Developing a Personal Learning Philosophy Essay

Over the last few decades, scholars have attempted to understand how humans acquire knowledge during childhood stages. A number of theories and concepts have emerged in an attempt to explain how childhood behavior can be understood and integrated into practice. For instance, theorists such as Skinner, Piaget, Gesell and Vytgotsky have contributed significantly to the field. Their work is important in developing and evaluating our learning models as well as analyzing the teaching practices that we apply in the field (Forman & Kuschner, 2007). Moreover, these theories are important in measuring educators’ performance and outcomes.

Several theories of learning provide teachers with a good opportunity to create the appropriate environment for educating children. For instance, behaviorism, constructivism and multiple intelligence theories are some of the most important theoretical concepts applied in developing the appropriate learning environment in ECD. According to Forman and Kuschner (2007), the social constructivism theory is the complex interaction of the interdependent individual as well as the social processes that build human knowledge. On the other hand, Howard Gardner’s theory of ‘Multiple Intelligences’ describes learning as “that aspect that involves an independent operational of human’s ‘Multiple Intelligences’, which explains all the facets of cognitive development in humans…” (Forman & Kuschner, 2007). In contrast, the behaviorism and cognitive constructivism theory include the social setting in which the learner constructs new knowledge. It also includes the natural setting in which the leaner expands the pre-existing knowledge.

In this paper, I will develop a comprehensive learning philosophy for applying in my work of teaching. The purpose of the paper is to develop a detailed analysis of my learning philosophy based on the theories analyzed in the course.

First, I believe that the learners, as developing humans, are actively involved in their learning process. Therefore, I believe that as an educator, my role will be mainly to facilitate and guide the children in their active learning process. My primary task is to ensure that the appropriate environment is provided to the learners in order to enhance their active learning. In particular, the environment must include those aspects and activities that attract the interest of the developing children and validates their existing knowledge (Forman & Kuschner, 2007). In addition, the environment must include the activities that lead to the child’s ability to build new knowledge on top of the existing one in order to create challenging activities based on the current level of development.

The idea of aiding and supporting children is to enhance their active learning process. Personal initiative and discovery is important in my learning philosophy. I believe that it is my duty to work with children. As such, I am convinced that the concept of ‘Zone of Proximal Development’, which is based on the idea of aiding and supporting the children in discovering knowledge and expanding the preexisting knowledge, is one of the most important learning and effective philosophies that we should apply in early childhood classes (Morrow, 2001). The concept has an excellent capacity to allow the children solve several problems in situations that attract and hold their attention (Martin, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). As such, my role is to ensure that the difficulty of carrying out the tasks within the learning environment is slightly above the children’s abilities. In this way, it is possible to create some challenges that are not difficult to solve. I will be involved in guiding and supporting the children in order to ensure that they use these activities and their knowledge to come up with solutions, where my help will only be minimal.

In this case, I consider Piaget’s theory of childhood development important in my case. For instance, Piaget divided the process of childhood development into four major stages from birth to late adolescent. Piaget states that children in these stages mature gradually and develop the ability to reason. In addition, they are able to deal with abstract relationships. As the children grow and develop, they interact with the environment, which includes objects and people (Martin, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). At this stage, the children are able to create an order of mental schemas regarding their experiences in the environment, which is a product of human’s congenital ability to organize abstract objects. Moreover, I consider the concept of early childhood development that Vygotsky developed as an important aspect of my learning philosophy (Berk & Winsler, 2010).

Known as the ‘nature-nurture concept’, Vygotsky’s theory attempts to describe the role of environmental and hereditary aspects in the process of human development. According to the concept of nature-nurture theory, nature, as described in various scientific concepts, is a product of the genetic predisposition. On the other hand, the nurture concept states that people tend to act in a given manner because they have been taught to do so (Martin, Ruble & Szkrybalo, 2002). While the nurture theory states that the child behavior is caused by the environmental conditions that the child is exposed to, the nature theory asserts that the behavior is inborn (Dever & Falconer, 2008). The nurture theory, which emphasizes on the role of environment in the development of childhood behavior, takes into consideration a number of environmental factors that affect the developing children (Dever & Falconer, 2008).

For instance, it considers the social, economic and cultural environment affecting the developing child as well as the child’s dependency to have his or her basic needs satisfied (Dever & Falconer, 2008). According to this theory, there must be an adequate supply of the basic items in order to ensure that the child’s needs are met. In case of inadequacy, the development of the individual is altered. Social, cultural and economic aspects play an important role in this case. In cases where the social, economic and cultural factors limit the supply, the child’s needs are not met (Dever & Falconer, 2008). Issues such as poverty, poor health care services and malnutrition contribute significantly to the alternation of childhood development.

Therefore, I will base my learning philosophy on the issues raised in these theories. I believe that it is my role to ensure that all the children entering my classroom will need time to adjust to the new environment. At this time, my activity will mainly be to understand the child and embrace his or her cultural, ethnic and other differences, which are common in humans. In addition, I will use this time to highlight the uniqueness of each kid in a positive manner and ensure that I work hard to invite the cultural and personal diversity into the classroom. In order to meet the needs of each child, it is important for the teacher to be an advocate for the learners. I will ensure that I discuss these issues with my colleagues in order to address the needs of each child.

References

Berk, L. E., & Winsler, A. (2010). Scaffolding Children’s Learning: Vygotsky and Early Childhood Education. Washington, DC: NAEYC Research into Practice Series.

Dever, M. T., & Falconer, R. C. (2008). Foundations and Change in Early Childhood Education. New York: Wiley.

Forman, G. E., & Kuschner, D. S. (2007). The child’s construction of knowledge: Piaget for teaching children.

Martin, C. L., Ruble, D. N., & Szkrybalo, J. (2002). Cognitive theories of early gender development. Psychological bulletin, 128(6), 903.

Morrow, L. M. (2001). Literacy development in the early years. Needham Heights, MA: Cengage.