Hmmm, not exactly a question you ask yourself over a cheap marmalade on toast. Frankly, that phrase always seemed to prick me, make the hair on my neck stiffen up. That might be because I’m not one for deep and probing questions or because there’s an inherent problem with viewing relationships so linearly. Relationships don’t grow along an x and y-axis, they’re more three-dimensional than that.

So when you ask: where are you with God? I have to say, I don’t know. It’s too hard to see the whole truth in one glance, or even several.

But I can relate a little bit of my experience here in Brazil:

Thus far, I’ve had the divine privilege of spending three months with students who are all planning on becoming missionaries. Imagine your first few months of college, how you changed because of the way you bonded with the people around you (for better or for worse). Then imagine if every single person you were spending time with was sold-out for Christ, about to enter some of the world’s most inhospitable and dangerous countries for the sake of the Gospel. It’s impossible to not began adapting some of that into your own life.

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them falling to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe with Faith Like a Child

Chapter 2: The Triumph of Tinkering by Sherry Turkle

Turkle discusses the marginalization-to-rightful-ascension of “bricolage”– a “soft” style of working and understanding the world that involves processes akin to sculpting and montaging. She connects this to the advent of powerful personal computers, which allowed for manipulation of digital objects as opposed to code, thus lowering the technical bar to participation (and allowing more “bricoleurs” in). Turkle also discusses the different reactions (resignation vs. denial) to today’s “seductive” on-screen simulations, and calls for a third response — one that uses simulations as a means of consciousness-raising.

Turkle uses the example of computer programming to introduce the minority “tinkering” approach– a “soft style” that is “bottom-up” rather than “top-down,” and resembling “bricolage,” a word used by Claude Levi-Strauss used to “contrast the analytic methodology of Western science with an associative science of the concrete practiced in many non-Western societies” (p. 51). (Think tribal herbalists, designers).

“Bricoleurs approach problem-solving by entering into a relationship with their work materials that has more the flavor of a conversation than a monologue.”

In the era of mainstream computers, this style of programming was largely condemned in professional circles and environments where programming was taught. However, that all changed “as the computer culture’s center of gravity has shifted from programming to dealing with screen simulations. In the 1970s and 1980s, computing served as an initiation into the formal values of hard mastery. Now, playing with simulations encourages people to develop the skills of the more informal soft mastery because it is so easy to run “What if?” scenarios and tinker with the outcome” (p. 52).”Using the term ’soft mastery’ goes along with seeing negotiation, relationship, and attachment as cognitive virtues. And this is precisely what the culture of simulation encourages us to do” (p. 56).
“Computational objects–whether lines of code or icons on a screen–are like abstract and mathematical objects, defined by the most formal of rules. But at the same time, they are like physical objects–like dabs of paint or cardboard cutouts…Computational objects have always offered an almost-physical access to the world of formal systems. There have always been people whose way of interacting with them had more in common with the style of the painter than with that of the logician” (p. 52).

**There is a great section in this chapter where Turkle points out our subjective bias towards formal, abstract thinking:

Piaget was able to observe that “Concrete mapping and manipulation of objects enable children to develop the concept of number, a concept that only gradually becomes a formal sense of quantity. The construction of number, in other words, is born of bricolage” (p. 55).

However, Piaget also felt that this “concrete” stage of thinking was part of a trajectory that culminated in a formal stage when “propositional logic liberates intelligence from the need to think with things. So Piaget both discovered the power of the concrete in the consruction of the fundamental categories of number, space time, and causality, and denigrated what he had found by relegating concrete ways of knowing to an early childhood stage of development” (p. 55).

“Piaget’s discoveries about the processes of children’s thinking challenged a kind of cultural amnesia” (p. 55).

“As Piaget had relegated the concrete to childhood, Levi-Strauss relegated it to the so-called “primitive” and to modern Western humanists” (p. 55).

“…We train girls in the component skills of a soft approach–negotiation, compromise, give and take–as psychological virtues, while dominant models of desirable male behavior stress decisiveness and the imposition of will. Boys and girls are encouraged to adopt different relational stances in the world of people. It is not surprising that these differences show up when men and women deal with the world of things” (p. 56)

Evidence that there exists only one correct, mature approach to problem solving that is abstract, formal, and rule-driven:

• “Kitchen mathematics relies on the familiar feel and touch of everyday activities”
• “…Bench science often depends on a long, messy process of trial and error followed by the final, frantic scramble to rationalize the results” (p. 58)
• Feminist scholars elucidated the power of contextual reasoning

Ultimately, the author reminds us that “Soft mastery is not a stage, it is a style. Bricolage is a way to organize work. It is not a stage in a progression to a superior form” (p. 57).

***The rise of powerful personal computers and simulations afforded more experimentation and playing out of “what if?” scenarios…and thus represents an influence of technology. ["We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us. -Marshall McLullan]

“In the 1980s, personal computers provided a cultural medium in which ideas about noncanonical styles of science could blossom. Many more people could understand the kind of closeness to a scientific object that McClintock was talking about, because they saw themselves relating to icons or lines of computer code in that very way” (p. 59).

“Today’s high school students are more likely to think of computers as fluid simulation surfaces for writing and game playing than as rigid machines to program. Or they are likely to think of computers as gateways to communication” (p. 60).

“The new software design aesthetic effectively says that computer users shouldn’t have to work with syntax; they should be able to play with shape, form, color, and sound…Today’s software programs typically take the form of a simulation of some reality–playing chess or golf, analyzing a spreadsheet, writing, painting, or making an architectural drawing–and try to place the user within it” (p. 60).

“People look at a technology and see beyond it to a constellation of cultural associations. When they saw the early computer enthusiasts take the machine and make a world apart, many people felt they did not belong and did not want to belong. Now, the machine no longer has to be perceived as putting you in a world apart. Indeed, it can put you in the center of things and people–in the center of literature, politics, art, music, communication, and the stock market. The hacker is no longer necessarily or only a ‘nerd’; he or she can be a cultural icon. The hacker can be Bill Gates” (p. 61).

“In computer-assisted design environments, those who take most advantage of soft-approach skills are often taking most advantage of computing. In the culture of simulation, bricolage can provide a competitive edge” (p. 61).

Bricoleurs:

• Like to get to know a new environment by interacting with it.
• With sim software, bricoleurs can create the feeling of closeness to the object by manipulating virtual objects on the screen.
• Are comfortable with exploring the Internet through the WWW (making connections, bringing disparate element together)

“The seduction of simulation invites several possible responses. One can accept simulations on their own terms [simulation resignation]. Or one can reject simulations to whatever degree is possible [simulation denial]. But one can imagine a third response. This would take the cultural persuasiveness of simulation as a challenge to develop a more sophisticated social criticism… It would take as its goal the development of simulations that actually help players challenge the model’s built-in assumptions. This new criticism would try to use simulation as a means of consciousness-raising” (p. 71).

Will Wright’s comment re: SimCity: “Playing is the process of discovering how the model works” (p. 72).

Ethik handelt von dem, was Menschen tun, wie sie es tun, warum sie es tun und warum sie nicht etwas anderes tun.  Insofern befasst sich Ethik mit menschlichen Entscheidungen und deren Grundlagen, wobei die Fragen höher geschätzt werden als die Hoffnung auf die eine richtige Antwort. Anhand dieses nur anscheinend abstrakten Wissensgebietes möchte ich eine dritte Ebene des Lernens ansprechen.

Im ersten Abschnitt lasen Sie über Begegnung im “dritten Körper” als archetypischer Grundlage des Lernens zwischen Menschen. Im zweiten Abschnitt wandten wir uns zwei unterschiedlichen Formen dieser Begegnung zu, die im Bild des Falken und der Eiche dargestellt wurden. Bei diesen beiden Abschnitten stand ein “Wissensgefälle” unsichtbar hinter den Darstellungen, eine Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung, in der einer der Beteiligten – wie auch ich in diesen kurzen Überlegungen hier – die Kulissen aufstellt und die Lernszenerie strukturiert. Jetzt, im dritten Abschnitt, sehen wir offen auf das “Gegebene” als “Gemachtes”, auf die “Szenerie” als “Inszenierung” und tauschen uns darüber auf gleicher Augenhöhe aus. Wir reflektieren und disputieren unter dem Sigel der Aufklärung.

Unter diesem Sigel kam und kommt Ethik als Unterrichtsfach an die Schulen. Nicht selten geschieht dies unter heftigen Geburtswehen, wie erst kürzlich in Berlin zu beobachten war.  Ein jüngst erschienenes Buch*, das die beiden Väter des Ethikunterichts in Südwestdeutschland als Abitursrepetitorium entworfen haben, zeigt, wie weit sich dieses Fach in den letzten Jahren entwickelt hat. Dabei tritt die Ethik eben nicht an um Religionsunterricht abzuwerten oder gar zu verdrängen, sondern um ein gemeinsames Alphabet zur Verfügung zu stellen, in dem ALLE Angehörigen unserer vielfältigen Gesellschaft ihre Nöte und Freuden buchstabieren können – in der Hoffnung, verstanden zu werden. Und das Erlernen dieses Alphabets verlangt es, einen Schritt aus dem Alltag zurückzutreten, sich aus der vertrauten Unmittelbarkeit der Urszene zu entfernen, die Natur als Natur und das Gemachte als Gemachtes wahrzunehmen und einen abendländisch-modernen, aufgeklärten, im besten Sinne kritischen  Blick auf das, was geschieht, zu werfen.

Lernen als Begegnung unter Gleichen kommt ohne Kulissenschieberei, Allüren und Voodoo aus, nicht aber ohne die drei Bereitschaften, die Carl Rogers zunächst nur für den therapeutischen Kontext formulierte: Authentizität, Empathie und Akzeptanz.  Das In-Frage-Stellen eigener Positionen gehört ebenso dazu, wie die Kunst des Zuhörens und das Einlernen einer bewussten Steuerung der Aufmerksamkeit auf unterschiedliche Ebenen der Reflektion. Diese Art zu Lernen vor allem für Menschen geeignet, die, um mit Piaget zu sprechen,  sich im formalen Denken üben.  Keine Angst vor dem Berühren von Metaebenen – also darüber zu sprechen, wie und warum man über etwas spricht – ist die unmittelbare Voraussetzung und Folge dieser Art zu lernen.

Auch im strukturellen Kontext der abendländischen Schule kann Ethik ein mündiges In-der-Welt-Sein befördern. Es ist ein Fach, das noch mit Kinderfüßen in erstaunlich großen Schuhen steckt und daher manchmal stolpert und watschelt. Nicht jeder, der etwas tut, begreift, was er gerade tut – aber die Laufrichtung stimmt. Und diejenigen, die an den Schulen versuchen die Bauklötzchen der großen Weltbilder aufeinander zu stapeln, sprechen eben manchmal auch über das Stapeln von Bauklötzchen an sich – und nicht nur darüber, ob das rote jetzt auf das grüne passt oder nicht …..

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* Görgen, Klaus und Frericks, Hanns: Mein Ziel: Abitur Ethik. Manz-Verlag, 2009 ISBN 978-3-7863-4301-1 Meine Bewertung: Inhaltlich das Beste, was auf dem Markt ist. Leider ist das Seitenlayout leseunfreundlich.

Mika was born on 18 August 1983 under Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr’s name. He is a London-based, Grammy-nominated and BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter, who has a recording contract with Casablanca Records and Universal Music. He rose to fame at the start of 2007.

Mika was born in Beirut, the third of five children born to a Lebanese mother and an American father. When he was a year old his family was forced to leave war-torn Lebanon and moved to Paris After listening to Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” he wrote his first song, which he describes as an “awful” piano instrumental called “Angry”. The first piano piece he learned to play was «Les Champs-Élysées» from Joe Dassin. The family moved to London when he was nine years old. There, he attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle, where he experienced severe bullying. He also had problems with dyslexia. In response to these experiences, Mika was home-schooled by his mother at the age of 11, for six to eight months. He then attended St Philip’s School in Kensington where he was the head of the Schola Cantorum (the St Philip’s Choir). Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records. He has also slightly altered his given name, Mica, changing the “c” to a “k” because he was frustrated by how often people would mispronounce it.

MIKA has selected world-renowned timepiece maker, PIAGET, to wear in his latest music video “Rain” from his new album, The Boy Who Knew Too Much. The song “Rain” continues the international success of Mika and its music video does not disappoint. Piaget was the natural partner for this imaginative, vibrant, high-energy video that embodies Mika’s playful and exuberant style.

A superb and elegant 18 carat pink gold and chocolate brown dial Piaget Altiplano watch adorns Mika’s wrist throughout his performance. Loyal to its characteristic pure lines and well-respected classicism, this watch is equipped with an ultra-thin hand-wound movement of 2.5 mm thickness. The sapphire crystal back enables to admire all aspects of the movement decoration, such as circular Cotes de Geneve and blued screws which are the signature features of Piaget movements. This iconic ultra thin watch perfectly captures the modern, brightly coloured, graphic essence of this music video.

[Source:  Piaget's events]

Piaget & Co. was founded in 1874 by Georges Piaget, a farmer turned watchmaker in the village of La-Cote-aux-Fees, who began assembling watches to earn extra money during the meager winters. Not much is known about the companys early years, except the fact that his sons eventually took over the business and guided their fathers company through two world wars and the Great Depression.

Prior to World War II, Piaget watches were marketed through other companies, who engraved their own names on the dials. Following World War II, however, the founders grandsons Gerald and Valentin Piaget took over and embarked on an ambitious plan to give their grandfathers company a stronger identity in the marketplace. A new collection of wristwatches was premiered and caused quite a sensation. The rest, as they say, is history.

Foreign markets such as the United States opened up during the 1950s and this led to the establishment of branch offices in New York, Geneva and Germany. It helped that the company introduced a number of innovative movements during this period, such as the ultra-thin nine ligne “9P” movement. This allowed Piaget to create a popular series of elegant, ultra-thin wristwatches for both men and women. Another commercially successful movement was the “12P”, which was the worlds thinnest automatic watch movement until 1967.

During the 1960s, the company bought up several case and bracelet manufacturers. This allowed for strict quality control. Over the next few years, Piagets market focus changed. The watches themselves took on the appearance of fine jewelry. Dials were available in a number of styles and the materials used became increasingly exotic. Most tellingly of all, there were more jewelers than watchmakers employed by the House.

Nevertheless, though Piaget did not shy away from embracing the new quartz technology, it continued manufacturing mechanical wristwatches. As other companies, such as Rolex and Omega, began to dominate the “sports watch” area, Piaget made a sensible marketing decision and decided to specialize in the dress and jewelry watches.

Thanks to such successful models as the popular Polo watch, which features an extremely appealing solid gold bracelet, Piaget emerged from the 1970s as one of the worlds most successful watch companies. In fact, the Polo watch was such a desirable status symbol that it spawned a number of counterfeit watches. Piaget successfully brought the counterfeiters in Hong Kong and Italy to court, putting an end to the problem.

Today, Piaget is known for its bejeweled ladies watches and solid gold dress watches. Although complicated watches continue to be assembled in limited quantities, most Piaget watches are more or less jewelry-oriented. To wit, it should come as no surprise that in a single year, Piaget purchases several thousand carats of the highest quality gemstones, as well as five tons of gold. It should also be mentioned that every component in a Piaget watch, aside from the movement, is made of solid gold — even the dials!

In closing, despite the obvious intrinsic value of Piaget watches, they are also amazingly beautiful timepieces — refined, rare, meticulously hand-finished using the finest materials and unique in design. Perhaps the president of Piaget put it best when he remarked: “You dont read the time from a Piaget, you admire it.

View All Piaget collections

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Bernard Lawrence “Bernie” Madoff was born on April 29, 1938. He is the former Chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange and the admitted operator of the Ponzi scheme that might be “the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history”.
In March 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors of billions of dollars. Madoff said he began the Ponzi scheme in the early 1990s. However, federal investigators believe the fraud began as early as the 1980s. The amount missing from client accounts, including fabricated gains, was almost $65 billion. The court appointed trustee estimated actual losses to investors of $18 billion. On June 29, 2009, he was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum allowed.
Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. The firm was one of the top market maker businesses on Wall Street, which bypassed “specialist” firms by directly executing orders over the counter from retail brokers.
On December 10, 2008, Madoff’s sons told authorities that their father had just confessed to them that the asset management arm of his firm was a massive Ponzi scheme, and quoting him as saying it was “one big lie”. The following day, FBI agents arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previously conducted several investigations into Madoff’s business practices since 1992, which critics contend were incompetently handled.
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Madoff lots are 196-299 & 301-386.
U.S.Marshals Service
National Forfeited Jewelry Auction
Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 10 AM
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During the auction conducted live on Saturday, November 14th at the New York Sheraton Hotel & Towers and online simulcast utilizing www.proxibid.com., many of Madoff’s belongings were auctioned. And so, his wristwatch collection. Between the wristwatch brands he was a fun, like Rolex, there were many Cartier, Ulysse Nardin, Blancpain, IWC, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Piaget and Bulgari’s expensive watches.
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Some of them, the most expensive Rolex and some from other wristwatch brands:
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234
ROLEX: Gents 18kr vintage Rolex chronograph wristwatch; silver/white dial w/ black sticks & Arabics; 36.10mm round case; Black stitched crocodile strap (tang); Serial 66658 (1936); professionally restored.
$23000 – $26500

235
ROLEX: Gents 18ky vintage Rolex Oyster chronograph wristwatch; Monochrome motif; gold dial w/ luminous sticks & Arabics, 3 gold sub-dials; 35.1mm round case; Brown stitched Alligator strap (tang); 17 jewel Rolex Genève mechanical winding mvmt; Case 4048; Serial 58105 (1935). Note: Professionally restored.
$54000 – $58000

236
ROLEX: Gents st.steel & 18kr & 18ky vintage Rolex Oyster chronograph wristwatch; rose gold bezel, yellow gold crown; white dial w/ black sticks & Arabics; 34.6mm round case; Brown stitched Alligator strap (tang); 17 jewel Rolex Genève mechanical winding mvmt; Case 3668; Serial 146583 (1940). Note: Professionally restored.
$60000 – $63500

237
ROLEX: Gents 18ky vintage Rolex O.P. “Monoblocco” chronograph wristwatch; aka “Prisoner Watch”; domed plastic crystal; black dial w/ rose tri-sticks & Arabic numerals; gold hands; polished bezel; 35mm round case; dk brown alligator strap (tang); Model 3525; 17 jewel Rolex mechanical winding mvmt; Serial 380223 (1945).
$75000 – $87500

248A
WATCH: Gents st.steel Ulysse Nardin San Marco GMT wristwatch; black dial w/ luminous Arabic numerals; syn saph crystal; date at 3 position; dual-time at 11 position; 37mm round case; Black stitched leather band w/ tang buckle; Automatic mvmt; Model 203-22; Serial No 978.
$1500 – $2000

250
WATCH: Gents st.steel Blancpain Leman chronograph flyback wristwatch; white dial w/ white sub-dials (3); syn saph crystal; date at 6 position; 38.2mm round case; brown alligator strap w/ deployant buckle; Automatic mvmt; Model 2185-1127-53B; Serial No 294.
$4000 – $5200

251
WATCH: Gents 14kw Piaget Gouverneur Automatique chronograph wristwatch; light blue dial w/ matching sub-dials (3), Arabics; syn saph crystal; date at 6 position; 34.2mm round case; black alligator strap w/ 18kw Piaget tang buckle; Automatic mvmt; Model 12978; Serial 810797.
$4500 – $5800

253
WATCH: Gents 18kw Patek Philippe Annular Calendar wristwatch; black dial w/ silver Roman numerals; date at 6 position; 3 black sub-dials; syn saph crystal front & back; 36.95mm round case; black alligator band w/ 18kw deployant buckle; Model 5035G; 35 jewel Patek Philippe automatic mvmt, Cal. 315/198, Serial 3059777.
$12500 – $15600

254
WATCH: Gents 18ky Audemars Piguet Huitieme chronograph wristwatch; crème colored dial & sub-dials (3); date at 3 position; gold hands; 40.4mm round case; dkBrown alligator strap w/ 18ky AP double deployant clasp; Automatic mvmt; Serial C54966.
$6000 – $8000

258
WATCH: Gents st.steel IWC Portuguese chronograph wristwatch; silver dial w/ rose gold markers; 40.9mm round case; stitched brown alligator strap w/ tang buckle; Automatic mvmt; Model IW3714-01; Serial 2697455.
$3000 – $4000

264
WATCH: Gents 18kt rose gold Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo wristwatch; Night/Day dials; brown crocodile strap w/ 18kr deployant buckle; Mechanical, winding mvmt; Case 270.2.54; Serial 1961500.
$4000 – $5100

Metropolitan Ballroom
New York Sheraton Hotel & Towers
811 Seventh Avenue
New York City, NY 10019

The auction was conducted by:
´Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers

[Source: CanadaEast]

by Marc Hasenfuss, for Fin24, November 13, 2009.

Cape Town – Richemont chairperson Johann Rupert’s decision to assume the role of CEO at the Swiss-based luxury brands group as well has elicited contrasting responses from a shareholder activist and local asset managers.

Richemont announced on Friday that Rupert – who is also chairperson of investment companies Reinet and Remgro – would assume the role of CEO from April 1 2010.

While Rupert retains his chair of Richemont, the group did nominate Lord Renwick of Clifton (who sits on the SABMiller board) as lead independent director.

The appointment of Rupert follows the resignation of Norbert Platt as CEO for health reasons at the end of 2009. The development suggests Richemont could not find a suitable replacement for the well-regarded Platt, who was appointed in 2004…(continue reading)

Das ist der Kölner Dom!  Hier hat G.H. Mead bestimmt nicht gewohnt!

Ist das nicht schön? Mead 

http://www.soziologie.phil.uni-erlangen.de/files/lehre/5.Vorlesung.pdf

Proceeds from $28,200-valued timepiece to benefit National Runaway Switchboard. Music icon Chris “Ludacris” Bridges not only left his fingerprint on music, film and philanthropy worlds but also it was used to design a unique Swiss-made watch by Geneva-based Piaget. The Ludacris Fingerprint timepiece, valued at $28,200

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Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977) better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American rapper and actor. Along with his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, an imprint distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Ludacris is the highest-selling Southern hip hop solo artist of all time with over 17 million units sold in the United States and 24 million records sold worldwide. Ludacris has won SAG, Critic’s Choice, MTV, and Grammy Awards during his career.

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The song “Politics As Usual” from Ludacris’ mixtape The Preview has stirred controversy due to lyrics in the song criticizing Reverend Jesse Jackson (“Now Jesse talkin’ slick and apologizin’ for what?/ If you said it then you meant it”), John McCain (“McCain don’t belong in any chair unless he’s paralyzed”), President George W. Bush (“Yeah I said it, ‘cuz Bush is mentally handicapped/ Ball up all of his speeches and throw ‘em just like candy wraps/ ‘Cuz what you talkin’ I hear nothin’ even relevant/ And you the worst of all 43 presidents”), and insulting Hillary Clinton (“Hillary hated on you, so that bitch is irrelevant..”).

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Piaget took Ludacris’ fingerprint earlier in 2007 and shipped it to Piaget’s offices in Switzerland where the piece was created. The Fingerprint watch is crafted in 18 K white gold with 78 brilliantly cut diamonds circling a 38 mm case. The watch’s face is based on the distinctive pattern of whorls and swirls of the fingerprint which are set with 286 sparkling cut diamonds. The piece features a 430 P movement (the engine of the watch), one of the thinnest of its kind. Piaget is among the few Swiss manufacturers that actually produce their own movements.

[Piaget's brand history]

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For further information, Piaget.

So, I haven’t posted in 2 weeks and Ashley has not in 1 week. This is very sad, but the facts are these: we both have significant non-blog obligations (e.g., writing other things, going to classes, illustrating, studying, etc.), which unfortunately must come first. However, since it’s the Halloween season – a season I have been greatly enjoying, whether by watching movies like Frank Henenlotter’s Basket Case or by writing scary stories/comics/oral narratives – I’d like to try and post as much as I can on the subjects of fear and horror.

They’re both really near and dear to my heart, for a number of reasons that begin with fear’s huge role in my life. What can I say? I am a generally fearful person. And I think fear is important: first, on an evolutionary level, to keep you from being killed by scary things and second, on a personal level, because fear is fun. Let’s face it. We like being scared. It engages the body, it gets neurochemicals flowing, it’s just really appealing to us as human animals. And so I continue in my extensive study of the horror genre. I’ve recently started thinking about one curious location where horror can be found: public service announcements, or PSAs.

PSAs are frequently government-produced or else made by nonprofit organizations, and their purpose is, for the most part, to direct behavior – to guide people onto one path or another that will presumably be better for their physical and psychological health. Often, this leads to accusations that PSAs are ridiculous on one level or another for their presumptions that they know how you should act, as well as their attempts to “scare you straight.” These are the kinds of tactics I’m talking about. This type of PSA, from what I’ve seen, predominates. They’re basically cautionary tales, but adapted to the medium of advertising, which means they’re usually about 30 seconds long. I have to applaud the organizations that produce them, because they often compact such a huge, effective message into such a small time-span.

Granted, some PSAs may appeal to your intelligence and sense of responsibility – I think, for example, of Smokey the Bear’s “Only you can prevent forest fires!” – but even these would often resort to showing the consequences of the behavior in question (i.e., a forest fire and its horrific implications). The simple fact is that you can sway more people by scaring the shit out of them than by trying to convince them that they should be smart enough not to do drugs (PSAs’ most frequent target), or drink poison. You want to really show kids why they shouldn’t drink poison? Overwhelm their senses with a melange of darkly psychedelic animation, represent household cleaning products as monsters, and top it all off with a menacing voice reciting a chorus of nursery rhyme simplicity: “Mr. Yuk is mean. Mr. Yuk is green!”

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on the TV Tropes page for “Nightmare Fuel,” which is basically where people can post supposedly innocuous bits of media from their childhood that scarred the shit out of them. Children have interestingly undeveloped mental processes. While adults may have a relatively full understanding of the world – like knowing that no, Mr. Yuk labels aren’t really anything to be afraid of, and household cleaners are not marching to attack you – children just don’t.

I’m not well-versed enough in child psychology to explain how and why this happens, but I will link to Wikipedia’s page on Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Basically, children experience the world differently, because there are various orders and properties of objects they haven’t yet discovered. Even preteens will often have strange misconceptions about how the world works, physically and socially. And often, PSAs will play to these misconceptions in order to permanently scare the child away from an undesired behavior.

So we all pretty much have little ads or segments from shows that scarred us in childhood. One classic example is the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. They’re relatively understandable to adults, acting as the Wicked Witch’s henchmen. But a child, seeing a monkey with wings (an unusual combination), flying through a dark sky accompanied by the Witch’s leitmotif, then picking up the protagonists and carrying them away?

It’s a nightmarish scene that can inspire intense fear, and the same goes for the “Wondrous Boat Ride” scene from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Many Internet pundits can have commented on this scene: it comes out of nowhere, takes up a few minutes of intense, frightening screen time, and is then forgotten by the film. It’s also effective in further establishing the unpredictable nature of Wonka and his factory. But to a child, seeing “Pure Imagination” followed by scenes of graphic mutilation and a trippy light show? My point is that it’s fucking scary. And this doesn’t just apply to children (I can say from experience), but for children these scenes can leave a deep emotional mark, inspire lifelong phobias, and color their still-developing perceptions of the world.

That said, you can see how PSAs aim to reach kids while they’re still young and impressionable, and guide their behavior for the rest of their lives. Yesterday Ashley linked me to the Montana Meth Project, which I first ran into in my melodrama class last year; their methods are similar to the more child-oriented PSAs I’ve been discussing, but their target group is teenagers. Hence, we get ads going after teens’ anxieties about peer pressure, sex, and their futures.

As Ashley pointed out to me, this is like a horror movie in half a minute. It’s got a concise little narrative: the girl’s going to deceive her parents and probably go to a party and try meth. But first she’s going to shower, and it’s in the shower, while she’s at her most vulnerable, that this apparition appears, of her future self, covered in scabs and scratches, begging her, “Don’t do it… don’t do it…” It uses horror iconography to communicate a very real-world message: if you go and do meth at this party tonight, you will end up a different, less happy person within a year or two. (This is the overarching theme of this campaign and the origin of its slogan, “Not even once.”)

The website notes, “This new concept is based directly on input from Montana teens,” and I find that very interesting. They’re addressing the teens’ fears head-on, building the ads around them, but twisting them into terrifying, violent mini-narratives. I think this connects to another series of ads I’ve long found very disturbing, and I think I’ll end this post by talking about them. They’re Canadian PSAs about workplace safety, designed specifically to horrify adults in high-risk jobs, and they’re produced by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario.

What exactly about these is so scary? Maybe it’s the slogan “There really are no accidents,” which places responsibility for the gruesome manglings directly in the hands of the victims, their coworkers, and their companies. Maybe it’s the accidents themselves, clearly evocative of horror/disaster movies, or maybe it’s how self-aware the victims are. “I’ve got this amazing fiancé,” says a chief, “who I won’t be marrying this weekend, because I’m about to be in a terrible ‘accident’.” The fact that she knows her face is about to be scalded, yet goes on mechanically about her work, is just spine-chilling.

This is an aspect of the PSA that might be interesting to examine later, in more detail: the voice of reason, or of the government, that pervades them, whether through a narrator or superimposed text stating, “This is your brain on drugs,” or through these victims of meth and workplace carelessness telling their own stories. We have these grisly 30-second vignettes, and it’s all framed in such a knowing, authoritative way. This is the way the world is, the PSAs seem to say, as a woman falls off a ladder or as a scab-riddled meth addict turns up in the shower. Now you have to adjust to it.

Pleasant nightmares.

In a dazzling show, the new Khimji’s Watches showroom was formally inaugurated on 10th October at Shatti Al Qurum by HH Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Minister of Heritage and Culture.

The popular Swiss folklore group ‘25 Jahre Jodeldwett Geschwister Rymann’, specially flown in from Switzerland made the evening come alive with a scintillating performance. Giving a local flavour to the evening was also a brilliant display of song and dance by a highly talented traditional Omani dance troupe from Sur.

A special book on the new Khimji’s Watches showroom, detailing the fascinating interior displays and celebrating the fine nuances that went into making it world-class, was released on the occasion in both Arabic and English versions.

The opening of the new Khimji’s Watches showroom is the biggest happening in Muscat and makes shopping for the most prestigious watches and accessories, at the ultimate luxury destination, an unforgettable experience.

Located at Al Offuq Building in Shatti Al Qurum, the new Khimji’s Watches  showroom hosts the best brands in the world from the high-end watches, jewellery and accessories such as Rolex, Chopard, Cartier, Piaget, IWC, de Grisogono, Chanel, Gerald Genta, Oris, Bell & Ross and Tudor, to Vertu luxury mobile phones and Caran d’Ache writing instruments. The showroom also has the Lunettes (Eyewear) Collection comprising Versace, Bulgari, Tiffany, Mont Blanc and Tom Ford.

A host of dignitaries from the principal companies were represented at the formal opening, namely Yann du Pasquier from Rolex S.A., Hugues Jucker from Chopard, Patric Normand and Awn Zureikar from Cartier, Jean Marc Shammas and Myriam Hayek from Piaget, Hannes Pantli and Gianfranco d’Attis from IWC, Marco Caciti from De Grisogono S.A., Julien Moirignot from Chanel, Jean Philippe Cattin and  Tristan Boyer De Bouillane from Gerald Genta, Frederic Weber of Caran d’ Ache, Wajdi A. Hadi from Vertu ME, Andrea Zaffin and Enrico Destro from Luxottica and Werner Baumgartner from Swarovski M.E.

The formal inauguration was managed by NPA Events who gave the event a touch of exclusivity, befitting the new Khimji’s Watches showroom.

Dans le cadre du 450^e anniversaire de l’Université de Genève,

en collaboration avec la Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l’éducation de l’UNIGE

et le Musée d’histoire des sciences de Genève,

les Archives Jean Piaget présentent,

du 15 septembre 2009 au 18 décembre 2009,

une exposition temporaire sur le célèbre psychologue de Genève.

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

UNE EXPOSITION AUX ARCHIVES PIAGET JUSQU’AU 18 DECEMBRE 2009 !

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/article?f=/c/a/2009/09/15/MNOU19N6G8.DTL

This blog was started three weeks ago when I first captured the headlines.  I needed time to process what it was about the article that was necessarily disturbing, discomforting and revealing of how little the data in education seems to point in a meaningful direction.

At the same time this article was written, I had just begun reading the book The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, ISBN 978-0-1410-3459-1.  What I began to realize is that the test  results, while based on PAST notions of what children need to learn to be successful, are not predictive in a linear fashion of student success or even a reasonable measure of progress towards college.

If, as is pointed out in The Black Swan,  this type of data that is based on bell curve scenarios is not a quality predictive indicator, why do we persist in using it and what do we hope to obtain from the data?  If we are looking for a predictive indicator, we will most certainly be let down.  If we are looking for a measure of individual success, we will be even more let down as student learning is not linear, rather it occurs in bursts as the brain acquires enough experiences to process the over all schema.  If we are looking for qualitative measures to substantiate what we do as educators, we are applying narrative, retrospective distortion and Platonifying (over evaluating  factual information) and we will find exactly what we are seeking through interpretation.

This, in my mind, does not mean we should immediately stop all testing of students or using tests as an evaluative technique, but it should not be the exacting measure of all success or failure as indicated in the case example of Malcolm X Academy in San Francisco.   ‘

What I am understanding about myself is that I most definitely believe in Black Swans, know they exist and although we try to plan around them, realize we are victims of the perception that we can avoid what we don’t know is possible.  It is this very part of myself that quite possibly drives others crazy, much in the same way Mr. Taleb explains it in his book.

If tests are the end all of predictive value, there needs to be more than a correlation in the evidence and yet, that is all there is at this time.  I have yet to see conclusive evidence (even by the most hard core believers out there – charter schools such as KIPP and Aspire) which supports test scores translating into something such as the ability to complete/graduate college.  There are so many black swans for students who come from poverty that even the best education can not guarantee success in college – nor should that be the only outcome of an education (thank you Bill Gates). No, Bill Gates was not poor, however, he did not finish college.

There are no studies which definitively indicate a college degree will help you obtain more money during your life time, be rich, be famous, be popular.  The studies I have read indicate there is greater potentiality/possibility for some one to earn more money over their lifetime by having higher education (the higher you go, potentially the more money you can obtain).   All of this is in naught as I have close friends with a PhD who do not have the earning potential they should right now as as it is cheaper to hire a lecturer than a bona fide PhD person to place on tenure track.  I have friends who have taken a royal bath with the fall out of Wall Street even though they have an Ivy Education, including MBA degrees.  There are other friends of mine who were or had been doing moderately well except for the housing mortgage meltdown.  Most of the friends who were ensnared in this debacle would have been fine if they could wait out 10 or 15 years for the economy to right itself and housing to regain momentum instead of moving for a job.  Each item I wrote about in the last four sentences was a Black Swan none of us saw coming when we were undergrads or graduate students.

Which means, all those great grades we  (the people talked about above – and they know who they are if they are reading this blog) obtained in elementary, middle and high school, the SAT’s, GRE’s, etc. were never predictive of our success, rather all those grades and scores were predictive of our future potential.

So, my question remains, what do the results mean?  How should we use these test results to improve education? How should we deliver tests (multiple choice/written, etc.) to obtain results with more predictive value?  Can testing provide predictive value?  The questions are endless.  All I know is education has become something completely counterintuitive to what we know from Piaget, Montessori, etc.   If we really want results, we need to be more longitudinal in our thinking and cope up to the Black Swans out there which will always change the penultimate outcome of our best written and delivered lessons.

KEPRIBADIAN MANUSIA

Perkembangan manusia pada hakekatnya adalah pembentukan kepribadian yang ditempa pada sebuah rentang prises yang berlangsung selama masa perkembangannya. Hasil akhir dari proses tersebut adalah sebuah kepribadian yang telah terbentuk.

Kepribadian memiliki banyak definisi yang bisa beragam tergantung teori yang melandasi untuk menjelaskan arti kepribadian secara definitif. Setiap ahli bisa memiliki landasan teori yang beragam, mengingat dalam psikologi sendiri terdapat tiga mahzab atau airan utama yaitu psikoanalisa, humanistik dan behaviorisme.

Secara umum kepribadian adalah suatu akumulasi sikap-sikap manusia yang menentukan bagaimana kecenderungan seseorang untuk dapat menganalisa segala hal yang terjadi dilingkungan sekitarnya untuk selanjutnya menentukan mekanisme homeostasis atas perilaku apakah yang akan dimunculkan menanggapi kejadian di lingkungan sekitarnya.

Teori Kepribadian Psikoanalisa Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud mengungkapkan pandangannya mengenai kepribadian manusia tidak lepas dari struktur kepribadian. Teori Psikoanalisa yang dipelopori oleh Freud mengemukakan kepribadian yang memiliki tiga unsur yaitu :

1. Id

Sebagai dasar dari kepribadian manusia, Id bersifat instinctive. Id merupakan dorongan-dorongan dasar manusia yang lebih banyak menekankan pada kebutuhan biologis manusia. Id bekerja dengan cara mereduksi tegangan dengan jalan memuaskan kebutuhan untuk mencapai kenikmatan. Prinsip tersebut disebut sebagai Prinsip Kenikmatan.

Contoh dari Id adalah bila manusia lapar maka ia akan makan.

2. Ego

Ego merupakan proses logis dari pemenuhan kebutuhan. Sebagai proses logis, Ego akan berusaha untuk melakukan transaksi-transaksi obyektif yang sesuai dengan kenyataan. Ego menggunakan Prinsip Realitas, yaitu dengan berpikir realistis untuk menahan tegangan yang dialaminya sampai ia menemukan obyek yang tepat untuk memenuhi kebutuhannya.

Contoh dari Ego adalah bila manusia lapar dan dia tidak mendapati makanan, maka ia akan mencari tempat dimana sekiranya ia akan menemukan makanan.

3. Superego

Pada tingkat lebih lanjut, manusia mulai mengembangkan Superego. Superego merupakan sistem kontrol atas kebutuhan manusia. Superego diperoleh melalui proses belajar dan internalisasi nilai-nilai dan citra tradisi manusia yang diperoleh baik dari orang tua maupun masyarakat sekitar. Sebagai sistem kontrol, Superego bertugas untuk menghambat Id dan mengalihkan Ego dari Prinsip Realitas menjadi Prinsip Moral, yaitu memasukkankan nilai benar-salah pada diri manusia yang diperoleh baik dari orang tua maupun orang lain sehingga memunculkan suara hatinya (conscience).

Contoh dari Superego adalah bila manusia lapar kemudian ia mencari makanan dan menemukannya, maka ia tidak akan mengambil makanan tersebut karena makanan tersebut bukan miliknya.

Permasalahan kepribadian tidak berakhir di situ, karena pada praktiknya ketiga unsur kepribadian tersebut saling bekerjasama untuk menentukan perilaku manusia dalam pemenuhan kebutuhannya. Id, Ego dan Superego akan saling berinteraksi.

Id, Ego dan Superego berinteraksi misalnya bila manusia yang lapar telah menemukan makanan, namun makanan tersebut bukan miliknya, maka manusia akan kembali menggunakan Egonya untuk melakukan transaksi logis dengan berusaha menjadikan makanan tersebut ‘miliknya’ dengan tetap mempertimbangkan Superego. Pada akhirnya, manusia akan dapat memenuhi Id laparnya dengan melakukan Ego tanpa melanggar Superego.

Contoh dari interaksi ketiga unsur tersebut adalah manusia tersebut akan membeli makanan tersebut, atau meminta ijin untuk memakan-makanan tersebut dan memuaskan laparnya.

Masih banyak teori yang membahas tentang remaja dan dinamikanya, namun kali ini remaja akan dibahas melalui sudut pandang Teori Psikoanalisa dan Teori Kogniitif. Kedua teori tersebut dipilih untuk dapat melihat remaja dari sisi kepribadiannya dan dari sisi kognitifnya.

PERKEMBANGAN MANUSIA

Manusia berkembang melalui masa kanak-kanak, remaja hingga dewasa dan kemudian menjadi tua. Pada setiap tahapan perkembangan, sejatinya terdapat masa transisi yang merupakan masa adaptasi dari tahap sebelumnya menuju tahap yang akan dilaluinya.

Masa remaja banyak disebut sebagai transisi dari masa kanak-kanak menuju masa dewasa. Banyak sekali permasalahan yang terjadi pada usia yang dianggap sebagai usia penuh gejolak. Untuk dapat memahami remaja, harus dilihat dari konteks remaja sebagai salah satu tahapan dalam perkembangan manusia.

Teori Perkembangan Psikososial Erik H. Erikson

Erikson membagi tahap perkembangann yang dilalui seseorang berdasarkan kualitas dasar ego yang muncul pada masing masing tahap. Pada masing-masing tahap tersebut, seseorang harus menyelesaikan tugas perkembangannya untuk membentuk kualitas ego yang dinginkan.

1. Kepercayaan Dasar vs Kecurigaan Dasar (0-1 tahun)

Tahap awal dari perkembangan psikososial adalah pada masa bayi. Tugas pada tahap perkembangan ini terkait dengan hubungan bayi dengan ibu dan orang-orang terdekat bayi. Kenyamanan yang diterima oleh bayi akan dapat membentuk pribadi yang memiliki kepercyaan, sementara pribadi yang penuh curiga bisa jadi mengalami kegagalan memperoleh kenuamanan hubungan pada masa bayinya.

2. Otonomi vs Malu-malu dan Ragu-ragu (0-2 tahun)

Tahap selanjutnya adalah ketika anak mulai melakukan eksplorasi terhadap lingkungan sekitarnya. Ketika diberlakukan pembatasan-oembatasan yang mengekang akan menjadikan anak membentuk kepribadian yang pemalu dan peragu. Keberhasilan anak dalam memenuhi tugas kebutuhannya pada tahap ini akan dapat membentuk kepribanian yang otonomus.

3. Inisiatif vs Kesalahan (3-5 tahun)

Ada masa dimana anak mulai tertarik pada suatu hal dan kemudian menumbuhkan keinginannya untuk mempelajari hal yang menarik baginya. Tahap ini juga dilihat dari pola impersonation, yaitu menirukan secara imajinasi sosok/figur yang menjadi ketertarikannya seperti tentara, astronot ataupun dinosaurus melaui permainan. Imajinasi dan khayalan yang dibentuk akan mengarah pada keberanian untuk berinisiatif, daripada bila anak mendapatkan tantangan dalam tahap ini akan menjadikan anak dipenuhi dengan rasa bersalah.

4. Industri vs Inferioritas (6 tahun-puber)

Ketika anak sudah mulai memasuki pendidikan formalnya, ia harus belajar untuk menekan imajinasinya dan mendapatkan tugas baru untuk menyelesaikan kewajiban yang harus diselesaikannya, seperti mengerjakan PR atau memperoleh nilai baik. Bila anak gagal melaksanakan tanggungjawabnya, ia akan merasa rendah diri (inferior) dan sebaliknya bila berhasil akan menjadikan anak akan merasakan nikmatnya buah kerajinan dan ketekunannya.

5. Identitas vs Kekacauan Identitas (10-20 tahun)

Memasuki usia remaja akan terjadi sebuah kebutuhan untuk mencari identitasnya melalui peranan yang diberikan oleh lingkungan sekitarnya. Remaja memiliki relasi sosial yang intensif dan penuh makna. Orang tua, teman sebaya hingga selebritis memiliki andil dalam memberi peran untuk membentuk identitas remaja. Kesetiaan akan terbentuk di masa remaja bila berhasil membawa peran secara kontinu untuk membentuk jati diri.

6. Keintiman vs Isolasi (20-30 tahun)

Masa dewasa awal adalah saatnya manusia mulai mengenal nilai cinta secara genitalitas seksual. Keberhasilan menjalin hubungan berdasarkan cinta akan membentuk pribadi yang penuh intimacy. Kegagalan pada tahap perkembangan ini menjadikan kepribadian yang cenderung mengisolasi diri terhadap orang lain. Elitisme akan terbentuk di masa dewasa awal bila berhasil merasakan kenyamanan dalam berbagi ideologi afiliasinya tentang pekerjaan, persahabatan, cinta atau kegemaran.

7. Generativitas vs Stagnansi (40-50 tahun)

Berlanjut pada masa dewasa akan ada tugas pemeliharaan, yakni kebutuhan untuk melakukan generasi (generate) nilai-nilai dalam rangka konservasi kepada keturunan atau bawahan. Proses generasi dapat dilakukan melalui pengajaran atau berbagi pengalaman dengan tujuan melestarikan dan mewariskan nilai moral kepada yang lebih muda. Autoritisme adalah bentuk ekstrem dari perilaku konservasi.

8. Integritas vs Keputusasaan (60 tahun)

Sebagai tahap akhir dari tahap perkembangan psikososial, tahap ini dapat dilihat sebagai hasil dari proses perkembangan sejak awal hingga tahap ini. Nilai integritas akan tinggi bila seseorang mampu menyelesaikan banyak tugas-tugas perkembangan sebelumnya. Keberhasilan dalam menanamkan nilai-nilai yang membudaya dalam diri akan sangan membantu meningkatkan kepribadian yang penuh integritas dan menjadikan hidupnya lebih bermakna.

Dari sekian banyak tahapan usia semenjak bayi hingga dewasa akhir, masa remaja merupakan masa terbaik sekaligus merupakan masa terburuk bagi remaja. Dengan adanya teknologi, informasi dan globalisasi yang kian pesat di amsa kini menjadikan masa remaja jauh lebih rumit dari pada sebelumnya.

Masa remaja adalah masa transisi dari anak-anak untuk menjadi dewasa, dari bermain menjadi bekerja dan dari bersenang-senang menjadi bertanggungjawab. Masyarakat dan budaya setempat memiliki harapan dan peran untuk memberikan remaja mereka beban tanggungjawab yang harus mereka pikul sementara para remaja masih memiliki ikatan dengan masa kanak-kanak.

Pada masa remaja terdapat beberapa perkembangan, diantaranya adalah perkembangan fisik, psikologis, sosial, kognitif dan sebagainya. Pada tiap aspek perkembangan mereka harus menjadi perhatian utama.

Pubertas menurut John W. Santrock adalah pertumbuhan kematangan fisik yang ditandai dengan kematangan fisik dan hormon secara pesat pada masa remaja awal. Perubahan tersebut memiliki efeknya pada remaja. Pubertas juga dapat diartikan sebagai munculnya kemampuan reproduksi seksual pada remaja yang ditandai dengan pertumbuhan dan perkembangan organ reproduksi.

Apakah efek pubertas dilebih-lebihkan? Pada umumnya remaja dapat melalui masa pubertas mereka dengan baik-baik saja, beberapa mengalami kesulitan.

Teori Perkembangan Kognitif Jean Piaget

Menurut Piaget, manusia melalui empat tahap perkembangan kognitif :

Tahap sensorimotor (0-2 tahun)

Anak menggunakan kemampuan inderawinya untuk mempelajari linkungannya. Kemampuan inderawinya akan terus berkembang semakin canggih hingga usia 2 tahun. Anak mulai menggunakan simbol-simbol walau masih sederhana.

Tahap praoperasional (2-7 tahun)

Penggunaan simbo-simbol dalam tahap ini sudah mulai berkembang, simbol-simbol tersebut berkembang melalui bahasa, bayangan dan gambar.

Tahap operasional konkrit (7-11 tahun)

Anak mulai melakukan operasi kognitif. Operasi adalah tindakan mental untuk menggantikan tindakan yang sebelumnya dilakukan secara fisik. Anak mulai menggunakan kognisinya untuk berpikir konseptual dan logis, walau sebatas pada hal-hal konkrit.

Tahap operasional formal (11-15 tahun)

Pada tahap ini, anak telah mulai mengembangkan pemikiran operasional abstrak. Pada usia remaja ini, kemampuan berpikir tidak harus membutuhkan pengamatan yang nyata dan konkrit. Remaja dapat melakukan proses berpikir melalui bayangan dan rekaan semata.

Beberapa ahli membagi tahap operasional formal menjadi :

Tahap operasional formal awal

Pada awal perkembangan tahap operasional, remaja cendrerung menggunakan kemampuan hipotetsa abstrak untuk berpikir idealistis dan subyektif.

Tahap operasional akhir

Akhir perekembangan kognitif remaja pada tahap formal akhir mengembalikan keseimbangan kognisinya kepada realitas, sehingga menjadikan remaja memiliki kemampuan berpikir yang lebih matang.

Perkembangan kognitif remaja juga membawa dampak pada penggunaan bahasa dalam kehidupan bersosialisasi mereka. Tidak jarang mereka mereka menggunakan kemampuan kognisi untuk memformulasikan bahasa olok-olok yang satire (ironis). Remaja juga mengembangkan penggunaan metafora untuk menggambarkan gagasan ‘filosofis’.

Teori Belajar Sosial Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura memberikan sebuah pandangan tentang kemungkinan peran lingkungan sosial yang memiliki peran sangat besar terhadap perilaku dan kognisi manusia. Antara lingkungan, pola pikir dan perilaku manusia memiliki konektivitas interaksi yang salingh timbal balik.

Manusia memiliki pola pikir yang memunculkan perilaku tertentu, dan perilaku tersebut akan mempengaruhi lingkungan sekitarnya dan berimbas balik kepada manusia secara kognisi dan perilaku. Proses timbal balik tersebut berlangsung terus menerus hingga menjadikan manusia berkembang melalui proses belajar imitasi dan modeling atas lingkungan serta menjadikan manusia seperti adanya saat ini.

Teori Kognisi Sosial Lawrence Kohlberg

Kognisi sosial adalah bagaimana seseorang melihat mengamati dan berpikir mengenai dunia sosial mereka yang meliputi orang-orang sekitar mereka, lingkungan mereka, kelompok tempat mereka berada dan bagaimana hubungan dia dengan orang lain.

Kohlberg mengemukakan bahwa kematangan biologis dan pengalaman sosial seseorang dapat mempengaruhi cara berpikirnya. Remaja akan selalu berusaha mencapai keseimbangan (equilibrium) dalam proses berpikir mereka dan hal tersebut dicapai dan dipengaruin oleh interaksi mereka dengan orang lain.

Remaja-Orang Tua vs Remaja-Teman Sebaya

Perkembangan fisik, hormon dan kognitif remaja juga mempengaruhi hubungan mereka dengan orang lain termasuk anggota keluarga. Tidak jarang remaja akan membangun konflik dengan orang tua mereka selaku figur otoritas, selain itu perkembangan kognitif remaja menjadikan remaja memiliki otonomi cara berpikir yang tidak jarang bertentangan dengan orang tua mereka.

Otonomi remaja juga berpengaruh pada keinginan remaja untuk melepaskan diri dari orang tua dan menjadi lebih mandiri dan mengembangkan tanggung jawab diri.

John W. Santrock menuliskan dalam bukunya Adolescence

“Pada banyak remaja, bagaimana mereka dipandang oleh teman sebaya merupakan aspek terpenting dalam kehidupan mereka”

Pandangan Santrock tersebut tidak lepas dari pandangan kognisi sosial mengenai bagaimana remaja mengamati lingkungan sosialnya. Remaja mulai mengembangkan perbendaharaan figur, bila sebelumnya orang tua adalah figur yang penting bagi remaja, sekarang teman sebaya juga tidak kalah penting bagi perkembangan remaja.

MENGATASI PERMASALAHAN PADA MASA REMAJA

Sebelumnya telah dibahas perkembangan remaja dari dua pandangan, yaitu Teori Psikososial dan Teori Perkembangan Kognitif. Masih banyak sekali teori yang dapat digunakan untuk membahas remaja.

Selanjutnya adalah bagaimana permasalahan yang dialami oleh remaja dapat diatasi. Untuk dapat menyelesaikan permasalahan, yang pertama kali dilakukan adalah identifikasi masalah, yaitu mencari tahu masalah apa saja yang terjadi pada masa remaja.

Bila kita kembali merujuk pada dua teori yang digunakan, maka ada dua macam masalah yang akan dihadapi oleh remaja secara garis besar, yaitu masalah kepribadian dan masalah kognitif.

Masalah Kepribadian Remaja

Teori Perkembangan Psikososial oleh Erikson menggambarkan remaja berada pada tahap perkembangan Identitas vs Kekacauan Identitas. Pada tahap ini, remaja memiliki tugas untuk mencari identitas dirinya melalui peran yang diperolehnya. Pencarian jati diri dapat diidentifikasikan sebagai permasalahan yang akan dihadapi oleh remaja.

Masalah Kognitif Remaja

Teori Perkembangan Kognitif oleh Piaget menunjukkan remaja berada pada tahap perkembangan kognisi Operasional Formal yang ditandai dengan kemampuan berpikir abstrak yang meningkat pesat. Kemampuan berpikir abstrak akan membawa remaja pada penemuan idealisme baru yang subyektif. Idealisme baru yang dibentuk oleh remaja memiliki potensi untuk bertentangan dengan idealisme yang dimiliki oleh figur otoritas. Pertentangan ini didorong oleh kebutuhan otonomi untuk lepas dari orang tua dan menjadi mandiri.

Masalah Kontekstual Remaja

Beberapa pembahasan diatas mengungkapkan peranan lingkungan sekitar remaja yang juga memiliki pengaruh atas perkembangan remaja. Dalam proses identifikasi masalah juga diperlukan memperhatikan konteks remaja dalam kehidupannya. Permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh remaja dapat dilihjat dalam beberapa aspek.

Remaja Dan Keluarga

Permasalahan yang dihadapi oleh remaja dalam keluarga adalah masalah dengan orang tua sebagai figur otoritas, remaja memiliki kebutuhan untuk otonom sesuai idealisme mereka, sementara orang tua kadangkala masih memperlakukan remaja sebagai anak-anak.

Permasalahan lain yang mungkin muncul adalah permasalahan dengan anggota keluarga lain seperti saudara kandung atau kerabat lainnya, namun masalah ini lebih bersifat kasuistik dan personal.

Remaja Dan Teman Sebaya

Dalam hubungannya dengan teman sebaya, remaja cenderung memiliki masalah yang tidak kalah rumit. Pada usia remaja, banyak diantara mereka yang membentuk kelompok-kelompok dengan minat yang beragam. Permasalahan terjadi biasanya pada remaja yang tidak memiliki kelompoknya, namun pada remaja yang bergabung dengan ‘geng’nya pun tidah lepas dari permasalahan.

Remaja Dan Sekolah

Remaja akan mengalami masalah di sekolah dalam kaitannya dengan perkembangan kognisi dan kemampuan akademis. Keberhasilan remaja dalam pelajaran, aktivitas ekstra kurikuler dan organisasi sekolah akan memberikan dampak yang lebih baik dibandingkan dengan mereka yang pasif atau gagal.

Seringkali permasalahan remaja dengan teman sebaya juga terjadi di sekolah, terutama bila teman sebaya yang menjadi rujukan pergaulannya adalah teman-teman di sekolah. Masalah disekolah juuga seringkali terkait dengan masalah dengan lingkungan sosialnya seperti kenakalan remaja.

Remaja Dan Lingkungan Sosial-Hukum

Masa remaja dapat menjadi sebuah titik tolak perihal bagaimana seorang remaja akan berfungsi dalam masyarakat. Seringkali permasalahan ini sudah diawali semenjak masih berada pada tahap Seringkali permasalahan ini sudah diawali semenjak masih berada pada tahap perkembangan sebelumnya.

Remaja yang kurang dapat berfungsi dengan baik dalam masyarakat akan terkucilkan dan tidak memiliki peran yang berarti. Kenakalan masa kanak-kanak yang terbawa hingga remaja bisa menjadi permasalahan remaja dengan aparat penegak hukum sebagai figur otoritas yang lebih tinggi dari orang tua.

Remaja Dan Lingkungan Global

Era globalisasi teknologi informasi juga akan memberikan dampak yang lebih luas bagi masalah yang dihadapi oleh remaja. Mulai dari penyalahgunaan obat-obatan, penyalahgunaan teknologi informasi hingga AIDS yang disebabkan oleh seks bebas yang dipelajari dari globalisasi teknologi informasi.

Orang Tua Sebagai Lini Terdepan Penangggulangan Permasalahan Remaja

Remaja tidak dengan sendirinya menjadi remaja sebagaimana dirinya saat ini. Remaja telah melalui proses dan tahap perkembangna yang berlangsung semenjak kecil. Ketika remaja masih kecil dam masih berada tahap Ketika remaja masih kecil dam masih berada tahap perkembangan yang sangat dini, orang tua adalah para pengawal perkembangan mereka.

Orang tua yang sehat akan menghasilkan remaja yang sehat pula. Sedangkan orang tua yang bermasalah juga akan menciptakan remaja yang jauh lebih bermasalah. Bagaimana para orang tua menggunakan kebijaksanaan mereka untuk berinteraksi dengan anak-anak mereka menentukan hasil akhir perkembangan anak-anak mereka hingga akhir tahap perkembangan.

Anak-anak Berkembang Bersama Orang Tua Mereka

Tidak dapat dipungkiri bila orang tua adalah manusia yang juga sedang berproses untuk berkembang. Orang tua yang berkembang dengan baik akan dapat mengawal perkembangan anaknya dengan baik pula. Sedangkan orang tua yang mengalami perkembangan yang kurang baik masih memiliki kesempatan untuk ‘memperbaiki kesalahan’ mereka bila mereka bisa cukup bijak bersikap dan bertindak.

Guru Sebagai Lini Tengah Penanggulangan Permasalahan Remaja

Beberapa orang tua menyerahkan masalah perkembangan anak mereka kepada guru di sekolahnya. Langkah yang dilakukkan oleh parang orang tua tersebut tidak dapat dibilang salah, hanya saja prosesnya terbalik.

Bagai sebuah pertandingan bola dan bola adalah anak, maka lini depan tidak boleh ‘menyerah’. Seharusnya bolalah yang mendatangi lini tengah karena lini depan dianggap tidak mampu memainkan dengan baik.

Bagaimanapun, orang tua selaku lini depan tidak boleh menyerah karena anak-anak adalah anak mereka, buka anak gurunya. Namun bagaimanapun juga, guru tetap selalu menjadi lini kedua mengingat setiap anak akan bersekolah dan gurulah yang akan menangani perkembangan mereka.

Sekolah Sebagai Sebuah Lembaga Terstruktur Yang Memiliki Kekuasaan Dan Kekuatan

Sekolah bagi remaja adalah sebuah dunia yang menarik. Di sekolah remaja bersosialisasi, beraktivitas dan mengaktualisasikan dirinya. Sekolah akan memiliki peran yang sangat dominan bagi remaja karena di sekolahlah pemenuhan kebutuhannya mereka untuk mencari jadi diri dimulai.

Bgaaimana sekolah memanfaatkan dan memfasilitasi kebutuhan tersebut akan sangat tergantung kebijakan sekolah atas kepedulian dan keterlibatan sekolah untuk mendidik siswanya. Mendidik siswa dalam arti mendidik secara kognitif dan kepribadian dengan meruju Teori Perkembangan Kepribadian dan Teori Perkembangan Kognisi sebagaimana telah diuraikan.

Bila Segalanya Gagal

Apabila remaja dan perkembangannya adalah sebuah pertandingan bola dan seluruh lini tidak mampu mengawal bola, maka segala sesuatunya akan berakhir ditangan penjaga gawang. Karakteristik penjaga gawang dan keahliannya akan sangat menentukan nasib remaja.

Siapakah penjaga gawang yang dimaksud? Penjaga gawang perkembangan remaja adalah para ahli yang berkecimpung dalam bidang yang terkait erat dengan remaja, perkembangan dan permasalahnnya. Mereka bisa jadi konselor sekolah, psikolog, pemuka agama, pemuka masyarakat bahkan penjaga gawang yang paling keras adalah aparat penegak hukum.

Tim Yang Terbaik Adalah Tim Yang Bekerjasama

Ibarat sebuah tim dalam pertandingan bola, setiap lini harus bahu-membahu mengawal bola. Demikian pula dalam mengawal perkembangan remaja, seluruh pihak harus saling bekerjasama untuk mengawal perkembangan remaja. Tim yang baik dalam bekerjasama akan muncul sebagai the winning team.

Sebagai penutup, ada sebuah pertanyaan yang ada baiknya bila dikemukakan sebagai bahan review. Apakah kita pengawal perkembangan remaja yang baik?

Acuan Pustaka

Hall, Calvin S. & Lindzey, Gardner, Teori-teori Psikodinamik (Klinis), Alih Bahasa : Drs. Yustinus, M.Sc., OFM., Editor : Dr. A. Supratiknya, Penerbit Kanisius, 1993.

Santrock, John W., Adolescence Perkembangan Remaja Edisi Keenam, Alih Bahasa : Drs. Shinto B. Adelar, M.Sc. & Sherly Saragih, S.Psi., Editor Wisnu C. Kristiaji & Yati Sumiharti, Penerbit Erlangga, 2003.

Sexuality and Children Development, http://www.sexualityandu.ca/professionals/sexuality-child-4.aspx., 2006