Look who's blogging...: Development and Learning Theory

Hello again.

Here are five learning theories of interest to me and how I will apply them to my teaching.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in children, focusing on the following four general periods of development:

Sensorimotor Intelligence (birth the 2 years) where babies organize their physical action schemes for dealing with the immediate world.
Preoperational Thought (2 to 7 years) where children learn to think in an unsystematic and illogical way.
Concrete Operations (7 to 11 years) where children develop the capacity to think systematically, but only when they can refer to concrete objects and activities.
Formal Operations (11 to adulthood) where young people develop the capacity to think systematically on a purely abstract and hypothetical plane (Crain, 2011, p. 120).

Since I will be teaching high school, Piaget's period of Formal Operations applies to my classroom. Piaget's research focused primarily on mathematical and scientific reasoning, and he made observations on the abilities in adolescents to "grasp abstract principles and ideals" and "envision hypothetical societies very different from any that presently exist (Crain, 2011, p. 140)."
Piaget's research emphasized communication and I will also do this in my classroom, because communication aids understanding of mathematical concepts and helps students grow into productive adults. If students can understand why subjects are important and how learning mathematical applications can be used beyond the classroom, they will be more likely to work past obstacles and develop a better grasp on overall concepts. This also produces harder-working students in all areas of school. In group exercises, students will be encouraged to listen to and understand alternative perspectives.

Lev Vygotsky explained that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In contrast to Piaget, Vygotsky believed that social learning precedes development. He focused on the connections between people and the social context in which they interact in shared experiences.
Vygotsky's theory promotes learning where the students play an active role in learning.
In my class, students will be given opportunities to teach each other and demonstrate their understanding to the class. This can be done individually or in groups and will help students improve their communication skills using a reciprocal teaching approach. This also gives me, as their teacher, better insight into individual learning styles and strengths.

Beginning in the 1960s, Albert Bandura argued that people learn through observing others' behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors. He maintained that people "learn a great deal through imitation, and imitation involves cognitive processes (Crain, 2011, p. 204)." He explained the four components of observational learning:

Attention: various factors affect the amount of attention paid
Retention: people make associations using "stimulus contiguity(Crain, 2011, p. 206)," including symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, and motor rehearsal.
Reproduction
Motivation: having a reason to imitate

Bandura considered personality as an interaction between the environment, behavior, and the ability to entertain images in minds and language.
I will apply Bandura's Social Learning Theory in my classroom through the use of self-regulation. Since students "who set high self-evaluative standards are generally hard workers (Crain, 2011, p. 213)," I will allow students to set goals for themselves and evaluate their level of learning and effort, because "hard work produces real accomplishments." This can be obtained by setting small, attainable goals such as mastering a mathematical concept. Basura's self-efficacy appraisals can be used in my classroom through setting students up with goals that they can achieve and using verbal persuasion to encourage students to meet goals. This will increase confidence when moving on to the next subject, chapter, or assignment.

Erik Erikson identified eight stages through which most people pass from infancy to late adulthood. Each stage includes a basic conflict, important events, and a preferred outcome, as described below:

Source: http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm

Erikson identified that adolescents "become disturbed and confused by new social conflicts and demands," but adolescents can "develop a sense of identity through [their] accomplishments (Crain, 2011, p. 213)."
In regards to my classroom, students will be given many opportunities to experience accomplishments on a variety of levels. Students will also be exposed to positive social interaction that they may not get outside of my class. I will show how concepts in math can be applied outside of class in an effort to shape my students view on the subject. Discussions of this nature can lead to students discovering and developing their own identity.

Noam Chomsky has written over 100 books! In regards to language development, he has focused on the rules for making transformations, as a statement is transformed into a question. He explained that "children master complex linguistic rules and procedures in a very short time (Crain, 2011, p. 354)."
Chomsky's theory can be useful in my classroom since I will be teaching in a multicultural environment. I can lead by example by using proper grammar with all students, regardless of their cultural background, and especially with English-language learners. Also, by keeping in mind a student's linguistic accomplishments, I will be able to maintain focus away from the student's shortcomings. This will be a reminder to show particular respect to individual efforts in my subject area, as well as in other areas of development.

Reference

Crain, W. (2011). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

See you soon!

Elizabeth

Look who's blogging...