UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA SOUTHEAST

THEORY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

SUBMITTED TO JEFFREY L. LOFTHUS, Ph.D.

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE LEARNER AND THE LEARNING PROCESS

ED 333

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

BY

ROBIN KORNFIELD

December 2, 2020
INTRODUCTION

“Have a good day at work,” is what I said to my children when they went off to

school. They would reply, “Have a good day at school,” as I headed to my office.

I have always believed that every day is a school day in which there is something to be

learned.

What has been surprising in working towards a Master’s in Elementary Education

degree is how much more I have to learn. I have been in many classrooms, having

earned an undergraduate degree in music and a master’s degree in business management,

but it doesn’t mean I paid enough attention to effective teaching techniques.

I have planned a phased approach to my becoming a teacher that starts with our

Master’s in Teaching program classes, continues throughout my classroom work

experience, and I hope becomes something new that will benefit my home community.

I have an idea of creating a Place-Based museum school in Kiana, the place I consider

my hometown. Kiana is an Iñupiaq village on the Kobuk River in Northwest Alaska.

There is an original 1930s-era Kiana Schoolhouse that the school district has donated to

the community. It was the second school built following a mini-gold rush that took place

on the Kobuk River in the early part of the 1900s. The building has not been well

maintained, but ever since I went inside several years ago, I have been thinking about the

schoolhouse and how Kiana needs a place where we can collect information about our

families, our community’s history, the surrounding land, the beautiful Kobuk River that

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runs past us, our own anthropology and a place that becomes a learning site for students,

the community, and visitors.

My mother passed away five years ago, and with her passing we lost the person who

seemed to know the most about where people came from and which families were

connected to one another. We have also lost the other elders who were born in the 1920s

and 1930s when Native people were first moving off of the land and into villages. They

lived at a time when most of the adults were brought up speaking Iñupiaq and speaking

English was a difficult second language.

Phenomenal change took place over a very short period of time in the 1900s, and

much knowledge about traditional belief and skill has been lost. Now we are left with

people like me, who are the next elders. What we know, even if we don’t see ourselves

as “official elders,” is legitimate. I would like to learn what the next generation of elders

has to contribute to local knowledge and to invite them to participate in the education of

their own children and grandchildren.

I decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education so I can become a

qualified teacher who can work directly with young people in a standard school setting

while exploring the possibility of the museum school. I will continue to learn with a

goal of using the time and energy I have to make a difference that benefits the whole

community.

DEVELOPMENT

I have begun to learn about how children develop from pre-school to age 14 through

the work of the great educational theorists introduced in R.E. Slavin’s textbook,

Educational Psychology, Theory and Practice (2018).

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 Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget, one of the most influential educational theorists of the

early 1900s, contributed the concept that children do not all learn at the same pace and

that teachers need to design lessons that are appropriate to each developmental stage. He

introduced the idea that children are not just small adults, and that they develop according

to a fixed four-stage timetable.

Piaget called birth to age two the sensorimotor stage; age two to six the pre-

operational stage when children learn early language skills and are egocentric, able to

play in parallel with other children, but not with them. Ages 7 through 11 are the

concrete operational years, when children think logically but do not understand abstract

ideas; and finally, the formal operational stage from age 12 on, when people learn how to

think abstractly and to reason.

Thinking about the Alaska Native community I wish to serve, I wonder what might be

different about indigenous students who live in remote villages? Are there traditional

ways of learning among Alaska Native people that I should know about? I found the

resource of the Alaska Native Knowledge Network and the handbook called Stop

Talking, Indigenous Ways of Teaching and Learning and Difficult Dialogues in Higher

Education (2013.) The handbook shared the results of a Ford Foundation-supported

project designed to bridge standard university education and Alaska Native ways of

learning. There was some advice that might prove helpful:

“Stop Talking. Set down your electronic devices. Set down your books and your
pens. Go outside if possible; otherwise, find a window. And then for a minute or
two, let go of your thoughts and listen to the wind. Pay attention to the land you
are standing on and to the living things that share your space. Breathe
intentionally from the common air. Notice how you feel. Stay with it as long as
possible. Return to it as often as necessary.” (Stop Talking. p.vi)

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 I will be learning more about intentionally designing lessons that take child

development and education psychology into consideration while also finding ways to

value traditional Alaska Native teachings. My own life experience is also valid and will

be part of what I share.

LEARNING THEORY

The theory that learning and teaching are deliberate and the vital role of the

surrounding influencers is in the realm of Lev Vygotsky, the psychologist who

introduced Sociocultural Theory. Through interacting with others, learning becomes

integrated into an individual's understanding of the world. Vygotsky introduced the

concept of the zone of proximal development, which in practical application might pair a

younger child with a slightly older child when working on as task. The younger child

learns from the older child, and through teaching, the older child’s knowledge is

reinforced.

It makes sense to me that the learner follows a set developmental progression as laid

out by Piaget. We also can learn more when a person in our proximity demonstrates a

skill, as Vygotsky observed. Our surroundings including our community, the media, and

ecological environment have huge influence on what the learner is able to absorb, as an

other psychologist, Urie Bronfenbrenner, contributed to education theory.

Bronfenbrenner's theory on the role of society in student development brings to my

mind how media of all sorts influences so much about how we understand our world

today. We have the ability to use technology to see Broadway musicals, to visit the Grand

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Canyon, or to experience life and art in southern France—all possibilities that were not

possible in our parents’ classroom.

Culturally based curriculum resources are available through the Alaska Native

Knowledge Network. Studies of the seasons, edible plants, clothing design and other

traditional practices can be woven in with art, music and storytelling. I would also like to

design instruction as Vito Perrone suggests, to include 45 minutes of reading time each

day, to learn from real texts and real people, and to spend time outdoors playing or cross

country skiing.

I see myself as a teacher who will provide direct instruction and also constructivist

individual and group projects like family trees, interviews and recordings of elders about

community history, storyboards that incorporate family photos, art projects and displays

that are shared with the whole community.

As a person who comes from Kiana, where I am hoping to teach, my own relationship

with the parents and community should be an asset for the students.

STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENT

I have been questioning testing and grades since we learned that education

psychologists have researched, and reported, that each child is on a different pace when it

comes to learning. I am not enthusiastic about assessment in the schools as is currently

conducted, but I hope the information gathered in standardized testing can help me treat

my students as individuals who have strengths to be reinforced, and that the testing

identifies challenges the student and I can address together.

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 The educator, Carol Ann Tomlinson, writes positively about how assessment helped

her become a better teacher and to understand and address students’ preferred way of

learning. She recommends self-assessing one’s own students so we can custom design an

appropriate approach for each child. She also recommends being very clear about

expectations:

“When students clearly understood our learning objectives, knew precisely what
success would look like, understood how each assignment contributed to their
success, could articulate the role of assessment in ensuring their success, and
understood that their work correlated with their needs, they developed a sense of
self-efficacy that was powerful in their lives as learners.” Tomlinson (2008)

I understand better the value of assessment, not just to test for the purpose of ranking

schools, but to make sure I know where my student’s knowledge is in relation to the

teaching objectives. My intention is to make sure to deliver the facts that are required for

assessment, and also to deliver real skills that apply to life in adulthood.

DIVERSITY

Exceptionalities are conditions that children may have that require individual

education plans in order for the student to achieve the very best outcome. The exceptional

child may be advanced and require a special program that supports her special gifts or

talents, or the child may be blind or hearing impaired, or may have any number of

challenges that require special education services to address the individual learner’s

needs.

For two years, a boy named Matthew, who had special needs, was in my daughter’s

class. She is unsure what Matthew learned in that time, but having him and his dedicated

teacher, whom she described as the best storyteller ever, she sees as a very positive

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experience in her education. If possible, I like the inclusion of children who experience

disabilities in the regular classroom. Both the general education student, and the special

education student benefit by knowing, and helping, one another.

Sometimes the diversity challenge is social. I have seen a child sleeping in the back of

a schoolroom. It wasn't his fault that he came to school without sleep. Just getting to

school was the best he could do, and giving him a safe place to sleep was the best the

teacher could do that day.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of education is what explains that a child from a

stable, secure home may have different needs than a child that has not had this kind of

security. A child brings to school influences from the family, the community, historic

events, the media and more. The child who does not live in a secure environment, who

has not eaten breakfast before school, who doesn't have warm clothes or who has not had

the chance to sleep, will require different tools from the secure child.

Diversity, whether social, gender, cultural or developmental, comes in multiple

packages. Making full use of my own acquired knowledge and the resources of the whole

education community will come together when serving a diverse set of students.

FOUNDATIONS

Examples of teaching less, but more deeply—schools who spend the whole year on a

topic like great migrations, for example, is exciting to me. The opportunity to share one’s

own interests and create a program that engages the whole school can be rewarding and

perhaps life-changing for students and teachers.

I am confident that I have knowledge to offer in a classroom. I am grateful that there

are so many resources available to me through standard school materials and the vast

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reach of today’s technology. Here in Alaska, there are well-designed lessons from

organizations like the Alaska SeaLife Center, and others based upon Alaska-specific

subjects like the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, that engage students in ways that go beyond the

standard textbook. I think teachers should be encouraged to use relevant-to-Alaska

materials like these.

How to teach effectively, how to help students stay motivated and focused, and to

create an enjoyable learning experience will be my own passion over the coming months.

DISCUSSION

School is often described as the center of communities. In the rural communities I am

familiar with, this is an apt description. Perrone recommends integrating the culture of

the community into the curriculum, to invite the storytellers and craftsmen into the

schools. Effective teachers will take the students out of school to visit and learn about all

sorts of things that will help the students contribute when they become adults.

Learning from the classroom of our family and broader community is what I like

about Place-Based and Constructivist learning. Bringing in a village safety officer, a

clinic worker or the postmaster are ways to not only benefit the students, but also to

remind the village residents that they have a part in educating the next generation.

CONCLUSION
I recently spent several class sessions with first graders via Zoom. The class was

talking about rainbows that week. They learned a song about rainbows and a poem about

rainbows. They talked about what colors made up a rainbow, they made a rainbow

bracelet, and then had a discussion, bringing up the shape of rainbows, and how they

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form arches, and could be seen as bridges. Every aspect of the planned activities flowed

smoothly from one to another. It was engaging for me, and I found myself humming the

rainbow song all week.

I was impressed at how effectively the teacher, Sarah, worked with these students,

some of whom were taking class from a day care, and others from the kitchen table or

basement of their homes.

We are protecting ourselves and our children from COVID 19. We are living in a

time of struggle, yet we see teachers step up to make the best out of this difficult

situation. Teachers who previously took pride in their traditional teaching skills are

learning to use technology, they are improving communication between teachers and

parents, they are thinking about how to most intentionally help their students learn.

Parents, grandparents and extended families are making sacrifices to support their

children’s educational needs. Society has been reminded about the critical role teachers

and education have in our lives.

I’m sure my education philosophy will evolve over the coming months as my own

thoughts develop. I am looking forward to observing and spending time in more

classrooms like Sarah’s even if they have to be Zoom classes. I intend to adapt what I

learn from educational psychologists, highly experienced teachers, and from the students

themselves to do my best to become an informed, reflective, and responsive educator.

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References:

Abbeduto, Leonard and Symons, Frank (2010). Taking sides: clashing views in
educationalpsychology.(6th ed.) New York: McGraw Hill Companies.

Alaska Native Knowledge Network. ankn.uaf.edu/Resources. Resources for compiling

and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of
knowing. (2011)

McLeod, S. (2020). Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. www.Simplypsychology.Org.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/Vygotsky

Perrone, Vito (1991) A letter to teachers, reflections on schooling and the art of
teaching. San Francisco, Jossey Bass Publishers.

Slavin, R.E. (2018). Educational psychology. Theory and practice. (12th.ed.) New York:
Pearson Publishing.

Tomlinson, Carol Ann. “Learning to love assessment.” Educational Leadership. Dec./Jan.

2008

What is Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory?(2020)

www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory/

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