Free Education Theories Essay Examples & Topics

Free Education Theories Essay Examples & Topics

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663 samples

Education theory doesn’t refer to just one single approach. Instead, it is an umbrella term that encompasses many ideas that developed over dozens of years. People are diverse and complicated creatures. The ways we learn are just as different as we are. We try to study these ways to understand the purposes and applications of education.

We use education theories for several reasons. One of them is to understand how the world around us functions, thereby realizing how we, as people, function. Another is to use them as the basis for improvement. Recognizing the process of learning allows theorists to come up with better approaches for the future.

In this article, our team aims to help you write your education theories essay. It is not a simple topic, so we have taken a look at the main schools of thought for you. We also came up with a few examples of education theorists. On this page, you will find topics for your essay and some excellent samples as well.

Learning Theories in Education

There exist five main learning and teaching theories. These are the methods of teaching that are used in the process of education. Below, we have tried to simplify these education theories and models for you. We hope that reading through these will give you an idea for your essay.

The main theories of education are:

  • Cognitivism.

The cognitive learning theory focuses on people’s mental processes and their connection with the environment. Students should understand how they think and how it impacts their behavior. Thus, they have more control over their learning. Jean Piaget, one of the first proponents, looked at how external and internal elements impact learning. John Seely Brown took these ideas one step further. He began exploring cognitivism in relation to technology.

  • Humanism.

The focus of the humanistic theory is the person. Learning is the natural process that leads to self-actualization. Abraham Maslow illustrated these ideas in his famous Hierarchy of Needs. Similarly, John Dewey emphasized the need for highly individualized approaches to the education of every individual.

  • Behaviorism.

Behaviorist learning process theory claims that external forces constantly influence how a person acts. This idea became a basis for the development of positive reinforcement. It argues that rewarded behaviors are more likely to repeat. The thought was further studied by B.F. Skinner. However, Albert Bandura researched the more social side of behavioral theory. He claimed that children could learn simply by observing the actions of others.

  • Constructivism.

Our experiences shape who we are as people and the ways we learn. The constructivist theory dictates that we connect new information with our past and use it to create new meaning. Thereby, Lev Vygotsky developed the idea that learning is different from culture to culture, rather than being universal. Jerome Bruner also advocated for constructivism. He stated that the best way to learn is through trial and error.

  • Connectivism.

First developed by George Siemens and Stephen Downes, the theory of connectivism is the most recent on the list. It is a concept closely tied with technology as it is now an integral part of our life. Connectivism says that learning can happen in online spaces. It relies on students combining and sharing their knowledge. The connectedness that became an essential part of the 21st century gives us more opportunities for education.

13 Great Educational Theory Topics

As you have noticed, there is a lot to say about education theories. You can talk at length about particular approaches. Or you can discuss the schools of thought in general. We want to make your job easier. Thus, you can check our ideas or use our topic generator.

Over here, we have listed some interesting topics for you to consider:

  1. The role of early childhood in the principles of constructivist theory.
  2. How do modern education theorists promote cooperative learning techniques?
  3. The development and application of Skinner’s Operant Conditioning in the classroom.
  4. Pros and cons of sex education from the perspective of educational learning theory.
  5. Discussing differences between the major theories of learning.
  6. An examination of the application of Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.
  7. Is it possible to design a universal learning plan? A comparison of constructivist and cognitivist perspectives.
  8. The sociology of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory.
  9. Assessing the differences between children and adult education theories.
  10. Critical analysis of the relevancy of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in a classroom environment.
  11. The impact of Pavlov’s conditioning on the psychology and health of subjects.
  12. How do contemporary education theorists promote motivation in online classrooms?
  13. A critical exploration of the efficacy of the Wilson Reading System.

Thank you for reading! We hope that this article will be useful to you in writing your paper. You may now proceed to our collection of the theory of teaching essay examples below. Use our online text summarizer to save yourself some time!

663 Best Essay Examples on Education Theories

The Pros and Cons of Sex Education in Schools

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Sex Education – Importance and How to Teach

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School Uniform and Maintenance of Discipline

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Girls Doing Better Than Boys in Education

The aim of education is to expand the ability of people to know clearly how they can relate with others and to bring together their expression for the improvement and growth of the society.
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Learning Theories of Kolb, Schön, and Gibbs

Finally, Gibbs' theory of reflective learning provides a five-step model which can be utilized to analyze a past event and improve the outcomes of similar situations in the future.
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Importance of Educational Management Essay

This paper therefore explores the most fundamental components of educational management; components that help determine what educational management is via scrutinizing how education management has transformed over the years and discussing the impact of education [...]
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Why Homework Is So Important

Homework and holiday assignments are the most common tasks that students are given when they are not in school to enhance their learning.
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Birth Order and Academic Performance

If a child is in the middle, they may have a hard time finding their place in the world. Birth order has also been suggested to have a substantial impact on cognitive development because of [...]
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Good School’ Definition and Aspects

Despite this, it is important to note that there are fundamental qualities that a good school should poses. Therefore, despite the fact that school is where learners go to sharpen their academic skills, a good [...]
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Conducting Research: Advantages and Disadvantages

One of the major advantages of conducting research is the chance to participate in a broader discussion of particular issues. It is necessary to note that the disadvantages do not belittle the importance of conducting [...]
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Classical Conditioning

By definition, classical conditioning is the "pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response". Extinction is the process by which a conditioned response is lost due to lack of [...]
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How to Enhance Listening Skills

The efforts aimed at enhancing listening skills work by the principle of eliminating, or rather reducing the challenges that go hand in hand with listening; that is, the factors that hinder effective listening.
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Standardized and Nonstandardized Assessments

The major difference between standardized and nonstandardized assessments lies in their sizes: standardized assessment allows to evaluate student abilities in different schools and even states, and nonstandardized assessment is aimed to check the level of [...]
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Final Exams in a School

The importance of exams is that students of English are motivated to learn English as there are clear goals. The exams are also similar to the activities of the students.
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Moral Values in Education

Schools are relied upon by the community and parents to instill and reinforce moral values among students. Those people who support the argument that schools should teach morality are of the view that it is [...]
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Are Children Smarter Because of the Internet?

In a study conducted regarding the influence of the Internet on children from low income families, it was indicated that children who had access to the Internet recorded high scores compared to those who had [...]
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The Importance of Arts Education

In the western world, arts subjects have been neglected and pushed to the periphery of the academic field in favour of the sciences.
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Education System That Encourages Creativity

Because of the recent issues regarding the solution of non-standard economical and financial tasks, the need to spur creativity in people has emerged, which can be solved by teaching creativity in schools; however, the given [...]
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Stroop Experiment: Congruent and Incongruent Words

The core aim of the Stroop experiment was to reveal the differences in perception of congruent and incongruent words. First, the paper focused on the research plan involving such aspects as hypotheses and methods where [...]
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What Is the Purpose of Education?

However, the controversial nature of education is described not only in the meaning of the word. The aim of education is connected with the reasons to have it.
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Classroom Behaviour Management

According to Lewis, Roache, and Romi, the ability of a learner to grasp the concept that is passed by the teacher heavily relies on the ability of that particular teacher to manage the behaviour of [...]
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Class Size Matters

The increased accessibility of the teachers makes it easy for the learners to address the specific problems with the teachers that would improve the learning process.
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Separate Schools for Females

On the other hand, female students from mixed-sex schools are distracted by boys, especially in adolescent stage when their emotional and sexual feelings are high, and they spend time trying to impress each other, while [...]
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Flipped Classrooms’ Advantages and Disadvantages

In addition, the tests enable lecturers and teachers to evaluate the ability of each students and reference accordingly. For example, availability of internet outside the classroom setting is mandatory for students and teachers to access [...]
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School Is Bad for Kids and Here’s Why

Schools are therefore not the only forum through which children can be socialized and it is possible to form a harmonic society without the presence of schools. To reinforce this assertion, this paper has demonstrated [...]
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Separation Between Girls and Boys in the Classroom

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Standardized Tests

Formal education is not just a platform for the understanding of society and life at large as it is also a place for people to learn about themselves, who they are, love and eventually help [...]
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Piaget’s Philosophy in HighScope Educational Model

The philosophy developed by Jean Piaget is one of the most important developmental frameworks based on the principles of the cognitive development, and this theory is selected for the discussion in the paper.
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Successful Education Process

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Educating Special Needs Students

This partly arises from the wide range of differences in the types of intellectual disabilities, and differences in the range of impairment even among students suffering from the same type of intellectual disability.
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Why Is Early Childhood Education Important?

The social capability of a child is critical in the overall social growth of a child. Research carried out on a child's brain capacity indicates that eighty five percent of the brain develops at the [...]
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Eclectic Theory of Learning

The actions of parents can be viewed as a stimulus which gives rise to the response of a learner. Apart from that, it is possible to examine the application of constructivism because this learning theory [...]
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Your Image of the Child by Loris Malaguzzi

As such, adults around her have the responsibility to cooperate with one another to provide her with a stimulating environment conducive to her learning so her talents, skills and knowledge are optimized to be the [...]
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Analysis of the IDEA Proficiency Tests (Pre-IPT)

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Reading Accuracy

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The Effective Early Childhood Educator

Effective early childhood educators are the backbone to successful early childhood education. Effective early childhood educators must be able to anticipate and provide the necessary emotional and educational support to their students.
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Learning Theories: Comparative Perspective

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Scientific Skills and Knowledge Importance

Science and language have therefore become inseparable subjects in the learning of scientific facts and also in the application of scientific skills and knowledge.
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The Forest School Theory by Marlene Power

In the context of the play scenario, the forest school approach would likely applaud the play scenario, given that the child was given the freedom to explore, test out what works and does not with [...]
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Play-Based Assessment

According to the research that the authors conducted, the diversity in the objects used in play can be useful in learning activities, and in the evaluation of how children respond to different environments.
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Skinner’s, Pavlov’s, and Bandura’s Experiments

According to the psychologist, the "likelihood of future behavior is determined by the consequences of past behavior". The last type of reinforcement proposed by Skinner is punishment, an unpleasant experience that decreases the likelihood of [...]
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Collaboration in Education: Difficulties and Benefits

In the learning process collaboration has proved to be an essential knowledge, needed for better understanding of the inner policy and structure of the group, development of the ability to co-operate, take directions and share [...]
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College Pressures

Just like in the 70s, college students of today face 'economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure and self induced pressure'. It is hypothesized that while parental pressure was high in the 1970s, economic pressure and [...]
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Parenting Styles and Their Influence on Adulthood

The family context is regarded as essential because it helps to establish the link between childhood and the relationships of a person with their parents with future behavior and performance.
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Clinical Supervision to Instructional Supervision

Blumberg, A.advances that the evolution of clinical supervision to instructional supervision saw the development and the recognition of the critical links across the aspect of supervision, staff development, and evaluation as well as the integration [...]
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Improving Reading Fluency: Data Collection

The following data collection instruments will be used in the study. A checklist will be used to collect various data in the study as per different tools that will be used.
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Operating Room and Instructional Design Models

David Merrill proposed the model that is based on five key principles, namely the task-centered principle, the principle of activation, the principle of demonstration, the principle of application, and the principle of integration.
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Teaching Approaches by Dewey, Montessori and Vygotsky

The questions for the discussion between the three foundational educators will concern the meaning and importance of the environment for the learning process and the role and goal of the school curriculum.
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Empirical Study of the Piaget’s Main Concepts

The choice of methods, formulation of the task and the overall atmosphere of the experiment were favorable for retrieving reliable data on the differences in Jessica and Miranda's cognitive ability and examining Piaget's concepts.
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Education Act (1944)

This fact was clearly respected in the formulation of the 1944 education act because it outlined that, "it shall be the duty of the local education authority for every area, so far as their powers [...]
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Education and Schooling from Several Perspectives

The position of the researcher is that the primary purpose of schooling, based on the position of the researcher, is to have a standardized approach of passing a set of skills and knowledge to a [...]
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Jamaican Ministry of Education: Assessment in Education

The purpose of the revised NSC is to promote a smooth transition from one level to the next, clarify the expectations for each grade, eliminate redundant content, and make sure that students are well-equipped to [...]
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Intellectual Disability Considerations

The best way to help an intellectually disabled individual is through developing interest in learning more about what intellectual disability entails.
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Freudian’s Concept of Education

Therefore, the problem of teachers using psychoanalytic theories often lies in the lack of understanding that the manifestations of the unconscious in a child are not a sign of adequate education.
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Assessments for ELLs: Pros and Cons

In addition to the above, this type of assessment is widely used in the general assessment of native English-speaking students "Alternate classroom assessments refer to assessments that are typically given by individual teachers in their [...]
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“Idiot Nation” by Michael Moore

Moore feels that most people in the country may be idiots because of the poor educational standard in schools and colleges as also in view of their lack of motivation and gratitude.
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Montessori’s Concept of New Education

She began her research about the development of the child and the necessary conditions required in order for the child to fully grow from a medical perspective, researched about the child and her mission was [...]
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The Benefits of Higher Education for Citizens

Since I intend to work in a managerial position in the future, communication will also help me to understand the needs and motivations of employees and tailor my management style appropriately to achieve the best [...]
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Behaviorism and Cognitivism as Learning Theories

This learning theory is feasible to our learners in that it is built on the effects of the learner's emotions which form part of great learning. The rationale for choosing this learning theory is that [...]
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Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

The paper will look at the applicability of the instrument for assessing the cognitive abilities of children giving special attention to how the freedom for distractibility index is applied.
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Using Video Games in Education

These are just some of the principles that Gee posits, and he makes a strong case for the use of video games in and out of education.
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Transfer of Training: Concept and Challenges

There are various factors that determine the degree of success of the process of transfer of training, some of them being; training design, the characteristics of individual trainee as well as environmental and situation in [...]
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Sensorial Materials in Education

In order to understand how sensorial materials can help a child in an auto-education process, it is, first and foremost, necessary to define the essentials of this process. The use of sensorial materials helps to [...]
  • Pages: 8
  • Words: 1388

The Essence of Summative

This paper will evaluate the essence of summative assessment and how they can be useful in not only appraising both the learner and the leaning process.
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Five Main Perspectives on Teaching

The perspectives on teaching may vary depending on the subject, the types of assignments, the age of your learners, and the aims of education.
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Philosophy of Facilitation. Adult Education

A normative contract from the group members empowers the professional facilitator to take responsibility for the processes that guide group members in discussing the content of their tasks.
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Philosophy of Education by Nel Noddings

One of the most important and frequently addressed concepts of educational philosophy of the present days is the concept of the relationship between social and cultural diversity in the contemporary world and the changes it [...]
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Dog’ Education in “The Culture Clash” by Jean Donaldson

The second chapter comes under the title, Hard-Wiring: What the Dog comes with which tackles the characteristic innate behaviors that dogs possess naturally; that is, predation and socialization. This chapter sheds light on the behaviors [...]
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Communicative Language Teaching

Brown stated that the role of the tutor is to enhance communication among the learners and between the learners and the texts and the learning activities.
  • 5
  • Pages: 10
  • Words: 3316

Inquiry Based Learning

To understand the relevant use of inquiry based learning strategies while the real classroom lesson, the main idea of the theory should be considered.
  • 1
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1644

The Theory of Connectivism

The various theories of education and learning describe how learning occurs, the factors that shape learning, the importance of memory in learning, and how knowledge is transferred.
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1727

Evaluation as a Important Part of the Educational Process

In the process of evaluation of the educational program, logic modeling is important because it presents the mechanisms that lead to the improvement of the students' academic performance and opens new strategies for the project [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1674

The Impact of School Governance on School Leadership

The traditional school system in most states and territories took the form of the old public administration with school governance highly centralized in the Ministry of Education and the Education Department.
  • Pages: 13
  • Words: 3596

The Role of Reading Assessment in Education

This makes them comprehend the abilities of their students, with regard to their reading abilities. Assessing students' reading ability assists teachers, parents, and guardians to, extensively, understand the reading abilities of students.
  • Pages: 3
  • Words: 850

Convenience and Flexibility of the Online Classes

The advantage of online courses for full or part-time employed individuals is that you can plan how you take your courses. Online classes also introduce students to a variety of web-based tools and techniques that [...]
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 828

Cornell note taking system

The model was meant to aid students in the University by simplifying the study process. This keeps the facts in the notes fresh in the mind of students.
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The Free Online Dictionary Wikipedia

The structure of Wikipedia provides easy access to external links on the same topic to the reader thus helping the reader to expand his or her understanding on a given topic which allows the reader [...]
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Physical Education and Its Benefits

Schools in particular know the benefits of physical education in a student's life and should be able to fight for the children's rights.
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Idealism in the Australian Education System

Furthermore, the most basic impact of Plato's allegory of the cave on student learning is that it encourages students to think about things in new and different ways.
  • Pages: 4
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Evaluation of Classroom Management Theories

The following evaluation will assess the Skinner Model of Operant Conditioning, the Glasser Model or The Choice Theory, the Canter Model, and Jones' Model. Therefore, educators must balance the approaches and adapt to the conditions [...]
  • Pages: 1
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Educational Partnerships Assessment

The basic principles when planning educational partnerships include the creation of an action plan, location of potential partners, and the determination of the type of involvement.
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Importance of Group Discussion

At this stage, it was important for the students to choose the group leader and the group secretary. In the discussion, each of the group members had to play an active role in contributing to [...]
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