As a 2nd year student teacher when asked,
"what is learning?" should be an easy question to answer. But when I was asked
a few weeks ago I struggled for an answer. I concluded with "finding out
about new things and gaining knowledge." But learning is much more than
that. Within the Oxford Dictionary (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2016) it states that
learning is "the acquisition of knowledge or skills through study,
experience, or being taught."
Learning is a process. It is a process that
involves repetition and practice. From the day we are born we learn how to walk
and talk, we learn how to solve problems and master a range of skills. Bloom's
Taxonomy (Atherton, 2013) highlights learning as a process through three domains of learning. Within the cognitive domain Bloom created a taxonomy,
which indicated that from knowledge we can progress through higher order
thinking to be able to evaluate and synthesise (Atherton, 2013).
Learning is complex. Children learn in all
different ways and it is for teacher's to understand how they learn, and help them
progress accordingly. To understand the three main learning theories, behaviourism,
cognitivism and constructivism we can understand how learning is formed and
created. With theorists such as Bruner, Vygotsky and Piaget we can understand the
different types of learning and how we learn from each other.
Learning is primarily all about engagement and excitement.
Teachers need to engage and inspire children for effective learning. With the
help of technology there is a new element to learning, which the teacher can use to develop lessons to engage and inspire the student's to understand and learn better.
References:
Atherton J S (2013) Learning and
Teaching; Bloom's taxonomy. [online ] Available at: http://learningandteaching.info/learning/bloomtax.htm [Accessed
16 Feb 2016].
Oxforddictionaries.com (2016) Oxford
University Press. [online] Available
at: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ [Accessed 16 Feb 2016].
