 The Learning Process

 Learning is generally defined as relatively permanent changes in behaviour, skills,

knowledge or attitudes resulting from identifiable psychological or social experiences.

A key feature is permanence: changes do not count as learning if they are temporary. You do not
learn a phone number if you forget it the minute after you dial the number; you do not learn to
like vegetables if you only eat them when forced. The change has to last.


Learning can be physical, social, emotional or cognitive. 

You do not learn to sneeze by catching a cold, but you do have to learn many skills and
behaviours that are physically based, such as riding a bicycle or throwing a ball. 

You can also learn to like (or dislike) a person, even though this change may not happen
deliberately.  

 Learning is not the same as teaching. The distinction between learning and teaching is
especially important for teachers to remember. 

Teachers must be careful not to confuse their efforts (i.e. teaching) with what students get from
their efforts (i.e. learning).
 The circumstances of teaching, e.g. the number of students in the classroom, can influence
teachers’ perceptions of learning, and therefore also influence how they teach. 


 There are several major theories of learning. The two main theories that are explained in this
course are behaviourism and constructivism.

  Type 1: Behaviourism
 Type 2: Constructivism
  Behaviourism: This theory emphasises the links that can often be observed among overt
behaviours and the circumstances of the behaviours. 

A variety of behaviourism called operant conditioning has been used by a number of

educators to explain and organise management strategies for certain students, especially
those with behavioural problems.

 Teachers’ Perspective on Learning

 For teachers, learning usually refers to things that happen in schools or classrooms, even though
every teacher can of course describe examples of learning that happen outside of these places. 

 Teachers’ perspectives on learning often emphasize the following three ideas:

1. Curriculum content and academic achievement 

2. Sequencing and readiness

3. The importance of transferring learning to new or future situations 

 Sometimes teachers tend to emphasise whatever is taught in schools deliberately, including

both the official curriculum and the various behaviours and routines that make classrooms run
smoothly. 


 In practice, defining learning in this way often means that teachers equate learning with the
major forms of academic achievement - especially language and mathematics - and to a lesser
extent musical skill, physical co-ordination or social sensitivity (Gardner, 1999, 2006). 
 In the classroom, there is a lot of learning that takes place alongside the explicit learning of
the curriculum. This is called incidental learning and it occurs without the teacher or learner
deliberately trying to make it happen. 
Teachers often see this incidental learning and welcome it in their classroom. But their
responsibility for curriculum goals more often focuses their efforts on what students can learn
through conscious, deliberate effort.


 Sometimes teachers tend to emphasise whatever is taught in schools deliberately, including
both the official curriculum and the various behaviours and routines that make classrooms run
smoothly. 


 In practice, defining learning in this way often means that teachers equate learning with the
major forms of academic achievement - especially language and mathematics - and to a lesser
extent musical skill, physical co-ordination or social sensitivity (Gardner, 1999, 2006). 
 In the classroom, there is a lot of learning that takes place alongside the explicit learning of
the curriculum. This is called incidental learning and it occurs without the teacher or learner
deliberately trying to make it happen. 

Teachers often see this incidental learning and welcome it in their classroom. But their
responsibility for curriculum goals more often focuses their efforts on what students can learn
through conscious, deliberate effort.
  It must be noted that this traditional meaning of readiness as preparedness focuses
attention on students’ adjustment to school and away from the reverse. Schools and teachers also
have a responsibility for adjusting to students. 


 Example:
If a 5-year-old child normally needs to play a lot and keep active, then a teacher needs to be
‘ready’ for this behaviour by planning an educational program that allows a lot of play and
physical activity.

 
 Another result of focusing the concept of learning on classrooms is that it raises issues of
usefulness or transfer. 
 This is the ability to use knowledge or skill in situations beyond the ones in which they are
acquired. Learning to read and learning to solve arithmetic problems are major goals of the initial
school curriculum because these skills are meant to be used not only inside the classroom, but
outside as well. 

 The main points from this module are as follows:

 Learning is generally defined as relatively permanent changes in behaviour, skills, knowledge or

attitudes resulting from identifiable psychological or social experiences.

Learning can be physical, social, emotional or cognitive.

Learning is not the same as teaching.

Two of the main learning theories are behaviourism and constructivism.

Behaviourism emphasises the links that can often be observed among overt behaviours and the
circumstances of the behaviours.

Constructivism emphasises the inner thoughts of learners.