Philosophy of Learning

John L. Madas

A major challenge faced by all educators is meeting the needs of a variety of learners.  One must attempt to meet the needs of all students in order to ensure that every child has been given the best education possible.  The most basic ideas on learning state that students learn using auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile methods.  However, in his book The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Howard Garner states that students simply are intelligent in different ways.  From this theory, he developed the his 8 multiple intelligences: Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist (Gardner).  In addition, countless learning theories, educational ideas, and implementation strategies have been developed in the educational realm.  Education in the 21st century has certainly seen changes with the implementation of technology in almost every student’s life. Josh McHugh supports this when he writes in his article Connecting to the 21st-Century Student “Teachers who once struggled for students' attention mainly against daydreams, passed notes, class clowns, and cross-aisle flirting now also face a formidable array of gadgets and digitized content” (McHugh).  Indeed, students do learn in a variety of complex ways.  More specifically, they learn through discovery and hands on learning.  

It is evident in my personal experience that students not only learn better when discovering information for themselves, they retain it better.  Students who are spoon fed information will not keep the information for long periods of time.  Jack Mezirow writes in his article Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice, “Learning takes place through discovery and the imaginative use of metaphors to solve and redefine problems. To promote discovery learning, the educator often reframes learner questions in terms of the learner’s current level of understanding” (Mezirow 10).  Mezirow is stating clearly that learning through discovery allows students to see a problem and solve it, rather than have someone give them the answer.  The best way for educators to do this is to break down the information to the most basic level and give them the tools to figure situations out for themselves.  He goes on to write  “Learning contracts, group projects, role play, case studies, and simulations are classroom methods associated with transformative education. The key idea is to help the learners actively engage the concepts presented in the context of their own lives and collectively critically assess the justification of new knowledge” (10). Students need a purpose for the knowledge that they are obtaining.  Learning through discovery facilitates learning and impacts retention by allowing students to learn information in a practical way and giving them the opportunity to figure out the answer for themselves.

Similar to discovery learning, hands on learning also allows students to learn information in a practical manner.  Technology is a great way to allow students to figure out information by themselves.  The use of webquests, podcast creation, and other student media creation gives students ways to communicate information in a modern way.  Technology is incorporated into every student’s life and needs to be incorporated into the classroom in every possible situation.  Angela Clark, an 8th Grade teacher at North Gulfport Middle School comments in an edutopia video “I have students who are higher achievers, we’ve got some that are lower achievers, and we’ve got some in the middle.  Once they get their hands on this technology, that doesn’t even matter.  They rise up to the standard you have set for them.”  Here we see a first hand experience on how technology has equalized education for students and caused all students to be actively engaged in learning. It has more importantly given students a hands on learning experience where they are actively participated in activities that relate to everyday life.  

It is true that students learn in a variety of ways.  It is the teacher’s responsibility to address all the ways students learn.  In order to address all these styles of learning,  a teacher must find the most economical way to present information to a variety of students while still impacting retention.  Discovery learning and hands on learning are two comprehensive teaching strategies that positively educate a variety of learners and impact retention of information.  When used properly, these two teaching styles can be a powerful tool in our educational system.

Reference

Gardner, Howard. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York:

Basic Publishing.

Edutopia, (2003). A Commitment to High Tech Education. Online Video Clip. Retrieved from 

http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-overview-video

Johnson, Doug. (2006). Are 21st century skills right brain skills?.           

             Education World.  Retrieved from 

http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson006.shtml

McHugh, J. (2005). Connecting to the 21st-Century Student. Edutopia. Retrieved from 

http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-digital-learner

Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative Learning: Theory to Practice. New Directions for Adult and

Continuing Education, 74, 5-12. Retrieved from 

http://www.ecolas.eu/content/images/Mezirow%20Transformative%20Learning.pdf