Philosophy of Learning

One of the first questions Dr. Harapunik asked us students in the e-portfolio course meeting what our definition of learning was. It was received with a bunch of us looking at each other’s squares to see who was going to be the first to speak up. The question seemed so simple, but also difficult to answer. The fact of the matter is that learning can be defined in a variety of ways. What I do know is that learning is something that occurs daily. One of the funny things I like to debate with my students about is if by the end of the day they learned anything new. Most of the time they’ll say yes and describe how to draw a model to represent a math problem or an interesting fact from our science lesson. And then sometimes I will receive a “No, I didn’t learn anything today”. Here is where we jump into our debate. I ask that student if they feel more confident in the information that they have already learned and most of the time they say “Yes”. If that is the case, they did learn something. They learned to be more confident and increase their skills even if it isn’t a giant leap in progress. Dr. Harapnuik describes learning as an active and dynamic process where learners build new ideas and concepts based on past experiences and knowledge.

What is Learning?

This seems to be the million dollar question. Lynda Kelly (2002) describes learning as a very individual, complex and indescribable process. It is something that is natural that we do without truly thinking about it. Many people have their own interpretation of what learning is. If you step into different classrooms even in the same school, you may see students learning differently than students in other classes even if they are in the same grade. If you happen to visit my classroom, you may see students standing on their chairs, singing songs, and laughing. Just because it is not a traditional classroom setting doesn’t necessarily mean that students aren’t learning. Even the ADL program I am a part of can be an example of an alternative way of learning. When I began college in 2005, online classes seemed foreign to many people, but if you fast forward seventeen years later, I am now completing a Master’s program from the comfort of my own home. I believe learning is seen as a process. It is much more than following a pattern and memorization. I believe it involves connections with a learner’s experiences and their interests. I also believe that learning has to deal with more than checking off boxes on a list. Seth Godin (2012) asks the question, are we asking students to collect dots or connect dots? He also declares that we are good at collecting dots, meaning that educators measure the progress of students. However, connecting dots and having students truly understand the purpose, the why and the how, seems to be pushed to the side. I believe that learning should be identified as a way of acquiring knowledge and understanding about a certain topic through the use of life experiences.

What Kind of Learner Am I?

As a student, it was very difficult for me to find the motivation to learn sometimes. Most of the time when I learned something, it seemed as if it was more of a requirement than necessity. I was a student who had to know the purpose of what we were learning. Unfortunately, even in education today, some educators teach new skills to students because it is what is mandated by their school district. I don’t see anything wrong with setting a standard for what is taught, however I believe the approach and methods that are being used could be altered to fit the learning styles and needs of our students today. After reviewing learning behaviors, I came to the conclusion that I lean toward constructivism. The constructivism learning behavior the learning of new practices and ideas are based on the learner’s prior knowledge and experience. (Dr. S. Kurt, 2021.) describes that as students enter the class, they each possess a unique perspective of life that has been created by their unique culture and experiences. Therefore this will impact their learning. An example that I can tie into the previous statement is my love for books that featured Hispanic characters. Growing up my favorite author was Gary Soto, who authored books such as Baseball in April, The Skirt, and Too Many Tamales. As a child, I gravitated toward these books on library days because the kids on the covers looked like me, and the stories reminded me of my home and family. I developed a love for reading because these books spoke to me and allowed me to visualize the settings and stories because I shared similar experiences as the book characters. Upon further research of David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, I realized how this theory relates to Dewey and Piaget’s Constructivism learning theory. Both learning theories depend heavily on the learner’s previous knowledge and experiences. (Kolb,1984) describes his theory as the process where knowledge is created through experience. Meaning that the process of learning, like the constructivism theory, relies on prior knowledge and the learner’s experience. I believe that I identify with this theory the most because even as an adult, when learning something new or unfamiliar, I try to relate the topic to something that I have seen or heard before. I especially take this into consideration when teaching a new topic by asking feeler questions to allow students to access their prior knowledge to answer questions. With my innovation plan, I plan to lead my campus by utilizing teachers’ knowledge of technology. However, if teachers’ are in need or lacking the skills necessary to contribute to the campus project, it would be my duty to assist them by using the skills they do have and building on the foundation.

Learning Philosophy & Teaching Philosophy

There are also important reasons to recognize what type of learner that you are. Especially if you are in the education field. In the classroom, teachers are met with many students of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and economic groups. Not every student will have the same life experiences as another. An example of this is when I first began teaching and I made a reference about going to a professional baseball game. Although a lot of my students were fortunate to have had that experience, there were many who have rarely ventured into Downtown Houston where the baseball games are played. So therefore as teachers make references to things that seem common, it is important to also differentiate for those students who may not have had those experiences. This as well ties into creating a significant learning environment. If you are able to create an environment where students are able to feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their thoughts, it will make it easier for them to want to participate in the class.

Conclusion

Education has changed so much just within the past few years. What I have come to learn that learning is not “a one size fits all” thing for everyone There are a variety of students who have different learning styles and just as well as educators who have different teaching styles. It is important that we continue to adapt to our students and how they learn. And we begin considering what students are to learn during the school year, we must more importantly consider the purpose and the future implications of what they are learning.

Annotated Bibliography

Constructivist Learning Theory. (2021). Retrieved September 13, 2022

https://educationaltechnology.net/constructivist-learning-theory/

This source describes the constructivist theory of how students base their learning of new ideas from learned experiences and prior knowledge. The source also describes how an engaging environment impacts student learning rather than a traditional classroom.

Harapnuik, D. (2021, January 18). Collecting dots vs connecting dots. Retrieved September 12, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7o3Jh1KZLw

This video source questions the reliability of the data that is collected from students. In the video Seth Godin makes a case for connecting more dots (meaningful and purposeful learning), rather than collecting dots (checking off from a list to show what is being learned).

Kelly, L. (2002). What is learning … and why do museums need to do something about it? A paper presented at the Why Learning? Seminar, Australian Museum/University of Technology Sydney, 22 November. [https://australianmuseum.net.au/uploads/documents/9293/what%20is%20learning.pdf. Retrieved September 14, 2022

This source from Lynda Kelly describes that there are many interpretations of the definition of learning. In this source Kelly provides data that reflects people’s ideas of how learning takes place.

Kolb, D. A. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall; 1984.

In this resource, David Kolb describes that there are multiple ways that learning can be defined. He describes how learning can be created from experience and that in order to understand learning, we must understand its nature.

Learning Philosophy. (2015). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from http://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=95

In this source Dr. Harapnuik describes his learning philosophy. He describes the need to move from a traditional learning environment and into creating a learning environment that is best for students to truly connect to what is to be learned.