Working in the Post Compulsory Sector 29th September am

Our theme Learning and Teaching Making links between teaching and learning approaches and learning theories/ theoretical concepts Have you done your homework?

Homework for 29th Sept am Learning and teaching website Jim Crawley’s website Your task: to read the Brief Overview sheet, these websites and any other supporting texts (ie. teacher education and psychology texts in the library) Either: To describe one teaching and/ or learning experience and relate it to a learning theory or learning theories Or: to explain a learning theory and its application to teaching and learning

Investigations in to learning theories and theoretical concepts Reminder: You will need to draw on educational theories and theoretical concepts in your report for this module

Some underpinning educational concepts Ways of learning: i.e. surface, deep, achieving (Biggs and Moore, 2003) http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/deepsurf.htm Differentiation http://geoffpetty.com/training- materials/differentiation/ Support and challenge (Bruner, 1950s: ‘scaffolding’ http://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html ; Bloom, 1956) Learning theories: behaviourism, Gestalt, cognitive and constructivist approaches, humanism, andragogy, social and situated learning Or surface, deep, strategic: Race, also learning styles/ preferences Some underpinning educational concepts

Bruner: Scaffolding Term coined by Bruner in the 1950s: The speed at which the learner learns can be supported by the teacher who helps them to organise new knowledge in to their existing knowledge structures. The teacher is charged with building a learner’s confidence in their own capabilities and encouraging them to think for themselves. Feedback is to be given with a view to the learner becoming able to self-correct.

Differentiation ‘Differentiation means enabling and ensuring that learners from a wide range of backgrounds and varying experiences of education and with different abilities and different learning styles can achieve.’ (p.117) in Scales, P. (2008) Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector, Maidenhead: OUP

Paired Activity Differentiation: what is it? use this diagram to support your interpretation CONTENT RESOURCE TASK OUTCOME RESPONSE TIME TIME SUPPORT

Focus on Andragogy: Knowles The need to know Self-concept Experience Readiness to learn. Orientation to learning. Motivation How do those assumptions relate to yourselves as adult learners? Reece and Walker page 90 Informs ways in which adults learn best As a person matures his self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being As a person matures he accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning. As a person matures his readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles. As a person matures his time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application, and accordingly his orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject-centeredness to one of problem centredness. s a person matures the motivation to learn is internal (Knowles 1984:12).

Andragogy Five issues: Let learners know why it is important to learn [that skill/thing] Show learners how to direct themselves through information Relate topic to learner’s experiences People will not learn until they are ready and motivated May need to help them overcome inhibitions, behaviours and beliefs about learning

Individual/ whole class reflection What are the values of learning theories and theoretical principles? Read around those theories/ concepts that resonate with you and that might then inform your evaluation of your microteaching Remember to include reference to theory as part of evaluating your microteaching in your report i.e. to support and/ or critique your approaches