Introduction to children’s learning Aspects of Learning 1

Introduction to children’s learning Aspects of Learning 1 The theories of Gardner, Piaget, Bruner, Vygotsky and Wood Roger Firth 5 October 2009

Theories of Learning • Piaget’s theory of genetic epistemology (i.e. growth of knowledge) • Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of mind/social development theory • Bruner’s theory of enactive, iconic and symbolic representation • Wood’s theory of contingent teaching • Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences Whereas behaviourism assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli these theories place value on the internal workings of ‘the mind’ - cognitivist

Outline • Introduce a number of psycchological theories of learning which have had some impact upon learning and teaching within schools • Critique the theories and their use in schools N.B. Support the Learning in Theory and Practice Assignment (Submission date: Tuesday 22 May 2010)

To begin • There are many different theories of how people learn • Theorists do not agree on how learning occurs • No one theory has provided all the answers to the kinds of questions of concern to teachers/teacher educators • We have more information about learning available to us than ever before and the amount of research on learning is escalating • Despite extensive research our knowledge of the actual process of learning is still quite basic How will they help to improve student's learning?

To begin • As a beginning teacher it is useful to start to consider the application of theories of learning to your own professional development • Specifically learning theories can be helpful to you in a number of ways • support your classroom observations of learning and teaching • inform your planning and teaching • help you to understand and evaluate your practice • assist in the diagnosis of in-class problems • help you to critique/deconstruct your own ideas about learning Claxton et al (1996) argue that adult learning is profoundly influenced by “implicit theories of learning” acquired at school, and that teachers tend to reproduce their implicit models in the ways in which they themselves go on to teach

So what is learning? • This is tricky too! • ‘Student learning can be defined as changes in a student’s behaviours which take place as a result of being engaged in an educational experience ‘ (Kyriacou, 1997: 22) • For behaviour – also read ‘capabilities’ or even knowledge and understanding • Learning suggests the capacity to do something different to what could be done earlier – about change

Some caveats to start school –university theory-practice dualisms To enable you to develop your ideas and practices thoughtfully and critically, it is crucial that your school and university experiences should be seen as integrated – diverse ideas coming together – with practical relevance for the classroom Different perspectives are healthy – no consensus is to be expected Student teachers are expected and encouraged to use what they learn in school to critique what they learn in the university and vice versa It is through this ‘practical theorising’ dialectic that you will develop your professional knowledge (McIntyre, 2009) • Schools and university staff may have different, but equally valuable, kinds of expertise and perspectives on learning... and teaching more practical, contextualised perspectives of the teacher – more theoretical and research-based perspectives of the university tutor • Student teachers too start the PGCE course with, and continue to develop, their own individual ideas and perspectives

Some caveats to start Theory misuse? Or interpretation ? ‘As often happens in education, valid psychological theories are taken on board by educators and commercial consultants who do not understand them well and produce a low-level vulgarised version for use in schools’ (Brooks et al, 2007: 54) Multiple Intelligences And educational policy makers – strategies/guidance And see constructivism later!

Some caveats to start Read the original work not just ‘introductory texts’

Piaget’s theory of genetic epistemology • Swiss biologist and psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) renowned for his highly influential model of child development and learning • For Piaget cognitive development is much more than the addition of new facts and ideas to an existing store of information • Rather , children’s thinking changes qualitatively by building cognitive structures - in other words, mental ‘maps’, schemas or networked concepts - for understanding and responding to experiences within her/his environment • Piaget also attested that a child’s cognitive development increases in sophistication in stages, moving from a few innate reflexes such as crying and sucking to highly complex activities over time Learning as qualitative change

Piaget’s 4 primary cognitive structures or stages of development • SensorimotorBirth - 2 years The child through physical interaction with the environment builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works. This is the stage where a child does not know that physical objects remain in existence even when out of sight (object permanence) • Pre-operational2 - 7 years The child is egocentric in its thoughts and not yet able to conceptualise abstractly; needs concrete physical situations • Concrete operational7 - 12 years As experience accumulates, the child starts to conceptualise, creating logical structures that explain her/his experiences. Abstract problem solving also begins to develop. They begin to conserve volume, number and mass • Formal operational 12 years onwards By this point, the child’s cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include the ability to think abstractly about many different concepts and to use logical reasoning A learner progresses through a series of stages, each affording a greater degree of intellectual ability. They will vary for each individual

Influences on children’s cognitive development • Maturation: the unfolding of biological changes that are genetically programmed into us • Activity: increasing maturation leads to an increase in children’s ability to act on their environment and to learn from their actions. This learning in turn leads to an alteration of children’s thought processes • Social transmission: that is learning from others. As children act on their environment, they also interact with others and can therefore learn form them to a differing degree depending on their developmental stage

Key ideas • During all development stages, children experience the environment using whatever ‘mental maps’/schemas they have constructed so far • If the experience or construct is a repeated one, it fits easily into the child’s cognitive structure (assimilation) so that mental ‘equilibrium’ is maintained • If the experience or construct is different or new, the child experiences ‘cognitive conflict’ or disequilibrium – which prompts the reorganisation or accommodation of the new conditions • Cognitive conflict is the mechanism by which the child constructs more and more adequate cognitive structures • In this way Piaget recognised that children constructs their own understandings

Impacts on classroom practice • Teachers should emphasise the critical role that experiences or interactions with the surrounding environment play in student learning • Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level of motor or mental operations for a child of given age; avoid asking students to perform tasks that are beyond their current cognitive capabilities • Use teaching methods that actively involve students and present challenges • Plan a developmentally appropriate curriculum that enhances students’ logical and conceptual growth National Curriculum... designed for learning in stages? The child determines their own development by active exploring and discovery learning Teachers have a limited role to play

Criticisms Piaget’s theory has been hugely influential but has been found wanting in a number of areas: • His experimental methods were unscientific • He underestimated the abilities of younger children and overestimated the abilities of adolescents • His ‘stages’ of learning are clearly too rigid/deterministic • He underestimated the individual differences between children in how they develop, and the fact that some of these differences are due to the cultural and social background of the child • He neglects the importance of language and the way children can learn from others

Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory • Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist and Marxist whose work was largely unknown to the West until it was published in 1962 • For Vygotsky culture is the prime determinant of human development not maturation • Origin of cognitive development not in maturation but in the sociocultural context in which people act and interact • Language is a primary form of interaction • social interaction precedes development; consciousness and cognition are the product of socialisation and social behaviour

Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory • Culture makes two sorts of contributions to a person’s intellectual development • through culture a person acquires much of the content of their thinking (knowledge) • the culture provides the processes or means of their thinking – what Vygotskians call the tools of intellectual adaptation (speech, writing) (this is often called cultural mediation) • Transmission of cultural tools (psychological and technological) essential for cognitive development • Learning is a dialectical process between people, more and less knowledgeable 3 stages of language development: social, egocentric and inner speech Knowledge is co-constructed: a person’s mind grows through interaction with other minds Processes of developmental change are culture specific not universal

Key ideas In the process of cognitive development • Two levels of development exist simultaneously: • Level 1: the actual present level of development – what students can do on their own • Level 2: the potential level of development – what students can achieve in collaboration with others • Fundamental role of social interaction and language • Importance of the more knowledgeable other (MKO) with respect to a particular task, process, or concept – teacher, adult, peers, a younger person, computer • The Zone of Proximal Development

Zone of Proximal Development • The ZPD refers to the ‘gap’ that exists for an individual (child or adult) between what (s)he is able to do alone and what (s)he can achieve with help from one more knowledgeable or skilled than her/himself • The ZPD indicates what the child is ready to master next, on the basis of present achievements and given best possible support • In practical terms – teaching will be most successful when it tackles tasks within the ZPD

Implications for the classroom • Co-operation and interaction lie at the basis of learning • Curricula should be designed to emphasise interaction between learners and learning tasks • Support (scaffolding) within the ZPD by a teacher, adult or peer can help children to learn • Cognitive development is limited to a certain range at any given age • Children are not all equally educable in this respect, some being able to learn more in the ZPD than others

Criticisms • Another universalistic theory • Over emphasis on the importance of language • Mistranslation of his ideas to the classroom - he discussed only teacher-student collaboration in the classroom • Higher cognitive functions develop through the teacher's requiring the learner to explain, compare, contrast, and generalise from subject-matter concepts. In this way, students learn to control their attention, to think conceptually, and to develop logical networks of well-developed concepts in long-term memory • The interventions of the teacher are very time-consuming – cannot assume equality of help from the expert other

Jerome Bruner’s three modes of representation • Born in 1915, an American psychologist who has made a significant contribution to cognitive learning theory • Foundations of his representation theory established in the 1960s • Came to the study of child development after extensive research into adult thinking and problem solving • Although sharing with Vygotsky a stress on the importance of culture and cultural history in the formation of mind/human thinking, his background provided him with a more detailed sense of the processes involved in socialised cognition

Enactive, iconic and symbolic representation • Bruner’s model of human development is a combination of enactive skills (manipulating objects, spatial awareness), iconic skills (visual recognition, the ability to compare and contrast) and symbolic skills • Bruner describes the general learning process in terms of three modes of representation • Modes of representation are the ways (or format) in which the child manipulates information and represents the world • Believed children think through these modes because actions, pictures and words are used by people around them in interactions and in performing tasks • Considered language as the most important cultural tool in children’s cognitive growth and learning, enabling symbolic representation of the world, especially thinking and reasoning in the abstract

Enactive, iconic and symbolic representation • Enactive – world represented through physical actions/similar to Piaget’s first half of sensori-motor stage of development • e.g. child can manipulate objects: sort according to shape, tie knots - knows how to do something, carry out a series of actions successfully, spatial awareness • Iconic – world represented by one-to-one correspondence with represented object. Similar to Piaget’s second half of sensori-motor and preoperational stages. It deals with internal imagery, where the knowledge is characterised by a set of images that stand for the object • e.g. picture of object • Symbolic– world represented through language and other symbolic means that do not have one-to-one correspondence. Similar to Piaget’s concrete operational stage. This representation is based upon abstract, discretionary and flexible thought. • e.g. ‘+’, ‘x’

Enactive, iconic and symbolic representation • Rather than neatly delineated stages, the modes of representation are integrated and only loosely sequential as they ‘translate’ into each other • Symbolic representation remains the ultimate mode: illustrative of a person’s competence to consider propositions rather than objects, to give ideas a hierarchical structure and to consider alternative possibilities. A major tool in reflective thinking • Bruner's theory suggests it is efficacious when faced with new material to follow a progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic representation • Bruner’s main interest was in the child’s transition from iconic to symbolic modes • A major implication of Bruner’s theory is that cognitive development can be speeded up by training children in the use of symbols • This runs counter to Piaget who believed progress through his stages was biologically determined

Theory of instruction Like Piaget & Vygotsky, Bruner (1966) believes the child has to learn for itself by making sense of the world. He emphasised: • Language shapes thought and transforms experience • Learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge • Instruction should concern the experiences and contexts that make students willing and able to learn • The task of the teacher is to translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding • Curriculum should be organised so that it can be easily grasped and organised in a spiral manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned

Theory of instruction • Bruner’s emphasis was on processes of coming to know rather than the structure of knowledge • Concentrated on how knowledge is represented and organised as the child develops Stated that a theory of instruction should address four major aspects: • predisposition towards learning • the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner • the most effective sequences in which to present material • the nature and pacing of rewards and punishments

David Wood Scaffolding & Contingent Tutoring • Professor of Psychology University of Nottingham • Ideas based on work of Bruner and Vygotsky • Particularly interested in adult-child interaction in tutoring and learning situations • Two key ideas: scaffolding and contingent tutoring/teaching

Scaffolding • A form of adult assistance that enables a child to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which would be beyond the child’s unassisted efforts • Wood coined the term in his research on the teaching techniques that mothers used with their 3-4 year old children • The mothers helped the children to complete a task that normally would only be able to be completed by children older than 7 • Wood emphasised that learning is happening on at least 2 levels: • the child is learning about the task • The child is learning how to structure her/his own learning

Scaffolding • The mother’s scaffolded their children’s learning in specific ways: • simplified problems that the children encountered • removed distractions from the central task • pointed things out that the children had missed • the less successful parents showed the children how to do the task without letting them have a go themselves or they used verbal instructions too much ‘When we suggest, remind, prompt or whatever, we are providing insights into processes that usually take place ‘in our head’ (Wood, 1998: 98)

Contingent tutoring/teaching Overall Wood identified two particularly important aspects of the mothers’ instruction: • When a child was struggling immediate help was offered • When help had been given, they gradually removed support encouraging the child’s independence • Wood termed this tutoring by mothers ‘contingent’ instruction • Contingent support helps to ensure that the child is never left alone when in difficulty, nor ‘held back’ by teaching that is too directive and instructive (Wood, 1998: 100)

Levels of instruction Level 1 General encouragement/verbal prompt “Carry on!”, “You’ve made a pair” Level 2 Specific verbal instruction “Get a bigger one”, “Turn them round” Level 3 Selection Pointing at or handing over material, as well as verbal cues Level 4 Orientation Lining up blocks Level 5 Demonstration Successful construction by tutor

Contingent tutoring/teaching • Goals • The learner should not succeed too easily • Nor fail too often • Principles • When learners are in trouble, give more help than before (scaffolding) • When they succeed, give less help than before (fading or ‘up the ante’)

Key difference between Piaget and Vygotsky/Bruner/Wood • For Piaget, development moves from the individual to the social • For V/B/W development moves from the social to the individual • For VBW both children and teachers are active agents in the process of development Piagetians are likely to see direct instruction and attempts to help children who are not ready to do things alone as premature; misguided efforts that result in rote learning or the acquisition of empty, ‘procedural’ knowledge, but Vygotsky (and Bruner) saw them as the ‘raw material’ of learning and development’ (Wood, 1998: 98)

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory • This theory of human intelligence, developed by psychologist Howard Gardner (1983, 1999) suggests there are a number of ways that people have of perceiving and understanding the world • Gardner labels each of these ways as a distinct ‘intelligence’ • He argued that the intelligences are needed for productive functioning in our society, that they rarely operate alone, but are used concurrently when facing problems or acquiring skills • Each ‘intelligence’ in other words, is a set of skills allowing individuals to find and resolve genuine problems they face

Multiple Intelligences I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place’ (Gardner, 1999: 180) • Critical of traditional school systems, which are based on outdated models that regard intelligence as fixed and general • Basic premise is that intelligence is not fixed, but is comprised of a range of aptitudes that can be developed • Alternative and challnege to the IQ theory which stresses the existence of one overarching intelligence. A view that dominated education for decades • ‘Intelligences’ unfold from infancy through to maturity - influenced by ideas of Piaget and the notion of developmental stages in learning • All of us possess all the intelligences to some exteent, though some will be more dominnat/preferred than others. • His work has been marked by a desire not to just describe the world but to help to create the conditions to change it

Verbal-Linguistic: the ability to use words and language Visual-Spatial: the ability to visualise objects and spatial dimensions, and create internal images & pictures Logical-Mathematical: the capacity for inductive and deductive thinking and reasoning, as well as the use of numbers and the recognition of abstract patterns Body-Kinaesthetic: the wisdom of the body and the ability to control physical motion Musical-Rhythmic: the ability to recognise tonal patterns and sounds, as well as a sensitivity to rhythms and beats Interpersonal: the capacity for person-to-person communications and relationships Intrapersonal: the spiritual, inner states of being, self-reflection, and awareness Naturalistic: the ability to know, understand and respond to one’s environment Spiritualistic: the ability to recognize, use and respond to sensory impressions

Impacts on classroom practice Gardner's work has proved popular with schools • The curriculum should be broadened so that schools cultivate those skills and capacities that are valued in broader society • Rather than going for a broad but shallow curriculum, schools should focus on key topics, which can be explored in depth. Exploring key ideas in depth and in a lateral way should allow teachers to address different intelligences • Individual differences should be taken seriously and children encouraged to develop their ‘intelligences’ • Instructional activities should appeal to different forms of intelligence • Assessment of learning should measure multiple forms of intelligence

Criticisms • The theory lacks supporting empirical research; instead based on a number of criteria for defining an intelligence, taken from a variety of disciplines • The criteria used to identify the ‘intelligences’ are themselves problematic – based on subjctive value judgements – basically Gardner’s personal taxonomy of cultural achievements • The heterogeneous forms of human intelligence are being forced into a few categories of dubious provenance • Theory underpinned by developmentalism (Piaget) • The ‘intelligences’ simply represent talents, personality traits and abilities Learners can become easily categorised in terms of ‘learning styles’ – by teachers and by themselves’ MI theory is a pluralist version of IQ intelligence

Constructivism • These psychological theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and Wood are all connected to constructivism • Constructivism embraces many theoretical perspectives and over the last 30 years these theories have been very prominent and influential theoretical frames in discussions of teaching and learning and the curriculum • What the various interpretations of constructivism have in common is the proposition that the child is an active participant in constructing knowledge and not just a passive receiver • However, for the most part these theories tend to be descriptive, focused much more on the characterisation of learning than on how one might go about affecting that learning • Can constructivism be a prescription for teaching?

Constructivism • Obviously it is useful to know about the dynamics of the processes involved, but just as obviously we should recognise that other phenomena come in to play as well – an individual learner, a disciplinary domain, a classroom and a culture are four among many • To derive guidelines for teaching based on just one – the dynamics of the learning process - is mistaken – learning is much more complex than that • Other theories – Lave & Wenger, Brain based theory, Davis & Sumara – Complexity Theory

Learning in Theory and PracticeAssignmentDEADLINE: 22nd May

References Bransford, J. et al (2005) Learning Theories and Education: Toward a Decade of Synergy. Available online at: http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/19/06/28/PDF/A128_LIFEHndbkEdPsy.pdf Bruner, J. (1966) Towards a Theory of Instruction, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Bruner, J. (1996). The Culture of Education, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Claxton, G., Atkinson, T., Osborn, M. and Wallace, M. (1996) Liberating the Learner: lessons for professional development in education, London, Routledge Driscoll, M. P. (1994) Psychology for Learning, Needham Heights MA: Allyn and Bacon Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind, The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, London: Heinemann Gardner, H. (1999) Intelligence Reframed : Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century, New York, NY: Basic Books

References McIntyre, D. (2009) The difficulties of inclusive pedagogy for initial teacher education and some thoughts on the way forward, Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(4): 602-608 Rink, J. E. (2001) Investigationg the assumptions of pedagogy, Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 20: 112-128 Vygotsky, L. (1962) Thought and Language, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind and Society, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press White, J. (2006) The trouble with multiple intelligences, Teaching Geography, Summer: 82-83 Wood, D. (1998) Howe Children Think and Learn, Oxford: Blackwell 2nd edition

Introduction to children’s learning Aspects of Learning 1