Learning Philosophy

Learning is not isolated strictly to curriculum content. As humans, we spend our entire lives learning, experiencing, and making decisions daily. Navigating through these experiences can be difficult for children and adults. As adults, since we better understand how we should navigate through life, we must positively guide students in a way that sets them up for success. Although adults are primarily the “teachers,” in my five years in education I have discovered students have an array of things to teach us as well. Children and adults have so much to learn from each other, and the classroom presents this golden opportunity. My students have taught me empathy, kindness, and the art of forgiveness. My hopes are, that I have taught them humility, citizenship, and collaboration, in addition to the required curriculum. So, learning can happen anywhere, any time, and with anyone.

Teaching <-> Learning : The Philosophies and Relationship

A teaching theory speaks to how educators deliver their curriculum and content to their students. On the other hand, a learning theory is how students internalize and rationalize the information presented to them. Although these theories are drastically different, they work hand in hand for a student's success. Each year, a teacher's approach to how they deliver content will vary, because the students change. Each classroom setting and student is different, and educators must be flexible with their teaching mechanisms because student needs are individualized. Educators must ensure they are living in the realm of a growth mindset because without it, it will be difficult for them to evolve and adapt as needed for their students.

Beliefs about my learning

Ever since I was a little girl, I have enjoyed learning. At the end of each school year, if there were extra textbooks or workbooks that would be thrown out, I took them home. Over the summer, my little sister and I would play school, and I was always the teacher. From that moment on, I knew what I wanted to do. I enjoy learning new things and take pride in gaining new knowledge.

Over the years I have noticed that I have to visually see things myself to truly comprehend the content. Throughout undergrad I needed to read over the PowerPoints after class, when my students are asking me to assist them in their writings I have to read their essays myself, and when I studied I had to make flashcards and read over them.

The root word of constructivism is construct; Merriam-Webster defines construct as, to make or form by combining or arranging parts or elements, or to build. This is also a very important part to my learning because I learn through experience, collaboration, and hands on learning. Jean Piaget is one of the main theorists for constructivism. Lowenthal and Muth (2008) report that cognitive constructivism was developed from Piaget's findings and it states that students learn as a result of analyzing meaning of content due to their individual experience and prior knowledge. Secondly, they state that social constructivism allows students to cultivate meaning within interaction, cultures, and language (Lowenthal and Muth, 2008). This is vital because students are able to learn a wealth of information from collaboration with their peers. I have observed this personally in the ADL program; my peers and I share personal educational experiences and it provides us an opportunity to cultivate new theories and opinions from perspectives.

Annotated Bibliography

Ackermann, E. (2001). Piaget’s constructivism, Papert’s constructionism: What’s the difference. Future of learning group publication, 5(3), 438.

Ackermann discusses how Piaget and Papert develop different ideas on constructing in the learning environment. She will analyze why Piaget's constructivism allows students to have interests and succeed in them, while Papert's constructionism focuses on how students engage with the collaboration of peers through conversation.

Bada, S. O., & Olusegun, S. (2015). Constructivism learning theory: A paradigm for teaching and learning. Journal of Research & Method in Education, 5(6), 66-70.

Bada and Olusegun break down each aspect of the constructivist theory. In this article, they discuss the basic characteristics, pedagogical goals, benefits of utilization, and the principles. This is a great resource to get a complete understanding of what this theory entails, and how it should look in a classroom.

Gash, H. (2014). Constructing constructivism. Constructivist

foundations, 9(3), 302-310.

Gash's article surveys radical constructivist to study the array of ways and reasons students and educators teach and learn in the ways they do. This research will discuss attitudes towards peers and teacher professional development. He concludes his research by stating children should be empowered in their learning and their should be an urgent need to focus on this learning.

Harapnuik, D. (2021). Learning philosophy. Retrieved from https ://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=95

In this blog post, Dr. Harapnuik examines learning philosophies and their ties to creating significant learning environments for students. He begins discussing the difference between teaching and facilitating and how this impacts a students learning environment. He also attaches many helpful links that further explain his stance.

Lowenthal, P., & Muth, R. (2008). Constructivism. In E. F. Provenzo, Jr. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education (pp. 177-179). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Lowenthal and Muth's article reviews constructivism, regarding its background and implications for education. This article gives insight on the why and how constructivism should be utilized.

References

Ackermann, E. (2001). Piaget’s constructivism, Papert’s constructionism: What’s the difference. Future of learning group publication, 5(3), 438.

Bada, S. O., & Olusegun, S. (2015). Constructivism learning theory: A paradigm for teaching and learning. Journal of Research & Method in Education, 5(6), 66-70.

Lowenthal, P., & Muth, R. (2008). Constructivism. In E. F. Provenzo, Jr. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the social and cultural foundations of education (pp. 177-179). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.