Learning is how we acquire knowledge, skills, behaviors and beliefs. J. Abbott (1994, p. VIII) defines learning as: “… that reflective activity which enables the learner to draw upon previous experience to understand and evaluate the present, so as to shape future action and formulate new knowledge.”
I strongly believe that learning is a continuous process (from the womb to the tomb). It is not limited to the time one spends in school, but it could also happen anywhere and at any time. According to the PACT (Procure, apply, Consider and Transform) learning cycle, there are four steps that we follow in learning: we acquire the knowledge or a skill, apply it in different ways, evaluate and assess it during our practice and modify our existing knowledge accordingly.
Piaget (1952) puts forward the three stages of learning as assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration which clearly articulates how learning actually happens.
To choose a well-defined path in teaching we adhere to various learning theories. These provide a pedagogical basis for the learning that takes place, which includes: Behaviourism (B.F. Skinner, 1948) Experiential learning (Kolb, 1984), Multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983, 1999), Information Processing (Ashcraft, 1994), Piaget’s Constructivism, Vygotsky’s Constructivism, Situated Cognition (Brown, Collins, and Duguid, 1989), Social Constructivism, Motivation, Teaching and Learning in Affective Domain, and Creativity.
Among the above mentioned theories I am personally quite interested in Howard Gardner’s (1983, 1999) Multiple intelligences. In his theory he relates the type of intelligence to learning and this is a matter of consideration as we have a student profile which varies in many aspects. Out of Gardner’s (1999) well-known nine learning styles, the four most common are the visual, aural, reading/writing, and kinaesthetic / tactile learning styles. Most of my students are visual learners (based on a questionnaire conducted), they have to see how things happen, observe in detail and create their own schema accordingly. Although very few of them are aural learners, we give them a chance to grasp what is happening. Thus, as a facilitator, I repeat the process, methods and procedures in my own words about the items displayed on the board just to make sure they take their share.
We have to understand that each individual has their own way of learning and maximising the range of activities that would enable the inclusion of most students in the learning circle as much as possible.
Nowadays, most teachers agree on the idea of ‘learner centred’ teaching which is impressive and also folds the learning outcomes compared to a didactic style of teaching. It gives students the opportunity to express their own views, reflecting about what they understand from the given information and transmit this knowledge to their friends. With this approach, students engage in learning more, compared to other forms of teaching styles, yet keeping them under control and not allowing them to misuse such a period of time which totally depends on the teacher’s classroom management skills.
I am also fond of Vygotsky’s (1978) Constructivism. According to one of his terms the MKO (More Knowledgeable Other) possesses more knowledge about a particular subject than the learner which can be a teacher, peer, or possibly a computer - I tend to mostly use peer learning in this context. Students with a higher learning ability are attached to slow learners or weak students in a particular subject, via this approach, the scaffolding process is handled by their own peers rather than by the teacher. Teachers should use such ways of generating an atmosphere where all members of the class follow through instructions and learn.
According to Alderman (1999) Motivation is a key factor in learning, either intrinsic or extrinsic, both enables students to achieve higher grades. The role of a teacher is to generate curiosity and make students realise their true capacity and set their own goals as intrinsic motivation whilst, providing additional motives, or awarding and punishment systems, simply results in extrinsic motivation.
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