Educational Orientations
Different learning theories have different foci Behaviourist Humanist Cognitive Social Cognitive Constructivist
Behaviourist Environmental factors determine behaviour John Watson Classical Conditioning Edward Thorndike Early 20th Century Law of Effect: A pleasing after-effect strengthens the action that produced it Stimulus-Response Theory
Behaviourist Ivan Pavlov B.F. Skinner (1938) Reinforcement Conditioned reflex B.F. Skinner (1938) Operant conditioning Reinforce desirable behaviour Ignore undesirable behaviour
Discussion What educational practices are informed by the behaviourist perspective?
Humanist Human potential for growth. Educate the whole person. Maslow (1970) Hierarchy of needs
Humanist Rogers (1983) Characteristics Learning that leads to personal growth Often adopted for Adult learning Characteristics Personal Involvement Self-initiated Pervasive Evaluated by learner Making meaning of experiences
Discussion What educational practices are informed by the humanist perspective?
Cognitive Learning is influenced by internal state of the mind Prior knowledge Processing of information in memory Jean Piaget Assimilation and accommodation Sensorimotor stage Pre-operational stage Concrete operational stage Formal operational stage
Cognitive Ausubel (1967) Bruner (1965) Rote learning = no context Meaningful learning = new information related to existing experiences Bruner (1965) Discovery-based learning Acquire new knowledge Manipulate knowledge to fit task Evaluate whether it is a good fit
Discussion What educational practices are informed by the cognitive perspective?
Social Cognitive Recognition that learning occurs when observing others Albert Bandura (1976) Learning through imitation Vicarious learning Learning involves individual and the environment Self-efficacy Estimate of ability to succeed in a given context
Discussion What educational practices are informed by the social cognitive perspective?
Constructivist Learning is the process of constructing meaning Neo-Pigetian theorists Learning is individual Process of adjusting internal schema to environment Practical activities are central
Social Constructivist Knowledge constructed through discussions and social interaction Shared understanding of meaning Lev Vygotsky (1978) Learning mediated through culture Foundation for Activity Theory, which focuses on activities and artefacts that form the basis for learning in the classroom Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Discussion What educational practices are informed by the social cognitive perspective?