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EDU 528, WEEK 4, PART 1: Theories of Teaching

Slide # Topics Narration

Slide 1 Introduction Welcome to Methods of Teaching in Adult Education. In

this lesson, we will discuss Theories of Teaching.

Next slide.

Slide 2 Topics The following topics will be covered in this lesson:

Principles of teaching from theories of learning;

Teaching concepts derived from learning theories about

animals and children;

Concepts of teaching derived from theories of teaching;

Teaching through inquiry;

Teaching through modeling;

Perspective transformation / critical reflectivity; and

Change theory.

Next slide.

Slide 3 Principles of

Teaching from

Theories of Learning

According to Gage, theories of learning and theories ofteaching are different-theories of learning deal with the

way people learn, while theories of teaching deal withways in which one person influences other people to learn.

Learning theory subscribed to by a teacher informs his

teaching theory.

Hilgard identified twenty principles of learning derived

from three different learning theories namely, Stimulus-

Response theory, cognitive theory, and motivation and

personality theory. He made an assumption these

principles would be acceptable to all learning theorists.

Here, we will look at a few examples of principles that are

emphasized in each theory.

Principles emphasized in S-R Theory include:

A learner should be an active participant rather than a

passive listener or observer;Repeating as many times as possible is important in

acquiring skills and for retention through overlearning;

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Reinforcement is important and correct responses should

be rewarded; andConflicts and frustrations that result in the process of

learning difficult discriminations must be accommodated

or resolved.

Principles emphasized in Cognitive Theory include:

Teachers should organize knowledge so that the direction

is from simple to complex and is not from arbitrary,

meaningless parts to meaningful wholes, but instead from

simplified wholes to complex wholes.;Culture has an influence of the way people learn; and

Goal-setting by the learner is important because

motivation for learning and personal success and failures

determine how individuals set future goals.

Principles emphasized in motivation and personality

theory are the learners abilities are important andmotivation and provisions have to be made for slower and

more rapid learner. The same applies to those with

specialized abilities. Culture affects learning. Learnersshould understand in terms of influences that have shaped

her development.

Next slide.

Slide 4 Learning Theories

about Animals andChildren

There a number of theories about the nature of teaching

and the role of the teacher. Here, we will look at a few ofthem. These include Thorndike, Guthrie, Skinner, Hull,

Tolman, and Gagne.

Thorndikesaw teaching as the control of learning by the

management of rewards. Among other things, this

teaching needs a learner that is interested, problem-oriented, and attentive. The teacher must manipulate the

situation so that the learner accepts the problem posed

because of the rewards involved. The rewards are the ones

that strengthen the desired responses.

Guthrie offers two suggestions for teaching. In order to

encourage a certain behavior and discourage the other, it is

important to know the cues leading to the behavior. Theremust be skillful use of rewards and punishments. Use as

many stimulus supports for desired behavior as possible.

The presence of more stimulus associated with the desiredbehavior decreases the chances of distracting stimuli and

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competing behavior upsetting the desired behavior.

Skinnerlooks at teaching as the arrangement of

contingencies of reinforcement. Skinner indicates that it is

the responsibility of institutions of learning to impart an

accumulation of skills, knowledge, and social and ethicalpractices to its new members.

Hullswork was mainly concerned with the development

of a systematic behavior theory that would improve the

laboratory study of learning. However, Kingsley and

Garry have concluded that a class modeled after Hullstheory would be characterized by systematic order and

arrangement. The development of habits and skills would

proceed from simple to complex.

Tolman was primarily concerned with the laboratorystudy of learning. He incorporated the concepts of Gestalt

psychology in his work. The Gestalt psychologists see therole of a teacher as that of providing stimulating

situations. This can be done through a number of teaching

activities such as verbal explanations, showing pictures orpresenting reading matter.

Gagneargues that learning cannot be explained by

simple theories. Gagne believes that there are eight typesof learning, each with its own set of required conditions.

These types of learning are:

Signal learning;Stimulus-Response;

Chaining;

Verbal Association;Multiple Discrimination;

Concept Learning;

Principle Learning; andPrinciple Solving.

Each form of learning is distinguished from another by its

prerequisites, because the types of learning are inhierarchical order. Gagne has also described eight

functions of the ways in which the learners environment

acts on the individual. The teacher has to manage thesefunctions. Some of these functions are:

Presenting the stimulus;

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Every learning requires a stimulus outside the learner

directing attention and other learner activities;Components in the environment can act on the learner by

directing attention of a learner to certain stimuli;

Inducing transfer of knowledge; and

Transferring learned concepts and principles to unfamiliarsituations

Next slide.

Slide 5 Concepts of Teaching

Derived from

Theories of Teaching

John Deweyput forward a system of ideas about effectiveteaching that have had the greatest impact in education

during the first part of the twentieth century.

There are a number of differences between Deweys

principles and the principles of traditional education.

While students in traditional education learn from texts

and teachers, Dewey advocates learning from experience;traditional education promotes the acquisition of isolatedskills and techniques by drill, Dewey looks at the

acquisition of isolated skills and techniques as a means

of attaining ends which make a direct vital appeal.

The central concept in Deweys system is experience.

According to Dewey, every educational process beginswith experience. He argues that the challenge of education

is to select the kind of experiences that live successfully

and creatively with succeeding experiences.

The second key concept of the Deweys system is

democracy. Deweys believes that democratic social

arrangements promote a better quality of humanexperience, one which is more widely accessible and

enjoyable.

Continuity is another key concept of Deweys system.

Continuity means that every experience both takes up

something from the previous experience and modify it

with the other experiences that come after. Physical,intellectual, and moral growth are examples of continuity.

Educators must be aware of the environments that are

conducive to having experiences that lead to growth.

The other key concept of Deweys system is interaction.

There are two factors of experience-objective and internal

conditions. Dewey argues that any experience is aninterplay of objective and internal conditions. The

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educator is responsible for knowledge of individuals and

for knowledge of subject matter. This enables the selectionof activities in which all participate. It is important to note

that development of experience comes through interaction.

According to Dewey, education is a social process. A

teacher is no longer an external boss but a leader of groupactivities.

Next slide.

Slide 6 Teaching Through

Inquiry

A combination of Deweys ideas about teaching and thosefrom cognitive theorists have produced a set of concepts

about teaching, commonly referred to as the discovery

method, the inquiry method, self-directed learning, and

problem solving learning. Jerome Bruner is probably thebest known proponent of inquiry teaching.

Bruner has proposed four criteria that a theory ofinstruction or inquiry teaching must meet. They are asfollows:

Predisposition to learn: Specify the experiences that mosteffectively move the learner towards the desire to learn;

Structure of knowledge: Specify the ways in which

knowledge should be structured so that it can mostlyeasily be grasped by the learner;

Effective sequencing: Specify the most effective

sequences in which to present the material to the learner;

andRewards and punishment: Specify the nature of rewards

and punishment in the process of learning and teaching.

Bruner bases his system on the will to learn, a trait he

believes exists in all people. The will to learn is a problem

in schools where the curriculum confines students andkeeps their path is fixed.

Postman and Weingartner have listed behaviors that

are observable in teachers using inquiry method. Some ofthose behaviors include the following

The teacher rarely tells the students what he thinks they

ought to know;The teacher uses questioning with more emphasis on

divergent questions rather than convergent questions;

The teacher encourages student to student interaction asopposed to student to teacher interaction; and

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The teacher does not accept single statement answers.

Next slide.

Slide 7 Teaching Through

Modeling

Albert Bandura has developed has established a systemof thought called social learningasystem of thought on

imitation, identification, or modeling as concepts ofteaching. Here, we will discuss what teaching by modelingentails.

Teaching by modeling involves the teacher behaving inways that he or she wants the learner to imitate. Here the

teacher is seen as the role model. There are three types of

effects from exposing a learner to the a model:

-Modeling effect: A learner acquires new kinds of

response patterns.

-Inhibitory or disinhibitory effect: The learner increases ordecreases the frequency, latency, or intensity of previouslyacquired responses.

-Eliciting effect: A learner receives from the model a cue

for releasing a response that is neither new nor inhibited.

Among the many teaching techniques teachers use,

modeling is probably the one that all teachers use, whetherconsciously or unconsciously. There are a number of

characteristics that influence the teacherseffectiveness s as a model. These include age, sex, social

economic status, social power, intellectual and vocationalstatus.

Social learning has been used mainly to achieve behaviorchange through external management of reinforcement

contingencies. However, in recent years the focus has

moved to what is called self-control process in whichindividuals regulate their own behavior by arranging

appropriate contingences by themselves. There are a

number of strategies for self-control process. Bandura

notes that the selection of objectives, both immediate andultimate, is the important aspect of any self-directed

program of change. Furthermore, it is important that the

goals that the individuals choose by themselves are

specified in sufficiently detailed behavioral terms toprovide adequate guidance for the actions that must be

taken daily to attain desired outcomes.

Next slide.

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Slide 8 Perspective

Transformation /

Critical Reflectivity

New theories about the purpose of teaching/learning

suggest that it is not enough for adult education programsto satisfy the identified needs of individuals,

organizations, and society. Mezirow suggests that what is

important is to help learners change their way of thinking

about themselves and their world. This can be achieved bywhat Brookfield calls critical reflectivity.

Under critical reflectivity, significant personal learning

will be the learning in which adults reflect on their self-

images, self-concepts, question their previously

internalized behavioral and moral norms. The learners areable to interpret their present and past behaviors from a

different perspective. Facilitators have a role of prompting

learners to think about alternative perspectives on their

personal political, work, and social lives.

In the process of facilitation, the learners previously held

beliefs, behaviors, and values will be put to a test againstnew ones, which they may not want to consider.

Confronting peoples beliefs, values or behaviors may be

discomforting to some people. However, it should bemade known to the students that this is a normal

component of learning.

Next slide.

Slide 9 Change Theory Change theory is another system of thought whose

concepts and strategies are drawn from field theory,systems theory, organizational development and

consultation theories, and ecological psychology. This

theory deals with influencing the educative qualityenvironments. Knowles has interpretation of some of the

applications of change theory for human development.

Here, we will explore these applications.

Organizationsmust be seen also as social systemsbecause they have a human purpose. Though

organizations need to get things done, their other functionis to act as an instrumentality that helps people to meet

their human needs and achieve human goals. Using adult

education, organizations can advance both purposes.

Organizations can use adult education to ensure that theirpersonnel obtain the competencies needed to advance the

goals of the organizations. On the human purpose,

organizations will use adult education to help theirpersonnel develop competencies that will enable them to

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meet their needs and achieve their goals.

Organizations provide an environment for adult learning.

This environment can either facilitate or inhibit learning.

Modern adult education theorists call for the need to

increase the emphasis on the importance of buildingeducative environments. Educative environments have

certain characteristics such as:

Respect of personality;

Participation in decision making;

Freedom of expression and availability of information;and

Mutuality of responsibility in defining goals, planning,

and conducting activities, and evaluating.

In a democratic culture, an educative environmentpractices a democratic philosophy. In adult education,

democratic philosophy among other things implies thatlearning activities will be based on the needs and interests

of the participants, and a group that is representative of all

participants is responsible for determining the policies.

Next slide.

Slide 10 Check Your

Understanding

Slide 11 Summary We have reached the end of this lesson. Lets take a look

at what weve covered.

We started our discussion by examining theories of

teaching. Here, we learnt that there is a difference

between theories of learning and theories of teaching. Weexamined Hilgards twenty principles of learning derived

from three different learning theories namely, stimulus,

response theory, cognitive theory, and motivation and

personality theory. He made an assumption theseprinciples would be acceptable to all learning theorists.

We then examined teaching concepts derived fromlearning theories about animals and children. Here, we

learnt about number of theories about the nature of

teaching and the role of the teacher. These theories includethose of Thorndike, Guthrie, Skinner, Hull, Tolman, and

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Gagne. Thorndike saw teaching as the control of learning

by the management of rewards. Guthrie offers twosuggestions for teaching. In order to encourage a certain

behavior and discourage the other, it is important to know

the cues leading to the behavior and use as many stimulus

supports for desired behavior as possible. Skinner looks atteaching as the arrangement of contingencies of

reinforcement. Hulls work was mainly concerned with thedevelopment of a systematic behavior theory that would

improve the laboratory study of learning. Tolman was

primarily concerned with the laboratory study of learning.

He incorporated the concepts of Gestalt psychology in hiswork. Gagne argues that learning cannot be explained by

simple theories. He believes that there are eight types of

learning, each with its own set of required conditions.

Next, we examined concepts of teaching derived fromtheories of teaching. Here, we learned about John Deweys

system of ideas about effective teaching. We observed thatthere are a number of differences between Deweys

principles and the principles of traditional education, such

as while students in traditional education learn from textsand teachers, Dewey advocates learning from experience.

We also learned that there are a number of key concepts to

Deweys principles, such as experience, democracy,

continuity, and interaction.

We then discussed teaching through inquiry. Here, welearned that according to Bruner, there are four criteriathat a theory of instruction or inquiry must meet. These

are:

Predisposition to learn;Structure of knowledge;

Effective sequencing; and

Rewards and punishment.

Next, we examined teaching through modeling. Here, we

learned that teaching by modeling involves the teacher

behaving in ways that he or she wants the learner toimitate. We also learned that there are three types of

effects from exposing the learner to a model:

Modeling effect;

Inhibitory or disinhibitory effect; and

Eliciting effect.

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Next, we examined perspective transformation /criticalreflection. Here we learned that the new theories about the

purpose of teaching suggest apart from satisfying the

identified needs of individuals, organizations, and society;

adult education programs should help learners changetheir way of thinking about themselves and their world.

This can be achieved by what Brookfield calls criticalreflectivity. Facilitators have a role of prompting learners

to think about alternative perspectives on their personal

political, work, and social lives.

Finally, we examined Change theory. We learned that

Change theory is another system of thought whose

concepts and strategies are drawn from field theory,

systems theory, organizational development and

consultation theories, and ecological psychology. Thistheory deals with influencing the educative quality

environments. Using Knowles interpretation of some ofthe applications of change theory for human development,

we learnt that organizations serve two purposes, the work

purpose and the human purpose.

This completes this lesson.