Effective Teaching and Learning Essay

Teaching is not just one way, giving information to students and expecting them to draw from the information! A teacher (to be professional and effective) also needs to know all the different theories, models and learning styles. Embedding models to enable best practice in each session and allow students to absorb valuable information. The tutor is to reflect on each session, for example look at what went well and what didn’t go so well. Differentiating between different students abilities and learning styles. Teachers are constantly reflecting, not only if the students are learning from the tutor but the tutor should be constantly learning best practice and not become stagnant! Petty, G states â€Å"It is not an admission of weakness to seek advice and support; it is a measure of your active professionalism† The author explores the different theories associated with teaching of learning and assessment, demonstrating how she uses them in her confidence and self esteem course. The main ones that will be looked at in detail are behaviourist, cognitivists and humanist, Transactional analysis and types of assessment. Androgogy and Pedagogy, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the three main ego states and Temporal and Boydell’s (1977) Barriers to learning. There are three main theorists; behaviourist, cognitivists and humanist. Behaviourist theory was based on stimulus response from a dog. To see and measure how it learns. Pavlov (1927) states that what can be measured is classed as learning. Pavlov did an experiment with a dog. This to me is more like conditioning rather than learning. Pavlov was primarily a physiologist and very interested in how the mind works. If a person was hungry they could be conditioned to salivate by the ring of a bell if they were conditioned to have food straight after. Starving a person and getting it to do something (ring a bell) to enable it to eat is a strange way to analyse a human is learning! To treat humans in this way and relate it to humans is barbaric, just look at the year it was printed. This was also the time when electric shock treatment and locking people in straight jackets was acceptable! Skinner (1938) also did some work with animals and called it operant conditioning. His findings were the reward that the animals were working towards not the stimulus e. g. not the bell but the food! Reward is good and has been proven by theorists that this keeps the students interested (although these findings were tested on animals and humans). The reward could be learning new skills to change and overcome a barrier, gain the qualification in confidence building. Getting a pat on the back for good work handed in! The students will repeat behaviour if they are gaining a reward. The reward can also be the achievement of learning new skills for life, as in the confidence course. Skinner also believed that negative feedback was demoralising and stopped learners learning which the author fully backs up. One has to be very sensitive with feedback, especially when dealing with students with low self esteem. Most of the learning is self reflective and many self awareness exercises are done, rather than criticising or not passing a certain grade. Most learning is done through discussion and self reflection Piaget (1926) had a different view from Pavlov, he believed that the persons thought process was more important and learning was developmental. Meaning they learn and add to what they already know or have learnt. It is about linking information Knowledge is constructed though interaction with the environment. A cognitive process which requires new information, allowing the learner to evolve and transform their existing knowledge and apply this to new situations. (Armatage, 1999 Pg62) On the confidence course a cognitive approach could be to ask the learners to describe how you have used the goal setting to achieve a happier life? I am asking the students to work on a deeper level, not just retaining the information but also demonstrating how to develop it into their own life and past experiences. The cognitivists and the behaviourist are more to do with controls and being tutor led, the Humanist theory looks more into the nature of the learner and the learners’ actions that create the learning situation. The direction is for autonomy, development and growth, the search for meaning and setting goals for themselves. This is very relevant in the goal setting stage of the confidence building course. When the students goal set for a happier, healthier and more positive future. This is looking at and building on the skills that learners already have through life experiences. The role of the tutor is to encourage the students to reflect and to increase the range of experiences for the students to move on with their individual goals that are not dictated by the tutor (myself) The two major writers in this field are Rogers (1974) and Maslow (1968) Rogers viewed this as a series of drives towards adulthood, autonomy, responsibility and self direction. This is all about empowering oneself rather than being told what to do. Maslow looks at a whole hierarchy of needs (please see graph below) Maslow believes that one has to move up the pyramid of needs before they can self actualise. For example one wants their basic needs to be met Biological and Physiological needs – air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sleep. This then moves on to look at safety and security. Safety needs – protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, and stability. Belongingness and Love needs – work group, family, affection, relationships. The learners on the confidence course are encouraged to continue as a group to support each other with future goals once the ten weeks are up. This continues to have a positive effect on the learners’ future goals and encourages positive relationships. Esteem needs – self-esteem, achievement, mastery, independence, status, dominance, prestige, managerial responsibility. This comes from the achievement of attending and finishing the course. Cognitive needs – knowledge, meaning, making sense of things. Understanding why they come to have low self esteem and understanding there are many ways to change this. Self-Actualization needs – realising personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. This definitely comes on the last session when the learners feel so empowered to move on with goals that have been set. Making a vision board that is related to a persons self actualisation. Up until 1970 teaching strategies were known as pedagogy which is Greek and means â€Å"to lead a child† Knowles who is a huge figure in the humanist school challenged this as he didn’t think it appropriate for adults. Knowles (1970 Pg 57) believes â€Å"Once an adult makes the discovery that he can take responsibility for his own learning, as he does for other facets of his life, he experiences a sense of release and exhilaration. He then enters into learning with a deep ego involvement, with results that are frequently startling to both himself and the tutor† Hanson (1996 pg 99) argued against a clear dichotomy between adult and compulsory education. He believed that adults are not necessarily more experienced because they have lived longer! This can be true as some of the students I come across have no literacy skills which will be classed as a major intellectual barrier (see the five barriers below) and come on the course with a support worker. This does not mean they don’t have articulate skills in other areas, such as time management and people skills. There is no point taking only an androgogical approach until students acquire the ability to learn the basic study skills. This leads onto the barriers that adult learners may face. Temporal and Boydell (1977) highlighted five barriers to learning which were: perceptual, cultural, emotional, intellectual and expressive. Perception could be a huge barrier that students face. Most that come on the course have had a bad school experience and this maybe the last time they studied. Students are worried if they will feel comfortable in the class, worried if they don’t understand what the tutor is talking about, concerned if they know someone in the class from their local area, or have concerns about feeling stupid. Perception is a huge barrier to overcome and nothing the tutor can do if the learner does not start the course. Cultural pressure could be family and friends not wanting the learner to do courses to progress, especially when they see time is being taken from the family. Temporell and Bordell (1977) have identified low self esteem as a barrier to learning. This is very difficult as there are many potential learners that phone up to do the course but then don’t have the self esteem to walk through the door. When the learner finds it difficult to express themselves, they can still learn from the course by listening to group activity. It has been noted on many courses when introducing another person to the group the learner finds it easier to talk, rather than introducing themselves they can talk for a longer period of time about their colleague. This is useful on this type of course (self esteem building) if this is not the first course the student does as a mature learner I am not sure how they will cope if they are moving onto more academic courses. Overcoming personalities and ego states can also be classed as a huge barrier, getting the student to the adult- adult ego state. They may only have had the experience of critical child ego state. One of the students commented on their childhood school memories, of standing in the corner and made to feel stupid because dyslexia wasn’t recognised then! The critical teacher (ego state critical parent). Transactional analysis (D Childs, 2004) describes three ego states Parent, Adult and child. The parent ego state falls into two categories, critical parent and nurturing parent. The nurturing parents function is to nurture themselves and others. Critical parent function is to control the behaviour of themselves and others. This can show as a critical teacher putting their students down and being condescending. The first class is entered by most students in the adapted child ego state, helpless and hurtful. Facial expressions looking scared and tearful. All students are treated as adults with a lot of nurturing parent in the first session. This is to put the students at ease and in a relaxed state with myself the tutor and their peers. The scene is set together writing boundaries as a group for the group to bond, be comfortable, respected and respectful. Once this is done the students are aware that they are being respected. This is overcoming the first barrier to allow learning to take place. The author strongly believes that if a student is not at ease they will not absorb valuable information. Also putting the students in the adult ego state. This agreement is done in unison, with the students taking ownership of their actions and behaviour with others. This can be done through setting their own boundaries. The last group agreed to switch off mobiles, only allow good gossip, no dumping (talking about personal problems), have fun, respect on another, what’s said in the room stays in the room, listen if someone is talking, not hog the conversation (give everyone time to talk), not to give opinions unless they are asked for, support one another, no swearing. This could be a Eureka moment as some students may have never been aware of how they come across nd wonder if they have been respectful to people in the past. Learnt behaviour is very hard to change in just one session. This is a huge self awareness exercise. A student may write â€Å"no swearing† (as a boundary) as it is offensive; another student may challenge this as this is challenging how that student has been reared. Where swearing is part of everyday language. They are bewildered to find that this would offend another person. Due to another student being brought up in a house full of arguments and fighting he feels threatened whenever he hears swearing. This could be the first course students have done out of their comfort zones. Other students can be from other classes, cultures and backgrounds. Being made aware what is acceptable and what is not acceptable can sometimes come as a shock. Some students complain to me of other students not washing and smelling unclean. This is a very sensitive issue and has to be dealt with very carefully, especially when working with people with mental health or very low self esteem. Some students wonder why they should bother washing as they have come from a family with no hygiene. How would a person know this if it wasn’t taught at home? We don’t learn from people sniggering behind our backs! When looking at why the students have chosen the victim path, their eyes widen as discussion unfolds. Especially when looking at critical parent. Most of the students have got or had a parent, partner, friend (so called), sibling or even a child that tries to control their behaviour. For the student looking at this in black and white is a real Eureka moment. What they find hardest is when they change ego state to adult. They find that the person that plays critical parent in their life becomes angry and resentful. Critical parent usually trying to make the student feel guilty for their â€Å"adult† state. The student then becoming the victor not the victim. When reflected upon the student can see how this relationship no longer serves a purpose. Unless the critical parent changes their behaviour the student sees the relationship as negative and will no longer want to pursue it. Learners generally come onto the course with some negative attitudes about the world or people around them. Empowering learning and research and overcoming barriers they may have encourages the students to challenge their own behaviour. When the tutor contradicts learner’s attitudes and values, class discussion can become heated. Students can become angry. This is very much a part of the learning journey in confidence building. Self assessment and self awareness exercises come in very useful, enabling the student much self reflection allowing students to overcome their own barriers through their own assessment. Initial assessment is used to see what level the student is at if the learner can cope with the work load. Do they need an individual learning plan or see if extra support is needed with numeracy, literacy or ICT. Petty, G does agree â€Å"If the needs of the learners are met, the chances of success are greatly increased† backing up how important an initial assessment can be (2009, pg 530) Curzon, L argues that examinations on many courses can be different, so can sometimes not have legitimate weighting (2006 Pg385) meaning they can have repressive or restrictive influences on teachers and students. It is thought that an initial assessment (numeracy or literacy) could startle a student at the beginning and make them feel inadequate. This could be because they were academically inadequate at school, the same fear could return, with no return of the student on the next session. Petty, G also states that just because a student has their math’s GCSE doesn’t mean they can do algebra or percentages. This won’t help in the science lab. (2009, Pg 542) One argument would be that this has separated the wheat from the chaff. Teachers now have to teach to individual learning styles, instead of blaming the learners for not learning or gaining the qualification, the tutors are looked upon! Petty believes all students can learn, given the help and support that is needed, the author being agreeable. Assessment is very important to know where the learners are at the beginning, middle and the end of the course. This is to reflect and measure where they are at the beginning of the course in terms of self esteem. This is done by a scaling questionnaire, which also measures where the learner is in terms of happiness, self esteem, confidence, relationships, communications skills, health, social skills and social activities. The author would prefer to empower her students, instead of giving the students fish, she would prefer to give them a fishing rod to eat for life. It is about empowering students to move on with their life positively. The students don’t need to be spoon fed or hand held. They just need to learn the tools and skills for a happier and productive healthier lifestyle. This is why the tutor is in favour of the Humanist theory. Skinner believes that positive feedback gets students motivated whilst negative feedback stops students in their tracks, demotivating. The behaviourist teacher is in charge and is a good role model to her students giving the students rewards which are positively reinforced with praise, smiles and positive comments on work done. This is very useful as it also activates growth in self esteem. This theory is very successful with students who lack self esteem, therfor very apt in the confidence course. The learners work more effectively as they are encouraged to reflect and self evaluate where they are in terms of self esteem and confidence. Students work well interacting and challenging negative self fulfilling ideas as a group and overcoming barriers together. The students finish the course still on a learning journey of positive self discovery through meetings and recommended reading. The role of the tutor is to encourage the students to reflect and to increase the range of experiences for the students to move on with their individual goals that are not dictated by the tutor (myself) The two major writers in this field are Rogers (1974) and Maslow (1968) Rogers viewed this as a series of drives towards adulthood, autonomy, responsibility and self direction. In conclusion the author believes teaching is not directive and one way, It has to be two way for it to be effective. Tutors need to be reflective and differentiate between all students learning styles and abilities. The author strongly feels that Pavlov’s theory is inhumane and out with the ark. Taking responses from animals is very old hat and I’m sure if you starved any animal or human they would ring a bell to get food, as this is our primary need to live. Humans are much more intelligent than rats and dogs. Pavlov was firstly a psychologist and would be looking at animal responses rather than learning. The author backs up Skinners theory and has seen it work in the confidence course. Once the student is told they are actually good at something (not just a mother, father or sibling) it encourages them to want to do better and have a happier, healthier life style for all their family. This has a huge knock on effect on their friends and people around them. They usually signpost their friends and partners on to the course. Negative feedback is demoralising, what the tutor finds useful is asking the student how they would do it next time if they wanted a positive outcome. This allows the student to self reflect and learn by experience, which is a far great learning curve. This theory links in with what Paignent, 1926 believes, that a persons thought process was more important and learning is developmental, linking information and learning what they already know. The cognitivists and behaviourist are more to do with being tutor led. The author prefers the humanist theory which looks more into the nature of the learner and their actions that create the learning situation. Maslow looks at the whole hierarchy of needs and backs up the belief of the author. Maslow believes that one must move up the pyramid before they can self actualise. Maslow’s theory is used and demonstrated on the confidence course. The tutor wants the students to see what is needed to move up the pyramid. One student came in the following week and told me she had moved house because her safety needs were not being met due to having ASBO neighbours. The student had been complaining to the council for many years. After seeing Maslow’s hierarchy the student decided to take herself out of the situation! Using the Maslow model in class, students can see in black and white why they have no self esteem and cannot self actualise and why their social or safety needs are not being met. For example fuel your body with healthy food like a car would use the best oil. Safety needs, live with people that you feel happy and safe with. Look at the positive people and negative people in ones life. Associate with positive people more rather than the negative ones. Belonging and love. Students start measuring who is respectful and positive in their life. Teporal and Bordell (1977) have identified low self esteem as a barrier to learning. One believes that overcoming barriers and having self esteem is much wider spread than one thought. It would be beneficial for students to have a self esteem test as part of their initial assessment. This would be invaluable efore the students go on to do literacy and numeracy. Looking into how ego states come into learning is very interesting; the humanist would welcome the adult to adult state. Whereas the cognitivists would play a more critical parent role when teaching. Whilst doing this essay the author has really looked into all the theories and models and it is apparent that these ideas were put forward many year s ago. We have moved on so much in seventy years, it would be interesting to see new theories or updated old theories that are based on more realistic activities and research.