The Social Nature of Learning

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Thinking about my growth during this course, it became obvious to me the difference between how people learn and how we can adjust teaching to impact how people learn. It was evident in my first submission of a personal learning theory that I was reflecting upon and applying our readings and discussions as a teacher, not as a learner. It is the intent of this project to illustrate how my experiences, personally and professionally, coupled with what I have learned during this course, have shaped my personal theory of learning. The framework of my theory espouses the following components:

• the social nature of learning

• the importance of scaffolding

• relevant content

The Social Nature of Learning

Learning is a social phenomenon. There is the relational aspect of this phenomenon, as positive relationships amongst learners, or between learner and tutor, enhance the learning process. Learners are more comfortable taking risks when they are in a positive relationship, and risks are necessary for growth to happen. Once relationships are established in a learning environment, two key aspects of learning that Salomon and Perkins (1998) describe are salient features of my personal theory of learning: an individual’s learning is facilitated by others, and through social interactions meaning can be constructed.

Dewey also emphasized the importance of learning through social interactions. “Purposeful activity in social settings [is] key to genuine learning…” (Phillips & Soltis, p. 56). Furthermore, according to Dewey, a teacher (and not limited to a teacher in a school situation) helps a learner build new cognitive structures based on the cognitive structur...

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...ced students learning, and unfortunately students not able to learn. It is through the intensive exploration of learning theorists, both through the texts provided in the course and others I have discovered, to help me develop my unique theory of learning. I used the draft of my theory as a touchstone for my work with teachers and students over the past few weeks to evaluate if the three key tenets of it applied to how the teachers and students were learning, and I believe they do. Learning is a social phenomenon in which the new content is appropriately scaffolded. Within the social context of learning, supportive environments enhance learning, whether it is a community of practice, or a traditional learner-teacher relationship. Lastly, relevant content enables the learner to make connections to existing schema to develop new and more complex understandings.

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