Teaching Phylosophies and Learning Theories: Constructivism

The purpose of this paper is to identify my personal teaching philosophies and describe how those principles fit into the learning theory that I recognize as an accurate way to approach learning and teaching. I believe that there are multiple learning theories through which educators must follow in order to reach students of diverse learning styles; it would be a disservice to the student to only focus on teaching through the paradigm of one theory. Throughout the paper, however, I will discuss examples where the learning theory of constructivism has proved to accurately portray how I best learn new information and also how it will be an appropriate theory to guide me in teaching high school agriculture in a productive learning environment, as well as serve as a tool in managing classroom behavior. As I prepare to enter the world of high school education, I am apprehensive about the work that is in store, but passion is driving me forward and the excitement of putting to practice the theories of learning is the motivation that I possess.

Part One: Creating an Ideal Productive Learning Environment:

Overall Classroom Management

In this section, my personal learning theory will be discussed. In addition, the expectations I have for students and myself as the instructor, as well as roles students and myself will fill in the classroom setting.

Personal Theory of Learning

I believe that human knowledge is constructed. Constructivism is a theory that suggests that all people rely on existing knowledge that resides in long-term memory to construct new understanding (Ormrod, 2011, p. 218). Along those lines, humans learn by association, and the better we can associate pieces of information to past experiences, the greater...

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...ng students through new information with the objective to help students connect new experiences to prior ones, and, thus, construct new knowledge. My instruction will focus on holistic concepts, encourage students to articulate values, and bridge concepts that allow individuals to reach unique worldviews that align with reality. When students leave my classroom, they will have the motivation to engage in life-long learning that allows them to participate in a global society.

Works Cited

Kafai, Y. B., & Resnick, M. (Eds.). (1996). Constructionism in Practice: Designing, Thinking, and Learning in a Digital World. Psychology Press.

Ormrod, J. E. (2011). Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (7th Edition ed.). Boston: Pearson Education Inc.

Steffe, L. P., & Gale, J. E. (Eds.). (1995). Constructivism in education. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.