While pursuing my undergrad, every educator I knew told me that nothing could prepare for what being a teacher is actually like. I remember writing my philosophy of education paper for my undergrad and feeling so confident that I would always stick to the words I was writing in that moment. Five years into my career and my philosophy of education, specifically with how students learn, has significantly changed!
At the time, I believed whole-heartedly in the behaviorist theory, where "all behavior can be explained without the need to consider internal mental states or consciousness" (Behaviorism, 2016). I was the student who was involved in everything and made all A's. I always followed the rules which led me to believe that if every student just chose to follow the rules, then any student could be just as successful under the same circumstances. What I failed to recognize is that not all students come from the same circumstances. I was blessed to come from a home where all my needs (and most of my wants) were met. I never suffered any trauma or tragedy. I had adults in my life who invested in me and cared for me. Not every student has that. After working closely with students and seeing first-hand how different their circumstances and life experiences can be, I no longer believe the behaviorist theory is the way to learn because it doesn't work for all students.
Humanist theory has partially impacted my philosophy of learning because humanists believe "it is necessary to study the person as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over the lifespan" (Humanism, 2017). I believe that knowing each student's background is vital for every teacher so that we can know if the student's needs have been met. This is where Maslow's hierarchy of needs comes into play. Abraham Maslow believed that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that once one need is met, a person seeks to fulfill the next one (McLeod, 2007). The needs go in the following order: biological and physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, self-actualization needs, and transcendence needs (McLeod, 2007). If you notice, there are several needs that need to be met before a person can fulfill cognitive needs. If a student doesn't have food or water, doesn't feel safe, doesn't feel loved, and doesn't have self-esteem, then they most likely aren't going to care and/or be able to learn much of anything in my algebra 2 class because they have more basic needs that are more important that haven't been met yet. This is why I believe we must look at the student as a whole and not just what we see in the classroom.
The constructivist theory is the idea that " meaning is constructed in the mind of individuals through discovery, with a focus on the process of assimilation and accommodation of knowledge" (Tan & Hung, 2003). Learning is more about constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. When I was a student in high school, I mostly learned by acquiring knowledge; however, I don't remember much of it. What I do remember is the knowledge I acquired in my undergrad when my professors taught using inquiry-based learning where I had to construct the knowledge for myself. Not only do I remember the knowledge that I learned, but also the sense of pride I had when I discovered a connection on my own. I believe that a student will be impacted more by the knowledge they construct themselves rather than the information they are just told.
Overall, I identify as a constructivist. The contributors to the constructivist theory include Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky, Jean Piaget, John Dewey, and Jereome Seymour Bruner. Vygotsky focused on more of a social constructivism where he "emphasized the critical importance of interaction with people in cognitive development" (Tan & Hung, 2003). Vygotsky created the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development which classifies thinking and problem solving into three categories: things a learner can do independently, things a learner can do with guided help, and things a learner cannot do even with guided help. The zone of proximal development is where the learner can learn with guided help.
Vygotsky's ideas on social constructivism and the zone of proximal development contribute to why I believe I am a constructivist as it relates to my innovation plan of blended learning. Blended learning requires a teacher to be a facilitator as well as interactions between students, online and face-to-face. When a student isn't able to learn independently, they will hopefully be able to learn it in the zone of proximal development with the help of the teacher or other students. I also believe that the zone of proximal development has been maximized in today's digital age. With online resources readily available in a blended learning classroom, the amount of things a learner can do either independently or with guided help has significantly increased.
References:
Behaviorism. (2016, September 2). Retrieved from https://www.learning- theories.com/behaviorism.html.
Humanism. (2017, February 4). Retrieved from https://www.learning-theories.com/humanism.html.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.
Tan, S. C., & Hung, D. (2003). Beyond information pumping: Creating a constructivist e-learning environment. Educational Technology, 42(5), 48–54. Retrieved from https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/4735/1/ET-42-5-48.pdf
Annotated Bibliography:
Behaviorism. (2016, September 2). Retrieved from https://www.learning- theories.com/behaviorism.html.
This article had a good overview of behaviorism which helped me to
understand how much I have changed from being a behaviorist.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
This book helped changed my own mindset towards my capabilities as well
as my students' capabilities as far as learning goes.
Harapnuik, D. (2016, March 11). Four keys to understanding learning theories. [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.harapnuik.org/?p=6344
This article helped me to know where to start researching. It gives a
breakdown of all the different types of learning theories out there and what
the most basic/common ones are as well as which ones technically are not
learning theories.
Humanism. (2017, February 4). Retrieved from https://www.learning-theories.com/humanism.html.
This article had a good overview of humanism which help me to identify a
couple of key concepts that I identify with.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.
This article goes into detail about Maslow's original hierarchy of needs as
well as his updated hierarchy of needs and includes details about each
need.
Tan, S. C., & Hung, D. (2003). Beyond information pumping: Creating a constructivist e-learning environment. Educational Technology, 42(5), 48–54. Retrieved from https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/4735/1/ET-42-5-48.pdf
This article goes into detail about the different types of constructivists,
especially constructivism in the context of e-learning.