SELECT AND CRITICALLY ANALYSE THE IMPACT OF TWO PRINCIPLES OR THEORIES OF LEARNING ON THE PLANNING AND DELIVERY OF YOUR

TEACHING SETTING. REFLECT ON THE IMPACT OF THESE INSIGHTS ON YOUR OWN PRACTICE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Francesca El Kozeh
In this assignment I will present two learning theories that have been very relevant in developing my teaching style in the past years, and will inform my future teaching. Ill talk about the principles of the Constructivist school, that holds that learning is effective only in being meaningful for the learner, better if relevant to his real life. Ill concentrate my attention on the views of Robert Gagne, that elaborated his theories using a practical, fully contextualized approach. Then, Ill talk about Transactional Analysis and the concept of emotional literacy, as the psychological and emotional elements have necessarily to be taken into account when considering teaching strategies and promoting learning environments that have the quality of being fully inclusive. Constructivism The constructivist approach has many similarities with the adult learning perspective, mainly because it involves students as active participants in making meaning instead of passive recipients of information given to them by the teacher (Dewey, Piaget). Meaning, hence learning, is constructed by each learner via their experience and in their own ways and means. The learner is at the centre of the process: their individual knowledge is a function of their prior experiences, mental structures and beliefs that are all used to interpret objects and events. Greatly influenced by the work and the thinking of J. Piaget (1950) and L. Vigotsky (1978), in the constructivist view knowledge is the product of activities practiced in a social environment. As the learning is filtered through pre-existent mental frameworks, it becomes more effective if a student is actively engaged in the learning process, being allowed in practical ways to construct his own personal understanding based on experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. Another central principle of constructivist teaching is the metacognitive aspect of the learning: learners learn how to learn and take initiative for their own learning experiences through reflection on their own performances, having the opportunity to develop, assess and organize their thoughts (Marzano, 1998). Another peculiar aspect of constructivism is the focus on social and communication skills: students work primarily in groups, and learning and knowledge are interactive and dynamic, whereas the role of the teacher is primarily to prompt and facilitate discussion, in guiding students by asking questions that will lead them to develop their own conclusions on the subject. To assess the learning, testing is still view as an effective mean, but are preferred the direct, living classroom experiences: observation of the students, their works and their points of view, as well as mind-mapping, oral discussions and, most important and peculiar, the use of KWL(H) Charts (where the acronym KWLH stands for what we Know, what we Want to know, what we have Learned, How we know it)

Robert Gagne (1916 2002) One of the most influential constructivist theorists is Robert Gagne (1916-2002): in his book The Conditions of Learning (1965) he identified five different categories of learning, that are verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes. Each of them requires a different type of instruction, and each type of learning needs a different set of internal and external conditions to be fulfilled. For example, cognitive strategies can be learned only through having the chance of developing new solutions to problems, but, to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to credible role models or persuasive arguments. In addition, Gagne identifies nine steps that are all necessary to realize an instructional event, and each of them corresponds to a cognitive process: gaining attention, informing learners of the objective, stimulating recall of prior learning, presenting the stimulus, providing learning guidance, eliciting performance, providing feedback, assessing performance and enhancing retention and transfer. As has been noted in Good and Brophy (1977, p 200) these nine steps are general considerations to be taken into account when designing instruction. Although some steps might need to be rearranged (or might be unnecessary) for certain types of lessons, the general set of considerations provide a good checklist of key design steps. To gain attention, storytelling, demonstrations, presenting a problem to be solved are all powerful devices to gain the attention of the learners, as well as even simply explaining why it is important. As a matter of fact, Marzano (1998) reported that the cognitive system is powerfully activated when the individual believes that what she is going to learn is important, especially if it will affect her beliefs system. Informing the learners of the objectives is another important step, as it allows learners to organize their thoughts around what they are about to see, hear and/or do. Again, Marzano (1998) reported that achievement can be dramatically raised when goal specification is used, and more when the students have some control over the learning outcomes, in other words when they are the result of a mutual contract has been made with the teacher (Wick, Pollock, Jefferson and Flanagan, 2006). The problem, in this case, is in avoiding to tell to the learners the Learning Objectives word for word, and trying instead of breaking down the concepts into a less formal statement, by using a less formal, more easily understandable language, so as they can feel the new contents as more familiar and approachable. This, along with recalling the previous knowledge that they have about the subject, will ease the comprehension and the knowledge of new concepts, in that recalling will provide a framework that will help learning and remembering. Building on prior learning forms the basis of what is called scaffolding, by building on what the learner already knows, adding more details, hints, information, concepts, feedback, and then allowing the learners to perform on their own. Powerful means of stimulating recall of knowledge are notes taking and, even more, drawing mind maps (Marzano, 1998): the most effective of these techniques is semantic mapping (Toms-Bronowski, 1982). In presenting the material, that is the crucial step of the learning process, is very important to break down the information, to avoid memory overload: Blooms Taxonomy can be used to help sequence the lesson by chunking them into levels of difficulty. Providing guidance for learning, or giving instructions on how to approach

the subject matter, increases the rate of learning, as the learners are less likely to lose time or become frustrated by basing performance on incorrect facts or poorly understood concepts. In eliciting the performance of the students and encouraging them to try to use the new concept or skills, the feedback given, specific and constructive, will act as reinforcement and/or will provide specific, appropriate guidance. Following the assessment, necessary to determine if the lesson has been learned, transferring the new knowledge to similar problem situations will be an effective way to enhance retention, in giving clues to the learners of how it is linked, related, sometimes fully immerged, in the real life. At each different stage, a different cognitive process is activated in the learners: reception, expectancy, retrieval, perception, semantic encoding, responding, reinforcement, retrieval and generalization. Nowadays, the theory of Nine Moments of Education has informed any teaching strategy, and is referred to in the principles of good practice of effective teaching (Ofsted, Essential Ingredients for an Outstanding Lesson). Transactional Analysis and Emotional Literacy Many researches show how the emotional well-being of the learners affects profoundly the quality of the teaching and learning experience. Researches in the field of neuroscience in the past decade has shown us how emotional stress shuts down the brain, impeding effective learning. If we enjoy our learning experience, the memories created are positive and this helps understanding and retention. Laughter helps learning because it produces body chemicals, endorphins, which make us feel good, and it has the added bonus of connecting us to other people in a very positive way. Being connected, feeling that we are accepted as part of a group, raises comfort levels, allowing us to stretch ourselves and learn by taking risks. In the past century the work of E. Berne (1916-2002) has given a great contribution to the understanding of the relationships that develop in a social setting. In 1960s he laid down a theory of personality that offered a model for understanding personality, human development and how personal life patterns affect the communication with others, in providing ways to describe and explain both internal and interpersonal behaviour. Transactional Analysis explore the many ways in which life positions, life scripts and ego states absorbed during the childhood affect the relationships and shape patterns of communication that we are able to establish with others in the different spheres of our lives. His theories have been developed by his followers and applied in different fields, including educational settings: C. Steiner (1935 - ) in 1997 proposed the notion of emotional literacy, defining it as the ability to understand your emotions, the ability to listen to others and empathise with their emotions, and the ability to express emotions productively. To be emotionally literate is to be able to handle emotions in a way that improves your personal power and improves the quality of life around you. Emotional literacy improves relationships, creates loving possibilities

between people, makes co-operative work possible, and facilitates the feeling of community (Steiner and Perry, 1997, p 11) Steiner identified five elements that create emotional awareness: knowing your feelings, having a sense of empathy for others, learning to manage our emotions, repairing emotional damage, putting it all together and interact emotionally with the others. Being emotionally literate is being able to understand own feelings and those of others to facilitate relationships, including using dialogue and self-control to avoid negative arguments: Steiner called this emotional interactivity. As our emotions impact our readiness and ability to learn, feeling safe is vital within the school environment. Taking risks in their learning, asking questions even if they think they might be silly ones, going to see a teacher if they are unsure of something or want to change subjects or classes, but also having someone to listen to their worries, fears and concerns are all essential elements to a students success. The principles of emotional literacy have inspired a number of projects and national strategies that are based on a whole school approach, whose aims are to promote a safe, inclusive learning environment. As in Nemec and Roffey (2005), An emotionally literate learning environment impacts on classroom climate and build a sense of connectedness. This has a positive effect on students wellbeing, which includes the ability to engage in learning and raise levels of attainment. The Antidote research, launched on 1997 by Professor James Park and his team, has shown that there are close connection between the achievements and the attendance and the behaviour of the learners and of the teachers, on one side, and the grade of emotional literacy that both teachers and learners have reached. They have developed the PROGRESS Programme for staff and students in the schools to promote an learning environment where everybody can feel Capable, Listened to, Accepted, Safe and Included (CLASI). The Department of Children, Schools and Families developed SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning), a scheme for schools that is based on the concept of Emotional Literacy, intended mainly as personal growth and ability to developing relationships. It has been presented as a whole-school approach to promoting social and emotional aspects of learning, using discrete lessons and learning opportunities alongside a broader consideration of the school ethos. Even though addressed mainly to primary and secondary schools, the SEAL strategy is fully applicable with young learners, particularly in FE colleges, where the environment and the learning needs of the students are still in many respects very similar to the secondary schools.

References and Bibliography: Antidote (2003) The Emotional Literacy Handbook. Promoting Whole-school strategies. London: David Fulton Publishers. Gagne, R. (1985) The Conditions of Learning. 4th ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Gagnon, G. W. Jr and Collay, M Constructivist Learning Design. Available online at www.prainbow.com/cld/cldp.html Goleman, D (1996) Emotional Intelligence, why it can matter more than IQ. London: Bloomsbury Good, T, Brophy, G (1990) Educational Psychology: A Realistic Approach. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston SELIG (Southampton Emotional Literacy Interest Group) Promoting Emotional Literacy (April 2003) Guidelines for Schools, Local Authorities and Health Services. Ed. by Adrian Faupel and Peter Sharp Hartley, J (1998) Learning and Studying: a Research Perspective. London: Routledge Knowles, M (1950) Informal Adult Education: a Guide for Administrators, Leaders, and Teachers. New York: Association Press Marzano, R (1998) ATheory-Based Meta-Analysis of Research on Instruction. Colorado: McRel Nemec, Michelle and Roffey, Dr Sue (2005) Paper NEMO5355. Emotional Literacy and the case for a whole school approach to promote sustainable educational change. Sydney: Selfresearch Center, University of Western Australia. Petty, G (2008) Teaching today - a Practical Guide. London: Nelson Thornes Steiner, C (1997) Achieving Emotional Literacy. New York: Avon Books Steiner, C (2003) Emotional Literacy; Intelligence With a Heart. Fawnskin, California: Personhood Press Weare, K (2003) Developing the emotionally literate school. London: Paul Chapman Wick, C, Pollock, R, Jefferson, A., Flanagan, R, (2006) Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn Training and Development Into Business Results. San Francisco: Pfeiffer Websites: www.learning-theories.com www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/learning/id/constructivism.html www.educationatlas.com/constructivism.html www.learningandteaching.info/learning.constructivism.htm www.wikipedia.org www.successpartnership.com/emotional_literacy.phtml