Talking to the Text

Talking to the Text

Introduction

Cognitive theories mainly deal with the processes of learning, which is accomplished by the long term changes in the mental representations or the associations of the individuals, resulting from their experiences. It is eminent to mention here that the process of learning is related to brain processes and thus cognitive theories provide assistance in providing reasoning for the issues of mental representation. This implies that basically, cognitive learning is the process in which the various senses and reasoning powers of the individual are developed, including the ability to listen to things and the comprehend them. Moreover, the powers of observing, reading, watching, touching and experiences are all defined as the means of getting new information for the individuals, which causes an individual to get information. After getting the information, an individual tries to comprehend and remember the same, thus forming the basis for cognitive learning.

Discussion

Theory Summary

The cognitive theories mainly take reference from the cognitive psychology, and assist in understanding and highlighting the learning process. The process mainly deals with getting an idea about the process going on inside the mind of the learner, thus understanding the actual processes and the manner in which they are carried out to produce the final results. The same theory and the clauses mention above have been highlighted and preserved in the video 'Talking to the text'.

The video 'Talking to the text' mainly presents the 7th and 8th grade of the ELD in the John Muir middle school in San Leandro, CA. the video mainly highlights one particular lesson delivered by the class teacher, Rita Jenson and thus assists the viewer in understanding the details of the process of learning and the manner in which it is accomplished. For this particular class, the teacher has prepared a lecture on poetry, however she has adopted a different style of teaching and before starting the actual lecture and she asks them to share their own experiences and ideas on the said topic.

Theory Application

In the beginning of the class, the teacher asks the students to scan the poem and it should be noted that scanning is not equated with reading in this case. Instead, scanning calls for the children to have a look at the poem and write down the details of the first thing that comes to their mind. The step is mainly intended to trigger the learning process of children and convince them to start thinking constructively, instead of merely read the poem and noting down the details provide by the teacher. The second step in this regard is to read the poem in detail, get an understanding of the context of the poem and then get indulged in group discussion, in order to order to share their learning outcomes with other students and learning about their ideas and thinking outcomes. The final step of the process is class discussion, in which all the students are encouraged to participate and share their ideas with their ...