EDUCATION

Theories and principles for planning and enabling learning



Table of Contents

Introduction2

Methodology2

Behaviourism3

Cognitivism4

Humanism4

Andragogy5

Theory of Memory6

Relevance of Communication to Teaching7

Relevance of Theories and Principles of Learning and Communication to My Own Practice and Professional Development8

My Preference in Theories and Practices9

Other Examples10

Application of Theories and Principles in Planning and Enabling Inclusive Practice11

References13

Theories and Principles for Planning and Enabling Learning

Introduction

I started working on the essay on February 19, 2011, visited various websites and read different books to improve my understanding of the theories and principles for planning and enabling learning and consequently managed to write the essay.

Methodology

It is worthwhile to mention that every research is a blend of methodologies and therefore, mine is no exception to this rule. Qualitative and quantitative methods of research characterise this research. Theories and principles for planning and enabling learning is a major human activity and therefore, needs to be probed into (Atherton, 2011). Main theories of learning are taken into consideration such as,

Behaviourism

Cognitivism

Humanism

Andragogy

Multiple Intelligences

Theory of memory

In order to have a proper understanding of learning theories, it is vital to have an understanding of learning itself. This brings me to a question as to what is learning. Is it the name of change in a process or behaviour? Learning is the end product of some process which can be seen, felt and recognized and which consequently have a bearing on behaviour. In that perspective, learning is actually a quantitative enhance of knowledge, getting information or knowledge a lot. Let us try to understand the learning theory now which is an effort to explain how humans and nonhumans learn which facilitate us to understand the difficult processes of learning. According to Hill (2000) one is in giving us with a theoretical framework and vocabulary for understanding the instances of learning which we observe. The other one is in guiding where to go for the solutions of the practical problems. Hypothesises do not provide us way out however; direct our concentration to the variables which are essential in finding the solutions (Atherton, 2011).

Behaviourism

According to behaviourism learning is an increase in knowledge and information. Let us go to explore how people learn. There are certain conditions of learning at the top of which is behaviour. The behaviourist school of thought assumes that learner is basically passive, reacting to environmental stimuli. It is considered that he is a slate that is clean, and his activities are shaped either through negative or positive re-enforcement. Both sorts of re-enforcement anticipate the recurrence of the antecedent behaviour. It is punishment which stops the antecedent behaviour (Skinner, 1985, pp. 291-301). Behaviourism precedes cognitivism and discards structuralism and it is considered to be an expansion of logical positivism. Thus, learning is defined to be a change in behaviour of the learner. The originators and significant donors to behaviourism are B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, E.L. Thorndike (Connectionism), Tolman, and Bandura (moving in the direction of Cognitivism). The key words of behaviourism are classical conditioning (Pavlov), operant conditioning (Skinner) and Stimulus response) the key points of this theory ...