinking the U.S.
steam frigate Housatonic. Sleep might also be interrupted by reports of a blockade runner
entering or leaving a harbor. At such times the ship sprang to life as it pursued or overtook a potential prize.
As the control of the Union Navy over the rivers and coastal waters of the
Confederacy increased, the opportunities for appropriate Southern countermeasures decreased. Hopes placed in the submarine
Hunley or the ironclad Albemarle as a means of weakening the blockade were soon dashed. Overseas the famous Confederate cruiser
Alabama went down in a fight with the Union cruiser Kearsarge
in June 1864. Time was running out for the Confederate Navy.
For the men of the Union Navy the biggest problem was boredom. Despite daily
activities of scrubbing, painting, drilling, target practice, entertainments, and the duties directly related to war, time
passed slowly. Changing stations, taking on coal and supplies, entering and leaving harbors all added a bit of novelty to
a day. But the men eagerly looked forward to short periods of liberty when their ship was at some Union-controlled port in
the South, or was being repaired or overhauled in the North. Any time ashore was an occasion for the pursuit of liquor, women,
or both. Men returned from such ventures drunk and often with venereal disease. Fevers and diseases common to the region also
took some toll of both Union and Confederate sailors. In battle men could be killed in a
horrible fashion by being scalded with steam from shattered engines. Even peaceful steaming on a river could become a hazardous
affair when a Confederate sniper opened fire. Shore leave could also be dangerous if a man ventured too far inland or away
from Union-held territory. Yet virtually any distraction was a welcome change from the boredom of blockade duty.
Sometimes a man slipped into deep despair over his daily duty. One naval
surgeon called this condition land sickness. Those afflicted with it had a terrible urge to smell the earth and to breathe
air far removed from the ocean. Sometimes a change of scene and some days ashore solved the problem, but for others the brief
change did no- good. For such men discouragement and despondency led to real illnesses, and they had to be sent home. It was
boredom, and all the other aspects of life in the blockading squadrons, that led a former paymaster's clerk to write that
"there was no duty performed during the whole war, in either the land or sea service, that was attended with so much toil,
exposure and peril as this duty compelled." All the ship-to-ship fighting put together totaled little more than one week of
battle out of four years of war. For the Yankee and Rebel seamen it was indeed a war of watch and wait as they sat imprisoned
on their ships.
Source: The Image of War,1861-1865,
Volume IV, Fighting For Time, Article by Harold D. Langley
Last Flag Down: The Epic Journey of the Last Confederate Warship. From
Publishers Weekly: Thriller writer Baldwin (The Eleventh Plague et al.) joins forces with the prolific Powers (coauthor of
Flags of Our Fathers et al.) to come up with a fast-reading Civil War true adventure saga centered a on young CSA navy lieutenant.
The 24-year-old Conway Whittle, an ancestor of Baldwin's, was assigned as first lieutenant
and executive officer on the Confederate raider Shenandoah late in the war. The ship sailed from London disguised as a merchant vessel and underwent a memorable cruise round the globe, attacking
and destroying Yankee merchant ships and whalers. Continued below...
Whittle and company kept up their daring sea raids until August of 1865, when they learned that the war
had ended five months earlier. The ship returned to England, having flown the last Confederate
flag at sea in defiance of the U.S. Baldwin and Powers recount their tale in a lively, evocative style and may be forgiven
for being overly fond of their hero. Whittle, they say, "was as good a man as history seems able to produce: a warrior of
courage inconceivable to most people; a naval officer of surpassing calm and intelligence; a seeker after Christian redemption;
a steadfast lover; a student of human nature; a gentle soul; a custodian of virtue."
Recommended Reading: Wolf of the Deep: Raphael
Semmes and the Notorious Confederate Raider CSS Alabama (Hardcover). From Publishers Weekly: When you
think of Confederate Civil War heroes, the names Lee, Jackson, Stuart and Longstreet, among others, come to mind. Historian
Fox (The Mirror Makers, et al.) makes a convincing case that Confederate Navy Capt. Raphael Semmes should be added to that
list, at least because of his brilliant seafaring skills. Fox's fact-filled, cleanly written account of Semmes's life focuses
on his amazing 22-month stint as captain of the most famous Confederate privateer, the Alabama. Continued below...
command, the Alabama roamed the world's waterways for nearly two years, seizing
or sinking nearly 70 Union merchant schooners, whalers and other commercial ships to counteract the Yankee blockade of Southern
ports, until June 1864, when the Alabama
was sunk by the U.S.S. Kearsage. Born in 1809 into a slave-owning, tobacco-farming family in southern Maryland, Semmes was orphaned at an early age, grew up in Washington, D.C.
and joined the U.S. Navy at 17, remaining a staunch Southern partisan who espoused racist views and strongly believed in slavery.
After serving without any particular distinction for 35 years, he made his mark with the Confederate navy. This well-conceived
and executed military biography will have extra appeal for those who are familiar with nautical terms.
Recommended Reading: Reign of Iron: The Story of the First Battling Ironclads, the Monitor and the Merrimack. From Publishers Weekly: The Monitor-Merrimack showdown may
be one of the Civil War’s most overhyped chestnuts: the two ships were by no means the first ironclads, and their long
awaited confrontation proved an anticlimactic draw, their cannon fire clanging harmlessly off each other’s hulls. Still,
the author of this lively history manages to bring out the story’s dramatic elements. Nelson, author of the Revolution
at Sea series of age-of-sail adventure novels, knows how to narrate a naval crisis. He gives a harrowing account of the Merrimack’s initial onslaught, in which it destroyed two wooden
Union warships in a bloody and chaotic battle the day before the Monitor arrived, and of the Monitor’s nightmarish final
hours as it foundered in a storm at sea. Continued below…
Equally arresting is his retelling
of the feverish race between North and South to beat the other side to the punch with their respective wonder ships. He delves
into every aspect of the ships’ innovative design and construction, and draws vivid portraits of the colorful characters
who crafted them, especially the brilliant naval architect John Ericsson, one of that epic breed of engineer-entrepreneurs
who defined the 19th century. The resulting blend of skillful storytelling and historical detail will please Civil War and
naval engineering buffs alike.
Reading: Ironclad Down: USS Merrimack-CSS Virginia from Design to Destruction (Hardcover). Description: The result of more than fifteen years
of research, Ironclad Down is a treasure trove of detailed information about one of history s most famous vessels. Describing
the fascinating people--Stephen Russell Mallory, John Mercer Brooke, John Luke Porter, et al.--who conceived, designed and
built one of the world's first ironclads as well as describing the ship itself, Carl Park offers both the most thoroughly
detailed, in-depth analysis to date of the actual architecture of the Virginia
and a fascinating, colorful chapter of Civil War history.
Reading: The Battle of Hampton
Roads: New Perspectives on the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (Mariner's Museum). Description: On March 8 and 9, 1862, a sea battle off the Virginia coast changed naval warfare forever. It began when the Confederate States Navy’s
CSS Virginia led a task force to break the Union blockade of Hampton Roads. The Virginia
sank the USS Cumberland and forced the frigate Congress to surrender. Damaged by shore batteries, the Virginia retreated, returning the next day to find her way blocked by the newly arrived
USS Monitor. The clash of ironclads was underway. Continued below…
for nine hours, both ships withdrew, neither seriously damaged, with both sides claiming victory. Although the battle may
have been a draw and the Monitor sank in a storm later that year, this first encounter between powered, ironclad warships
spelled the end of wooden warships—and the dawn of a new navy. This book takes a new look at this historic battle. The
ten original essays, written by leading historians, explore every aspect of the battle—from the building of the warships
and life aboard these “iron coffins” to tactics, strategy, and the debates about who really won the battle of
Hampton Roads. Co-published with The Mariners’ Museum, home to the USS Monitor Center, this authoritative guide to the
military, political, technological, and cultural dimensions of this historic battle also features a portfolio of classic lithographs,
drawings, and paintings. Harold Holzer is one of the country’s leading experts on the Civil War.
Reading: The Rebel Raiders: The Astonishing History of the Confederacy's Secret Navy (American Civil War). From Booklist: DeKay's modest monograph pulls together four
separate stories from the naval aspects of the American Civil War. All have been told before but never integrated as they
are here. The first story is that of James Bulloch, the Confederate agent who carefully and capably set out to have Confederate
commerce raiders built in neutral England.
The second is that of the anti-American attitudes of British politicians, far more extreme than conventional
histories let on, and U.S. Ambassador Charles Francis Adams' heroic fight against them. The third is a thoroughly readable
narrative of the raider Alabama and her capable, quirky captain, Raphael Semmes. The final story is about the Alabama claims--suits for damages done to the U.S.
merchant marine by Confederate raiders, which became the first successful case of international arbitration. Sound and remarkably
free of fury, DeKay's commendable effort nicely expands coverage of the naval aspects of the Civil War.