Educational Theories In Practice

EDUCATIONAL THEORIES IN PRACTICE

Educational Theories in Practice Katherine Ferrao 6756405 Professor Wayne Sheldrick PED3142 - Inclusive Classrooms March 6, 2018

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Introduction The field of Education is constantly evolving in many different ways, and the preferred approaches to teaching are no exception. The following paper aims to summarize educational theories from Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Alfie Kohn respectively, and describes my past and present experiences with the application of these theories from the eyes of a teacher and a learner.

Theoretical Perspectives Piaget theorizes that humans have three basic tendencies that cause them to order and categorize new concepts (Organization), adapt to their environments by adjusting their behaviours and experiences (Adaptation), and connect new concepts with previous knowledge to attain equilibrium (Equilibration). Piaget insists that intelligence is developed when humans interact with their environment and fuse the knowledge from those interactions with their previous knowledge until they become inseparable. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development illustrate four main stages of life (Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal) in which humans’ three basic tendencies evolve to expand their intelligence. He believes the intelligence developed in each stage prepares the person for the challenges faced in the next stage of cognitive development. These developments can be impeded by different hurdles, such as focusing on only one characteristic of a problem (Perceptual Centration), the inability to mentally undo something that has already been done (Irreversibility), and assuming that everyone perceives everything the same way you do (Egocentrism) (Sheldrick, 2018a).

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Vygotsky theorizes that language is a critical component for cognitive development because it provides an avenue for students to express themselves, ask questions, and categorize events in a timeline, and it provides the definitions of the categories into which they sort new concepts. According to Dr. Sheldrick’s lecture, in the process of cognitive development, Vygotsky calls “the area where a child cannot solve a problem alone but can be successful under guidance or in collaboration with a more advanced peer” (2018b) the Zone of Proximal Development. His theory surmises that language begets the skills for cognitive development, and that people learn best when any concepts are progressively taught (scaffolded) to meet and connect with the student’s prior knowledge. Kohn believes that school should be about producing thinkers and creators instead of “walking repositories of knowledge” (2018c), on top of creating an “ethic of questioning” (2018c) and maintaining balance between focusing on the students’ interests and preparing them for their future. His theory insists that schools eliminate rewards as a form of motivation and base their educational methods around collaborative learning rather than the one-sided transmission of information and classroom control. In order to stoke the fire of motivation in their students, teachers should make learning an engaging experience directed by the students, give reasoning for what they are teaching, invite risk-taking, and make each subject an opportunity to explore new concepts together.

Applications in Teaching In order to apply Piaget’s theory, you need to understand how each stage of cognitive development affects the way a student learns. It is also important that you base your teaching on

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direct experience from activities in which students interact with each other and their environment. According to the Piaget lecture, teachers in primary grades should use concrete props and visual aids, make instructions short, and give students hands-on, repetitive activities to build their foundation (2018a). In my Grade 1 practicum placement, my Associate Teacher (AT) often uses cut, paste, and colour booklets to teach French phonetics and reading, and she will recite the sounds and words in those booklets every morning to solidify their knowledge of each sound. It is unbelievable how quickly the students can understand and reproduce what has been taught. Also mentioned in the Piaget lecture is how junior teachers should use concrete props that students can manipulate, have students categorize objects and ideas ranging in complexity, and present problems that require logical and analytical thinking (2018a). In my Grade 4 Ancient Civilizations unit, my AT and I utilized maps and physical recreations of artifacts to organize key characteristics of each civilization, and presented questions ranging from architecture to government that required students to collaborate and consider varying factors of what we learned in order to present thoughtful answers. This successful application of this theory produced Piaget’s concept of equilibration, which is often a product of meticulously scaffolded teaching. In the Vygotsky lecture, Dr. Sheldrick wrote “well designed instruction is like a magnet. If it is aimed slightly ahead of what children know and can do at the present time, it will pull them along, helping them master things they cannot learn on their own” (2018b). Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories overlap in this sense, because knowing what level of cognitive development children are at will help teachers gauge how far ahead they should set the expectations for their students. In a Planning, Implementation, and Assessment course, we learned how to design a unit to scaffold learning and, in my practicum placement, I created and taught the Balancing unit

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plans for Grades 4-6 Physical Education. It was fascinating to see the difference between students who were and were not using previously taught strategies to accomplish new challenges, and they explicitly recalled these strategies when I led a consolidation group discussion. Collaboration is also very important to cognitive development according to Vygotsky, because it requires students to consider varying points of view (2018b). Students need opportunities where they can talk through what they are doing, which is why group projects are often completed more productively and with more enriched perspectives than individual assignments. In my Grade 4 Social Studies practicum class, students had to research interesting facts about an ancient civilization of their choosing, translate the information into French, and present it to the class. The students were able to proficiently call upon the translation and collaboration skills my AT and I taught them to complete their project, and the presentations they completed were thoughtful and fascinating. This successful application of Vygotsky’s theory made me feel gratified that the students were able to apply their previously learned skills to complete these ancient civilization presentations they were visibly excited to research. The desire to spark motivation within students to learn has generally been met with rewards for success and/or effort, which Kohn’s states causes resentment and feelings of failure, and instead theorizes can intrinsically be found in a collaborative learning environment directed by student inquiry and interest (2018c). My Associate Teacher was mentioning the different levels of implementing this method with our Grade 1 class, which is where I see an overlap of Vygotsky’s and Kohn’s theories. Before we can ask students how to ask questions, we must begin by teaching the language they need to know to ask questions, which Vygotsky stated as critical in cognitive development (2018b). Only afterwards can we teach how to ask a question,

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what a question contains, and finally, how to form their own questions. In my Grade 4 practicum class, each lesson is met with a buzz of questions that are answered by other classmates, or in group research. Activities like this are paramount in fostering a classroom environment that allows for each person to be heard, and for students of every ability to be engaged and excited about learning. This also demonstrates Kohn’s desire for team teaching that focuses on community building instead of competition.

Personal Applications As a preface to this reflection, I only sought diagnosis for my ADHD two years ago, at the recommendation of a friend who thought my anxiety and depression were symptoms and not standalone mental illnesses, but reflecting on my previous experiences as a learner made me realize that its effects have been present my entire life. Piaget’s theory proves extremely effective with me, as someone diagnosed with Inattentivesubtype ADHD, because he insists that teachers give students visual representations and tactile examples from which to learn. In the ADHD Part 2 Powerpoint, it reads “ADD children [...] have a visual learning style [...] who learn by remembering the way things look” (2018d). In highschool, I aced subjects like Biology and Chemistry that were easily explained through visual representations, but subjects like Physics, with its innumerable amount of abstract concepts, caused me immense frustration when I could not picture it in my head. Tactile, lab activities where the teacher physically demonstrated concepts was where I did my best learning. Math was another hurdle for my visual learning style, which my mother tried remedying with Kumon: a Vygotsky-style program in which I had to complete similar problem sets every day

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until, after every few weeks, I would get a new type of problem set to build on the skills I learned from the previous one. Instructors would teach me new skills each week to develop my knowledge, and required repetitive use of these skills ensured I had a strong foundation as Piaget’s theory asserts. Despite the years of repetitive worksheets that felt torturous with my ADHD, I was proud to have gone from failing Math in Grade 2 and, like Kohn points out, resenting my friends who got rewards for completing the teacher’s homework the fastest, to doing Grade 12 Advanced Functions in Grade 8 and helping tutor those same friends. University brought on many more mountains for me to climb with my ADHD, since I no longer had the structure that was enforced at home with my parents. I did not have the selfregulation skills to handle school, became but study groups demonstrated how the team teaching Kohn suggests did, in fact, stoke my motivation to learn. They gave me that “extra help in social and academic areas” (2018d), mentioned in the ADHD lecture, that relieved the isolation, anxiety, and depression I felt.

Conclusion After analyzing the educational and cognitive development theories from psychologists covered in this course, I have come to the conclusion that there is no “best” way to teach. Replacing old methods and approaches with new ones may help reach more students, but from my experiences so far, I see too much value in familiarizing yourself with every psychologist’s theories and keeping a repertoire in the back of your mind of tools you can implement depending on the learning needs of your students. Piaget, Vygotsky, and Kohn have proven to me the importance of student interest-driven, collaborative, scaffolded, and encouraging learning in my

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practicum placement, and I hope to further that benefit with my own students in the years to come. References Sheldrick, W. (2018a). Week 2 Piaget [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https:// uottawa.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/61971/viewContent/1578767/View Sheldrick, W. (2018b). Week 2 Vygotsky [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https:// uottawa.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/61971/viewContent/1578768/View Sheldrick, W. (2018c). Week 4 Alfie Kohn [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https:// uottawa.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/61971/viewContent/1603846/View Sheldrick, W. (2018d). Week 5 ADHD Part 2 [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from https:// uottawa.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/61971/viewContent/1615442/View