Analysis of David’s learning
Honey and Mumford (1989) suggest that characteristics that David displays, to be mainly an activist learner as he enjoys doing practical work. This I noted in observation three. David was making a ‘get well card’ for another pupil and his behaviour and attitude to learning was much better than during literacy and numeracy. The other groups that Honey and Mumford recognise are:
- Reflectors;
- Theorists;
- Pragmatists.
David does not show characteristics of a reflective learner, but could be with encouragement and motivation. My belief is that motivation is a key element in encouraging pupils like David, who have the ability to learn, but lack purpose. Rae and McPhillimy (1985) agree; “Although it has been shown that learning can take place without motivation, pupils’ appropriate executive controls are more likely to be exerted if the pupil is keen to learn” (p17)Theorists, plan and think things through, David has not the maturity to do either of these yet. Pragmatist, take a practical view to tasks, getting straight to the point, giving proof for their ideas, David shows tendencies towards this area on rare occasions. Cotton (1995) believes that “All four areas are needed if the learner is to reach the aim of autononomy in learning”… and a mature learner should “be able to function in all four models” (p113). I agree with this argument; the teacher should aim for this so children work efficiently in a harmonious atmosphere.
Applying Bishop and Denley (1997) theory of learning, it would appear that David is a dynamic, imaginative learner. He likes to experiment, and is not concerned by failure. He likes exciting and varied tasks, when he is in the mood, and sometimes takes control, involving others. He does not manage his time very well, without planning. He does not feel that checking his work plays an important part to his learning. He is quite imaginative and enjoys brainstorming. He is easily distracted and works in fits and starts, which leads to important details being omitted. He is easily distracted and often indecisive.
David prefers experience and practice; Flemming and Mills (1992) learning styles, VARK (March 2003) (visual, aural, read/write kinaesthetic) shows preferences to learning styles and how to improve them. David shows tendencies towards being a kinaesthetic learner; this can be seen in observation three during an Art lesson, where he excels in making a card for another pupil. He shows enthusiasm for the task in hand, and is engrossed in the activity.
As David’s home life is unsettled, I feel that this contributes to his learning difficulties, especially as he has shown through his assessment that he has the ability to achieve higher results. Gagne (1985) insists that learning occurs over a period of time and is not a process of growth. “Learning is not simply an event that happens naturally; it is also an event that happens under certain observable conditions.” (p2) Although I agree with this statement, I feel that some children find it easier to learn than others and home environment plays a big part in the way that children learn.
David needs to be motivated. Ausubel, Gagne and Bruner, recognise two types of motivation: (cited in Kyriacou 1997)
- Extrinsic – some kind of reward at the end
- Intrinsic - biological drive of curiosity, being interested in the subject.
From my observations, I noted that David responds to extrinsic motivation, where he would receive some kind of reward. When David has finished his work, he is allowed to go on to the computer. Ball, (1977) theorises, “students will involve themselves in an uninteresting activity if it gives them a chance to do something that does interest them” (p142). I feel that it would be best to try to motivate the pupil by finding and interesting way to present the learning objective rather than resorting to bribery. In my experience, this only causes the pupil to rush their work, without thought, to move onto the desired activity; this does not result in any learning. Kyriacou (1997) suspects “Although intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are contrasted with each other, it is important to note that most tasks involve a mixture of the two”. (p 26 Kyriacou 1997). David is aware that he is in a lower ability group and I feel that this has an impact upon his desire to learn; Kyriacou (1997) stresses “Pupils who constantly feel they are doing less well academically that their peers will often make lest effort to succeed” (p35).
Recommendations For David
David’s lack of concentration should primarily be addressed. This could be done in several ways:
- Avoid seating near distractions such as windows or doors;
- Try to keep his working environment quiet and calm;
- Work in a group of pupils that will encourage David to work;
- Give clear and concise instructions;
- Give him one target a day, to keep him on task;
- Make sure he is aware of what is expected of him;
- Provide rewards and encouragement for positive behaviour;
- Ensure David is aware of the behaviour changes that are required;
- Always be consistent with the strategies used.
David should be encouraged to use all of his senses. He would benefit from practical activity rather than reading and writing exercises. Where reading and writing is inevitable, David would benefit from examples of work being modelled by the teaching, and using a writing frame could help to complete the task. David could draw pictures to illustrate his learning. The BPVS assessment could be carried out, as advised by the Learning Support Services. It is quite obvious that David needs speech therapy to overcome his learning difficulties. However, he has been referred to a speech therapist but failed to keep most of the appointments. If the parents could be persuaded to return to the speech therapy sessions, I feel that David would benefit enormously. David could benefit from metacognitive awareness; to learn how to think about how he learns. Reid, (2003) suggests the following questions that pupils could ask themselves;
- Have I done this before?
- How did I tackle it?
- What did I find easy or difficult?
- What did I learn?
- What do I have to do to accomplish this task?
- How should I tackle it?
This could prove difficult for David, as he often does little work to analyse. I would suggest that he was set a task with little writing, and then use the questions as a tick list to get him to think about how he has tackled the task.
Case Study Two
Jeremy
Jeremy is a year two pupil and has a chronological age of 7yrs 5 months. He is a quiet member of the class and has a few close friends. His reading age is 9 years old. He listens attentively and gets on with his work without prompting. He answers question when involved in class work, although he tends to lack enthusiasm. However, he is not very creative and struggles with art and craft activities. Although he has difficulties in this area, this does not faze him; he appears more disappointed in himself. He is of average ability in PE, and tries his best. Jeremy is a very observant child, and pays attention to environmental factors within the classroom and outside. He appears to have a stable home life, with parents at home, and a sister. He is a member of the school council which is helping him with his social skills and also attends chess club within the school. He is expected to achieve a level 2b/3 in the SAT’s tests this May. Jeremy reads instructions well when given them. He can solve problems by using methods that he has learnt and apply them, working independently. He sometimes can be thorough and decisive although not always. He is not very imaginative and likes to do things in his own way, in an organised manner. He does not work within a group as well, and does not enjoy brainstorming. He responds well to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. This is shown in observation three, where he is striving to re-build his model; he wants to please the teacher and get personal satisfaction.
Analysis of Jeremy’s Learning
Jeremy has a stable home life, and receives encouragement from his parents. This contributes to how Jeremy appears to learn new concepts with ease. Bruner, (1986) focussed on environment and experiential factors in development factors. He believed that human intellectual ability develops in stages from infancy to adulthood through step by step progress in how the mind is used, particularly in thoughts “Language to whatever use it may be put in, has the design feature of being organized on different levels, each level providing constituents for the level above which dominates it” (1986 p21). He believes that pupils’ should become active participants during the learning process.
Hannaford(1995) believes that there is a strong link between emotions and cognition. “Children who are allowed to naturally and responsibly express emotions are better able to constructively or creatively use them throughout life” (p59) he believes if pupils can not express their emotions they start to doubt their personal value, lowering self-esteem. I feel that Jeremy can express himself at home, but needs to boost his self-esteem so that he can apply this to areas in school during practical activities, which are his weak area.
Analysing observations of Jeremy, it is apparent that Jeremy performs well, academically. However, he has not reached his full potential as he is not challenged enough. This can be seen in observation two; he has finished his work and the extension work, and still has time left before the plenary begins. Cohen et al (2000) comment that gifted children “work below their potential from lack of challenge” (p 214) and this is why I feel Jeremy lacks enthusiasm. However, he does show some enthusiasm towards problem solving, and I think this should be encouraged. Gagne (1985) suggests problem solving is the hierarchy in the learning process. He observed that there were six main types of learning that can take place:
- Stimulus Response learning;
- Chaining, motor or verbal;
- Discrimination learning;
- Concept learning;
- Rule learning;
- Problem solving.
The stimulus response (SR) learning is when a stimulus triggers a response. This is the simplest category and Jeremy show he can do this by answering questions in the mental oral part of the numeracy lesson. Chaining is the connection to SR learning, but in a sequence. Jeremy can also complete this with ease, by making connections by inverse operation of a calculation. Discriminating learning moves onto a more complex situation, where there are more that one stimuli and the learner has to discriminate between them. Discriminating is often a prerequisite to concept learning. Rule learning is a regular occurrence that can be learnt by rote or experience; Jeremy has shown understanding of this by knowing his times table. Problem solving is the top of the hierarchy of learning and the former has to be established before accomplishing problem solving.
Piaget’s theory, assimilation and accommodation, was similar to Gagne’s. He called simple ideas, schemas. Assimilation is similar to discrimination learning, and accommodation is similar to concept learning, “accommodating an old schema to a new object” (March 2003) Piaget believed that unless children have developed to a point where they were ready, they would not be able to do the thinking, assimilation and accommodation that are necessary for learning. . Assimilation and accommodation are the two sides of adaptation, Piaget’s term for what most of us would call learning.
According to Honey and Mumford’s (1989) learning styles, Jeremy shows signs of being a reflective learner. Reflective learning occurs after an activity, through proof reading and thinking. This helps him to absorb new information and relate it to existing concepts, giving him opportunity to adapt new schemas of knowledge. “Reflective thinking is the foundation of logical decision making and a method of freeing the individual from superstition and intuition” (Cotton, 1995 p116). Jeremy does not appear to conform to traits of an activist. He would benefit from activities that encourage practical activities to enhance this area. Jeremy shows some traits of being a theorist, as he tends to think logically, using principles and rules.
Gardeners multiple of intelligences highlights the need for seven non-related forms of intelligence to release human potential. Although Jeremy has many, he lacks in bodily/kinaesthetic and interpersonal skills. If he could enhance these skills, I feel he would become a more holistic learner. (March 2003)
Recommendations for Jeremy
Jeremy works well, academically, but lacks confidence in creative work and team activities such as PE. He should be encouraged to participate in activities such as:
- Board games such as chess which he enjoys;
- To practise creative activities such as making things, so that as he improves he will become more interested;
- Encourage him in a sporting activity that he enjoys;
- Read out work during plenary sessions to improve his social skills.
- Jeremy could write down ideas when working in a group, and be the organiser within the group.
Johnston and Olekalns (2002) advocate another approach called the Critical and Analytical Learning in Macroeconomics (CALM) Method.(see appendix) The system was introduced in Melbourne, 1999. The aim is to improve the level and the type of learning outcomes. The project aims to foster a deep approach to learning. “students who use a deep approach are personally involved in the learning task and the context in which the learning occurs” moreover, “surface learners,…see learning as a means to achieve a short-term goal, which may be simply to do enough work to pass an assessment” (p104) Although the project was designed for students in higher education, if feel that the principles could be helpful to Jeremy as he is a high achiever. The system provides opportunity to interact with peers by reading other students work and commenting on it. This is an area that Jeremy needs to build on, and in this way could help him become more confident in sporty type games and activities.
Although Jeremy works well academically, he lacks confidence in some areas. High self-esteem can help pupils express themselves, giving ideas and share feelings; although Jeremy is aware of the importance of academic skills, I feel that he places camaraderie as an important issue. Maslow (1987), studied human psychology, and increased the awareness of pupils’ self-esteem. He studied personality theories during the 1960’s concerning meaning and purpose to life, and he placed belonging needs such as friendship necessary for total fulfilment. He highlights this in his hierarchy of needs; the lower needs are to be met essentially before the higher needs are taken into consideration. If Jeremy had more confidence in his ability in practical skills, I feel that he would be more enthusiastic towards his academic skills.
Conclusion
From the literature that I have read and the observations that I have made, I have concluded that children learn in different ways and respond differently, depending on their environmental upbringing.
Skelton and Playfoot (1995) point out that different teaching styles have their strengths and weaknesses, and teachers should adopt a mix of teaching styles. They add that this does not simply mean, working for some of the time in each way, it means choosing the most appropriate method for the learning outcomes to be achieved. “It is important to choose a style which best serves the learning outcomes and which has most chance of increasing the opportunity for appropriate interaction between teacher and children.” (Skelton and Playfoot, p2) However, I feel that this cannot be carried out in practice all of the time; a class of 25 children it would be impossible for ever child to partake in his/her appropriate learning style in every lesson. My thesis would be to be aware of individual learning needs of every child, and try to accommodate them where possible. Also to encourage children to learn in their non-preferred style to try to encourage a range of different styles.
Kyriacou (1997) explains that there are different ways of learning. Over recent years, educationalists have advocated the move from passive acquisitions of knowledge, towards activities where children can develop intellectual and social skills in situations of their preferred style. David and Jeremy could benefit from a plan that incorporates the following ways of learning, to overcome their weaknesses.
- Active learning – learning through practical activities, applying knowledge from their own experiences;
- Problem solving – finding own solutions to a problem;
- Creativity – Organising, doing and making;
- Communications – sharing work with others;
- Co-operation – learning to get on with others, in group;
- Negotiation – negotiate with teachers to meet their learning needs;
- Assessment – recognition of their work.
Kyriacou believes it is best to match these different ways of learning to the pupil’s preferred learning style “in order to maximise the effectiveness of the teacher” (1997 p147). He notes the importance of building on skills in their non preferred learning style, “to develop a full range of learning skills” (1998 p41) Moreover, Kolb (1984) suggests that there is a connection between personal characteristics and circumstances “the experiential learning theory of development focuses on the transaction between internal characteristics and external circumstances, between personal knowledge and social knowledge” (p 133) which the teacher has limited influence.
I envisage, for the best results, that a plan could be made up to incorporate these ways of learning for both pupils. Primarily, I would try to include their preferred learning style mostly to start with, and then incorporate new methods gradually, until they are comfortable with the new learning styles.
Finally, feedback to both pupils is essential, so that they are aware of the progress they have made. Drummond and Pollard, (1993) stress that when assessing children’s learning, their own interest is paramount “Assessment is a process that must enrich their lives, their learning and development” (p 13). I feel it is an important issue when deciding future planning.
References
Ball, S. (1977) Motivation in Education London: Academic Press INC.
Bishop,K and Denley,P (1997) Effective Learning in Science Stafford: Network Educational Press.
Bruner, J. (1986) Actual Minds, Possible Worlds London: Harvard University Press.
Cohen, L. Manion, L. Morrison, K. (2000) A Guide to teaching Pratcice4th ed. London: Routledge.
Cotton, J. (1995) The Theory of Learning Strategies London: Kogan Page Limited.
Dr. C. George Bieree (2003)
Drummond, M.J. and Pollard, A. (1993) Assessing Children’s Learning London: David Fulton Publishers.
Flemming and Mills ( March 2003)
Gagne, R. (1985) The Conditions of Learning4th Edition New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston.
Hannaford, C. Phd (1995) Smart Moves, why learning Is Not All In Your Head Virginia: Great Ocean Publisher.
Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1989) The Manual of Learning Styles 3rd Edition Maidenhead : P Honey.
Johnston, C. & Olekalns, N. (2002) Enriching the Learning Experience: a CALM approach Studies in Higher Education, Volume 27, No. 1: Carfax Publishing.
Kolb,D.A. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development New Jersey: PTR Prentice Hall.
Kyriacou, C. (1997) Effective Teaching In Schools 2nd Edition Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes.
Maslow, A. (1987) Motivation and Personality3rd Edition, (revised by Frager et al) New York: Harper and Row.
Rae, G. & McPhillimy, W.N. (1985) Learning in the Primary School 2nd Edition Kent: Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.
Reid, G. (2003) http://www.bdainternationalconference.org/presentations/sat_s6_a_l.htm
Metacognition, Learning styles and Dyslexia- BDA 2001
Skelton, M. and Playfoot, D. (1995) Effective Teaching London: Primary File Publishing.
(march 2003)
Sandra Goss Approaches To Learning EDS24-3 page