Learning and Education - Assignment Example

Learning is the manifestation of changes that occur in view of various processes, and this particularly refers to the motor skills, such as speech, intellectual skills, such as computing in a calculator and behavioral or attitude skills such as favoritism. To be understood more simply, learning is the end-result of some process, which could be a quantitative increase in knowledge, keeping information in the brain for future use, acquiring facts, skills and methods that can be retained and used when needed, and being able to understand and provide meaning to all knowledge that can be gained from various processes (Smith, 1999). How effective a person can learn strongly depends on one’s exposure to the various learning processes, that is best exemplified by the learning pyramid, which, when illustrated, shows that a person can retain as high as 90% of the potential learning when he shares by way of teaching the knowledge learned, and the retention of the lesson becomes lesser when a person involves himself only in a group discussion, or watch a demonstration or audio-visual. Merely reading or listening represents the slim tip of a pyramid, interpreted as the poorest retention output. This theory was started by NTL Institute at their Bethel, Maine campus. Others have attempted the learning pyramid, but came out with different retention percentages. Naturally, the roots of learning come from the signals that the brain emits, and this is the brain-based learning. The brain is challenged to think during its relaxed-alertness phase, encouraged to apply into actual experience and engaged in active processing by eliciting meaning and broader implications out of the processes. “The human brain works best when the individual feels no undue force from any physical, emotional, and psychological threat and when there are interactions that involve emotions, memory systems and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as part of learning” (Taylor, Bullard, 1995 p. 46-47). Learning as a process-learning principle is viewed by four differing theorists, that of a behaviorist, cognitivist, humanist, and social and situationalist. The behaviorist attributes learning through changes in behavior. Contrary to popular belief about behaviorism being focused on mechanical stimulus response behavior, B. F. Skinner wrote “men have found better ways, not only to dye a cloth or build a bridge, but to govern, teach, and employ. The conditions under which all such practices originate range from sheer accident to the extremely complex behaviors called thinking” (Wyatt, 2001). A cognitivist directs learning for people who employ internal mental processing of information gathered. A humanistic learning theory views the personal act to fulfill potential as the end-product of learning. The view of social and situational theory is the interaction and observation in the social contexts (Smith 1999). Another relevant theory noteworthy for better understanding of learning is the view shared by Kohler about his theory on insight; that “learning could occur by sudden comprehension as opposed to gradual understanding, without reinforcement, and once it occurs, no review, training or investigation are necessary” (Kohler, 1947). Since time immemorial, teachers genuinely struggled to impart their knowledge on their students, especially, knowledge that are of value to them. The art or science of teaching purported by the functions of a teacher who applies educational theory to create learning contexts and environments best describes pedagogy. This is the traditional method implemented in all the schools prior to the onset of the 21st century, the teacher directed the course of the education of the learner. The teacher decided what the learner needed to learn and how the learner should acquire knowledge was also the responsibility of the teacher. At present, when it comes to educating the adults, a newer concept arose, which requires the adult learners to focus more on the process of learning rather than on the content. This is called andragogy. This is effectively utilized for the purpose of organizational soft skills, more particularly for management development. Andragogy can be applied in computer education for the adult learners, who are more interested on learning the reasons for the processes that will be instilled in their minds, who abhor memorization, thus would rather adapt to task-oriented stance, and who should not be spoon-fed with the step by step process. On their own, they should be truly interested to learn. Their behavior shall be guided by some principles that go with andragogy, such as their involvement in the planning and evaluation, the value of experiencing mistakes that can teach them lessons along the way, view the education as relevant to their jobs and that it is more of a problem-oriented lesson rather than content-oriented (Knowles, 1984) Both pedagogic and andragogic relationship connotes teacher-learner relationship, even though andragogy is useful for improving educational methodology. Another study was introduced and defined by Knowles (Hase, Kenyon, 2000) as: Heutagogy is the process in which the individuals take the initiative with or without the help of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating learning goals, identifying human and material resources for learning, choosing and implementing learning strategies and evaluating learning outcomes. In short, any adult can adopt a self-directed education. This is manifested as early as in the primary and secondary levels of an individual, who might have studied in a school with low standards, yet he managed to excel in the future, because on his own, he extended himself into further studies and readings, that in the end, it should not matter where he studied or who his teacher was. Heutagogy is more useful when it comes to capability development and confidence building. Thus, this is most applicable for managers and supervisors, who should be self-motivated in the fulfillment of their need for power, and being able to facilitate the capability of their subordinates is likewise expected of them. It is a fact that learners will forever be grateful to their teachers, but nothing can compare to surpassing one’s own capabilities and be worthy of one’s own achievements. Paulo Freire defines as one vocation, is to be truly humanized social agents in the world. Hence, a major function of critical pedagogy is to critique, expose and challenge the manner in which schools impact upon the political and cultural life of students. Teachers must recognize how schools unite knowledge and power and how through this function they can work to influence or thwart the formation of critically thinking and socially active individuals (Darder 1995). It is in the school where a student first gets exposed to the political environment, and thus, thrive to provide himself with the tools to become better, hopefully, by adapting himself into a more egalitarian society that can help strengthen democracy. The learner begins to work towards a more progressive social change, and may convert himself from being passive to active. He begins to realize the importance of aiming for intellectual growth, as it is one of the characteristics of critical pedagogy. A student need not run for any position in the school council to get involved in school politics, but he needs to take a stand when asked to do so, and it should be the role of the school officials to establish a healthier cultural and political climate in the school campus. More characteristics of critical pedagogy, which can trigger numerous changes in the educational atmosphere, are worth tackling, with the aim in mind of attaining more understanding that can be conveyed to the students and the teachers as well. Anti-colonialism have been quelled successfully in the educational communities and the role of indigenous knowledge is continually being promoted as an effective aid in sharing more knowledge to indigenous community who, today, have been able to avail of the benefits of the knowledge that had been brought to them. The relationships between the teacher and the learner have gradually evolved to andragogy, but more practically, the teachers are also getting to be the researchers. The idea of hegemony should be highly discouraged, because imposing political, economic, ideological or cultural power on the weaker group would not speak well of the school’s effort to promote a more harmonious atmosphere. Bourgeouis hegemony is the reinforcement that emphasizes the inherent urge of any dominant group to persuade the less dominant class to go along with the values of the ruling class. Being mindful of the characteristics of critical pedagogy, schooling functions as a terrain of ongoing struggle over what will be accepted as legitimate knowledge and culture. In accordance with this notion, a critical pedagogy must seriously address the concept of cultural politics both legitimizing and challenging cultural experiences that comprise the histories and social realities that in turn comprise the forms and boundaries that gives meaning to student lives (Darder, 1991). Intercultural dialogue is a process that comprises an open and respectful exchange or interaction between individuals, groups and organizations with different cultural backgrounds or world views. Among its aims are: to develop a deeper understanding of diverse perspectives and practices; to increase participation and the freedom and ability to make choices, to faster equality and to enhance creative processes. (2008). Today, it is common that a school will accept students of varied cultures, especially true in universities, where students have become so matured as not to mind the interculturalism among themselves. This means there are cultural differences that can lend advantage depending on how the students would perceive their presence. Foreign students are now luckier, because, their entry in the schools is even welcomed by the school officials, because they can contribute in the goals of the school to enhance the knowledge of the registered students about other different cultures. Interculturalism helps promote diversity and intercultural activities are considered as opportunity to increase awareness of the existence of the same. Cultural pluralism in education should mean expanding the curriculum that a school will be offering to their students. It should be applicable not only to one kind of culture but should cover truthful facts and information about the life and the world in general, and not to be limited to a select number of culture. The accuracy of the over-all picture that should be imparted to the students about the general picture of the lessons and the events must be painted and revealed, to be able to instill pluralization in the curriculum. Cultural pluralism can encourage interculturalism in the educational arena. This should be the campaign of universities, that depicts their interest to share learning across cultures with the objective in mind of demonstrating a more harmonious and diverse educational society. Intercultural dialogue may still be a problem to contend with, however this can equally serve as an inspiration to work towards commitment on enhancing human dignity. Cultural prejudice has no place in interculturalism because, through intercultural dialogue, schools are now in support of aspiring for the common good having identified the similarities within a common humanity, appreciative of different willingness to share cross-cultural experiences (2010). Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California espouses the importance of having a framework on Interculturalism, which offers in part, that being able to deal with interculturalism, it enables them to share power and responsibility as they in self-knowledge, learn to value the unique qualities of diverse cultural groups, and understand the common elements of their shared humanity (2010). Practical knowledge is the lesson learned without formal education, but by the use of common sense, that is usually in relation to one’s behavior and situation. There may be a chance to apply scientific knowledge when one faces a practical problem. Practical knowledge has to employ the thinking process, in so doing, it can come up with its own external product, that will be symbolized by various concrete output, such as the product of the brain called knowledge, or it could be the electronic output which might have been induced by the human brains. For any concrete material or result to be brought out, internalizing or internal processing is essential, as it can be likened again to a computer external product, a product that can be based on the process “garbage-in, garbage-out.” When a brain is tired and exhausted, there is more likelihood that the external product will appear to be useless considering that it is not a well-thought of output. Wikipedia defines knowledge as the expertise, skills acquired by a person through experience or education, the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Aristotle differentiated knowledge and knowing in Book 1, Part 2 of Posterior Analytics, in this way: “We suppose ourselves to possess unqualified scientific knowledge of a theory, as opposed to knowing it in the accidental way in which the sophist knows. When we think that we know the cause on which the fact depends, as the cause of that fact and of no other and further, that the fact could not be other than it is.” In simple comparison, a person knows how to drive his car and he has the knowledge of the engine quality and condition. Constructivism refers to the idea that learners construct knowledge for themselves, each learner individually and socially constructs meaning (Hein 1991). Any individual possesses the capacity to construct his own terminology and attach his own meaning, as long as he is comfortable about it and can be able to relate his constructive learning to other people. It is active learning when the sensory faculty is being utilized productively. Along the way, as one learns, he learns from learning, as may be exemplified in researching. For example, when a student cites that his theory can be found in the chronicles of Narnia, he happens to find out the meaning of chronicle too. To proceed with the guiding constructivist learning theories, the fourth is that, crucial action of constructing meaning is mental reflexive activity; learning always involves language and language influences learning; social activity promotes connection with other human being; learning is contextual; knowledge is needed; it takes time to learn and motivation is the key component to learning. Works Cited: Darder, A. 1995. Buscando America: The contributions of critical latino Educators to the academic development and empowerment of latino Students in the U.S. Multicultural education, actual pedagogy and the Politics of difference. New York: Sunny Press. Hase, S., Kenyon, C. 2000. From Andragogy to Heutagogy. Retrieved from: http://www.ultibase.rmit.edu.au/articles/dec00/hase2. Hein, G. 1991. Constructivist learning theory. Hilliard, A. 1991. Cultural pluralism in education. Seatlle, WA: Horizons for Learning. Knowles, M. 1984. The adult learner: A neglected specie. Kohler, W. 1947. Theories of learning in educational psychology. Retrieved From: http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/gestalt/kohler Smith, M. K. 1999. Learning Theory. The Encyclopedia of informal education Retrieved from: www.infed.org/biblio.b.learn last update Sept 3, 2009. Taylor, B. O., Bullard, P. 1995. The Revolution Revisited: Effective schools and systemic reform. Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa International. Wyatt, J. W. 2001. Some myths about behaviorism that are undone in B. F. Skinner’s “The Design of Culture.” Behavioral and social issues. 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.interculturaldialogue.eu/web/intercultural- Dialogue.php. 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.lmu.edu/about/diversity/interculturalism/ Question 2: How should workplace learning be assessed, why and what role does accreditation of experiential learning play? Experiential learning is more likely to occur when an individual is already employed and have the opportunity to learn from the work place. According to Kolb (1984), the ideas that one can benefit from actual activities in the work place have been studied over and over again based on various employment situations. A cycle can clearly illustrate how workplace learning can be assessed. It has to start with a concrete experience, like being able to pacify a complaining customer and being able to offer a solution, that will be approved by management. This personal experience could lead to internalizing by way of reflection in view of derivation of general rules. Learning theories will be appreciated here, and automatically abstract conceptualization follows. Then comes the connecting part of the cycle which is the active experimental. All these may happen at once, or perhaps, it can take time for a person to process this cycle and register in himself that the actual occurrence of a situation in the office is already an experience worth repeating. It is vital to assess experiential learning in the workplace, because this is the means within which policies in the company may be patterned when such experience would have resulted to a positive outcome. On the other hand, management would do well to establish certain sanctions in the event that the learning experience of one person would have resulted to a disaster that should not be repeated in the future (Atherton, 2009). Question 4: What are the main pedagogical theories of work based learning, discuss which are most appropriate from your perspective: It must be remembered that in the work place, constant upgrading of one’s skills and learning should be undertaken, to keep up with the ever changing and increasing pace in the business world. To be able to keep abreast with the escalating work pressures, one can do better if several learning theories in work will be absorbed and practiced, such as the specialist, by being an expert in a chosen or assigned field in the work place. One should not stop as a specialist but must also be connected, by being a team player, and learn to be adept in handling negotiations and presentation with a group. Basically, general knowledge on information technology, written communication skills and business information must be possessed and most importantly, one must be self-reliant for personal development and improve working skills. All of these traits must be learned for one to succeed as a worker. The most notable skill that must be learned is how to be self-reliant, because there is constant struggle against competition that one has to contend with. A person will be helped by further striving to adopt the ability of self-awareness and self promotion, because being aware of one’s own strengths and weaknesses, he can easily empathize and identify the needs of the customer, and it could be a driving factor for an individual to continually explore for more opportunities. Being able to know the art of negotiation and networking and self-maneuver into being politically aware, a person can determine the underlying power struggle behind every transaction. The best weapon anybody can possess is self-confidence (2007). Atherton, J. S. 2009. Learning and teaching: Experiential Learning. UK. 2007. Retrieved from: http://www.uel.ac.ub/wbl/ Read More