Free Education Theories Essay Examples & Topics

Free Education Theories Essay Examples & Topics

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637 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!

637 Best Essay Examples on Education Theories

Sex Education – Importance and How to Teach

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The Pros and Cons of Sex Education in Schools

The reasoning behind this is that the role of sex education is not to instruct children not to have sex but rather to provide comprehensive and inclusive education on sex.
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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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Should Colleges Stop Providing Athletic Scholarships?

This essay had set out to show that sports-scholarships are negatively influencing the academic purposes that colleges were set up for. The essay then progressed to give the reasons for banning of sports scholarships.
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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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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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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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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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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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School Uniform and Maintenance of Discipline

Some prefer to implement the use of school uniform citing various benefits such as improvement of discipline in schools while others see the whole issue of school uniform as a cover up of failed social [...]
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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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Separation Between Girls and Boys in the Classroom

The right age for the separation of the sexes in the primary or high schools There are various schools of thought on the issues that appertain to the age limit that is recommended for separation [...]
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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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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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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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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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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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Quality Management in Education

Quality in education on the other hand involves transformational processes that will be used to improve the outputs of the learning process.
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Personal Reflections for the MBA Distance Learning

I was able to concentrate on various subjects, complete assignments, and liaise with different instructors throughout the learning process. The approach made the learning process desirable and capable of supporting my aims.
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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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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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Analysis of the IDEA Proficiency Tests (Pre-IPT)

The results of the present tests provide the demonstration of the linguistic skills of the concrete child and indicate the different level of capability of the native, limited and non-native English speakers.
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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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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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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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“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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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.
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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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How a Student Should Study For a Test

They need to review how they study to ensure they use methods that expose them to different perspectives that uncover more ideas related to subjects they are studying.
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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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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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Cognitive Coaching: A Foundation for Renaissance Schools

Namely, the authors offer moving the attention from the techniques used and the learners' perception and capabilities to the cognitive processes of the teachers the mechanisms that are responsible for their reflection on the experiences, [...]
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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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Learning Theories: Comparative Perspective

The teacher is the source of knowledge and the learner is the recipient. The role of the teacher is to reduce threats in the learning environment and make it challenging.
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Practical Life Classes & Exercises

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Sensorial Rationale in Montessori System

At that, the basic principle of the sensorial teaching is to encourage the child to self-learning and self-development. The peak of the movement period is accounted for three years, and the child is to be [...]
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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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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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Pragmatism Theory by Jean Piaget

This theorist argues that in first stage of development, the child's experience of the new environment is by movement of body the limbs and the five senses.
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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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The Value of Education

The main goal of this paper is to discuss the key aspects of the education system in the United States and highlight its value.
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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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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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The 1988 Education Act

In spite of the 1994 Act which gave control and direction to the Secretary of State, local authorities had the job of administering schools and higher education institutions, hence empowered with the discretion in formulating [...]
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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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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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Achieving Academic Excellence

The last, but definitely not the least, college education will teach me the art of communicating my ideas in a coherent and convincing manner.
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Collaborating With Families and Community Members

Effective school administrators and principals collaborate with community members, families, and the business community to mobilize community resources in order to meet the diverse community needs and interests.
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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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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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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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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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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 [...]
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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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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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Learning Skills Enhancement

When using the tutorials, the learner will be expected to make notes based on the personal understanding of the concepts presented in the tutorials.
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A Plan for Effective School Leadership

The authors argue that the 21 responsibilities can be found from a team of leaders instead of relying on the school principal to provide all leadership.
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Instructional Design Development

This implies that the teacher must create a design which satisfies the need of the non-disabled students as well as the disabled ones. Applying multimedia is the key principle that has been used in the [...]
  • Pages: 2
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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
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Nursing Students Assessment

On the other hand, formative assessment refers to the recurrent, interactive assessments of learner progress and understanding to identify the students' learning needs so as to adjust the teaching suitably.
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  • Words: 2351

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 [...]
  • Pages: 3
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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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Practical Implementation of Reading Theories

In order for the teaching measures to be effective, it is essential to assess reading theories, the salient features that correlate with each framework, and the practical implementation based on the needs of the aforementioned [...]
  • Pages: 14
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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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The No Child Left Behind Act Critique

In spite of the benefits and advantages expected by children, schools, and the states, NCLB becomes a real problem for modern society and children, lower educational achievements and progress of students.
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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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The No Child Left Behind Act

While the responsibility for the performance of schools remains in place, and the interventions for the underperforming entities must be implemented, both the standards for testing and the character of interventions are now decided by [...]
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Maria Montessori’s Philosophy and Practical Life

The philosophy of the Montessori Method is based on a relationship triangle between the child, the environment, and the teacher. So deviant behavior is not the fault of the child, but rather of the environment [...]
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Leadership in the Early Childhood Field

This is the case because early childhood professionals, teachers, and institutional leaders are required to promote desirable behaviors that can support the needs of the targeted chidlren. I strongly believe that my leadership competencies have [...]
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Behavioral and Cognitive Theories of Learning

The purpose of this work is to determine differences and similarities of behavioral and cognitive theories of learning and understand whether they could be used in online environment or not.
  • Pages: 5
  • Words: 1379

Philosophies and Theories of Education

Also, instruction should focus on social life issues and recognize student capabilities as well as the different learning styles of students in schools.
  • Pages: 7
  • Words: 2049

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 [...]
  • 5
  • Pages: 6
  • Words: 1593

Self-Directed Learning Competence

To be more exact, when I started learning and shaping the idea of my future career, I realized that in the epoch of information technology, being able to process data and pass it onto another [...]
  • Pages: 2
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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

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.
  • Pages: 9
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