Teaching Perspectives Inventory Score

Teaching Perspectives Inventory has helped me to realize my outlook towards teaching. It also helped me to understand the type teaching I have adapted and realize the reasons for my preferred methods of teaching particularly making it clear that different types of teaching will needed depending on the motive of teaching. 

TPI helped me to identify that my dominant teaching perspective was “transmission” that represented my roles and functions as a teacher. “Transmission” is also inevitable when the lessons are dense in content and time bound. My back up perspective was “apprenticeship” which was also high but less than “transmission”. “Social reform” was my recessive teaching perspective. TPI also indicated that while I strongly held to “transmission” and “apprenticeship” (score 42 and 39 respectively), the remaining scores were markedly different,  i.e. 34 and 33 in “Developmental” and “Nurturing” respectively. The “Social reform” score fell way below (25).

In “transmission” my beliefs were closely parallel to my intentions and actions (B: 13, I: 14, A:15). These consistencies further helped me to ratify myself. However there were mild discrepancies on belief against intentions and actions in other perspectives which were mostly attributed by time constraints. Over all my scores were consistent with how I see myself as a teacher. 

TPI score may make a teacher believe that his/her dominant perspective is his/her only preferred perspective. However this is always not true as most teachers will utilize more than one perspective allowing them to accommodate rolling batches of students and curriculums that are being regularly updated. 

The TPI instrument was simple, accessible, free, user friendly and its use didn’t consume much time. The process of completing TPI helped me to categorize the different aspects of teaching which was otherwise utilized randomly. The perception of clearly demarcated categories would help to organize ourselves as teachers in making our lesson plans directed towards achieving a specific goal. Despite the complexities of adult teaching TPI had enabled us to easily and clearly identify a handful of qualitative perspectives of teaching. It will invariably contribute to address any inconsistencies in our teaching and perhaps revise our teaching philosophy.  

Teaching Philosophy

It is important to develop the ability to disseminate information and skills so that one makes a meaningful contribution to the society. As widely accepted in the present day, it is time for us to review traditional methods of teaching-learning activities and in light of those past experiences reform those methodologies.  I also believe adaptation of scientific evidence-based teaching is the way to proceed. 

Knowing that each student is from a uniquely different is every aspect, as a teacher I would like to pay special attention to student diversity and be a guide to my students and encourage them to acquire knowledge in their own ways rather than enforcing my preferred methodologies. To achieve this goal I would consider a wide variety of techniques rather than sticking to one single method which is most convenient for me, because there is no single ready made approach that suits every student. I would use both positive and negative reinforcements. I will be firm and where necessary I shall consider appropriate punishment while keeping in mind the key to get a student’s attention is by winning their affection. 

Most importantly I will try to make my students self regulated learners by providing scaffold instructions as I believe such constructive perspectives are deeply rooted with pedagogic approaches that promote active learning. I will give feedback to the learners on a regular basis as I believe it will greatly enhance them to understand their actions and draw conclusions. Rather than dictating lessons I will pay a special attention on how learning opportunities are presented to learners allowing progressive discovery of concepts and skills. During the process of acquiring these skills I will not limit myself to the classroom or to the lesson plan alone.  

Constructivist Perspectives

Constructivist Perspectives

Constructive perspectives explain that learning occurs by exploring the world around us, receiving feedbacks and drawing conclusions. It goes on to explain that new concepts and skills are constructed by integration of experience into already existing concepts and skills. In other words learning is internalized by the processes of accommodation and assimilation (Jean Piaget). 

One of the constructive approaches, ‘experimental learning’ was described by David. A Kolb, as a process of deriving meaning from experiences obtained through experimentation. Such approaches give little importance to how the learning is discernible from behavior.  Other constructivist approach include cognitive scaffolding, Problem Based Learning (PBL), research based learning and constructivist learning experiments. 

Kolb explained the approaches toward grasping experience: Concrete Experience, Abstract Conceptualization and approaches toward transforming experience: Reflective Observation and Active Experimentation. According to Kolb learning process engages these four approaches in response to necessitation. Individuals tend to develop one experience-grasping approach and one experience-transforming approach which result in the individuals learning style which could be Converger, Diverger, Assimilator, and Accommodator learning style.

 Kolb’s Cycle

 

Mark K. Smith reviewed critiques of Kolb’s model in his article, “David A. Kolb on Experiential Learning”. According to Smith’s research, there are six key issues regarding the model. They are as follows: 1) the model doesn’t adequately address the process of reflection; 2) the claims it makes about the four learning styles are extravagant; 3) it doesn’t sufficiently address the fact of different cultural conditions and experiences; 4) the idea of stages/steps doesn’t necessarily match reality; 5) it has only weak empirical evidence; 6) the relationship between learning processes and knowledge is more complex than Kolb draws it.

To promote constructivist learning teachers are to be provide a suitable environment for the students to discuss their ideas and be a guide to them by using enhancement elements such as scaffolding (described by Vygotsky) rather than preaching the. Apart from constructive discussion and skillful questioning, teachers should adapt more of Problem Based Learning (PBL),   experimental and research type of learning activities. 

There is no doubt that in a world of innovation and advancement of technology we need more and more constructive minds and henceforth probably constructivist approaches are the most valuable approaches in teaching.

Theories of Motivation

Theories of Motivation

“Motivation is the force that initiates, guide and maintain goal-oriented behavior.” – PGCE lecture note. Such forces could be biological, social, cognitive or emotional.

There are 2 types of motivation that is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is when the learner does something for an external reward. Intrinsic motivation is when a learner does something for self gratification. Below are some perspectives on motivation.

1.    Behavioral view of motivation. It states that motivation arise due to reinforcements and external rewards.

2.    Cognitive views of motivation. It states that motivation is influenced by a person’s need to master his environment, need to attain some goal and how he or she attributes his failures or successes.

3.    Social Cognitive view of motivation. It states that factors that influence motivation are: the models to which they are exposed to; the level and influence of their self efficacy. It also goes on to explain that different people have different learning goals such as task mastery goals, work avoidant goals and ego or social goals.

4.    Humanistic Theory of motivation. Maslow explained this theory stating that a person’s motivation is directed at fulfilling different levels of his needs. For instance any person would be most motivated in achieving his primitive needs such as finding food, shelter and love followed by his self esteem and eventually self actualization.

Some Personal attributes that can influence motivation are:

1.    Culture, religion and ethnicity.

2.    Emotion

3.    Degree of competence.

4.    Relevance to achievement

5.    Prior knowledge

It would be every teacher’s target to get his or her students intrinsically motivated by the end of his or her term. Teachers can attempt this initially by using extrinsic motivation methods such as reinforcements. Once their motivation seems to be active slowly try to get them to acquire intrinsic motivation by understanding their personal attributes and trying to trigger those attributes appropriately. 

Reference:

PGCE lecture notes

Social Cognitive Learning Theory

Social cognitive learning theory was described by Albert Bandura which suggests that an organism learn not only by its own experiences but also by observing the occurrences and experiences of other organisms in their environment.  Social events, environmental factors, religious beliefs, perceptions, memory of previous experiences and ones motivation all play an important role in the person’s actions or behavior which reflects what his learned. 

Modeling or Observational Learning

Social Cognitive Theory as well as Behavioral theories address a form of learning called as modeling or observational learning which is sometimes also called as “social learning”. It states that a student doesn’t have to have to get personally reinforced to get his behavior changed. However in a classroom if he sees other students getting reinforced that by itself is enough to change his behavior. For example if a slower student watches a teacher praising other students for completing their work on time, that will drive the slow student to imitate faster students. For imitation the student need to internalize the social event which took place, keep it stored in his memory, reproduce the action and above all have the intrinsic motivation to do so. 

Self regulated learner

 

A self regulated learner should be able to have self control, self regulate and have self efficacy. Self control implies the ability for one to control his/her action in absence of external reinforcements. Self regulation implies the ability to apply ‘self control’ consistently and appropriately to new situations. Self efficacy is the extent to which one believes he/ she is capable of pursuing a task. Self efficacy is driven by performance accomplishments, verbal persuasion, emotional arousal and vicarious experience. Self efficacy can influence one’s behavior in its selection process, cognitive process, motivational process and in its affective process. 

Social cognitive theory greatly helps us to shape our students as self regulated learners which is one of the most important purposes of education itself. Reinforces and other interventions utilized will be of no use to the students once such interventions/ reinforces have been withdrawn unless those interventions actually led to a permanent change in the learner which led the learner to have self control, self regulation and have a self efficacy. A self regulated learner will continue to learn throughout and will enjoy the process. Such personalities later on doubtlessly will become important members of the society.

Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognitive development is the development of the thinking and organizing systems of the mind. It involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and memory development. Cognitive learning theories focus on how people perceive the stimuli they get from their surroundings. Jean Piaget, a Swiss scientist who lived from 1896 to 1980 is perhaps best known for having described the Theory of Cognitive Development. Piaget carried out several experiments to demonstrate the differences in the way children of various ages are able to grasp and process the environment around them. He also went on to describe how logical thinking and reasoning dominate their minds as they grow.

When formulating his theory Piaget made some assumptions such as that certain types of learning are exclusive to human beings. He went on to assume that knowledge was organized and that people are actively involved in learning process. He also assumed that observation of people’s behavior is what needs to be scientifically studied and that learning is not necessarily manifested by behavioral changes. Furthermore he went on to say that learning is relating new information to the already existing information which was learned through previous experiences derived from personal factors, social factors, environmental factors and behavioral factors. He put forth 4 main stages of the cognitive development theory and said every human goes through these 4 stages and in each stage he acquired certain skills that helped develop his cognitive abilities

Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Stage 1. Sensori-motor Stage

This stage lasts from birth till about 2 years of age. In this stage, the cognitive development in children is guided by limited sensory perception and motor activities.

Stage 2. Pre-operational Stage

This stage lasts from ages 2 year to 7 years. The child is now able to use symbols and images to understand things and learning a language can occur easily. Their thinking is egocentric and irreversible.

Stage 3. Concrete Operational Stage

This stage lasts from ages 7 years to 11 years. The child is able to think logically, concepts like reversibility become clearer and start losing their egocentric personality.

Stage 4. Formal Operations Stage

This stage begins at age 12 and lasts into adulthood. A person is able to think logically, able to deduce facts from it, plan, formulate creative ideas, predict outcomes, understand critique and draw conclusions. In other words one becomes cognitively mature.

Discussion

While the cognitive learning theory have guided us to classify children into categories by age and help us to come with appropriate curricula for different age groups it is also faced with many criticisms.

With the evidence of modern day psychology we now know the age designations in this theory needs revision, mental development of children occur sooner than Piaget’s prediction. Slow moving through the four stages and inability to reach the fourth stage by many have warranted further evaluation of role played by the biological development on cognition. Piaget's theory is also criticized for underestimating the impact of culture and gender differences on children.

Behavioral Learning Theories

Introduction

Behavioral learning theories are popular theories, among behavioral scientists and educators, which state that learning is attainment of new behavior through conditioning and that environmental influence such as reinforcements are responsible for molding one’s behavior. The new behavior is a result of what has been learnt. Hence behaviorism is the use of behavior which can be seen, observed and measured for learning. It gives no relevance to subjective impressions and feelings which are immeasurable. Behaviorism focuses on a new behavioral pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic. According to behavioral theories there are two basic learning paradigms; classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning was explained by the famous Russian physiologist Pavlov who showed meat to his dog (Unconditional Stimulus). Upon seeing the meat the dog did its natural dog behavior, it salivated (Unconditional Response). Pavlov explained the meat as the unconditional stimulus and salivation as the unconditional response. Pavlov leant that with the meat or right before offering the meat if we ring a bell and if we repeat this often enough, the meat and the bell will get paired to gather in dog’s mind. And after this happens just by ringing bell (conditional stimulus) alone (without meat) is enough to produce salivation. The new thing that has happened is now the dog salivates to the bell (which is a conditional stimulus). Classical conditioning is an old response (something you already knew to do e.g. salivation) to a new stimulus (bell). In classical conditioning the key triggering stimulus (bell) must occur before the response.  Un-pairing of the conditional stimulus and the conditional response is known as extinction. Suppose if we ring the bell again and again without offering meat then over time the connection between meat and bell gets broken, when this occurs the connection between the bell and salivation also gets broken, this phenomenon is known as extinction.

Operant Conditioning

The second kind of learning paradigm is operant conditioning which is also known as instrumental conditioning. This type of conditioning was described by B. F. Skinner. To understand operant conditioning we can consider the popular experiment conducted by Skinner on lab rats. Skinner took a white Norwegian rat and kept in a box.  When stuck in the box the rat then displayed normal rat like behavior of running around, exploring the cage, sticking its nose through the bars, sniffing around and scratching the bars. But it did not have the knowledge or the behavior of moving the little bar at end of the cage with its paws. Skinner learnt that by using reinforcement he could make the rat to move the bar (that will open door allowing the rat to escape). He offered food whenever it touches the little bar, the rat then learnt to press the bar (acquired bar pressing behavior). Food is reinforcement in this case. Reinforcement is what makes operant conditioning operate. Reinforcement is anything that when applied makes response more likely in future. It is a new response (bar pressing) to an old stimulus (food).

Even for humans learning is the attainment of new behavior through conditioning

There are 4 types of reinforces that a teacher could utilize in order to change the behavior of his students; positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.

• Positive reinforcement is when a stimulus is added it caused an increase in behavior of students. For example when we give rewards, stars, compliments or remarks to parents the students will try to keep up the behavior for which they were rewarded.

• Negative reinforcement is when a stimulus is removed it caused an increase in behavior of students. For example when we reduce homework or class tasks for good performance the students will try to keep up the behavior (good performance) for which the undesirable stimuli were removed.

• Punishment is when we add a stimulus that stops the behavior of the students.  For example if we give advice against mischief the students’ behavior with mischief will decrease. Advice here is adding of a stimulus and stopping mischief is stopping of a behavior. (Punishment has quite a different meaning in behaviorism).

• Extinction is when a stimulus is removed that causes the students behavior to stop. For example in a noisy class where the students are talking if the lecturer who is lecturing (stimulus) stops lecturing for a moment (removal of stimulus) then the students stop talking as well (stops the behavior).

Drawbacks of adapting behavioral learning theories:

• Learning is passive.
• Learners are dependent on external rewards.
• Knowledge is a matter of remembering information.
• Behavioral theories support approaches that include teacher centered instruction.  Behavioral theories are best practiced with equal amount of constructivism in an Integrated Learning System.

Advantages of adapting behavioral learning theories:

• Simple, easy, doesn’t require highly skilled teachers
• Effects of using it tools are actually observable
• Practical in all settings
• Can be utilized for experimental purposes
• Learners are focused on clear goals and respond accordingly
• Use of positive reinforcements have long-term positive effects
• Studies have also shown that use of behavioral theories increase the self-confidence of students

Behavioral approaches can effectively facilitate mastery of the contents of subjects/ fields or professions and therefore in some professions where time is a limiting factor, it is inevitably the most preferred approach along with constructivism for teaching and learning.