If we incorporate the many diverse learning theories of influence, into our personal pedagogy of education, we can better reach our students. This is because no one theory is flawless; they all have points of debate and even some that we may flat out disagree with. Therefore I suggest taking pieces from different learning theorists' methodology and creating an integrated idea of what learning is, the roles of students and teacher, content, and context. This allows us as educators to incorporate the ideas of great theorists into our own theory. Then, we are able to apply our borrowed ideas with our own personal ideas to our classroom.
For instance, an aspect of Piaget's stages of learning that I would take with me, is the idea of not teaching content that is beyond the years of my students. This refers to content of my class curriculum being age-appropriate. I also like Vygotsky's main focus on the social aspects of learning which I could apply to my classroom by having my class work in group, and do group projects. By focusing only on the ideas I completely agree with, I am able to pick and choose what I think is important for me to bring to the mix instead of bringing an overload of theories with me, many of which contradict each other.
Week 4- Learning Theorists
Christina,
ReplyDeleteFirst your LT spreadsheet is exceptional--thorough and demonstrates your thoughtful engagement with the content.
Secondly ... I like where you are heading with creating your own synthesized theory of learning = your philosophy of learning in practice.
Last but not least, wow! You've done some stellar work here. Your observations, analyses, and T2P statements are exceptional. I believe you are completely ready for the final project and its going to be great!
GNA