Ross Woods, rev. 2018
Before we look at lesson planning, let's look at how people learn. You really, really need to know how people learn.
Your role is to help students learn. You’re a facilitator. The point is not how much knowledge you provide or even how well you perform, but whether or not students learn.
Learning is not the same as schooling
You might think that learning and education is the same as schooling. You might think that setting up a school will automatically produce learning. The idea of gathering all the students in one especially designed building seems to be effective and efficient.
But learning and schooling are not the same:
Schooling is about:
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Learning is about what it is you really need to know:
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Schooling works well for many people; after all, it's the simplest way to provide an education. And many schools do a good job of education.
But a "school" environment isn’t always such a good idea. It might be irrelevant or clearly unhelpful for providing an education. If your students feel they consistently failed in school, you might find a non-school environment much more conducive to real learning.
Some students get frustrated with being institutionalized in a school and learn best on the job; they may resent the artificial controls of a school but do better under the real discipline of a workplace.
Learning is not the same as teaching
You also might think that learning is obviously what happens when you teach. But no, teaching people doesn't mean that they will learn.
Let's look at a wish-it-were-fictional example:
Jill put a lot of effort into teaching. She provided lots of information and carefully explained everything that she thought her students should know and be able to do. She worked hard at what she did.
However, her students were generally bored and confused. It all came unstuck when, near the end of the course, students started asking basic questions that made it clear that they hadn't got the basic idea of what the whole unit was about.
She had to go back and teach everything from scratch, with very limited time to do so.
So that's why there's a trend not to talk about teaching but about facilitating learning. Students are sometimes called "learners" and the process is called the "teaching-learning" process. After all, it's what the students learn that is the measure of success.
| Teaching is about what you do as a teacher. | Learning is about what students should have as a result of the process. |
So how do you teach so that people will learn?
Involve them in the process with discussion questions, activities, and opportunities to ask questions. You will easily be able to see whether or not they are learning what you teach.
Researchers have put a great deal of effort into finding out how people learn. They found that different ways of learning suit some people better than others, and some people learn different kinds of things more easily. However, some principles apply to everyone.
Students learn better when they:
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Students don't learn as well when they:
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Adults learn differently from children. You cannot think that you are filling up an empty container with knowledge.
First, adults highly value what they have learned through their life experiences. Consequently, they need to connect new information to what they already know from experience for it to be meaningful. Many of their questions will be about relating new information to their existing knowledge They will want to know that your new information is somehow better than the way things were once done.
Being pragmatic, they need to know that new knowledge will work and they will envisage practical situations. You might talk theory but they will visualize implementation. Training needs to be strongly experimental and participatory learning.
On the disadvantage side, adults can be confused by new information if they cannot relate it to what they already know, especially if it involves unlearning old habits. On the advantage side, they can understand huge amounts of new information very quickly by relating to what they already know.
Second, they may be better than children at understanding information and integrating it, but weaker on memorizing details. They are more likely to want to know where to look it up, and let the book do the remembering for them.
Third, they want to be involved. They want to try things out or be part of the discussion. Even if they don't talk, they might be passively involved by deeply thinking and feeling their responses rather than saying them out loud. (Of course, most people learn better by being actively involved, not just adults.)
Fourth, they usually have their own clear goals for studying. This has several consequences:
Fifth, they like to learn through modeling. ("Modeling," is the educational word for learning by following an example.) They observe people quite closely, and believe something is possible and practical when they see someone do it.
"Learning styles" is the idea that different students learn very differently and can be clever in different ways. For example, some prefer discussion and to relate to people, some benefit very well from a good lecture, some are solitary readers or writers, some need to visualize a picture, and others need to try doing it.
It has been trendy to suggest that individuals don’t all learn the same way, and that students learn more effectively when the teaching style fits their learning style. If you have a student who is struggling, you should consider whether your teaching has been inappropriate for their learning style, and you should also be aware that some cultures prefer some kinds of learning to others.
The current state of experimental evidence contradicts this view. It has indicated that teaching according to learning style does not generally improve learning. If fact, stretching students to learn in other ways can have positive benefits. There is still some strong anecdotal evidence however, that learning styles are still important. In any case, looking at a topic through different kinds of activities will make your sessions much more stimulating and insightful.
"Learning styles" are not conclusively defined. Most are derived from various psychological theories of learning.
There are many ways to look at learning styles; here's a good sample that will cover the basics. Some educators identify types, and here are a few:
Visual learners These learners want to see something, especially a diagram or picture. If asked to explain something, their natural first choice is to draw a diagram.
Audiolearners These learners like sound. They find a verbal explanation very helpful, and will prefer to explain something orally.
Theoretical learners These learners like to think it through and make sure they understand it before they feel ready to do anything. Logical consistency is very important.
Activist learners These learners like to do it straight away and see what happens. They get frustrated if asked to carefully think something through before trying to do it.
Reflective learners These learners want to mull it over before taking action.
Relaters Relaters feel that relating to people is most important. They look at relationships and personalities, and want to learn from other people. They very interested in how people tick but aren’t very interested in abstract ideas.
Active experimenters Active experimenters are motivated by the question, "What would happen if I did this?" They ask "What if ...?" and "Why not... ?".
Language-oriented learners Language-oriented learners think in words, and are sensitive to their meanings, sounds and rhythms. They verbalize concepts, and tell tales and jokes. They might like reading or prefer oral communication.
Kinaesthetic learners These learners are good at physical activities and are naturally active. They have a good understanding of their own physical movement and are often good at sport, dancing and other physical activities. They process knowledge through physical sensations and naturally want to touch the object that they are learning about. The idea of five kilograms doesn't mean much to them; they want to pick it up and feel the weight.
Musical learners Musical learners listen for ideas in music and how to interpret sounds.
Other educators prefer to look at pairs of variables:
Concrete or abstract Does an individual learn by direct concrete experience (doing, acting, sensing, and feeling) or abstractly by analysing, observing, and thinking.
Active or reflective processors Does an individual make sense of new information by immediately using it? Or do they learn better through reflecting on it?
Right brain or left brain Does a student look at the parts, think in sequential linear logic, and try to be analytical and objective? Or are they intuitive and holistic, looking also at the personal feelings and perspectives of the people involved?
Auditory or visual Do they learn better through listening or through seeing something such as print, film, picture, or diagram?
Applied or conceptual Applied learners want tasks with real objects and practical, real-life learning situations. Conceptual learners prefer ideas.
Spatial or nonspatial Can they visualize how things work and their position in space? Or do they tend to rely on verbal or language skills?
Social or independent Do they want to work with other people and enjoy personal interaction? Or do they like to work and study alone and set their own goals?
Creative or pragmatic learners Are they imaginative and inventive? Do they like discovery and taking risks? Or are they practical, logical, and systematic.
Thinkers or implementers Do they want to discover the relevancy or "why" of a situation and reason from information that is detailed, systematic, reasoned and concrete? Or do they want to know how to apply information, look at practical implications, and try it out?
Divergers or convergers Do they seek to generate many different answers, or do they try to use detailed, systematic, reasoned information to work toward a single preferred answer?
A learning theory is an explanation of the way that learners understand and retain information. They can be useful guides to developing different kinds of activities and possible better ways to present information.
For the purposes of the Certificate IV, you only need to know how to use them as tools in a toolkit so that you can adjust your teaching strategy to be most effective.
There are now many learning theories, and most university courses in education and teaching spend considerable time on them. I've deliberately omitted those that deal with brain function.
Learning theories tend to fit into three categories. Learning is about either
In other words, teaching is about either:
There's no future in arguing that one theory is right and other theories are wrong. It's better to treat them as tools in a toolbox that we can we can pull out and use when we need them.
So let's go through the toolbox ...
Behaviorism is, in its purest form, the idea that learning is no more than the acquisition of new observable behaviors.
In many cases, it depends on the idea that information should be divided into small separate facts, each of which can be learnt individually.
Learning depends on conditioning, that is:
One of the main criticisms is that it does not explain what happens in the mind; it only speaks of observable behavior. It also doesn't explain some kinds of learning or how people can adapt their behavior to new situations. In teaching, it often chops knowledge into such small pieces that it loses the big picture.
In its less extreme versions, it is the idea that the goals of learning can be written down unambiguously and used as an objective standard for assessment.
A behaviorist approach may be most useful when:
Teaching strategies:
Cognitivism (or cognitive information processing) is the idea that learning is primarily thought processes.
It assumes that students have some knowledge of the subject that they can use as a basis for learning more. Students are proactive in learning.
If learning is thinking, behavior only indicates what people are thinking.
A cognitive approach may be most useful when:
Your methods will more likely be:
People learn through social interaction, not just observing or folowing an example, but through discussing their ideas. Through this process, people construct
a body of knowledge through a series of social experiences. It was first proposed as a theory by psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Applications:
Experiential learning is learning by direct experience. That means watching it, touching it, or try doing it. It contrasts to learning theory through books, and works effectively at all levels.
Examples:
In principle, one cannot assume that students actually learn anything unless they also reflect on their experiences. Questions come in different levels:
Constructivism is the idea that, in their search for meaning, students construct their own view of the world based on personal experiences. Learners construct knowledge by interacting with their environment and with other people.
As students explore information they sort knowledge, meaning, and understanding into patterns that are meaningful to them. Each student has their own idea of the world and sets of rules that they use to make sense of their experiences. Consequently, learning is simply adjusting their idea of the world and their set of rules to accommodate new experiences. It follows that learning is individualized and each student may be unique.
For example, a constructivist approach may be most useful when:
Your methods will more likely be:
Teaching strategies:
Problem-based learning is the idea that students learn when they explore and discover in a particular context. Students take responsibility for their own learning because they can structure their new knowledge themselves. Consequently, the learning environment should be student-centered. They actively process information, using their prior knowledge to construct new knowledge.
Teaching strategies:
Authentic learning is the idea that learners structure knowledge in a way that is meaningful to themselves.
Knowledge is connected to the real world, including social, cultural and other contextual factors. Learning comes through interacting with other people and through solving problems.
Teaching strategies:
In this view, learning as an act of membership in a "community of practice." The theory seeks to understand both the structure of communities and how learning occurs in them. Learning is basically a social activity.
Teaching strategies:
Control Theory is the idea that behavior is inspired by what a person wants most at any given time, not by external stimuli.
Teaching strategies
Didactic learning is the idea that knowledge is something that the teacher gives to students. Students are passive individual recipients who must memorize and practice what they have received. In this view, knowledge does not need a context.
This view of learning is often used as a caricature of the "bad old days", and relates more clearly to teaching children than adults.
Information processing means that students are encouraged to interpret a body of knowledge and create their own structures. Consequently, they can remember and use it more easily.
Observational learning, also called social learning theory, is the idea that students primarily learn by following the example of a model in aspects the they find desirable. There are four separate processes: paying attention, remembering, doing what was observed, and motivation.
Teaching strategy: Give students an example to follow, either you own or somebody else's.
Problem-based learning is the idea that students learn when they explore and discover in a particular context. Students take responsibility for their own learning because they can structure their new knowledge themselves. Consequently, the learning environment should be student-centered. They actively process information, using their prior knowledge to construct new knowledge.
Teaching strategies:
Situated learning is the idea that learning depends on a context and on usage. Knowledge grows as students use it and face new contexts and situations. Context guides learning as well as defining its boundaries.
Teaching strategies:
Social cognition is the idea that culture is the main factor to determine individual development. Culture includes the family environment, and conveys both knowledge and the tools of thinking.
Children learn through solving problems with other people, such as a parent, teacher, sibling, or peer.
Teaching strategies: