Final Blog

What?
After having completed several readings and assignments within the domain of Educational Psychology, I would have to say that I have been able to develop a fairly well-rounded theory of how children and adolescents learn. Many of my current beliefs about the way children learn first began to formulate after analysing the differences between the traditional IQ Test and the more contemporary Multiple Intelligences Test. There is no doubt in my mind now that the ways in which children learn are as variant and numerous as there are children in a classroom. I have also come to understand, however, that the way a child learns is not only influenced by his or her identified intelligence, but also by his or her cultural affiliation. A child’s ethnic and/or cultural background may need to be taken into consideration when determining the way he or she learns best. Having said that, however - and as I’ve said before - I also acknowledge the dangers of using stereotypes as the only basis for determining a student’s learning style. Finally, I have come to realize that the way in which children learn is rooted in and affected by their interaction with their environment, with each other, and with myself. Learning takes place both formally and informally, in the classroom and outside of the classroom, explicitly and implicitly. As a result, my theory stands that learning and knowledge construction is an individual enterprise, and that students will ultimately create their own understandings and interpretations if guided effectively.

So what?
The theory I have developed about the way children learn will impact my classroom practice both through content delivery as well as through assessment and evaluation. In terms of content delivery, I would be sure to differentiate my instruction so that I can reach students of all types of intelligences. Whether it be incorporating visual material for a student with spatial intelligence, rhythms and rhymes for a student with a musical intelligence, co-operative activities for a student with a kinaesthetic intelligence, or Think-Pair-Share for a student with interpersonal intelligence, the lessons I create would cater to the greatest variety of learners as possible. In addition to trying to differentiate my instruction to various types of intelligences, I would also differentiate my instruction so that I could account for the cultural differences and/or barriers that may be present. I would accomplish this by presenting key historical events from different viewpoints and perspectives than just that of Western culture. I would be sure to acknowledge the differences explicitly and neutrally so that all students in the classroom could formulate their own opinions, and not be biased towards one particular cultural viewpoint. The theory I have developed about the way children learn would also be reflected in my assessment and evaluation of students. Just as students learn differently, it only makes sense that students demonstrate knowledge differently, and thus would require differentiated assessments. Such differentiated assessments would include tests, anecdotal notes, projects, presentations, surveys, peer-evaluations, self-evaluations, rubrics, etc. In this way, I would ensure that my assessment tasks were differentiated enough so that each student had the best opportunity possible to share his or her knowledge of the topic.

Now What?
As a teacher, I know that there will always be something more to learn and that it is my obligation to be a lifelong learner. At this point in my learning, I would really like to learn more about the individual theorists who have contributed to our present-day understanding of learning and education. From what I have learned so far about individuals such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Pavlov, etc, I am fascinated by the wide spectrum on which the topic of education is discussed. One area I would like to improve in is becoming better able to identify types of learners in a classroom. The quicker I am able to determine a student’s learning style and the more accurate I am, the better chance that student has in being a successful learner.