Learning Theories

The three major theories of learning are Behaviorism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism. They were developed in this order, each in response to what came before it. Behaviourism comes from Skinner and Pavlov’s ideas that you can train the brain to get a specific outcome when you use certain inputs. This is the black box theory of education in which the brain and its processes are not understood. Behaviourism is well used in classroom management as a callback. For example, when I was in grade three, our teacher would use quiet coyote and symbolize her hand. We would then stop talking and give the symbol back. Other teachers would clap a rhythm, and we would know that we needed to be quiet and pay attention. Our high school math teacher would give us stickers on our assignments and tests if we got 100%. I enjoyed collecting the stickers and putting them on my calculator, but I don’t know how much motivation the stickers inspired. It was more, I think, just a fun way to congratulate those who mastered the assignment. I can see myself using Behaviorism as a classroom management tool to quiet students down. I would not want to use it for any more than this because I feel that you could get caught in a cycle of trying to up the ante, and students could lose interest along the way.

Cognitivism considers processes in the brain and tries to link information to symbols to transfer knowledge from the short term memory to the long term. This theory aims to help students retain knowledge and creates learning as an active process. This theory uses graphics and organizers to help students to visualize the information. Scaffolding lessons can help students learn how information builds, and their practice with concepts from the first lesson continues throughout. I experienced cognitivism in my schooling when creating Venn diagrams to organize our thoughts and ideas to compare and contrast topics. We used to make KWL charts, which brought in the hook concept with what you already know and what you would like to learn. When our learning for that topic was over, we would fill in the ‘know’ column of the chart. I would bring these ideas into my classroom as they help to organize ideas and thoughts. I think this, combined with constructivism, will be the main theories used in my classroom.

Constructivism suggests that learning happens when learns are social, contextual, and are searching for meaning. The responsibility of learning falls on the learner rather than with the teacher like in the last two theories. Constructivism considers that students are not just blank slates, and they come into the classroom with prior and differing knowledge. In this theory, the teacher acts as a guide and stimulates the learning, and students are encouraged to come to their conclusions. This learning theory uses methods such as collaborative group learning, hands-on learning, and inquiry. In high school English classes, each year, we would do an inquiry project where we picked the topic and ‘burning questions’ we wanted to ask and learn about it. With this, every student was able to choose their own topic that is interesting to them. I want to use constructivism in the classroom because I enjoy how it focuses on big ideas. I want students to be able to develop critical thinking skills and be able to analyze and solve problems, which is what constructivism emphasizes.