Kolb developed his learning cycle
with two opposing dichotomies: active experimentation versus reflective
observation, according to learners’ preferences. The other contrasting
dichotomies are abstract conceptualization and concrete experience. These four
describe different learning styles. For the ones with the same learning style,
and the teacher can give them tasks that suit their learning style. According
to Kolb, these four areas represent steps of learning, so complete learning
occurs after a finished four-step cycle, or a certain student may use just
aspect. The four teaching and learning activities, are, respectively, a
diverger, an assimilator, a converger, and an accommodator. A student who will
master one learning style, will become successful in his trade. (Source: Wankat
& Oreovicz: Teaching engineering, pp. 292-296). This learning theory
attracts me, because it takes different character traits and personalities into
consideration. I have studied psychology and relationship studies and
learned that your message hits the target when you present it in a
listener-sensitive way, so that they can understand and relate to it. Students
are not an anonymous flock of people, but individuals with some recognizable
learning types. Analyzing and observing people comes naturally to me, and I
will definitely make use of this theory in my teaching.
B.F. Skinner’s theory is about
operant conditioning, and it falls into the form of consequence, with either
positive or negative reinforcement, which is represented by the teacher giving
thumbs up or down. The second scenario is positive or negative punishment,
where negative feedback is increased and positive feedback is diminished. The
theory seems a bit naive and simplistic, making me think of Pavlov's famous
salivating dogs. One thing does not work for everyone, but everyone needs
affirmation and cues that he is on the right track. The theory, as well as the
methods, implemented as such, are outdated, but of course every teacher aims to
give a student some credit for a work well done. When I look back to my own
days in school and university, the encouragement, recognition of my talents and
skills by the teachers have been defining moments in my career path. In
secondary high my Finnish teacher commented my good writing skills, and in the
university my Russian teacher always believed the best about my linguistic and
interpretation skills. And here I am, an interpreter and translator, writing
and using language in my profession, and loving it. Without those teachers I
may not have become aware my skills, and I'm ever grateful for my teachers,
even though I didn't always believe their ultra-positive comments at the time.
In vocational education, the idea of the operant conditioning theory is to
apply pedagogically appropriate outcomes by reinforcement. Thus, active
learners see results of work of action and project-based learning, feeling
proud of their achievement.
A Russian psychologist Lev
Vygotsky had ideas of facilitating independent learning with progressive
lessons, age-appropriate activities, and manipulatives, while addressing the
whole child. He argues in Mind in Society (1978) that learning is more than
acquisition of the ability to think: it is the acquisition of many specialized
abilities (the toys, games, books etc.) for thinking about a variety of things.
As far as adult learners are concerned, Vygotsky developed the idea of the zone
of proximal development, social development, and collaborative learning. The
latter works best in fields where you tend to focus on group projects on, such
as cooking, demo sessions, mechanics an so on.
Maria Montessori has another
inspirational theory. She developed her theory among the school-age children,
and it’s fundamentally a model of human development. Her philosophy was to
provide the children with an environment with a lot of activities and choice
with the emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a
child’s natural psychological development. She believed that the children under
the age of six have an innate path of psychological development, and older
children and developing adults engage in psychological self-construction by
interacting with their environments. Monessori has stated: “Never help a child
with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
Constructivism
Constructivism teaches that learning is an active, constructive process, and the learner is the one who constructs and organizes knowledge. The learner links the former knowledge, past experiences, and cultural factors into new one, thus constructing his own subjective representation of the content. I will be able to apply the theory of constructivism into my teaching. I have been teaching English privately for professionals, who need special-field English in their work. In my coming teacher practice I will be teaching English or Russian language. Russian lessons teach the basic grammar, vocabulary, and communication from the beginning, and the English classes focus on professional language, such as Business communication and correspondence, or special-field English, e.g. for physical therapists. When teaching languages, it is important to construct knowledge and linguistic skills step by step, and former knowledge of other languages helps in this process. There were several theorists who contributed to constructivism, the most famous being Vygotsky with his Zone of Proximal development, Piaget, John Dewey. (Source: http://www.learning-theories.com/constructivism.html)
Learning outcomes
I learned that even though there are lot of theories and the best-known ones are very old, if not outdated, there is something in all of them that makes sense and can be applied to education. I don't think that one can apply just one theory into teaching; maybe there is one that best represents and suits the subject at hand, but I would argue in a successful teaching there are elements of many theories, or rather approaches, that a skilled teacher merges and mixes in suitable situations, applying different methods for a different group or even individual (just think of a special-needs student!). Even in one session there can be several approaches, for example when you teach a new language, there is group discussion through collaborative learning, then simple reciting of new words and pronunciation (positive/negative reinforcement), and tackling the grammar through constructivism, proceeding from the familiar and easy to more complex rules.
Juhani Pihlaja argues that since there are several different perspectives to many phenomena, much more theories are needed than in natural sciences or medicine. The theories are, in a way, discussion or dialogue with their objects, as well as the concepts, which are the raw materials of the theories. If the teachers are able to apply this understanding into teaching, educational materials, and exams, we could be able to lower the shaft of different theories, and at the same time we could approach the objectives and contents of (tutkiva oppiminen) and constructing the knowledge. (Source: Pihlaja, Juhani: Kiehtova kasvatustiede, p. 40)
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