Learning Perspectives in Education

Learning Perspectives in Education Learning: Perspectives, Perceptions and Performance â€Å"Learning† is a vague, important term. When mentioned, common associations are often relegated to the association with young schoolchildren and not so often as one of the most intriguing and inquired upon aspects of psychology. Prior to further elucidation, as if oft the case, the examination of â€Å"learning† merits a definition. Though it seems to be a word of self-evident meaning, because it is hard to study directly, some further refining must be utilized. This self-evident ‘acquisition of knowledge’ can only be measured with behavioral outcomes and should be observationally able to be distinguished from reflexive or instinctive responses. A behavioral outcome might consist of a high test score, a rat that quickly presses a lever, an employee that receives bonus compensation or any other number of commonly conceived examples. In discussing the nature of learning, there are perhaps two or three popularly dominant perspectives which are essential to understand in the formation of any reasonably comprehensive review. These perspectives include the behaviorist, the social learning, and the cognitive schools. Though it becomes apparent that these three influences are not without critique and that, even within each, there exists what might be labeled ‘factions’, their fundamental contributions cannot be ignored. Behaviorism The first of these perspectives is the behaviorist. In this scheme, there are two broad branches: classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. In classical conditioning, learning occurs by the pairing of the stimulus with a desired response of the subject. Experimentally, this is an example of Pavlov’s famous dogs and the learning that results is a consequence of the learned associative relationship and is not contingent upon any action by the subject. The alternative to this method is instrumental conditioning in which the subject gets to â€Å"choose†. By this, it is meant that the reinforcement is contingent upon what the subject â€Å"chooses† as evidenced by the behaviorally discernibly different response. Within the realm of behaviorism, one key contributor and voluminous icon of psychology in general is Thorndike. As a function of his experiments with cats in boxes for which they had to perform some specific behavior to escape, he concluded that learning was a process of an incremental nature and that their was became a neural link between the stimulus and response. This was evidenced by his successive experiments in which the cats became ‘smarter’, that is, they learned what specific behavior was required in order to be released. As the number of trials progressed, there was an inverse relationship with the time needed to escape. The work of Skinner furthered the science of behaviorism by his greater elucidation of the four broad categories of reinforcement: Application of a positive stimulus – Commonly referred to as a reward, this involves the presentation of something the subject desires. Removal of a positive stimulus – An example of this for children would be â€Å"time-out†. Theoretically and often in reality, this method is useful to extinguish unwanted behaviors. In fact, according to Skinner, the most effective way to eliminate a behavior is to ignore it, thus removing any external reinforcement. Application of a negative stimulus – Typically referred to as â€Å"punishment†, this involves the application of an unwanted or noxious stimulus to shape behavior. Removal of a negative stimulus – This is the be the restoration of â€Å"normal† conditions upon cessation of an undesirable action or commission of some desired behavior. A parenting example would be the removal of a ‘grounded’ condition upon acceptable repentance of some past action. In addition Skinner identified another type of reinforcer that he labeled a â€Å"general reinforcer† due to its wide applicability. Money is one such item and is so labeled because subjects desire it regardless of their state of depravity. This is in contrast to food which is not an adequate stimulus unless one is hungry, that is deprived of food. Another theorist, Guthrie provides yet additional insight into the theories and methods of learning. One of his key contributions to the field is with his â€Å"Law of Continuity†. In this, Guthrie proposes eloquently that, â€Å"a combination of stimuli which has been accompanied by movement will on its recurrence tend to be followed by that movement†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ in other words, an action in a given situation will likely be repeated when the subject finds themselves in a similar situation. The Cognitive Approach While there is the well-known debate of nature versus nuture that runs throughout science, such polarity also exists within the field of psychology and learning. A pure behaviorist would insist that so-called ‘choices’ are really nothing more than an animal-like actions in all behavior is reducible to stimulus and response type mechanisms. As behaviorism has significantly added to our understanding of the human condition, there exist alternative perspectives that are also quite useful. One such branch of the more cognitive division of psychology is referred to a Gestalt psychology. From this perspective, the insight that the brain is not the passive recipient of stimulus but actively involved in the perception and construction of reality is posited. Further, Gestalt psychologists attest that a given stimulus exists not in isolation but in the total context of the perception of the subject. For example, Wertheimer, the father of Gestalt psychology, cited the example of two blinking lights being able to present the perception of apparent motion. This as well as the popular psychology examples in which a certain line has the appearance of being longer than another depending on the lines and figures around it speaks to the tenet of Gestalt psychology that an experience as a whole, is greater than the sum of the individual parts that make it up. From these and other example, the idea that the mind is able to shape its own perspective of reality by virtue of its own beliefs about how things should be or how they are desired to be is a major enduring contribution of t he Gestalt movement. Though not a cognitivist, Piaget’s contribution to learning could arguably be filed in this area. Particularly noted for his contributions to developmental psychology and thus much appropriate for child rather than adult learning, Piaget declared the existence of fairly defined period of development. During these periods, a child was able to learn specific skills and acquire certain abilities with not being able to achieve certain others due to the maturation and innate abilities that of a developing brain. For example, the period of approximately seven to twelve years old is referred to as the concrete operations period. During this range, reasoning and problem solving abilities are generally limited to â€Å"concrete† phenomena that can be seen and observed rather than abstract in nature. Observational or Social Learning Though cognitive in nature, these theories have been treated separately due to both their easy discernment by more ‘pure’ cognitive perspectives and by the distinctness of the contributions of the key theorists. Up to this point, the models of learning that have been postulated, whether behaviorist or cognitive, have been focused on the subject only. Moving somewhat further away from the ‘clean’ and ‘pure’ perspective of behaviorism, social learning theory attests that the focus must extend beyond the subject to the contextual influence on others. In describing the views of social learning, some of the most controversial and informative experiments in modern psychology have be conducted. For example, Bandura’s famed ‘prison experiment’ in which subjects were put into a mock prison with some subjects assigned to be â€Å"guards† while others were simply â€Å"prisoners†. The experiment was terminated early due so me of the subjects ‘taking their roles a bit too seriously’. In another classic experiment, children were shown a film showing an adult acting aggressively by hitting a doll or shown an adult being kind to a doll. These same children later modeled the demonstrated behavior, whether aggressive or not. Such findings are reinforced by LeBon’s work on â€Å"crowd psychology† in which individuals and groups are influenced by others to model or imitate certain implicit behaviors. Implications on Health Well-Being Animals, depending on the species, have a number of unlearned, innate behavioral responses to certain stimuli. Examples such as sea turtles that ‘automatically’ head toward the sea upon birth on a sandy beach to dogs that seek the warmth and scent of their mothers while they cannot see after birth abound in literature. On the other hand, humans seem to come into the world as a blank slate to be written upon by life’s experiences. It is this aspect of humanity that makes learning play such a pivotal role in our development and beyond. Further, after even a short perusal of the various schools of thought, it becomes apparent that the human animal is complex enough to warrant the consideration and application of all perspectives. By doing so, it is possible not only achieve specific learning goals but also to achieve the avoidance of certain other issues that may occur from situations in which learning does not occur. One such example of this is the child who is raised with excessive punishments to shape behavior. According Skinner and other behaviorists, this can produce a ‘maladapted’ adult who has emotional issues. These emotional issues may manifest themselves in any manner of behaviors such as avoidance of others or difficulties in relationships to, at the extreme, sociopaths who ‘act out’ their frustrations upon others. From a cognitive perspective, much of the therapeutic approach of this school is in bringing the â€Å"cognitive errors† that a person commits to their conscious awareness. These â€Å"errors in thinking† occur when a person creates false assumptions or acts utilizing illogical conclusions in choosing their responses to stimuli. Extreme but common examples are those who express feelings of being a â€Å"total failure† and consider suicide. In most cases, such errors are much more subtle but just as insidious with regards to their ability to alter behavior. Clearly, learning plays not just a role in the development of humans but is an ongoing factor in the ‘success’ of daily living. Psychologists, human resource specialists, trainers and managers and supervisors of any business are vitally concerned about learning in the workplace. As the business world grows more sophisticated, new skills are needed. These new skills must be taught, learned and successfully applied for the mutual success of the individual and the enterprise. As such, lessons from all three perspectives are quite relevant. By utilizing key components of each perspective and theorist, one can gain a flexible paradigm by which there is greater understanding and application to additional circumstances. It is with this goal of greater applicability that a number of specific contributions are outlined below: Thorndike on Education Thorndike had much to say in regards to educational process and the efficacy of teaching methods and styles. This insight is relevant regardless of the age of the learner. Consider the situation the student faces. Consider the response the wish to connect with this situation. Form the bond. All else equal, from no bond that will have to be broken. All else equal, from as few bonds as possible. All else equal, form bonds in the way they are required to act later. Favor the situations and responses that naturally occur in life (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, p. 72). The bond that Thorndike refers to is the previously mentioned neural bond that exists between the stimulus and the response. Though these recommendations contain a number of Thorndike’s behavioral precepts, a key ‘learning’ for typical occupational settings is the last advisement. Reminiscent of the idea that if one is going to train for a five-kilometer road race, it is at some point necessary to train by running reinforces the point that training for a specific task should, as much as possible for effective learning, resemble the task itself. Skinner on punishment Just as Thorndike â€Å"lectured† on educational process, the iconic behaviorist Skinner advises in regards to punishment. This topic is perhaps most salient to child-rearing, an occupation in which there exists considerable frustration that might be at least slightly abated by the application of a learning theory. From a behaviorist standpoint, â€Å"punishment† is the application of a negative or undesired stimulus in order to shape behavior. While commonly utilized, Skinner cautions that punishment: Causes unfortunate emotional byproducts Indicates what an organism should not do rather than what it should do. Justifies inflicting pain on others. Being in a situation where previously punished behavior could be engaged in without being punished may excuse a child to do so. Punishment inflicts aggression toward the punishing agent and others. Punishment often replaces one undesirable response with another (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 92-94). Guthrie on breaking habits Also a behaviorist, Guthrie addressed the issue of â€Å"habits†. From a behavioral perspective, habits are simply a specific response to a large number of stimuli in which the greater the number of the stimuli, the greater the strength of the habit. As habits can be a significant annoyance and possibly quite maladaptive, insight into their extinguishment is valuable. According to Guthrie, the following four methods are useful and valid: Threshold Method – In this method, the technique of ‘warming up’ to an idea is utilized rather than the sudden presentation of the stimulus in order to attenuate the response. Fatigue – This method demonstrates the futility of a response to gain the desired results but simply letting a subject ‘wear themselves out’ when a stimulus is presented. Incompatible Response Method – This method relies upon the pairing of a stimulus which generates an unacceptable response with a stimulus in which the response is not compatible with the unacceptable response. Such action has the effect of lessening the ability of the former stimulus to evoke and undesirable response. Though this is a behavioral percept, it has the net effect of forcing the subject to cognitively â€Å"rethink† the pairing and its meaning. Sidetracking – This method is one in which a habit in not so much eliminated as simply avoided. By removing the stimulation, one can effectively sidetrack the response (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 220-224). Wertheimer’s Facts versus Principles According to Wertheimer, the father of Gestalt psychology, real â€Å"learning† occurs not by the simple recitation of facts but rather by the understanding of underlying principles. As apt illustration of this idea is the following example: A school inspector who was impressed by the children he had observed but wanted to ask one more question before departing. â€Å"How many hairs does a horse have?† he asked. Much to the amazement of both the inspector and the teacher, a nine-year old boy raised his hand and answered, â€Å"3,571,962.† â€Å"How do you know that your answer is correct?† asked the inspector. If you do not believe me,† answered the boy, â€Å"count them yourself.† The inspector broke into laughter and vowed to tell the story to his colleagues when eh returned to Vienna. When the inspector returned the following year for his annual visit, the teacher asked him how his colleagues responded to the story. Disappointedly, the inspector said, â€Å"I wanted very much to tell the story but I couldn’t. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how many hairs the boy said the horse had.† (Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, p. 281). Enough said. Piaget’s â€Å"Learning depends on failure† Though we generally judge the success of learning by achievement, the noted developmental psychologist Piaget suggests that perhaps this should be reconsidered to some extent. Specifically, Piaget indicated that learning occurs only when the dilemma of ‘not learning’ or a failure to learn is present. To elaborate, the inability or failure of previous learning to account for a given set of circumstances makes it possible for new situations to be assimilated and accommodated, thus providing the raw material for learning to occur. Important to this assimilation and accommodation, or learning process is the ability of the teacher to gradually challenge rather than overwhelm the individual ((Hergenhahn and Olson 2005, pp. 302-303). Bandura: Human Monkeys are Different†¦ In early behaviorist experiments, animal subjects did not â€Å"look† at other animals to learn adaptive strategies. While more recent experiments have indeed demonstrated this phenomena, is was the failure of these early experiments that led Bandura to postulate model learning. In this system, Bandura explained and predicted human behavior by such as means that the stimulus was simultaneously internal and external to the subject. This is, to some extent, a cognitive behavioral approach and aptly illustrates the importance of positive role models and the influence that others can have upon learning and behavior. Conclusion Human learning simply cannot be fully understood by the use of a single perspective. It is not that any one paradigm is incorrect but rather each is only a partial representation of the range and diversity of the human condition. By availing oneself of multiple perspectives, one becomes the beneficiary of significantly more vast knowledge by which life, through work-, school- or home-life can be improved through the application of numerous principles and precepts designed to foster adaptive responses to the stimulation life brings. Works Consulted Hergenhahn, B. and M. Olson. (2005). An Introduction to the Theories of Learning, 7th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, US: Pearson Prentice-Hall. Le Bon, G. (1914). The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. London: T.F. Unwin.

Engage in Personal Development in Health, Social Care Essay

Improving lives of all Service User and promote independence. Assisting in task like bathing, toileting, oral hygiene, dressing and etc. personal care. Assisting in shopping, recreation aimed at creating a supportive atmosphere where Service User can achieve maximum independence. Record detail of incident, developments and events occurring a period of duty in the appropriate records to report verbally to the senior manager on duty. Report and record significant matters in Service User lives in accordance with policy on Access to Records. Advice, encouragement, and supervision such as prompting an individual to take a bath. Undertake other duties related to the work of the Home and may be required which are consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility it may include cleaning, laundry, food preparation Attend, participate in meetings, attend annual appraisal of progress with line manager. Maintain personal development to meet the changing demands of the job, participate in appropriate training activities. Undertake Health and Safety duties commensurate with the post, e.g. when provided PPE must be use when performing duties. 2.1 Explain the expectations about own work role as expressed in relevant standards. Expectations about my own work is to have gain or gain competence, to demonstrate the skills and knowledge required in accordance to Standards e.g. National Occupational Standards, Skill For Care UK. 2.2 Demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice. The ability to reflect on my practice is I will be able to identify my  strengths and weaknesses using reflective assessment e.g. questions what went well, what did not go well, what I do, need to be done , seeking alternative methods, reflect on what I do the way I do better and what I need to do better. 2.3 Describe how own values, belief system and experiences may affect working practice. I have to identify and understand my own values and views however the professional relationship I develop with people I support, are another matter, I am required to provide the same quality of care regardless of race, beliefs, sexuality, culture, not just for those who share same values and beliefs I have. 3.1 Evaluate own knowledge, performance and understanding against relevant standards. This is looking at my progress, development and learning to determine what has improved and what areas still need improvement. Using my personal checklist can be use to evaluate my practice: How do I approach my work? Was my approach positive? Are there any areas in which I could improve? Which was the worst aspect of work I did? Are there any areas in which I could improve? 3.2 Demonstrate the ability to reflect on practice. The ability to reflect on practice is to I will be to improve my practice skills and knowledge by thinking about what I am doing. It can also involve thinking about wider issues perhaps realising that there are areas where I need to learn more and new skills that I have not yet developed, using feedback from line manager, mentor, colleagues. 4.1 Identify sources of support for planning and reviewing own development Source of support for planning and reviewing own development include formal support network, supervision, teacher, manager local authority, training providers, awarding organization further and higher education institution. 4.2 Demonstrate how to work with others to review and prioritise own learning needs, professional interests and development oppurtunities. To work with others, to review and to review and priorities own learning needs, professional interest and development opportunity by performance review, or supervision done by supervisor or line manager, it gives me the opportunity to know the feedback of my performance and practice I may need to improve and areas in which I have demonstrated strength, development opportunities like formal  training e.g. Epilepsy training, in house training , e.g. Manual Handling, Shadowing doing shown by more experienced colleagues working, discussing issues as a team or group, following information on the interest, making use of learning resource centres asking question and holding professional discussion with colleagues and manager. 4.3 Demonstrate how to work with others to agree own personal development plan. Agreeing on my personal development plans with others is updated when I take part in training and development, my record of participation, plans that I worked out with my supervisors using time scale. A personal journal development data to meet my own goals.Evaluate how learning activities have affected practice. Feedback from others has developed my knowledge, skills, and understanding. It can be positive and negative, I am able to accept constructive criticism , it helps me to improves and identify which and what duties I didn’t do well. Demonstrate how reflective practice has led to improved ways of working. Reflective practice has led to improve ways of my working in such a way that it make me realize new ideas, and make new sense of practice issues, it makes me think about situations and learning from what I discovered. Show how to record progress in relation to personal development. This is my regular personal development plan :Goals Development needed/achievement Short term Single Training Epilepsy Training Medium term First Aid and Emergency Training Long term Gaining Diploma and NVQ

What to Do About Help Writing Papers for College Before You Miss Your Chance

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What Are Carbohydrates Sugars And Sugars - 1072 Words

Our big idea, for chapter ten lesson two says, Each nutrient in your diet plays a unique and essential role in keeping you healthy. There are six nutrients that provide your body what it needs. One of the nutrients are carbohydrates. Carbohydrates provides your body with energy. It s definition says; are starches and sugars found in foods, which provide your body s main source of energy. Carbohydrates divide into three different types, simple, complex, and fiber. Simple carbohydrates are sugars, like fructose and lactose. You can find them in obviously fruits and milk, but they are also added to many proceeded foods. Complex carbohydrates, or starches are long chains of sugars linked together. You can find these in grains, grain†¦show more content†¦Other proteins are from animal sources; such as meat, eggs, diary products, and from soy. These proteins are sometimes called complete proteins because they contain all nine amino acids. You can get all the essential amino acids from eating plant based foods which are rich in proteins, you can find these foods are grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes. The third is fats. The book explains that even though all you hear about fat, is how to stay away from them, but it also doesn t mean that you don t need fats at all. Your body need a certain amount if fat to stay healthy and function properly. There are three types of fats. The first is unsaturated fats, which are found in vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds. Eating these foods can help lower your risk of heart disease. The second is saturated fats, which are found in animal based foods and many diary products. Palm, coconut, and palm kernel also contain a lot of saturated fats. Consuming to much of these fats can increase your risk of heart disease, and and increase of cholesterol levels. Finally, there are trans fats, which are found in, stick margarine, many snack foods, and packaged baked goods. Trans fats can raise your total blood cholesterol level, which als o increases your risk for heart disease. Due to this the USDA now requires that amount of trans fat to be listed on the nutrition label. Fats play many roles. They