Behaviourist Theory Pavlov's (1927) dogs experiments. Classical conditioning. Positive reinforcement by giving rewards. Skinner (1938) also developed experiments that gave pigeons and rats to perform tasks with rewards. In Education - Giving clear targets and clear task structure - Emphasis on feedback and using incentives, rewards and punishments - Individualised programs for children to work at their own pace Criticisms - Can lead to authoritarian teacher centred, outcome focused view. Filling children with knowledge or painting on a blank canvas. ---- Cognitivist and Constructivist Mind seeks patterns and relationships and interprets it - Köhler (1925) and Wertheimer (1959). Brain develops frameworks (schema) and we assimilate knowledge and experience. 'Children have real understanding only of what they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves'. (Piaget, quoted in Papert 1999, p 105) Shifts the onus to the learner as the creator of understanding. Build on previous learning and explore relationships. Cognitivists like Gardner (1983) proposed that there are multiple intelligences which individuals possess to varying degrees such as linguistic, musical, logical, spatial etc. Riding and Cheema (1991) concluded in their research that there are two dimensions to information processing - analyst-holist continuum and the visualist verbaliser continuum. Criticisms - Too unguided, children need some structure. - Completely ignores influences of social and cultural interactions ---- Social Learning Theory Bandura 1977a - Learning would be exceedingly laborious and hazardous if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform what they do. Lot o learning occurs by observing and imitating people around us and assimilating their experiences. Situated Learning - Lave and Wenger (1991) - Learning should not be thought of as a formal program but as a social act that occurs in everyday life. 'Communities of practice' refers to contexts in which individuals experience learning. Success is a function of how well individual fits in. Purpose is not to learn from talk but to learn to talk and legitimise one's position in a community. Neuroscience perspective - Koizumi in 2004, OECD 2007 showed that while there are sensitive periods for language development in infants, evidence suggests brain retains plasticity over it's lifetime. Dopamine and it's connection to the unpredictability and uncertainty of rewards also affects learning (Howard-Jones & Demetriou 2009). Taylor (2007) describes how brain has machinery to learn from errors. Emotions are critical in learning Immordiano-Yang and Damasio (2007) suggests that emotions are particularly important in learning to the outside world. How to Apply these Practically - Scaffolding and zone of proximal development - Emphasis on community formation and collaborative learning - Debates to explore multiple viewpoints Criticism - Extent of influence - Communities can often be unstable ---- Humanistic Perspectives Not everything can be explained by cause and effect. There's also free will and motivation. Maslow (1970) talked about this in his hierarchy of human motivation and how there's an inherent human desire for self actualisation. Rogers (1983) believed that humans have a natural propensity to learn. In this view the role of the teacher is just to create the environment, climate and condition for this to occur. Mazirow (1991) emphasises the role of critical reflection to work through existing beliefs and assumptions. Facilitator must create a 'safe' learning environment to nurture such reflective expression. Schön (1983) also continued this idea and emphasised the value of reflective analysis. Kolb (1984) talks about a four stage cycle of 'experience-reflection-conceptualisation-experimentation'. Self efficacy refers to a person's belief in their capabilities to make a difference and succeed (Bandura, 1977b, 1995). Huge link between self efficacy and achievement (Pajares 1996) Dweck (1999) fixed vs growth mindset. Yorke (2004) confirmed that the ideal scenario is when students and teachers have growth mindset. Phenomenography can help educators understand how much learning is happening and how learners are experiencing different things. Practical Applications - Positive environment conducive to self directed learning - Passing responsibility and choice for learning to the child - Focus on developing meta cognition, reflection and self awareness Criticisms - Can create self centeredness, overly optimistic (Seligman and Csiksczentmihalyi 2000) - Never really materialised across formal education - Underdeveloped and lack scientific validity (Seaman 2008) ----- Stewart, Martyn. "Understanding learning:: Theories and critique." _University teaching in focus_. Routledge, 2021. 3-28. - [Link](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martyn-Stewart/publication/258441417_STEWART_M_2012_%27Understanding_learning_theories_and_critique%27_in_LHunt_and_D_Chalmers_eds_University_teaching_in_focus_a_learning-centred_approach_London_Routledge/links/5696676108aea2d7437467be/STEWART-M-2012-Understanding-learning-theories-and-critique-in-LHunt-and-D-Chalmers-eds-University-teaching-in-focus-a-learning-centred-approach-London-Routledge.pdf)