Reality in the Classroom

Assignment 1

To what extent does the reality of classroom interaction substantiate the various theories of learning?

Alison Weston

Suffolk and Norfolk Secondary SCITT

Sunday, 12 September 2004

Contents

Page

1. Introduction: Aims and Objectives. 3

2. The Theorists and Their Theories. 5

3. Evidence for use of the theories from classroom observation.

4. Conclusion.

5. Bibliography.

6. Appendix.

Introduction: Aims and Objectives.

My aim for this assignment is to research the various theories of learning that I had previously been referred to, and then look for evidence of them in the classroom setting.

When I started reading about the various theories, such as Piaget, Vygotsky and Skinner, I began to recall situations in which I had seen their ideas in practice.

Watching my baby Goddaughter grow up, I have seen her pass through some of the stages to which Piaget refers. From birth, she was constantly reaching and grasping for things, which equates to the sensory-motor period. Now she is at the pre-operational period and she is starting to talk. She can point to parts of her body and to objects around her when their name (the symbol) is said.

As a Brownie and Guide Guider, I am used to working with girls in the 7 to 14-age range. I often used 'coercion' with these girls - 'If you will just sit still for 2 more minutes and let everyone finish, then we can play a game'. Skinner in his Law of Positive Reinforcement advocates this 'carrot and stick' approach (the 'stick' in the example being, if you don't sit still, you don't get to play a game). The girls became used to working quietly to finish a task, knowing that the treat would come after.

My objectives are:

* to research more deeply the ideas of some of the well known theorists;

* to find evidence of their theories in my classroom observations;

* to look how I can adapt this for my own future lesson planning.

The Theorists and Their Theories.

John Piaget, 1896-1980

During my research for this essay, Piagets' ideas are the ones that I have come across most frequently. This was sometimes directly as a use of his work, but often it was referred to when another theorist was disagreeing with him. His ideas appear to be central to learning theory, maybe even having been the launch pad that helped the subject to take off, yet he was not intending that his ideas should be used in the classroom. He took no account of the role of the teacher in the learning of the child.

His is a 'constructivist theory of cognitive development'. He says that the child builds its own reality by experimenting with its environment. He breaks this down into a broad idea of 'ages and stages'.

* 0-2 years: the sensory-motor period

During this first stage, the actions of the child are important. The infant combines sensation and movement to build a picture of the world. They reach out, grab, suck and chew objects around them, using the sensations to build a mental structure (schema) on which they build new learning.

* 2-7 years: the pre-operational period

During this period, the child starts to develop language, which allows them to convert the schema into symbolic structures. The child also begins to be able to discuss the past and the future; they go through a stage of attributing life to in-animate objects (animism) and are very egocentric.

* 7-adulthood: the operational period

1. 7-11 years, multiple perspectives

At this stage, the child's reasoning is based entirely upon its own concrete observations. They may begin to form hypotheses that will take them one step beyond their current knowledge, but it will still be embedded in the existing knowledge. The child begins to understand the concept of reversibility and begins to overcome their egocentricity by being able to deal with several aspects of a situation at once, and starts to take into account other's views.

2. 11-adulthood, abstract thought and evaluation

Now the child is developing logical reasoning. It can look at complex situations and deduce reasonable outcomes, even when conflicting signals are being received. They begin to be able to use abstract concepts without reference to concrete examples. At age 9 or 10, the child can deal with concepts of weight, number, distance and temperature because they can be shown concrete examples, but as they move into this