TEACHING IN COLOR

Learning is something that everyone does daily. Sometimes it requires a challenge and struggle, and other times it is effortless. Sometimes learning involves basic knowledge acquisition, and other times learning involves life experiences. Sometimes a teacher is involved, and other times it is only a learner or a group of learners. Sometimes a learning experience is a major breakthrough, and other times a learning experience is a minor occurrence. I believe in the following aspects of learning that hold true regardless of the learning situation:

• Learning is a never-ending, lifelong process.

• Everyone is a learner.

• Each learner is unique.

Learning can look different between situations and people, but learning is constantly happening, everywhere and with everyone.

 

As a learner, I am passionate about learning itself. I have always loved school and learning, which is part of the reason I always wanted to become a teacher. I never wanted to stop learning, and I wanted to help others learn. Learning is FUN for me, and I am bored when I’m not learning. I seek out my own learning experiences and constantly strive for self-improvement in everything I do. I am intrinsically motivated to learn, and my learning is in my own responsibility. You cannot teach someone that does not want to learn; learning is a choice that learners make. I learn best when I can connect with the material or interact with it in some way. In high school, I remember spending hours trying to memorize dates and events for my AP History class, but all I was doing was memorizing content; I was not truly learning. On the other hand, my student teaching experience and first year of teaching were the greatest learning experiences of my life because I was actively involved in my own learning and took ownership of it. I believe in the following about my own learning:

• I learn best when I have time to process the information on my own but then talk through it with others.

• I process everything around me as a potential learning experience. I am constantly multitasking and making connections.

• I am an intrinsically motivated, self-driven learner. I love learning for the sake of learning.

• Hands-on experiences are most influential in my learning, but I prefer visual stimuli as well.

I am my own unique learner. Some people learn like me, and others learn in different ways, but learning is the result of being actively engaged and making sense of experiences.

 

My beliefs about learning follow the cognitive constructivist approach with a touch of social learning theory while recognizing the validity of connectivism in our digital world. I believe that learning is an active process that demands engagement and motivation, and my thoughts are based on the key contributors of Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Jerome Bruner, George Siemens, Lev Vygotsky, and Albert Bandura. Tan and Hung (2003) state that, “Learning is an active process of constructing rather than acquiring knowledge” (p. 49). In agreeance with constructivism, learning is not about sitting and listening, waiting for the information to enter the brain; it is about putting yourself IN the learning and making sense of knowledge on your own terms based on prior knowledge. I also believe that the discovery of knowledge and making meaning is critical for learning, in accordance with cognitivism. Cognitive constructivism sums this up to declare that the onus is on the learner to construct knowledge for themselves by internalizing and connecting to prior knowledge using metacognition.

 

Additionally, connectivism makes sense of constructivism through a digital lense for the modern world. Siemens (2005) argues that connectivism “acknowledges the tectonic shifts in society where learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity” (para. 34). Connectivism recognizes that learners must actively construct knowledge, but they do so in collaboration with others and through a variety of contexts. This connects with my beliefs about the importance of collaboration in learning. I believe in the power of collaboration and positive relationships in the classroom. Tan and Hung (2003) declare that, “Fostering a collaborative learning environment is premised on the notion of social constructivism, which emphasizes learning through collaborative construction of socially shared knowledge” (p. 51). In short, I believe that learning is an active process in which the learner must construct knowledge, sometimes shared knowledge, by being motivated and engaged. This can happen through inquiry, hands-on activities, collaboration, digital learning, and play.

 

Because this is how I believe students learn, it is crucial that my teaching philosophy matches my learning philosophy. Just as an assessment needs to match the instruction, the teaching needs to match the learning. If I did not teach in the way that I believed students learn, I would be doing my students a disservice. A teaching philosophy and a learning philosophy are different, however. A learning philosophy focuses on the learners and how the learners process information. A teaching philosophy focuses on the teacher and how the information is delivered. The teaching philosophy is the outtake while the learning philosophy is the intake. Effective instruction in a significant learning environment requires the outtake to match the intake, the teaching to match the learning. My learning philosophy is the backbone of my teaching philosophy.

 

As a teacher in today’s digital age where the learning tools have changed, it is my responsibility to combine my learning philosophy and teaching philosophy to meet the needs of my students and facilitate their learning. For me, this means that I provide them with the tools to construct their own knowledge as opposed to providing the knowledge. My ePortfolio innovation plan is one way that I exemplify my learning and teaching philosophies, as I give my students the platform for learning and reflection, but they have to take ownership of it and turn it into a learning experience. This is part of creating a significant learning environment as I recognize my students’ passions and imaginations in giving them the opportunity to construct knowledge. Robinson (2010) says that teachers need to “create the conditions under which [students] begin to flourish.” Students need the tools and the opportunity.

 

Learning philosophies and teaching philosophies are constantly changing as society and education is changing. Learning and teaching are ever-evolving, lifelong processes. It is important that learners know how and why they learn, teachers know how and why they teach, and learners and teachers work together to create significant learning environments. Learning is a colorful process; it may look different and have things blended together, but ultimately it is a beautiful shade of individuality. Color is bold and different, and education needs something bold and different in learning and teaching.

 

References

 

Robinson, S. K. [TED]. (2010, May 24). Bring on the learning revolution! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I

-Sir Ken Robinson recognizes the need for a learning revolution because teaching is not matching the needs of learners in today’s world.

 

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2(1), 3-10. Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/Jan_05.pdf

-George Siemens looks at connectivism theory, which is related to constructivism, and its impact in the digital age and on 21st century learners.

 

Tan, S. C., & Hung, D. (2003). Beyond information pumping: Creating a constructivist e-learning environment. Educational Technology, 42(5), 48-54.

-Tan and Hung discuss the constructivist theory, especially as it relates to online learning. They emphasize the importance of student-centered learning environments as they highlight the importance of constructivism in the modern classroom.