Personal Learning Theory

The results of my quiz for my emerging theory, I found that to many of the questions I agreed strongly to the question. Although most of my answers consisted of a seven, there were a few that I answered with a 5 or a 6. With this I found that much of my emerging theory tends to fall into the category of knowledge construction and higher-order thinking and behaviorist theory. Reviewing each of the learning theories: Piaget's theory of cognitive development breaks learning into 3 stages of learning. These include preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Vygotsky's cognitive development theory states that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition and children learn most when they are attempting tasks in their zone of proximal development. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development states that a person's personality develops over 8 stages. Kohberg's theory of moral development states that there are 6 stages of development and the 6 stages are broken into 3 levels. Goleman's emotional intelligence theory states that individuals manage the emotions of one's self. The information processing theory states that the mind is a system that processes information through the application of logical rules and strategies. The knowledge constructivism theory states that humans generate knowledge and meaning from their experiences and every learner is a unique individual. The behaviorist learning theory states that rewards and praise are positive reinforcers and unpleasant situations are negative reinforcers. It also says that continuous reinforcement increases the rate of learning. Social Cognitivism theory states that people learn by watching others. It also states that individuals will eventually assume control over their own behavior. Group and Individual differences theroy states because there are many different types of groups and individuals, there will be different styles of learning and teaching that needs to accommodate these differences. Motivation Theory says that motivation affects how a student learns and can increase their learning if directed positively.

My personal theory about how people learn draws from all the theories that I have stated above. I feel that students are going to learn best when they are learning in their ZPD. I feel that praise is very important to a person's feeling of self-worth and will a help a student achieve higher goals. I feel that social and emotional development are just as important to a child's success as academic development. The way in which people learn varies so much upon how the individual brain works. When working with students in groups or individually, I notice many different types of learners all of which need different styles of instruction. In order to teach so many different types of brains you need to adapt as a teacher a variety of styles that will accommodate all learners. Is this possible, or as a teacher do we just teach in one style and hope that all the students will learn? The best way to accommodate all learners would be to embrace all the different theories of learning and draw styles from each theory.

As a future teacher, I would like to have a good understanding of all the learning theories as to help me understand my students and what each individual student may need for them to be able to learn as much as possible. The theory in which I will embrace as a teacher will include, understanding my grade level and what their cognitive stage is, also work with my students in their ZPD to get the students to their level of potential development. Understand the students age group and what psychosocial developmental stage their personalities fall into. I feel that the more experiences I can provide as an instructor the more knowledge my students will be able to retain. These experiences would be hands-on, discovery, and real-life situations all of which help a student obtain and store knowledge. I also feel that praising and rewarding my students is very beneficial for the students to progress. It also provides motivation for the student. As I go into my first job as a teacher, I do know that I will have high expectations of myself and some of these expectations may be difficult to achieve my first couple of years. Accommodating so many different types of learners is a very difficult task, if not impossible. There are many students who become labeled or just fall through the cracks of the school system. If I can teach in a way that will reach all my students on a positive level, than I will accomplish my goal as a teacher. In the field of Educational Psychology, there many topics that can be covered extensively. There areas in which I need improvement are to learn in more detail on how the brain operates and how people learn differently because of how their individual brain works. Also, I feel that although I have touched upon these learning theories, there is still much to be learned about each theory. The more I improve in Educational Psychology, the better I may become as a future teacher.