Learning and Professional Practice - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: Learning Understanding Learning Understanding Learning: A Closer Look at Learners Learning has various functions in a man’s life. It depletes someone’s ignorance, enables us to acquire new skills needed for survival, and helps us achieve career goals and relationship goals. It helps us make judgments, solve problems, and organize thoughts. There many other functions of learning and they are too many to count. Taking into consideration the significance of learning, it is important that we understand learning as a phenomenon, as a process, and as an outcome. At the same time, it is also essential to assess the most crucial actor in the process of learning – the learner. This paper provides some discussions on the various aspects of learning that are important in understanding how human beings are as learners. Specifically, it explains how people learn as discussed mostly in the view of educational psychology, the methods used to further a person’s learning progress, the way learners responds in different learning environment, and how human beings develop what they learned into a higher level of thinking. Human Beings as Learners People tend to have a general notion that learning usually transpires within the domains of formal educational institutions such as schools and universities. Although most of the knowledge that individuals accumulated over time have been a result of formal training and discourse, it is undeniable that the process of learning is an unending and inevitable phenomenon which happens in any other venues besides formal institutions. As Salmon (1980) puts it, learning also occurs outside schools and universities – that is, within the comforts of the home, the workplace, or any place where we can communicate and socialize with other people. Apparently, this is particularly true with a person’s early childhood learning experiences and equally true with his/her continual learning endeavors after bidding farewells to the academic world on his/her graduation day. In the early childhood years, human beings started to learn through the aid of speech and language which are usually accompanied by effective nonverbal gestures. From reciting nursery rhymes, they stepped up to writing our own essays and poems. From counting one to ten, they moved to memorizing the multiplication table and solving even more complex problems on accounting or mathematical economics. Eventually, they became capable to manage the financial aspects of a business. From learning the rules of a game, they became able to set our own rules or even devise a new game. I have to agree with Cam (1995) that the manifestations of the skills that a person learned over time could be a result of either routine or reflective thinking. Cam (1995) claims that the abilities an individual has gained during early childhood up to the primary schools become too mechanical and programmed to him/her such that he/she is hardly thinking or simply doing routine thinking when he/she recites the alphabet, counts from one to ten, or shouts “Foul!” in a basketball game. On the other hand, being able to write a coherent essay, manage a business’ finances, or conceptualize a new game show requires more mental activity and reflective thinking as if a person extracting every creative and logical juice from our minds. With reflective thinking, man is able to study and assess a set of concepts, beliefs, and ideas on the basis of their underlying assumptions and arguments. From such study and assessment, an individual formulates conclusions, decide on what to believe in, and create personal judgments (Cam, 1995). Definitely, being able to go beyond routine thinking and develop reflective thinking is a great progression within the more encompassing course of learning. In order to be able to delve into that more deeply, it is necessary to understand human beings as learners. Imagine a little boy who does not know how to tie his shoelace and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot do it right. Later, his mother comes to his aid, demonstrating and giving instructions to his son on how to do the little job. The little boy imitates the way how his mother did the tying while the mother remains in assistance. In the end, the little boy is able to tie his shoelace perfectly and independently. This scenario is a simple illustration of Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development is the gap between a person’s actual development level and potential development level in the context of finding solutions to problems with assistance from a more learned person (Vygotsky, 1978). In the case of the aforesaid scenario, the zone of proximal development of the little boy lies on the gap between the moment he ties the shoelace with his mother’s help and the moment he is able to do the tying successfully and independently. Vygotsky (1978) recognizes the importance of imitation in the process of learning and enhancing mental development. However, he also argues that imitation per se does not translate to a higher level of mental development; rather, more important indicator of mental development is the actual completion of an action without any assistance from other person. According to Reidy (2006), Vygotsky’s approach is more centered to the potential rather than the actual development. Reidy notes the significant role of people giving assistance during the learning process, which is termed as scaffolding. It is in this vein that Reidy assessed one of the six fundamental images of a learner – the learner as potential. In addition to assistance, language also plays an essential part in mental development. As language is used by a child in communicating and socializing, language would then develop into internal speech which may be instrumental in dealing with the child’s problem solving and thought organization (Vygotsky, 1978; Cam, 1995). Vygotsky’s ideas and Reidy’s image of learner as a potential are usually applicable in preschool and early childhood levels. As stated earlier, learning continues even outside the schools or after having already accumulated many skills. I wish to illustrate this through a personal experience and by using one of Reidy’s images of learners, that is, the learner as apprentice. I had been a participant in a science research apprenticeship program. In that program, the participants were trained to conduct scientific research in an actual laboratory and to write a paper regarding the conducted research. I did a research on extraction of essential oil from eucalyptus leaves using enzyme biotechnology. Such research was made possible under the coaching of an adviser and a research associate, together with a little help from some laboratory technicians. In this case, I had been a learner as apprentice. The topic of the research was not provided and not readily available. The things that were only available were resource materials such as theses, books, and journal articles. From there, I had to get the idea of what the laboratory can offer and what possible research can be conducted there. The role of the adviser and the research associate is to approve my idea, provide alternatives, and polish what I had presented. During the process, they assist me in using laboratory equipments, check my written output, and make sure that I was on track. Lacking in expertise but armed with scientific ideas, my learning experience was facilitated by the people in the laboratory through instructions and coaching. One of the resources needed by the apprentice is having expert coaches who are exceptionally experienced in their respective fields (Reidy, 2006). In my case as an apprentice, I happened to have an adviser who has a doctorate degree and was serving as the director of the entire laboratory where I was trained. Although my adviser possessed all those professionally exceptional qualities, she would provide general instructions but she would not settle with learning via spoon-feeding. I had to move from one library to another and try to figure out for an alternative in the event that the research would not be feasible. My initial subject was oil extraction from a variety of jasmine; however, the oil yield from such flower was too little to be tested. I then switched to eucalyptus and it was successful. What I am trying to point out is that, aside from good coaches, an equally important resource of an apprentice is possessing sharpness to help him/her become more reflective such that when unexpected problems exist, the apprentice can immediately arrive at a sound solution (Reidy, 2006). In addition to the images of a learner as potential and as apprentice, there are other four images of a learner discussed by Reidy, along with the required resources to aid learning of such images. They are as follows: learner as agent (independent, proactive, and critical learners who are provided access to adequate learning resources but with minimal supervision), learner as performers (learner who is seen as a performer taking up a role in front of an audience or team members and whose primary resource for learning is the team’s backing and the audience’s belief in performance), learner as a new community member (learner who copes up with new culture and/or subculture whose primary learning resource requirement is interaction with others such that differences in culture are assimilated), and lastly, learner as a border crosser (learner caught within transitory environments who needs interactions based on empowerment). Based on the above discussion, learning never happens absolutely on the learner’s exclusive internal capacity. It always requires external resources such as a mentor, learning materials, or other people to interact with. Here, it is clearly asserted that being a human and social being, for that matter, enables an individual to learn new things. This is further justified in Vygotsky’s article as he took into account, by citing Kohler’s study, human’s difference with animals in terms of learning potentials. Both humans and animals can be trained to do a certain mechanical activity that they are initially incapable of doing. Both can succeed, but only humans can advance their development into more complicated mechanical as well as mental tasks. It is for the reason that humans have a social character, an important factor in learning, which is absent in animals (Vygostky, 1978). Generally, it is logical to argue that human’s approach on learning is, most of the time, communal, interactive, and shared. The Learner during the Learning Process: Means and Styles of Learning To fully understand human beings as learner, it is not enough to only look at the learner as a product of socialization. It is also critical to know the means and styles of learning in order to figure out how a learner can potentially advance his/her capacities. There are various ways to elevate a person’s learning capacities. In the advent of the multiple intelligences theory by Gardner, more doors became for more creative styles of learning in order to address and improve each type of intelligence (Gardner, 2004). In addition, strategies to enhance mental abilities have been devised and one of them is the so-called Mind Mapping or Mind Map laws. Mind Map laws help to improve the way a person organize ideas in mind, especially in note-taking or memorizing (Buzan and Buzan, 2000). Mind Mapping is divided into two laws: laws of techniques and laws of layout. Each technique and layout involves shapes, variation of sizes, figures and images, numbers lines, proper spacing, and other forms of depictions which are usually appealing to the senses. These, in turn, will contribute in enhancement of creativity and serve as an effective memory aid (Buzan and Buzan, 2000). Other learning styles depend on the teaching styles. Neville (1994) believes that learning in general does not need to be simply incremental. More importantly, it needs to be transformative. According to him, training and instruction are good ways to pass on information. However, if the educator’s goal is to change the person and not merely to provide additional skills, Neville (1994) suggests that the educator may resort to other more effective means of teaching which shall be identified hereinafter. Educators may teach through modeling or showing the students how to properly conduct proper behavior. This may be later grasped by students and they will start imitating. Storytelling can also be an effective teaching tool, especially when used as a strategy to teach children (Neville, 1994). In his article, Geertz (1997) cites the psychologist Bruner for pointing out the importance of tales and narratives in the construction of meaning. It enhances the child’s imaginative and creative side. Teaching in the form of a narrative especially in animated form could catch children’s attention and the prospect to absorbing the message is in greater likelihood. Another means of teaching is through experience. Experiential learning provides first-hand information and joy of discovery. Educators can also teach by coaching, facilitation and collaborative exploration (Neville, 1994). I believe that the last three methods of teaching are effective in such a way that the interaction between the educator and the student is at a closer level; thus, the impact to learning may be greater. In my opinion, learning styles in formal educational institutions must be developed in such a way that learning is not confined in the image of a teacher in front is speaking and the students are sitting and merely listening. A more participative mode of learning would be more beneficial to both the teacher and the students because it encourages a more reflective approach to learning. The Learner and the Environment: Responses to and Effects of Contexts The psychology of a learner and the styles of learner have already been taken into account. Another important factor to completely understand human beings as learners is the type of learning environment that they are exposed to. Learning in different contexts may generate different learning outcomes and may have varying effects to the learner. One clear example to point this out would be Mackay’s comparison of the value systems of three generations in Australia. This is basically an illustration of learning in the cultural context. Babies born in the 1920’s, during the Great Depression, is considered by Mackay (1997) as the Lucky Generation. This part of the population is characterized by the possession of positive values earned from the way their parents raised them in the midst of hardships. After moments of hardships, their adulthood occurs during the country’s period of economic growth where they built careers and families. The second generation that Mackay examined is the Baby Boomers, the babies born in the 1950’s. If the Lucky Generation has stable and family-oriented values, the Baby Boomers, who lived during the Cold War days, are more individualistic and spendthrift. Yet, the Boomers are also the ones who led the feminist and egalitarian movements (Mackay, 1997). The Rising Generation, the babies born in the 1970s and 1980s, is the third generation assessed by Mackay. According to him, the babies in this period are more adaptable to change they grow up in a swiftly changing society, culture, economy and technology. Members of this generation are mostly highly literate but with a little attention span. Furthermore, they are very open to options and change (Mackay, 1997). From the comparison of the three generation, it is evident that learning (particularly, learning of values, in case of Mackay’s study) is very much affected by the environment and culture in which the learner grew up in and the way the learner responds to such environment. Apparently, the adaptive ability of a person dictates him/her how to behave in a certain situation. Since culture is changing, the behavior and attitude of people change accordingly over time. Learning as depicted in the cultural context is examined in broader perspective. To analyze learning in a narrower perspective, let us look at learning in an interpersonal level. On the interpersonal level, the implication of learning that takes place between a teacher and a student is notable. Effective teaching and, consequently, learning may be a result of how the personal relationship between the teacher and student is during the process. If, prior to the actual teaching, the teacher strongly supposes and believes that the student can understand and do his instructions, such teachers confidence in the student might have remarkable effect on how the student is learning, despite the absence of the technical skill being learned (Salmon, 1980). It seems that the teacher must also play the role of a coach in a sense that he will condition the students attitude towards the skill to be learned. For Salmon, educational and clinical psychology fails to probe more deeply into what she considers the most vital feature of knowledge — the personal and social relationships of the learner. She conceived the idea based on the fact that people learn while interacting with other people and that gaining knowledge in the social context is inevitable (Salmon, 1980). In my experiences as a tutor, one of the important techniques that I learned in making my student strive and do her best to solve a chemistry problem is to consistently remind her that she can do it. Based on observation, I can say that my student understands the concepts but fails to apply that understanding in problem solving exercises. Seemingly, she is afraid of committing mistakes and would rather give up solving than arrive at a wrong answer. However, when I continue to speak words of encouragement and reassurance of her capacities, she would also continue solving independently until she gets the correct answer. Most analysts of learning and education highly regard the significance of communication in effective learning. Dictatorial relationships which forbid exchange of opinions generally impedes a learners potential to improve. The tendency is that the learner would feel intimidated and would then adapt to the situation in order to survive rather than to learn (Salmon, 1980; Neville, 1984). Facilitating environments, on the other hand, promotes open communication which is conducive to personal learning (Salmon, 1980). As mentioned earlier, learning outcomes are dependent on learning environments or contexts. More specifically, it depends on how the learner responds and adapts to the context in which he/she learns, whether it is on the cultural or interpersonal level. Favorable contexts usually gain positive response and outcome while repressive contexts gain otherwise. The Learner towards a Higher Level of Thinking It is already established that human beings are always in a constant learning process. Even if a person is outside the boundaries of formal educational institutions, a higher level of learning and thinking is still necessary in order to better cope up with a harsh environment without any teacher guiding the grown-up student. By higher level of learning and thinking, I am talking about critical thinking. Prior to entering college, I do not have a full understanding of critical thinking. Surely, I already heard the phrase but I did not believe that I am capable of such activity back then. When I entered the university as a college student, the phrase critical thinking became an expression that is regularly discussed and repeatedly used by professors and students, as well. Professors, especially those of philosophy and other social science, never failed to include discussion of critical thinking as well as how they would want to shape critical thinkers in and out of the classroom. What is critical thinking? Cam (1995) cites Robert Ennis’ definition of critical thinking as a way of thinking which makes use of reason and insight to formulate sensible judgments on a certain belief system or activity. Meanwhile, Brookfield (1987) lists four components of critical thinking. First, critical thinkers must be able to distinguish and question assumptions. This component of critical thinking gave rise to different political philosophies such as feminism, environmentalism, and libertarianism. For instance, the conservative notion that women’s domain is exclusively at home was contested, resulting in the opening of structures in the public domain to women. The second component of critical thinking is perception of context of behaviors and actions. Critical thinkers make decisions and judgments without disregarding the context. Third, thinking critically opens doors to a number of possibilities and contrives better alternatives. Critical thinkers do not simply oppose and challenge assumptions. Moreover, it is more important that, in this multifaceted world, critical thinkers must be able to present options and alternatives in place of the beliefs that they challenge. Lastly, critical thinkers are relatively skeptical. They do not settle for the ideas presented to them and simply believe that such ideas are absolute truth. Instead, they manage to question their authenticity as well as their applicability in a certain situation. Other concepts related to critical thinking are reflective thinking, excellent thinking, creative thinking, logical and rational thinking (Cam, 1995; Brookfield, 1987). Now, how can critical thinking be developed within the corners of a classroom so that the students would be able to effectively use it when they reach adulthood? One way would be interjecting philosophical inquiry in a classroom discussion since it poses a broad area of subject matter to think of, as suggested by Lipman. Adopting a non-routine or reflective way of thinking also promotes critical thinking and this could be achieved by letting students engage in the practice of thinking together (Cam, 1995). Small group discussions and brainstorming sessions are good ways to start to advance the idea of thinking together. As discussed earlier, Vygostky (1978) argues that through internalization of language as a result of involvement in social practices and thinking together, a child’s level of intellectual capacity is boosted up in a sense that the child would be able to concentrate on its own thinking. Since one of the noteworthy characteristics of critical thinking is questioning assumptions and established facts as if they were not the absolute truth, I would like to share a practice of a former professor to force us to think critically. One of the requirements of the course is group reporting on a certain topic. After the assigned group finished with the report, each member of the class is required to submit questions pertaining to the report. With the professor being a man of exceptional knowledge and of blunt reputation, we are expected to formulate the most intelligent and critical question that we could ever think of. Objective questions which simply ask the reporter to identify, enumerate, or clarify are not encouraged because they do not reflect critical thinking. Analytical questions which ask the reporter to analyze, assess, reflect, and justify are strongly approved of and commended because it shows that you think out of the box and you force your classmate to think out of the box, too. I believe that my professor’s strategy is highly effective because during the reporting, I would not simply listen as I would normally do in ordinary circumstances; in this case, I listen, analyze the information that the reporters present, identify the strong and weak points of the report, and from there, formulate intelligent questions. Critical thinking is not only helpful to an individual but its implications are also beneficial to the society as a whole. A community of critically thinking individuals would definitely create a politically participative citizenry as well as a workplace characterized by innovation and inventiveness (Brookfield, 1987). Critical thinkers are not apathetic members of the society. They usually take stance on every political or social issue. They do not necessarily topple down the status quo but they are proactive in making constructive changes in the society, in aspects where changes are needed. In the workplace, they have respect for authority but are assertive in making constructive criticisms and offering alternatives in response to illogical and unreasonable rules and regulations. Simply put, critical thinkers have fully functional senses and make use of those senses at their best. What does this convey about understanding human beings as learners? The concept of critical thinking tells us that human beings are highly progressive learners in a sense that they started out as ignorant creatures but, through time, they developed into civilized individuals capable of higher level of thinking, continued learning, and society-shaping. Summary and Conclusion Indeed, the concept of learning may seem simple. But if the concept is given a closer look, learning is actually widely encompassing. Its facets extend from the self to social relationships, from home to educational institutions to workplace or to any place where interaction happens, from values to belief systems to ideologies, and from ordinary skills to extremely technical ones. Sometimes, people tend hold learning and education as the same. However, I believe that learning is more wide-ranging compared to being educated. Education dwells in the more formal and institutionalized realm while learning transcends formality. Since the scope of learning is so extensive, it is a good theme to study. Subjects of studies may vary; for example, they could focus on the learner, the teacher, the learning environment, the implications of learning, or the learning tools. Learning also takes place in every stage of human life. Learning occurs in early childhood days, in the formal schooling, and during adulthood. Human beings can learn and discover new things each day of our lives. Throughout every learning experience, whether it happens in a person’s early life or in adult life, the power of communication as a tool in learning is always present. Also present are the people who play the role of the educators, teachers, or mentors. They are not necessarily those people who practice teaching as a profession or works in a formal educational institution. Learning may be informal and teachers may be our parents, brothers, or any member of the family, one of your peers, or even complete strangers. Human beings are capable of learning in the same way that they are capable of socializing. This sets humans apart from animals. A man has every potential to accumulate additional knowledge and skills and increase our level of mental development. He has access to various forms of learning styles and he is able to figure out what style is most appropriate to him. However, the implications of supposedly learning experiences are not always positively productive. The context in which the experience was set and the response of the learner to that situation may affect the consequence of the learning experience. To address this, the concept can be changed or, if it is unchangeable such as the culture in general, the person himself/herself must try to be optimistic and flexible in the kind of culture he/she is exposed to. Humans can be learners as new community members trying to assimilate values and experiences through adaptive socialization. In order to elevate level of learning on a higher ground, it is important to know how to think critically. More than acting on routine, man should reflect, examine, and assess an idea based on assumptions and contexts. Of course, an individual cannot end up as critical thinker for his own sake alone. Critical thinkers can become a powerful societal force which can offer better alternatives and constructive solutions to problems. They must share what they have learned and their critical thinking ability by becoming agents of social change. Bibliography References Brookfield, S. (1987). Developing critical thinkers: Challenging adults to explore alternative ways of thinking and acting. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Buzan, T. & Buzan, B. (2000). The mind map book (rev. ed.). London : BBC. Cam, P. (1995). Thinking together: Philosophical inquiry in the classroom. Sydney, NSW: PETA & Hale & Iremonger. Gardner, H. (2004). How education changes: considerations of history, science and values. Globalization: Culture and education in the new millennium/ Suarez-Orozco, M & Qin-Hillard, D (eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press. Geertz, C. (1997, April 10). Learning with Bruner. The New York Review, 22-24. Mackay, H. (1997). Three generations: three value systems?. National Anglican Conference Journal. Canberra: Church Press. Neville, B. (1994). Paper presented at 6th Annual Summer School: Professional Development in Adult Literacy and Basic Education. La Trobe University. Reidy, J. M. (2006). Learning to work: Students experiences during work placements. Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. Salmon, P. (1980). Coming to know. London, Boston and Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Read More