Applying Educational Thinking to Classroom - Essay Example

Applying Educational Thinking to room The rise of the spirit of modernity in the eighteenth century became the root cause of the term 'educational thinking' that allows every human being to enlightenment. Philosophers of this period introduced the critical and autonomous thinking which is synonymous to the word educational thinking. Here, they regarded everyone capable of improving and developing oneself by recognizing what is important and what is not, the truth from bad, and, between the truth and lies (Aloni, 29). It only signifies man's freedom to think critically about everything for his own good and get away from blind obedience taught and imposed during Renaissance period. Critical thinking in relation to education has vast significance even at this generation. Many educators would admit the importance of applying educational thinking in the classroom which could be achieved if the teacher understands well her/his students' cognitive processes, as well as methodologies to carefully and effectively utilize those cognitive processes in learning. Thinking is important in learning; and learning usually takes place inside the classroom; therefore, a teacher must know how to manipulate classroom activities by means of applying procedural tools to help make learning experience more meaningful and enjoyable. Before the post-modern period, teachers used a traditional method which was rote-learning and memorization in which , students were not allowed to do scientific analysis; and information were simply introduced to students to memorize. Whereas, during the nineteenth century until the twentieth century, because of the modern way of learning, many innovations have come, technology was later became a significant phenomena of the modern generation. This is attributed to the discovery of critical thinking in the classroom. To make this possible, modern education has done a lot of research in order to find out important information regarding successful learning experience wherein students are learned at greater extent through teachers who maximize their effort and resources for this endeavor. Pupil Learning at the Centre This specific chapter of the book 'It's All about Learning' written by Stoll, Fink and Earl (2003), introduced very important truth how learning takes place and how to make it effective and meaningful. Among other factors in achieving learning, the pupil which is the center of the learning process has to be analyzed so that learning will be effective. The learners being the center of the teaching-learning process must be dealt with utmost enthusiasm and interest because as humans they have strength and weakness, they have brain that functions according to learning types; and most importantly, they have emotions. Learning has "some deficiencies" according to the authors; these deficiencies are "biological, psychological, social and emotional" (Stoll, Fink, and Earl). Other people would consider these as factors to learning that can affect the mental process of a student while inside the classroom. Learning therefore varies depending on the conditions provided, that is why, no same student acquires same degree of learning; and this is what teachers should realize in order to reach out to her students and meet their learning needs. Teacher for this reason should prepare her lessons well applying techniques and experiences to make it meaningful; and at the same time, teacher should make the classroom ambience suitable and conducive to learning. Learning can be enhanced by utilizing the senses of the students; in many cases especially children, about 90% of the lesson is retained in the mind if the students make use of senses in their learning experience. This success in the teaching-learning process can be achieved through involving these students in the learning process using a lesson a well-prepared lesson with materials and tools that can enhance their experience. After each session, the teacher must evaluate the outcome of the learning; and if possible, re-teach them if the lesson is not understood. Different activities must be employed in the learning process depending on the level of mentality of the students. This is what most educators are oriented today that learning must be centered on students which only suggest learning experiences that satisfy them and bring about meaning and understanding of lessons taught in the classroom. In this case, teachers have greater responsibility in the process of learning; it takes a lot of skills for a teacher to integrate all concepts about students' learning process. What do Pupils Need to Learn Before, education was focused on three aspects, the reading, writing and arithmetic. During those centuries, curriculum revolved around traditional concepts without considering too much on the skills that must be learned by students. Today, school curriculum offers students more than reading, writing and arithmetic skills, but also "advanced educational goals and sophisticated skills" (Stoll, Fink and Earl, p.45) that will prepare these students to become smarter and efficient in retrieving information. These sophisticated skills being discussed by the authors of this book are thinking, solving problems, making informed judgments, distinguishing between right and wrong, working independently and in groups and handling ambiguity." The concept behind these sophisticated skills goes beyond traditional curriculum; modern curriculum contains pieces of knowledge that are relevant to the current needs of people. It must provide skills to help them become competent and competitive in the world they live in. In a democratic country, the purpose of education is to prepare students to a mature and autonomous participation in a society. Although this is a long-term goal, a student's experiences in the classroom will help him develop not only necessary skills but also self-discipline and self-control. These learning are very significant to what is called the five competencies in the twentieth century. Classroom experiences produced out of effective curriculum must develop the student's consciousness about himself which includes understanding of self and world, citizenship including values of life, skills related to people relationship, skills in managing situations, and skills in managing information. Thus, students must learn not just the basic skills of reading, writing, arithmetic, computer skills, critical thinking skills, and many other skills, but the students must also learn values in life to make him more of a man that plays significant role in the society where he lives in. This is the most forgotten ones which I personally believe to be important to make a nation established and stable in all aspect, for corruption of mind is the corruption of the nation. Understanding Pupil's Learning To understand student is to understand how learning takes place in a student's mind. This topic requires careful analysis of the function of the mind and individual learning types as well as other factors such as the biological aspect, psychological, social and other conditions that affect the mobility of the brain. Other facet of how learning takes place is about the different stages of cognitive development in which lessons and curriculum varies depending on the capacity of learner to be trained. It is also important to know that there are fast learners and slow learners which in fact, cannot be considered deficiency but rather differences in the formation of the brain. Most of these are caused of heredity that is harnessed by environment or nurturing. And in this aspect, it is also imperative to consider other bright ideas regarding holistic approach in learning that recognizes not only the cognitive but also the affective and psychomotor aspect of the brain. Students learn with mind, heart and body which will be discussed further in this paper. In the book written by Stoll, Fink and Earl, learning process in children is given much space. Maybe the reason is learning takes place at this stage until he grows into adulthood. Some important deliberations about child learning process are their motivation to learn, and the role of emotion in learning process. According to the authors, children "are inherently motivated to learn." As each child is born into this world, he begins by grasping his environment using his senses, at first with his ears, eyes; then at age three months, he starts using his hands to touch everything, and his sense of taste. When the child learns to talk, he begins to comprehend the meaning of every sound and use it with great enthusiasm. Stoll, Fink and Earl described these children as "excited and energized by new learning and proud to share what they know and can do with others." This high level of eagerness intensifies his genuine curiosity that compels them to explore and learn almost everything in this world. They have a lot of questions which sometimes beyond our comprehension or not even know the answer. Children are so eager to discover by which, they "take risk" and once supported "they persevere" (p.48). This attitude of children is worth noting, since they learn fast than any stages of their lives. Aside from that, the teacher must also consider the natural talent of the child in terms of learning, there are those that born intelligent or gifted but generally men have average level of intelligence. However, due to the effect of technology and scientific research they found other helping tool towards shaping mind into becoming overachiever, which is called nurturing. Though a child is born with average intelligence he has the possibility of becoming more intelligent. The Role of Emotion in the Learning Process Although, the brain can direct us to achieve our ambitions but emotion can inspire us so forcefully; it has the power to move or compel us to do what we want. It is the determinant of our decision-making, the "right feel" pattern. Thus, even in education, emotion is very vital in producing learning; and that is another concern that is pinpointed by the authors which is the role of emotion in the learning of the students. Emotion as what the authors is connected with learning, they said, "learning is emotional for young children." This emotion is the determinant that show whether learning is weakened or strengthened. In the same way, learning can be maximized in children if the learning is attached with their emotion. This can be done by dealing with these children positively using positive language and having good atmosphere. In addition, emotion can stimulate motivation. Most teachers and students as well, do not recognize the readiness of the learners for information; this simply means that in order for information to enter the mind, it must be accommodating ready to entertain information because of the need that is realized by the learner. The information must have been perceived as important in satisfying basic needs as well as in the attainment of a personal goal. This expressed by the students' "I think" or "I feel" statements which have to be supported with "success" experience in the classroom through activities or evaluation. In the same way, emotion can be a factor in the destruction of one's determination to learn. Thus, teachers must be familiar with negative experiences or words that they impart with them. A good example is the "fear to be embarrassed" of adolescents that may ruin their interest in schooling. Other negative experiences that may create barriers or obstacles in the learning of the students which sometimes the effect is permanent, are: coercion and threat, shame, tense environment, competitive learning climate, an environment with classrooms composed of "low ability" students, and many others. In this regard, the teacher and school administration must understand the negative effect of some actions; and at least do something to avoid it. The probability that emotion is related to learning is explained in the way that emotion is placed at the brain of the human being. The emotional element is located from the amygdala to the limbic system to the cortex and this amygdala according to researchers is the "central processing station for emotion" (Weaver) which is also responsible in "higher cognitive function" (Weaver). Thus, those researchers have concluded that amygdala prepares people for much higher challenges that may require analysis in the decision making process. In this case, emotion is part of the total experience of man, and once properly utilize may bring good effect in the occurrence of the learning. Thus, we cannot separate emotion from learning based on this scientific discovery; in this way, teaching methodology has to be carefully examined and implemented in order to stimulate these students to learn with greater degree of retention. In many cases, rote learning has lesser retention in the mind because it has no emotion to be recalled. Also, negative emotion as what has been discussed in the previous lesson gain negative result as to learning is concerned. Positive emotions can be utilized in achieving learning inside the classroom through meaningful activities and good motivation imparted by the teachers. Teaching Creative/ Critical Thinking in the Classroom Creative thinking is now the focus of education today worldwide. Because if this particular is taught to the students, they have wider opportunity to utilize their talents and ability to grow further even outside the classroom. Through creative thinking, students are free to discover many things about the world that will absolutely facilitate many unsolved problems. Creative thinking once applied and learned in the classroom can surely help shape the students into thinking logically and creatively. Critical and creative are two interrelated skills that have to be imposed in teaching of any subject especially language. This can be done by means of reading beyond the lines or getting the value, attitude, skill and some processes connected to the subject matter. There are varied ways or activities that can be used to exercise critical thinking such as: asking questions, vocabulary exercises, role play, film review or book review, giving the comparison or contrast or contradiction of two elements, solving real problems, analysis of some popular issues in the society, and many other strategies that can be employed. Critical thinking or creative thinking should be given at grade level in order to get familiar with it. Critical thinking is developed through encounter of real situation or problem in which students will have quality thoughts, thoughts that have sound opinion and judgment about what is happening around him. This experience will give them wider analysis and therefore can draw concrete idea of the situation in which solution can easily be driven at. In the same way, teachers have to be reflective, creative or critical before she or he can impart this ability to his or her students. She/he must has wider range of opinion acquired through reading of many reading material or listening to current news local or abroad before he/she can draw different angle of the scene that she/he can impart to the students. In a student-centered learning environment, critical thinking is very appropriate, because you are giving the students wider experience in terms of experience wherein they can appreciate true learning. Teachers therefore have to bring her/his students to the reality and ask critical questions that they will answer. Research paper may be given to high school and college student to give them autonomy to learn by themselves. By means of this, they will explore the subject and discover possible solution about the problem. Students then will have the opportunity to discover own ability to analyze things. Conclusion Applying educational thinking in the classroom requires in-depth understanding of human nature considering both the biological and environmental aspects of learners that affect his learning capability. Many more ideas have to be integrated in the learning process in the classroom but the bottom line is that it must be student-centered. In this regards, the curriculum is designed that fully maximizes learners' experiences through reinforcement exercises in which he will find satisfaction, thus, learning goals are achieved. Because of this demand, the task of the teacher in the learning process is really difficult, she or he has the responsibility of nurturing future citizens of the society that will serve as assets for nation's growth and development. There are methodologies that can be utilized in order to help these teachers achieve high level of competency in teaching students as well as employ significant approaches in dealing with these students to encourage them to learn. Although teachers have to be emphatic with the students, they also have to be strict in the implementation of classroom discipline because through this, students will learn desirable values in life especially self-discipline. He must be equipped with necessary skills and knowledge about educating students, as well as he or she must be well-trained in this profession because teaching is not an easy task although rewarding because this profession deals with real human beings that have emotion who interact with you as a teacher. Teachers can help make students successful in life because of the inspiration she/he can impart to them. Teachers are trained for many years, to prepare the future of the students in the long run. Work Cited Aloni, Nimrod (2002) Enhancing Humanity: Philosophical Foundations of Humanistic Education. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publisher Stoll, Fink and Earl (2003) It's About Learning: What's in it for Schools. USA Weaver, Jacqueline. "Seat of Emotions in Brain May Also Contribute to Higher Cognition." Yale University Office of Public Affairs. (November 9, 2006) http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/06-11-09-01.all.html Read More