HCL

Slide 1: 

1

Growing Learning : 

2 Growing Learning Some notes about the growth of knowledge from birth to adolescence David Longman Newport School of Education

Socialisation : 

3 Socialisation A term used by sociologists, social psychologists and educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s culture and how to live within it. For the individual socialization provides the skills and habits necessary for participating within their society. For society, socialization is the means by which social and cultural continuity are attained.

‘Society’ is a ‘school’ : 

‘Society’ is a ‘school’ So, all relationships in society, especially where they involve authority, power, rights and responsibilities, are pedagogical. 4

Aims : 

5 Aims An overview of some key ideas about how learning grows in the young person Ideas which are also useful for … … answering an examination question on the topic of learning and learning growth. (This PowerPoint and reading list will be on mLE)

Criteria for your exam essay : 

6 Criteria for your exam essay Evidence of reading and background research Reference to school experience Discussion that demonstrates knowledge and understanding of the issues addressed Organisation of the discussion Clarity of expression and use of English.

Why we should be aware of theory : 

7 Why we should be aware of theory “The major objective of school teaching is to help children to learn.” (Desforges 1999)Note: not to instruct or train but to “help to learn” To ensure that schools, classrooms and what we teach are well matched to the child’s needs, perspectives and ‘readiness’.

Topic for your exam essay : 

Topic for your exam essay Exploring the idea of ‘stages’ in learning

Observation : 

Observation Many, many times 9

Some key concepts : 

10 Some key concepts Children are active constructors of knowledge Different stages in how children represent, use or acquire knowledge Stages implies ‘readiness’ (e.g. concrete operations; moral relativism) Learning is socially and culturally embedded (e.g. ZPD) ‘Teachers’ are an integral element (e.g. scaffolding) – but note the apostrophes – teachers could be optional Language and culture are fundamental – no society, no learning ... … but biology too has a role.

Learning : 

11 Learning Humans are particularly good learners, though we may learn more rapidly and flexibly when young. Learning has no values - we learn good and bad things, true and false things. Learning is taking in new information Learning is acquiring new skills Learning is doing something better or differently Learning can be short term or long term Learning is being different from what you were.

… but … : 

12 … but … “Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners”(John Holt)

School and non-school : 

13 School and non-school Learning is not synonymous with schooling. Much learning is not intentional but is a result of everyday experiences with people and the world. But as teachers we are concerned with learning that occurs in schools, intentional learning that requires effort and motivation. Schooling too includes a range of situations from the informal to the highly structured, from play to GCSE. Schools and schooling have been defined and redefined over generations. 5

Contexts: : 

14 Contexts: Physical Social and Cultural Psychological Ethnicity, gender, disabilities …

Play : 

15 Play “Children learn through first hand experiential activities with the serious business of ‘play’ providing the vehicle. Through their play, children practise and consolidate their learning, play with ideas, experiment, take risks, solve problems, and make decisions individually, in small and in large groups. First hand experiences allow children to develop an understanding of themselves and the world in which they live.” (ACCAC, 2004)

How children learn: Key concepts : 

16 How children learn: Key concepts Behaviourism … observed behaviour is all there is (no mental structures) plus reinforcement scheduling Cognitivism … observed behaviour is based on inferred mental structures plus experience Children are active constructors of knowledge (constructivism). Children’s intellectual capacities grow in stages. Therefore, children are ‘ready’ in different ways at different stages. Children’s learning is socially embedded. Language and culture are fundamental – no society, no learning. There is an important relationship between activity and thought.

Stages : 

17 Stages Learning runs in stages; what and how we learn grows and varies across time. (i) developmental theorists: that learning stages are linked to biological growth and maturation – teaching has relatively little effect on how a person thinks. Stages are somewhat fixed and are more or less necessary. (Piaget?) (ii) learning theorists say that learning stages are what happens when there are teachers and other people around. Stages are fluid and pragmatic – though there is biological growth over time the social context has a major influence. (Vygotsky?) (iii) .. and of course a mixture of these … (Bruner?)

Who? : 

18 Who? Three key names: Piaget Vygotsky Bruner Important to consider the differences between them . E.g. Piaget emphasises knowledge development as an ‘internal’ cognitive process.

Some key features. : 

19 Some key features. Piaget: mature thought is the end point of a process of cognitive growth which is significantly biological Vygotsky: language and communication in a social setting drives development Bruner: partly biological – partly social

Jean Piaget1896-1980 : 

20 Jean Piaget1896-1980 More about Piaget’s life and work at the Jean Piaget Society.

Piaget : 

21 Piaget “The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.” “Intelligence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.” “Thought is internalised action.”

Piaget … : 

22 Piaget … “Genetic epistemology“: primarily interested in how knowledge developed in humans Cognitive Structures (Schema): patterns of physical or mental action that underlie specific acts of intelligence. Operations are mental processes that allow us to combine schemas in orderly, logical ways A developmental stage is typified by particular styles or classes of cognitive structures and processes. Biological maturation is an important factor.

Piaget … : 

23 Piaget … Approximate stages of child development: sensorimotor – 0-2: intelligence in form of motor actions (no object permanence - preconceptual) preoperational – 3-7: intuitive intelligence (no conservation – perception dominates - egocentric) concrete operational – 8-11: logical intelligence but relies on concrete objects (conservation with logical understanding but only with concrete objects - decentering) formal operational – 12-15: the emergence of abstract and hypothetical thought; deductive reasoning – inferring conclusions from truths which are merely possible. (1966) See here for detailed description of Piaget’s developmental stages.

Examples of stages : 

24 Examples of stages Egocentrism: Seeing things from your point of view (sensorimotor and preoperational stages) The Mountain Experiment

Examples of stages : 

25 Examples of stages Preoperational to Concrete operational (conservation) Conservation of number and length Conservation of volume and substance Conservation of area

Examples of stages : 

26 Examples of stages Formal operations (abstract/hypothetical reasoning) If Edith has a lighter complexion than Susan, and Edith is darker than Lily, who is the darkest? Ask a 16 year old to tell you the rules for making pendulums swing quickly or slowly, and she may proceed like this: A long string with a light weight -- let’s see how fast that swings. A long string with a heavy weight -- let’s try that. Now, a short string with a light weight. And finally, a short string with a heavy weight. This experiment would tell her that a short string leads to a fast swing, and a long string to a slow swing, and that the weight of the pendulum means nothing at all!

Piaget: features : 

27 Piaget: features Cognitive structures change through processes of adaptation involving assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation – experience is interpreted in context of existing structures Accommodation – cognitive structures are adapted to take account of new experiences. Equilibration is the process that drives these changes Application of theory: e.g. children in sensorimotor stage need a rich and stimulating environment with ample objects to play with; children in the concrete operational stage need learning activities involving problems of classification, ordering, location, conservation using concrete objects.

Principles : 

28 Principles Children will provide different explanations of reality at different stages of cognitive development. Cognitive development is facilitated by providing activities or situations that engage learners and require adaptation (i.e. assimilation and accomodation). Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level of motor or mental operations for a child of given stage. Language is important but cognitive change is driven by action and experience – development follows learning. Thought is “internalised action”.

Lev Vygotsky1896-1934 : 

29 Lev Vygotsky1896-1934 Vygotsky resources

Vygotsky : 

30 Vygotsky Children construct knowledge in social interactions with peers and adults Intelligence is the capacity to learn through social interaction (or instruction) Hence language, communication and culture are central

Slide 31: 

31 For Piaget, learning (e.g. new knowledge, new perceptions) follows cognitive development. For Vygotsky learning drives development.

Vygotsky … (2) : 

32 Vygotsky … (2) In the learning of language, our first utterances are for communication; once mastered they become internalized and allow "inner speech“, i.e. thought. (“play is the source of development.“) Cognitive development depends upon the "zone of proximal development" (ZPD). The range of skill and knowledge that can be developed with adult guidance or peer collaboration exceeds what can be attained alone.

ZPD : 

33 ZPD Level of Independent Performance: The best one can do on a given task without help. Level of Assisted Performance: The maximum one can achieve with help. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The area between the Level of Independent Performance and the Level of Assisted Performance. Teachers should focus their attention here. What interventions will work best to support a child’s performance of a task? Assessment should reflect both the Level of Independent Performance and the Level of Assisted Performance. ZPD shifts upwards as learning occurs – we always have a ZPD. What’s yours?

Slide 34: 

34 Vygotsky is an important originator of constructivist ideas. Play is an important element. Teachers, peers and parents are significant (compare Piaget who is often thought of as providing a case for a curriculum without teachers).

Jerome Bruner 1915- : 

35 Jerome Bruner 1915- About Jerome Bruner … schooling is only one small part of how a culture inducts the young into its canonical ways. Indeed, schooling may even be at odds with a culture's other ways of inducting the young into the requirements of communal living....

Jerome Bruner : 

36 Jerome Bruner Influenced by information theory: learning involves the search for pattern, regularity and predictability. We learn through a process of representation Instruction, i.e. the teacher, facilitates this search Partly biological, partly cultural – we acquire ideas and information from our environment and process it ‘internally’ … i.e. environment and experience.

Bruner’s ‘stages' … : 

37 Bruner’s ‘stages' … Enactive mode of representation and learning: babies and young children learn through their bodily actions. Iconic mode : e.g. children learn to understand what pictures and diagrams are and how to do arithmetic using numbers and without counting objects. Symbolic mode – usually around adolescence – children and adults can understand and work with concepts that are abstract. Developmental growth involves mastering each of these increasingly more complex modes, as well as moving between them.

Innate or acquired? : 

Innate or acquired? The Process of Education (1960): The role of structure in learning and how it may be made central in teaching. The approach taken should be a practical one. 'The teaching and learning of structure, rather than simply the mastery of facts and techniques, is at the center of the classic problem of transfer... If earlier learning is to render later learning easier, it must do so by providing a general picture in terms of which the relations between things encountered earlier and later are made as clear as possible' (ibid.: 12). Readiness for learning. Here the argument is that schools have wasted a great deal of people's time by postponing the teaching of important areas because they are deemed 'too difficult'. We begin with the hypothesis that any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. (ibid.: 33)This notion underpins the idea of the spiral curriculum - 'A curriculum as it develops should revisit this basic ideas repeatedly, building upon them until the student has grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them' (ibid.: 13). Intuitive and analytical thinking. Intuition ('the intellectual technique of arriving and plausible but tentative formulations without going through the analytical steps by which such formulations would be found to be valid or invalid conclusions' ibid.: 13) is a much neglected but essential feature of productive thinking. Here Bruner notes how experts in different fields appear 'to leap intuitively into a decision or to a solution to a problem' (ibid.: 62)  - a phenomenon that Donald Schön was to explore some years later - and looked to how teachers and schools might create the conditions for intuition to flourish.   Motives for learning. 'Ideally', Jerome Bruner writes, interest in the material to be learned is the best stimulus to learning, rather than such external goals as grades or later competitive advantage' (ibid.: 14). In an age of increasing spectatorship, 'motives for learning must be kept from going passive... they must be based as much as possible upon the arousal of interest in what there is be learned, and they must be kept broad and diverse in expression' (ibid.: 80). 38

The Process of Education (1960) : 

The Process of Education (1960) 39 The role of structure in learning and how it may be made central in teaching. … If earlier learning is to render later learning easier, it must do so by providing a general picture in terms of which the relations between things encountered earlier and later are made as clear as possible. Readiness for learning. Schools have wasted a great deal of people's time by postponing the teaching of important areas because they are deemed 'too difficult'.  Any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development. The spiral curriculum - 'A curriculum as it develops should revisit this basic ideas repeatedly, building upon them until the student has grasped the full formal apparatus that goes with them' . Intuitive and analytical thinking. Intuition is a much neglected but essential feature of productive thinking. How can teachers and schools create the conditions for intuition to flourish.   Motives for learning. Interest in the material to be learned is the best stimulus to learning, rather than external goals such as grades or later competitive advantage.

Jerome Bruner : 

40 Jerome Bruner The task of the teacher is to translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding. Scaffolding - Bruner's metaphorical term 'scaffolding' has come to be used for interactional support, often in the form of adult-child dialogue that is structured by the adult. Scaffolding refers to the gradual withdrawal of adult control and support as a function of children’s increasing mastery of a given task. (Note: the term is often used in referring to Vygotsky’s theory of ZPD though he did not coin it) The curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned (spiral curriculum) Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given … discovery learning).

Jerome Bruner : 

41 Jerome Bruner predisposition towards learning. the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured and sequenced so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner (towards a theory of instruction)

Maria Montessori1870-1952 : 

Maria Montessori1870-1952 42 About Maria Montessori

Slide 43: 

spontaneous self-development (readiness?) the excluded the baby with the piece of red paper 43

Slide 44: 

44 instruction of children in 3-year age groups, corresponding to sensitive periods of development (example: Birth-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-15 ) children as competent beings, encouraged to make maximal decisions observation of the child in the prepared environment as the basis for ongoing curriculum development small, child-sized furniture and creation of a small, child-sized environment (microcosm) in which each can be competent to produce overall a self-running small children's world creation of a scale of sensitive periods of development, which provides a focus for class work that is appropriate and uniquely stimulating and motivating to the child the importance of the "absorbent mind," the limitless motivation of the young child to achieve competence r his or her environment and to perfect his or her skills and understandings as they occur within each sensitive period. The phenomenon is characterized by the young child's capacity for repetition of activities within sensitive period categories (Example: exhaustive babbling as language practice leading to language competence).

Moral Development : 

45 Moral Development How children develop an understanding of right and wrong The meaning of rules and conduct

Piaget : 

46 Piaget A young child was asked about a boy who broke 15 cups trying to help his mother and another boy who only broke one cup whilst trying to steal cookies. Which boy was naughtier?

Piaget : 

47 Piaget He observed that younger children found the first child to be naughtier because they looked at the amount of damage caused (judgement based on consequences). Older children (10-12yrs) found the second child to be naughtier because the motives behind the action were wrong (judgement based on intentions).

Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) : 

48 Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) Three levels, six stages:

Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas : 

49 Kohlberg’s Moral Dilemmas Heinz Steals the Drug In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $ 1,000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: "No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it." So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug-for his wife. Should the husband have done that? For more dilemmas see:http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/kohlberg.dilemmas.html

Slide 50: 

50

Social Learning TheoryAlbert Bandura (1925-1959) : 

51 Social Learning TheoryAlbert Bandura (1925-1959) “Significant learning occurs through watching and imitating other people.” (Bandura, 1965) Through observing behaviour and its consequences children gradually learn something about what is considered to be appropriate conduct. This can be positive or negative. May be vicarious, i.e. may not require direct reinforcement We may then model the behaviour: 4 step modelling process: Attention Retention Reproduction Motivation

Bandura : 

52 Bandura Bobo Doll Studies – these demonstrated the effect of role models. Though aggression feature highly they are really about learning from observed examples.

Multiple IntelligencesVAK(uous) : 

53 Multiple IntelligencesVAK(uous) The default ‘theory’ of the present day? Multiple Intelligences. Partly a challenge to ideas about intelligence. It is not a single thing Learning Styles Short step to say that if I am say musically intelligent then I learn best through the auditory channel … … but how many channels or styles are there really? Why 3? Why 8? Why 23?

Learning to Learn : 

54 Learning to Learn “All skills will become obsolete except one, the skill of being able to make the right response to situations that are outside the scope of what you were taught in school. “We need to produce people who know how to act when they are faced with situations for which they were not specifically prepared .” (Seymour Papert, 1998) “Since we cannot know what knowledge will be needed in the future it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead our job must be to turn out young people who love learning so much, and who learn so well, that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned.” (John Holt) “Intelligence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.” (Piaget)

Principles of classroom practice : 

55 Principles of classroom practice Active involvement Social participation Meaningful activities Linking knowledge Transfer Restructuring Planning and reflecting Understanding Motivation

Active Involvement : 

56 Active Involvement Avoid situations where the students are passive listeners for long periods of time. Provide students with hands-on activities, such as experiments, observations, projects, etc. Encourage participation in classroom discussions and other collaborative activities. Organize school visits to museums and technological parks. Allow students to take some control over their own learning including decisions about what to learn and how. Support learning goals that are consistent with their interests and future aspirations.

Social Participation : 

57 Social Participation Students work in groups; teacher as coach, co-ordinator, or guide. Classroom environment to include group workspaces where resources are shared. Teach students how to co-operate with each other. Support expression of opinions and evaluation of each other’s arguments. Link the school to the community at large.

Meaningful Activities : 

58 Meaningful Activities Situate classroom activities in an authentic context (e.g. where the activity is typically used in real life). Be aware of and respect cultural differences.

Relating new knowledge to old : 

59 Relating new knowledge to old Discuss the content of a lesson or topic before starting in order to ensure level of prior knowledge and in order to activate this knowledge… … and look for ‘false’ beliefs and ‘misconceptions’. If needed rehearse prerequisite content or preparatory work. Ask questions that help students see relationships and connections between what they are doing and what they already know.

Transfer : 

60 Transfer Aim for mastery of subject matter. Help students see the relevance of what they have learned to other domains... … and apply what has been learned in area to other areas. Show students how to abstract general principles from concrete examples.

Planning and reflecting : 

61 Planning and reflecting Help students to … plan how to solve problems, design experiments and read books. evaluate the statements, arguments, solutions to problems of others, as well as their own. check their thinking, ask themselves questions about their understanding— (Why am I doing what I am doing? How well am I doing? What remains to be done?); develop realistic knowledge of themselves as learners — (I am good in reading, but need to work on my mathematics); set their own learning goals; decide what are the most effective strategies to use and when to use them.

Restructuring : 

62 Restructuring Be aware that students have prior beliefs and incomplete understandings that can conflict with what is being taught at school. Create an environment where alternative beliefs and explanations can be externalized, expressed, criticised. Build on the existing ideas of students; lead them to more mature understandings. Given time to restructure conceptions. Perhaps, it is better to design curricula that deal with fewer topics in greater depth than attempting to cover a great deal of topics in a superficial manner.

Understanding : 

63 Understanding Get students to explain a phenomenon or a concept in their own words. Teach students how to abstract general principles from specific cases and generalize from specific examples. Show students how to provide examples that illustrate how an idea applies in practice.

Motivation : 

64 Motivation Recognize student accomplishments. Attribute student achievement to internal and not external factors (e.g. ‘You have good ideas’). Help students believe in themselves (e.g. ‘You are putting a lot of effort on math and your grades have much improved’). Provide feedback to children about the strategies they use and instruction as to how to improve them. Help learners set realistic goals. Take care with ability grouping. (Implies that ability is valued more than effort?). Promote co-operation rather than competition. Research suggests that competitive arrangements that encourage students to work alone to achieve high grades and rewards tend to give the message that what is valued is ability and diminish intrinsic motivation. Provide novel and interesting tasks that challenge learners’ curiosity and higher-order thinking skills at the appropriate level of difficulty.

Bibliography : 

65 Bibliography See myCourses on mLE

Immediate practical purpose : 

66 Immediate practical purpose To respond to a seen examination topic: “Discuss the ways in which children learn most effectively. Demonstrate how you used this knowledge on Block School Experience”. (in addition to an unseen topic)

Tabula Rasa? : 

67 Tabula Rasa? Until the early 20th Century it was widely believed (though not universally) that a newborn child's mind is a blank slate (tabula rasa), without thought or concept. In modern times this idea came from John Locke. It was also believed that because language is a prerequisite for abstract thought a baby without language could not have knowledge. At the same time it was, and remains, widely believed that children thrive when their natural instincts and propensities are allowed to grow unconstrained (Rousseau). In the 20th century, armed with new methodologies, psychologists began to understand that far from lacking intellectual and emotional capabilities, young children are sophisticated thinkers … in ways relative to their age and stage.