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Lesson 2 The Learner-Centered Psychological Principles(LCP)

What to Expect

Objectives: At the end of the lesson the students can:

• identify and explain the 14 learner-centered psychological principles;
• advocate the use of these principles in the teaching-learning process;
and
• discuss the factors affecting the teaching-learning process.
Lesson Outline
The learner is considered as the center of instruction and the world of
instruction is said to revolve around them. By "Learner centered" we mean the
perspective that couples a focus on individual learners - their heredity,
experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests, capacities, and
needs - with a focus on learning - the best available knowledge about learning
and how it occurs and about teaching practices that are most effective in
promoting the highest levels of motivation, learning, and achievement for all
learners. This definition of learner-centered is thus based on an understanding
of the Learner-Centered Psychological Principles as a representation of the
current knowledge base on learners and learning. The principles apply to all
learners, in and outside of school, young and old.
Learner-centered is also related to the beliefs, characteristics,
dispositions, and practices of teachers - practices primarily created by the
teacher. When teachers and their practices function from an understanding of
the knowledge base delineated in the principles, they (a) include learners in
decisions about how and what they learn and how that learning is assessed;
(b) value each learner's unique perspectives; (c) respect and accommodate
individual differences in learners' backgrounds, interests, abilities, and
experiences; and (d) treat learners as co-creators and partners in the teaching
and learning process. The 14 LCPs were put together by the American
Psychological Association and pertain to the learner and the teaching-learning
process. It is focused on the psychological factors that are internal to and under
the control of the learner rather than conditioned habits or psychological factors.
However, the principles also attempt to acknowledge external environment or
contextual factors that interact with these internal factors. The
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principles are intended to deal holistically with learners in the context of the
real world learning situations. Thus, they are best understood as an organized
set of principles; no principle must be viewed in isolation. The 14 learner-
centered principles are categorized into four domains namely the:
• Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors
• Motivational and Affective Factors
• Developmental and Social Factors
• Individual Difference Factors

COGNITIVE AND METACOGNITIVE FACTORS

1. Nature of Learning Process

The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an
intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
2. Goals of the Learning Process
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional
guidance, can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
3. Construction of Knowledge
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge
in meaningful ways. Knowledge widens and deepens as students continue to
build links between new information and experiences and their existing
knowledge base.
4. Strategic Thinking
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and
reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals. Successful learners
use in their approach to learning reasoning, problem solving, and concept
learning.
5. Thinking about thinking
Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set
reasonable learning or performances goals, select potentially appropriate
learning strategies or methods, and monitor their progress towards thesegoals.

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6. Context of Learning
Learning is influenced by environmental factors, including culture,
technology and instructional practices.

MOTIVATIONAL AND AFFECTIVE FACTOR

7. Motivational and emotional influences on learning

The rich internal world of thoughts, beliefs, goals, and expectation for
success or failure can enhance or interfere with the learner‘s quality of thinking
and information processing.
8. Intrinsic motivation to learn
Intrinsic motivation is stimulated by tasks of optimal novelty and difficulty,
relevant to personal interests, and providing for personal choice and control.
9. Effects of motivation on effort
Effort is another major indicator of motivation to learn. The acquisition
of complex knowledge and skills demands the investment of considerable
learner energy and strategic effort, along with persistence over time.

DEVELOPMENTAL AND SOCIAL FACTOR

10. Developmental influences on learning

Learning is most effective when differential developmental within and
across physical, intellectual, emotional, and social domains is taken into
account. Individuals learn best when material is appropriate to their
developmental level and is presented in an enjoyable and interesting way.

11. Social influences on learning

Learning can be enhanced when the learner has an opportunity to
interact and to collaborate with others on instructional tasks.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES FACTOR

12. Individual differences in learning

Individuals are born with and develop their own capabilities and talents.
Educators need to help students examine their learning preferences and
expand or modify them, if necessary.

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13. Learning and diversity
The same basic principles of learning, motivation, and effective
instruction apply to all learners.
14. Standards and assessment
Assessment provides important information to both the learner and
teacher at all stages of the learning process. Alexander and Murphy gave a
summary of the 14 principles and distilled them into five areas:
1. The knowledge base - One‘s knowledge serves as the foundation of all future
learning.
2. Strategic processing and control - Learners can develop skills to reflect and
regulate their thoughts and behaviors in order to learn more effectively.
3. Motivation and effect - Factors such as intrinsic motivation, reasons for
wanting to learn, personal goals and enjoyment of learning tasks all have a
crucial role in the learning process.
4. Development and Individual Differences - Learning is a unique journey for
each person because each learner has his own unique combination of genetic
and environmental factors that influence him.
5. Situation or context - Learning happens in the context of a society as well
as within an individual.

IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING THE TEACHING-LEARNING

PROCESS

It has been found out that the pupil‘s difficulty in learning may be due to
many factors within the child himself. Among these factors to consider are the:
1. Intellectual Factor
The term refers to the individual mental level. Success in school is
generally closely related to level of the intellect. Pupils with low intelligence often
encounter serious difficulty in mastering schoolwork. Sometimes pupils do not
learn because of special intellectual disabilities. A low score in one subject and
his scores in other subjects indicate the possible presence of a special
deficiency. Psychology reveals to use that an individual possess different kinds
to intelligence. Knowledge of the nature of the pupil‘s intellect is of considerable
value in the guidance and the diagnosis of disability.

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The native capacity of the individual is of prime importance in determining the
effectiveness of the learning process. It has been found out that the pupil‘s
difficulty in learning maybe due to many factors within the child himself.
2. Learning Factors
Factors owing to lack of mastery of what has been taught, faulty methods
of work or study, and narrowness of experimental background may affect the
learning process of any pupil. If the school proceeds too rapidly and does not
constantly check up on the extent to which the pupil is mastering what is being
taught, the pupil accumulates a number of deficiencies that interfere with
successful progress. In arithmetic, for instance, knowledge of basic addition is
essential to successful work in multiplication. Weakness in addition will
contribute directly to the deficiency in multiplication. Likewise, failure in history
may be due to low reading ability or weakness in English. Similarly, because of
faulty instruction, the pupil may have learned inefficient methods of study. Many
other kinds of difficulty which are directly related to learning factors may
interfere with progress.
3. Physical Factors
Under this group are included such factors as health, physical
development, nutrition, visual and physical defects, and glandularabnormality.
It is generally recognized that ill health retards physical and motor
develop•ment, and malnutrition interferes with learning and physical growth.
Children suffering from visual, auditory, and other physical defects are seriously
handicapped in developing skills such as reading and spelling. It has been
demonstrated that various glands of internal secretion, such as thethyroid and
pituitary glands, affect behavior. The health of the learner willlikely affect
his ability to learn and his power to concentrate.
4. Mental Factors
Attitude falls under mental factors attitudes are made up of organic and
kinesthetic elements. They are not to be confused with emotions that are
character•ized by internal visceral disturbances. Attitudes are more or less of
definite sort. They play a large part in the mental organization and general
behavior of the individual. Attitudes are also important in the development of
personality. Among these attitudes are interest, cheerfulness, affection,
prejudice, -open mindedness, and loyalty. Attitudes exercise a stimulating
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effect upon the rate of learning and teaching and upon the progress in school.
The efficiency of the work from day to day and the rapidity with which it is
achieved are influenced by the attitude of the learner. A favorable mental
attitude facilitates learning. The factor of interest is very closely related in nature
to that of symbolic drive and reward.
5. Emotional and Social Factors
Personal factors, such as instincts and emotions, and social factors, such
as cooperation and rivalry, are directly related to a complex psychologyof
motivation. It is a recognized fact that the various responses of the individual
to various kinds of stimuli are determined by a wide variety oftendencies. Some
of these innate tendencies are constructive and others are harmful. For some
reason a pupil may have developed a dislike for some subject because he may
fail to see its value, or may lack foundation. This dislike results in a bad
emotional state. Some pupils are in a continuing stateof unhappiness because
of their fear of being victims of the disapproval of their teachers and
classmates. This is an unwholesome attitude and affects the learning process
to a considerable degree. This is often•times the result of bad training. Social
discontent springs from the knowledge or delusion thatone is below others in
welfare.
6. Teacher’s Personality
The teacher as an individual personality is an important element in the
learning environment or in the failures and success of the learner. The way in
which his personality interacts with the personalities of the pupils being taught
helps to determine the kind of behavior which emerges from the learning
situation. The supreme value of a teacher is not in the regular performance of
routine duties, but in his power to lead and to inspire his pupils through the
influence of his moral personality and example. Strictly speaking, personality
is made up of all the factors that make the individual what he is, the complex
pattern of characteristics that distinguishes him from the others of his kind.
Personality is the product of many integrating forces. In other words, an
individual‘s personality is a composite of his physical appearance, his mental
capacity, his emotional behavior, and his attitudes towards others. Effective
teaching and learning are the results of an inte•grated personality of theteacher.
Generally speaking, pupils do not like a grouchy teacher who cannot
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control his temper before the class. It is impossible for a teacher with a temper
to create enthusiasm and to radiate light and sunshine to those about him.
Pupils love a happy, sympathetic, enthusiastic, and cheerful teacher. Effective
teaching and learning are the results of love for the pupils, sympathy for their
interests, tolerance, and a definite capacity for understanding. The teacher must
therefore recognize that in all his activities in the classroom he is directly
affecting the behavior of the growing and learning organism.
7. Environmental Factor
Physical conditions needed for learning is under environmental factor.
One of the factors that affect the efficiency of learning is the condition in which
learn•ing takes place. This includes the classrooms, textbooks, equip•ment,
school supplies, and other instructional materials. In the school and at the home,
the conditions for learning must be favorable and adequate if teachingis to
produce the desired results. It cannot be denied that the type and quality of
instructional materials and equipment play an important part in the instructional
efficiency of the school. It is difficult to do a good job of teachingin a poor type
of building and without adequate equipment and instructional materials. A
school building or a classroom has no merit when built withoutdue regard to
its educational objectives and functions.

Summary
Finally, the principles are intended to apply to all learners ranging from
children to teachers, to administrators, to parents, and to the community
members involved in the educational system. Learning in schools emphasizes
the use of intentional processes that students can use to construct meaning
from information, experiences, and their own thoughts and beliefs. Successful
learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating, and assume personal
responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
Educators can assist learners in creating meaningful learning goals
that are consistent with both personal and educational aspirations and interests.
They can assist learners in acquiring and integrating knowledge by a number
of strategies that have been shown to be effective with learners of varying
abilities such as concept mapping and thematic organization or
categorizing. They can also encourage and support learner‘s natural curiosity
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and motivation to learn by attending to individual differences in learner‘s
perceptions of optimal novelty and difficulty, relevance, and personal choice and
control. Educators should also help students to examine their learning
preferences and expand or modify them, if necessary. They need to be sensitive
to individual differences, in general; to attend to learners‘ perceptions of the
degree to which these differences are accepted and adapted to by varying
instructional methods and materials. When learners perceive that their
individual differences in abilities, backgrounds, cultures, and experiences are
valued, respected, and accommodated in learning tasks and contexts, levels of
motivation and achievement are enhanced.
It is believed that successful learners use strategic thinking in their
approach to learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and concept learning. They
can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or performance
goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor
their progress toward these goals. In addition, they know what to do if a problem
occurs or they are not making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They
can generate alternative methods to reach their goal or reassess the
appropriateness and utility of the goal.
Instructional methods that focus on the learners develop metacognitive
strategies that can enhance student learning and personal responsibility for
learning. Effective strategies include purposeful learning activities, guided by
practices that enhance a positive emotions and intrinsic motivation to learn, and
methods that increase learner‘s perceptions that a task is interesting and
personally relevant. Technologies and instructional practices must be
appropriate for learner‘s level of prior knowledge, cognitive abilities, and their
learning and thinking strategies. It is believed that effective learning takes place
when learners feel challenged to work towards appropriately high goals;
therefore appraisal of the learners‘ cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well
as current knowledge and skills is important for the selection of instructional
materials of an optimal degree of difficulty.
Self-assessments of learning progress can also improve students‘ self-
appraisal skills and enhance motivation and self-directed learning. Alexander
and Murphy gave a summary of the 14 principles and distilled them into five
areas namely:
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1. The knowledge base
2. Strategic processing and control
3. Motivation and effect
4. Development and individual differences
5. Situation or context

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 CHAPTER 2

FOCUSING ONTHE LEARNERS

This chapter will focus on the review of theories related to the learners‘
development giving emphasis on students‘ diversity, and individual differences.
It will further present and discuss the learning and thinking styles, multiple
intelligences, and learners with exceptionalities.
Students are expected to learn the concepts and principles of the major
development theories and be able to apply these theories in learning situations
that will be given to them in the activities after the lessons. They will further
discuss the theories advocated by theorists and other educationalists, the
stages and levels of moral development, the factors that bring aboutdiversity in
the classroom, and share their insights on diversity as an enriching element in
the learning environment.
At the end of each chapter, students are expected to present their
personal analysis on the important ideas of the theorists, submit a research
work reflective of the knowledge gained from the lessons, and a creative group
presentation of teaching strategies most especially focusing on students‘
diversity and other factors of development which can be in a form of song,
poem, jingle, slide share or power point.

General Objectives
At the end of the chapter the students can:
1. review the various theories related to the learners‘
development;
2. share their knowledge and ideas on factors that bring
about student diversity;
3. discuss individual differences as one of the factors in the
teaching- learning process;
4. identify different learning/thinking styles and multiple
intelligences and learners with exceptionalities; and
5. demonstrate the factors of learners‘ development through
simulated activities and group presentations.

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 Review of the Theories Related to the Learners’
Lesson 1 Development
What to expect?

Objectives: After the lesson, the students can:

1. Explain the salient concepts and principles of the major development
theories by known theorists;
2. Apply these theories to the teaching-learning situations; and
3. Answer the given activities individually and in groups.

Nowadays, the trend of education is brought about by many

researches which tell us that we can be effective channels of learning provided
we have the knowledge and the skills to effect and affect the development of
every learner. Students in education must have already gained a previous
knowledge of child and adolescent development which are also considered as
one of the foundations of the learners‘ development.
As articulated by Jean Piaget and to quote ―The principal goal of
education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply
repeating what other generations have done – men who are creative, inventive,
and discovers.‖

FREUD ERICKSON PIAGET

THEORIES RELATED TO
THE LEARNERS
DEVELOPMENT

KOHLBERG BONFRENBENNER
VYGOTSKY

Lesson Outline

SIGMUND FREUD The Psychosexual Stages of Development

In Freudian theory, the human mind is structured into two main parts: the conscious and
unconscious mind. The conscious mind includes all the things we are aware of or can easily
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bring into awareness. The unconscious mind, on the other hand, includes all
of the things outside of our awareness—all of the wishes, desires, hopes, urges,
and memories that lie outside of awareness yet continue to influence behavior.
Freud believes that ―the mind is like an iceberg; it floats with one-seventh of
its bulk water.‖ The tip of the iceberg that is actually visible above the water
represents just a tiny portion of the mind, while the huge expanse of ice
hidden underneath the water represents the much larger unconscious.
In addition to these two main components of the mind, the Freudian theory
also divides human personality up into three major components: the id, ego,
and superego.
The id is the most primitive part of the personality that is the source of all our
most basic urges. This part of the personality is entirely unconscious and serves
as the source of all libidinal energy. It is the unorganized part of the personality
structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual drives. It is the only
component of personality that is present from birth.
1) The ego is the component of personality that is charged with dealing with
reality and helps ensure that the demands of the id are satisfied in ways
that are realistic, safe, and socially acceptable. It acts according to the
reality principle; i.e. it seeks to please the id's drive in realistic ways that
will benefit in the long term rather than bring grief.
2) The superego is the part of the personality that holds all of the
internalized morals and standards that we acquire from our parents,
family, and society at large. It reflects the internalization of cultural rules,
mainly taught by parents applying their guidance and influence.
The Freudian theory suggests that as children develop, they progress
through a series of psychosexual stages. At each stage, the libido's pleasure-
seeking energy is focused on a different parts of the body.
There are five (5) stages of psychosexual development:
The Oral stage; The Anal stage; The {hallic stage; The Latent stage; The Genital
stage.

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These stages are:
Oral (0 – 1.5 years of age): Fixation on all things oral. If not satisfactorily met
there is the likelihood of developing negative oral habits or behaviors. The
libidinal energies are focused on the mouth.
During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through
the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. Themouth
is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through
gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking. Because the infant is entirely
dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the child), the
child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.
The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the childmust become
less dependent upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed
the individual would have issues with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation
can result in problems with drinking, eating, smoking, or nail-biting.
Anal (1.5 to 3 years of age): As indicated this stage is primarily related to
developing healthy toilet training habits. The libidinal energies are focused on
the anus.
During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was
on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage
is toilet training—the child has to learn to control their bodily needs. Developing
this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence.
According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in
which parents approach toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards
for using the toilet at the appropriate time encourage positive outcomes and
help children feel capable and productive. Freud believed that positive
experiences during the toilet training stage serve as the basis for people to
become competent, productive, and creative adults. However, not all parents
provide the support and encouragement that children need during this stage.
Some parents punish, ridicule, or shame a child for accidents. Freud, further
believed that inappropriate parental responses can result in negativeoutcomes.
If parents take an approach that is too lenient, he suggested thatan anal-
expulsive personality could develop in which the individual has a

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messy, wasteful, or destructive personality. If parents are too strict or begin toilet
training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive personality develops in
which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.
Phallic (3 – 5 year of age): The development of healthy substitutes for the
sexual attraction boys and girls have toward a parent of the opposite
gender.The libidinal energies are focused on the penis or clitoris. Freud
suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on
the genitals. At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between
males and females. Freud also believed that boys begin to viewtheir fathers
as a rival for the mother‘s affections. The Oedipus complex describes these
feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father.
However, the child also fears that he will be punished bythe father for these
feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety. Occurs during the Phallic
stage of development in which the source of libido (lifeforce) is concentrated
in the erogenous zones of the child's body (Freud, 1905). During this stage,
children experience an unconscious feeling of desire for their opposite-sex
parent and jealousy and envy toward their same-sex parent. It involves a boy,
aged between 3 and 6, becoming unconsciously sexually attached to his
mother, and hostile towards his father (who he views as a rival).
In the young boy, the Oedipus complex or more correctly, conflict,arises
because the boy develops unconscious sexual (pleasurable) desiresfor his
mother. Envy and Jealous are aimed at the father, the object of the mother's
affection and attention. These feelings for the mother and rivalry toward the
father lead to fantasies of getting rid of his father and taking his place with the
mother. The hostile feelings towards the father lead to castration anxiety, an
irrational fear that the father will castrate (remove his penis) him as punishment.
To cope with this anxiety, the son identifies with the father. This means the son
adopts / internalizes the attitudes, characteristics and values that his father
holds (e.g. personality, gender role, masculine dad-type behaviors etc.). The
father becomes a role model rather than a rival. Through this identification with
the aggressor, boys acquire their superego and the male sex role. The boy
substitutes his desire for his mother

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with the desire for other women. Freud (1909) offered the Little Hans case study
as evidence of the Oedipus complex.
The term Electra complex has been used to describe a similar set of feelings
experienced by young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead
experience penis envy. However, the Electra complex is a term used to describe
the female version of the Oedipus complex. It involves a girl, aged between 3
and 6, becoming unconsciously sexually attached to her father and increasingly
hostile toward her mother. For girls, the Electra complex begins with the belief
that she‘s already been castrated. She blames her mother for this and
experiences penis envy. For girls to develop their superego and female sex role,
they need to identify with the mother. But the girl‘s motivation for giving up her
father as a love-object in order to move back to her mother is much less obvious
than the boy‘s for identifying with his father. As a consequence, girls‘
identification with their mothers is less complete than boys‘ with their fathers.
In turn, this makes the female superego weaker and their identity as separate,
independent persons is less well developed.
Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means
of vicariously possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed
that penis envy was never fully resolved and that all women remain somewhat
fixated on this stage. Psychologists such as Karen Horney disputed this theory,
calling it both inaccurate and demeaning to women. Instead, Horney proposed
that men experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give birth to
children, a concept she referred to as womb envy.
Latency (5 – 12 years of age): The development of healthy dormant sexual
feelings for the opposite sexual period of calm in which little libidinal interest is
present. During this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's
energies are suppressed. Children develop social skills, values and
relationships with peers and adults outside of the family. The development of
the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins around
the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer
relationships, hobbies, and other interests. The latent period is atime of
exploration in which the sexual energy repressed or dormant. This energy is still
present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and
social interactions. This stage is important in the development of
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social and communication skills and self-confidence. As with the other
psychosexual stages, Freud believed that it was possible for children to become
fixated or "stuck" in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity
and an inability to form fulfilling relationships as an adult.
Genital (12 – adulthood): All tasks from the previous four stages are integrated
into the mind allowing for the onset of healthy sexual feelings and behaviors.
The libidinal energies are focused on the genitals. The onset of puberty causes
the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of psychosexual
development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite
sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's
life. Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in
the welfare of others grows during this stage. The goal of this stage is to
establish a balance between the various life areas. Ifthe other stages have
been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced,
warm, and caring. Unlike the many of the earlier stages of development, Freud
believed that the ego and superego were fully formedand functioning at this
point. Younger children are ruled by the id, which demands immediate
satisfaction of the most basic needs and wants. Teens in the genital stage of
development are able to balance their most basic urges against the need to
conform to the demands of reality and social norms.
It is during these stages of development that the experiences are filtered
through the three levels of the human mind. It is from these structures and the
inherent conflicts that arise in the mind that personality is shaped. According to
Freud while there is an inter-dependence among these three levels, each level
also serves a purpose in personality development. Within this theory the ability
of a person to resolve internal conflicts at specific stages of their development
determines future coping and functioning ability as a fully-mature adult. A
fixation can involve an over-dependence or obsession with something related
to that phase of development. For example, a person with an "oral fixation" is
believed to be stuck at the oral stage of development. Signs of an oral fixation
might include excessive reliance on oral behaviors such as smoking, biting
fingernails, or eating.

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 ERIK ERIKSON Theory on Psychosocial Stages of Development
Erik Homberger Erikson was an ego psychologist who developed one
of the most popular and influential theories of development. While his theory
was impacted by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's work, Erikson's theory
centered on psychosocial development rather than psychosexual development.
Erikson‘s theory described the impact of social experience across the whole
lifespan. Erikson was interested in how social interactionand relationships
played a role in the development and growth of human beings. Erikson also
believed that a sense of competence motivates behaviors and actions. Each
stage in Erikson's theory is concerned with becoming competent in an area of
life. His theory of psychosocial development holds to the idea that an
individual‘s personality developed in a series of stages. Erikson's theory
described the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan of a person
from infancy to adulthood (Cherry, 2018). He was interested in how social
interaction and relationships played a role in the development and growth of
human beings.
Erikson‘s psychosocial stages of development focus on the resolution
of different crises to become a successful, complete person. Psychosocial
theory proposed that we are motivated by a need to achieve competence in
certain areas of our lives. According to this theory, we experience eight stages
of development over our lifespan. In each stage, Erikson said that we
experience crisis or conflict that we need to resolve. When each developmental
task is completed successfully, it would boast our sense of competence and a
healthy personality. Failure to master these tasks would result to feelings of
inadequacy.
The Basic Principles of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
Theory focuses on the following:
▪ Epigenetic Principle - refers to the idea that development progresses
through a series of interrelated stages and that each stage has acritical
period of development
▪ Psychosocial Crisis– refers to the turning points; conflict between
opposing psychological qualities (Cengage Learning)
Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Stage 1 - Trust vs. Mistrust
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 Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Stage 3 - Initiative vs. Guilt
Stage 4 - Industry vs. Inferiority
Stage 5 - Identity vs. Confusion
Stage 6 - Intimacy vs. Isolation
Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation
Stage 8 - Integrity vs. Despair
If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery,
which is sometimes referred to as ego strength or ego quality. If the stage is
managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy in that
aspect of development. The stages that make up his theory are as follows:
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
The first stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development occurs
between birth and 1 year of age and is the most fundamental stage in life.
Because an infant is utterly dependent, developing trust is based on the
dependability and quality of the child's caregivers.
At this point in development, the child is utterly dependent upon adult
caregivers for everything they need to survive including food, love, warmth,
safety, and nurturing. If a caregiver fails to provide adequate care and love,
the child will come to feel that they cannot trust or depend upon the adults in
their life. If a child successfully develops trust, the child will feel safe and secure
in the world.2 Caregivers who are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or
rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the children under their care.
Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is
inconsistent and unpredictable.
During the first stage of psychosocial development, children develop a
sense of trust when caregivers provide reliability, care, and affection. A lack of
this will lead to mistrust. No child is going to develop a sense of 100% trust or
100% doubt. Erikson believed that successful development was all about
striking a balance between the two opposing sides. When this happens,
children acquire hope, which Erikson described as an openness to experience
tempered by some wariness that danger may be present.

22
Subsequent work by researchers including John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth
demonstrated the importance of trust in forming healthy attachments during
childhood and adulthood.
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
The second stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development takes
place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater
sense of personal control. At this point in development, children are just starting
to gain a little independence. They are starting to perform basic actions on their
own and making simple decisions about what they prefer. By allowing kids to
make choices and gain control, parents and caregivers can help children
develop a sense of autonomy.
The essential theme of this stage is that children need to develop a sense of
personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence. Pottytraining
plays an important role in helping children develop this sense ofautonomy.
Like Freud, Erikson believed that toilet training was a vital part of this
process. However, Erikson's reasoning was quite different than that of Freud's.
Erikson believed that learning to control one's bodily functions leads to a feeling
of control and a sense of independence. Other important events include gaining
more control over food choices, toy preferences, and clothing selection.
Children who struggle and who are shamed for their accidents may be left
without a sense of personal control. Success during this stage ofpsychosocial
development leads to feelings of autonomy; failure results in feelings of shame
and doubt. Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and
confident, while those who do not are left with a sense of inadequacy and self-
doubt. Erikson believed that achieving a balance between autonomy and
shame and doubt would lead to will, which is thebelief that children can act
with intention, within reason and limits.
Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
The third stage of psychosocial development takes place during the
preschool years. At this point in psychosocial development, children begin to
assert their power and control over the world through directing play and other
social interactions. Children who are successful at this stage feel capable and
able to lead others. Those who fail to acquire these skills are left with a sense

23
of guilt, self-doubt, and lack of initiative. The major theme of the third stage of
psychosocial development is that children need to begin asserting control and
power over the environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose.
Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval, resulting in
a sense of guilt. When an ideal balance of individual initiative anda willingness
to work with others is achieved, the ego quality known as purpose emerges.
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
The fourth psychosocial stage takes place during the early school years
from approximately ages 5 to 11. Through social interactions, children begin to
develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and abilities. Children need
to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of
competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority. Children who are
encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of
competence and belief in their skills. Those who receive little or no
encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will doubt their abilities to be
successful.
Successfully finding a balance at this stage of psychosocial development
leads to the strength known as competence, in which children develop a belief
in their abilities to handle the tasks set before them.
Stage 5: Identity vs. Confusion
The fifth psychosocial stage takes place during the often turbulent
teenage years. This stage plays an essential role in developing a sense of
personal identity which will continue to influence behavior and development
for the rest of a person's life. Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal
identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to yourself, while failure leads
to role confusion and a weak sense of self.
During adolescence, children explore their independence and develop
a sense of self.2 Those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement
through personal exploration will emerge from this stage with a strong sense of
self and feelings of independence and control. Those who remain unsure of their
beliefs and desires will feel insecure and confusedabout themselves and the
future. When psychologists talk about identity, they are referring to all of the
beliefs, ideals, and values that help shape and guide

24
a person's behavior. Completing this stage successfully leads to fidelity, which
Erikson described as an ability to live by society's standards and expectations.
According to Erikson, our ego identity constantly changes due to new
experiences and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others.
As we have new experiences, we also take on challenges that can help or
hinder the development of identity. Our personal identity is important because
it gives each of us an integrated and cohesive sense of self that endures
through our lives. Our sense of personal identity is shaped by our experiences
and interactions with others, and it is this identity that helps guide our actions,
beliefs, and behaviors as we age.
Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other
people. Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness
and isolation. This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are
exploring personal relationships. Erikson believed it was vital that people
develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those who are
successful at this step will form relationships that are enduring and secure.
Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson
believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important for developing
intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those witha poor sense
of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to struggler
with emotional isolation, loneliness, and depression. Successful resolution of
this stage results in the virtue known as love. It is marked by the ability to form
lasting, meaningful relationships with other people.
Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by
having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people.
Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure
results in shallow involvement in the world. During adulthood, we continue to
build our lives, focusing on our career and family. Those who are successful
during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active
in their home and community.2 Those who fail to attain this skill will feel
unproductive and uninvolved in the world. Care is the virtue achieved when

25
this stage is handled successfully. Being proud of your accomplishments,
watching your children grow into adults, and developing a sense of unity with
your life partner are important accomplishments of this stage.
Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair
The final psychosocial stage occurs during old age and is focused on
reflecting back on life. At this point in development, people look back on the
events of their lives and determine if they are happy with the life that they lived
or if they regret the things they did or didn't do. Erikson‘s theory differed from
many others because it addressed development throughout the entire lifespan,
including old age. Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of
fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure
results in regret, bitterness, and despair.
At this stage, people reflect back on the events of their lives and take
stock. Those who look back on a life they feel was well-lived will feel satisfied
and ready to face the end of their lives with a sense of peace. Those who look
back and only feel regret will instead feel fearful that their lives will end without
accomplishing the things they feel they should have. Those who are
unsuccessful during this stage will feel that their life has been wasted and
may experience many regrets. The person will be left with feelings of bitterness
and despair. Those who feel proud of their accomplishments willfeel a sense
of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few
regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction. These individuals will attain
wisdom, even when confronting death.
In addition, recent research has suggested further elaboration of the
primary conflicts of the generativity vs. stagnation stage. These include:
• Inclusivity versus exclusivity: This crisis centers on the scope of
caregiving activities and on what and who an individual is willing to include in
his or her life. This stage reflects the trust versus mistrust stage of early
childhood.
• Pride versus embarrassment: This aspect of the generativity versus
stagnation stage is centered on the sense of pride that adults take in their family
and children. In many ways, it mirrors the autonomy versus shame and doubt
stage of early childhood.

26
 • Responsibility versus ambivalence: This adulthood crisis centers on
whether people choose to take responsibility for their lives and choices. It
reflects the initiative versus guilt stage seen earlier during childhood.
• Productivity versus inadequacy: Work plays a major role in adulthood,
so it is no surprise that an individual‘s sense of pride and accomplishment in
their work can lead to feelings of productivity. This stage mirrors the industry
versus inferiority stage of childhood.
• Parenthood versus self-absorption: This aspect of adulthood centers
on reaching out and contributing to the next generation. This can occur through
parenting although not all people who produce offspring necessarily become
supportive and giving parents and those who do not have childrenare still
able to give to the next generation in meaningful ways. This part of the
generativity versus stagnation stage reflects many of the aspects of the earlier
identity versus role confusion stage of adolescence.
• Honesty versus denial: As the generativity stages draw to a close and
people approach the final stage of life, finding meaning plays an increasingly
critical role. Self-knowledge and self-understanding have an important role
during this phase of the generativity versus stagnation stage.
Implications in Education
➢ Allow the child to play with various natural, simple materials, and role-
playing for the expression of fantasy and imagination.
➢ Introduce games, stories and songs that are meaningful and enjoyable.
Real-life activities like serving food, chopping vegetables or cooking
prepare children for participation in the community around them.
➢ Child-directed activities where the child chooses his or her activity and
repeats it as often as they want must be encouraged.
➢ Teachers who know how to apply psychosocial development in the
classroom create a safe environment where each child feels appreciated
and comfortable exploring new knowledge and relationships rather than
letting fear inhibit learning.
JEAN PIAGET The Stages of Cognitive Development
Piaget's stages of development are part of a theory about the phases
of normal intellectual development, from infancy through adulthood. This
includes thought, judgment, and knowledge. The stages were named after
27
psychologist and developmental biologist Jean Piaget, who recorded the
intellectual development and abilities of infants, children, and teens.It is
concerned with children, rather than all learners.
▪ It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does notaddress
learning of information or specific behaviors.
▪ It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative
differences, rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of
behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.
The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by
which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason
and think using hypotheses. For Piaget, cognitive development was a
progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological
maturation and environmental experience.
Children construct an understanding of the world around them, thenexperience
discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their
environment. Along with the stages of development, Piaget's theory has several
other main concepts or basic components,

Three Basic Components to Piaget's Cognitive Theory

Schemas-Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of
your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of
information from your past experience or to plan future actions. Schemas are
the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a
mental representation of the world (building blocks of knowledge). It is"a
cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are
tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning."Piaget emphasized
the importance of schemas in cognitive development and described how they
were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked
mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to
respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental
representations and apply them when needed.
For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a
restaurant. The schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which
includes looking at a menu, ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is
28
an example of a type of schema called a 'script.' Whenever they are in a
restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation.
Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas -
even before they have had many opportunities to experience the world. These
neonatal schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes.
These reflexes are genetically programmed into us.
For example, also, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by
something touching the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter
(dummy), or a person's finger. Piaget, therefore, assumed that the baby has a
'sucking schema.' Similarly, the grasping reflex which is elicited when
something touches the palm of a baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a
baby will turn its head towards something which touches its cheek, are innate
schemas. Shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping
and shaking.
Adaptation processes enable the transition from one stage to another
(equilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation). Jean Piaget (1952viewed
intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This
happens through:
Assimilation which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or
situation.
Example of Assimilation
A 2-year-old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy
hair on the sides. To his father‘s horror, the toddler shouts ―Clown, clown‖
(Siegler et al., 2003).
Accommodation this happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does
not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.
In the ―clown‖ incident, the boy‘s father explained to his son that the man was
not a clown and that even though his hair was like a clown‘s, he wasn‘t wearing
a funny costume and wasn‘t doing silly things to make people laugh. With this
new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of ―clown‖ and make
this idea fit better to a standard concept of ―clown‖.
Equilibration (Equilibrium)is the force which moves development along.
Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate,
but rather in leaps and bounds. Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas
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can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an
unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted
into existing schemas (assimilation).
Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not
like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new
challenge (accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process
of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to
make an adjustment to it.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move
through four different stages of intellectual development which reflect the
increasing sophistication of children's thought. His theory focuses on
understanding how children acquire knowledge regarding fundamental
concepts such as object permanence, number, categorization, quantity,
causality, and justice. Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development is broken down
into four (4) stages namely the:
Sensorimotor -Birth to ages 18-24 months
The main achievement during this stage is object permanence - knowing
that an object still exists, even if it is hidden. It requires the ability to form a
mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object. During the early stages,
according to Piaget, infants are only aware of what is right in front of them. They
focus on what they see, what they are doing, and physical interactions with their
immediate environment.
Because they don't yet know how things react, they're constantly experimenting.
They shake or throw things, put things in their mouth, and learn about the world
through trial and error. The later stages include goal- oriented behavior that
leads to a desired result.
Between ages 7 and 9 months, infants begin to realize that an object
exists even though they can no longer see it. This important milestone -- known
as object permanence -- is a sign that memory is developing. After infants start
crawling, standing, and walking, their increased physical mobility leads to more
cognitive development. Near the end of the sensorimotor stage (18-24 months),
infants reach another important milestone -- early language development, a sign
that they are developing some symbolic abilities.

30
Characteristics and Developmental Changes (Cherry, 2018):
▪ The infant interacts to the world through their reflexes and sensations.
▪ Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be
seen (object permanence).
▪ Infants learn about the environment through basic actions such as
sucking, grasping, looking, and listening.
▪ They are separate beings from the people and objects around them.
▪ They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world
around them.
Preoperational, 2-7 years
During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically.
This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something
other than itself. Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking
the viewpoint of others. During this stage (toddler through age 7), young children
are able to think about things symbolically. Their language use becomes more
mature. They also develop memory and imagination, which allows them to
understand the difference between past and future, and engage in make-
believe. But their thinking is based on intuition and still not completely logical.
They cannot yet grasp more complex concepts such as cause and effect, time,
and comparison
Characteristics and Developmental Changes (Cherry, 2018):
▪ Children think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to
represent objects.
▪ Children tend to be egocentric and see things from the perspective of
others.
▪ While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend
to think about things in very concrete terms.
Here are some examples that we can be apply in classroom situations:
▪ One way to do this is by playing dress up and encouraging the child to
take on a character.
▪ Sometimes children in this age group enjoy playing house. This is also
a good activity because they are playing different roles that they have
observed in their own lives.
▪ Hands on activities should also be facilitated at this time.
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 ▪ Encourage children to play with toys that change shape (ex: play of sand,
clay, water) because this will help them move towards the concept of
conservation.
Concrete operational – 7-11 years
Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's
cognitive development because it marks the beginning of logical or operational
thought. This means the child can work things out internally intheir head
(rather than physically try things out in the real world). Children can conserve
number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the
understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its
appearance changes. At this time, elementary-age and preadolescentchildren
-- ages 7 to 11 -- show logical, concrete reasoning.
Children's thinking becomes less focused on themselves. They're
increasingly aware of external events. They begin to realize that their own
thoughts and feelings are unique and may not be shared by others or may not
even be part of reality. But during this stage, most children still can't think
abstractly or hypothetically.
Characteristics and Developmental Changes (Cherry, 2018)
▪ During this stage, children begin to think logically or think ―operational
thought‖ about concrete events.
▪ They begin to understand the concept of conservation that something
stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes. For
example, the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a
tall, skinny glass.
▪ Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very
concrete.
▪ Children begin using inductive reasoning from specific information to a
general principle.
Piaget’s Concepts during Concrete Operational Stage:
Seriation is the ability to sort objects or situations according to any
characteristic, such as size, color, shape, or type. Some examples of a seriation
exercises would be: children putting objects in order, or arrange objects from
smallest to largest, largest to smallest, shortest to tallest orthinnest to thickest
and so forth. This is a very important concept to master
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for children to learn in school, especially in math and science
(Chouraeshkenasi, 2018).
Classification is the ability to simply group a set of objects and to group around
a common category of attributes (Aquino, 2016). For example, the bunch of
animals in the picture to the right can be grouped based on their color, size,
number of legs, or type of animal. You can have young children classify
anything, including fruits, flowers, vegetables, or toy cars. Once they have
classified objects accordingly, children can compare objects further to learn
more specific similarities and differences between objects, both within and
between matched groups.
Conservation is the ability to understand that redistributing material does not
affect its mass, number, volume or length. Piaget's famous example of
conservation was performed using liquids poured into different shaped
containers. Though the volume of liquid remains the same across the two
containers, each container has a very different visual appearance, with one
being tall and thin, while another was short and wide. Based on his observation,
Piaget concluded that children were able to appreciate that the total amount of
liquid was unchanged despite being poured into differently shaped containers.
Decentering (also known as Decentration) refers to the ability to consider
multiple aspects of a situation. For example, when a child is asked to choose
between two lollipops, a child might choose based on flavor, color, and size of
the lollipops before choosing the biggest, reddest, cherry-flavored lollipop
available. Decentration is good at times because it allows multiple pieces of
information to be considered at once.
Transitivity is the ability to recognize relationships among various things in a
serial order. For example, when a child is told to put away his books according
to height, the child recognizes that he starts with placing the tallest one on one
end of the bookshelf and the shortest one ends up at the otherend.
Reversibility is the ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed
and returned to their original condition or an awareness that actions can be
reversed (Cherry, 2018). An example of this is being able to reverse
the order of relationships between mental categories. For example, a child

33
might be able to recognize that his or her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is
a dog, and that a dog is an animal.
Formal operational – 11 years and over
The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and
lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about
abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses. Adolescents who reach this
fourth stage of intellectual development -- usually at age 11-plus -- are able to
use symbols related to abstract concepts, such as algebra and science. They
can think about things in systematic ways, come up with theories, and consider
possibilities. They also can ponder abstract relationships and concepts such as
justice. Although Piaget believed in lifelong intellectual growth, he insisted that
the formal operational stage is the final stage of cognitive development. He also
said that continued intellectual developmentin adults depends on the buildup
of knowledge.
Piaget's 1936 theory broke new ground because he found that children's
brains work in very different ways than adults'. Before his theory, many believed
that children were not yet capable of thinking as well as grown- ups. Some
experts disagree with his idea of stages. Instead, they see development as
continuous. Another criticism is that Piaget didn't consider how a child's culture
and social environment affect their development. Piaget acknowledged that
some children may pass through the stages at different ages than the averages
noted above. He also said some children may show characteristics of more than
one stage at a given time. But he insisted that: cognitive development always
follows this sequence. Stages cannot be skipped; each stage is marked by new
intellectual abilities and a more complex understanding of the world;
▪ Children need physical, hands on practice with facts and skills needed
for development.
▪ Use cut-out letters to build words.
▪ Avoid lessons that are very different from the child's world. Then, steer
away from using workbooks or paper and pencil activities very often.
Piaget emphasized the importance of "hypothetico-deductive
reasoning" during the formal operational stage. This type of thinking involves

34
hypothetical "what-if" situations that are not always rooted in reality, i.e.
counterfactual thinking. It is often required in science and mathematics.
▪ Abstract thought emerges during the formal operational stage. Children
tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages, andbegin
to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions.
▪ Metacognition, the capacity for "thinking about thinking" that allows
adolescents and adults to reason about their thought processes and
monitor them.
▪ Problem-solving is demonstrated when children use trial-and-error to
solve problems. The ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical
and methodical way emerges (Gallagher, and Reid, 2002).
Characteristics and Developmental Changes (Cherry, 2018):
▪ At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and
reason about hypothetical problems.
▪ Abstract thought emerges. Teens begin to think more about moral,
philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require theoretical
and abstract reasoning.
▪ Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to
specific information.
Here are some examples that we can apply in classroom situations :
➢ Give children an opportunity to manipulate objects and test out ideas
➢ Do simple experiments having limited number of steps with three or
less variables at a time
➢ Reading selections should have a limited number of characters
➢ Students should have practice classifying objects and ideas on
complex levels
➢ Use analogies to show the relationship of new material to already
acquired knowledge.
Teaching implications of Piaget's theory (Slavin 2005; Khalid (2015):

In the 21st century classroom learning is learner-centered and

accomplished through active discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to
guide and facilitate learning. Therefore, teachers should encourage the
following within the classroom:

35
1. A focus on the process of children's thinking, not just its products. Instead
of simply checking for a correct answer, teachers should emphasize the
student's understanding and process they used to get the answer.
2. Recognition of the crucial role of children's self-initiated, active involvement
in learning activities. Children should take an active role inthe learning
process such as acting much like little scientists as they perform
experiments, make observations, inquire, reflecting, discussing and learn
about the world. As they interact with the world around them, they
continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt
previously held ideas to accommodate new information.
3. Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress. Piaget's
theory asserts that children go through all the same developmental stages,
however they do so at different rates. Because of this, teachers must make
special effort to arrange classroom activities for individuals and groups of
children rather than for the whole class group.
4. Provision for collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can
learn from each other). The classroom teacher acts as a learning guide who
manages the activities and directs student learning but who does this
through activities that require students‘ engagement in a variety of ways –
perhaps working in groups, or in teams, by pairs or focusing independently
at different times.
5. The teacher must encourage students to discuss, reflect, analyze,
understand and create things. Teachers must facilitate students by asking
queries, questions, and posing problems to solve; they must stimulate
students thinking by providing them with situations to create something;
they should listen to them carefully as well as observing them minutely and
then trying to suggest new ways to learn better.
Piaget emphasized teaching through discovery, the learner is challenged to
use his abilities and concrete experiences. According to Piaget, ideas and
concepts cannot be communicated directly from teacher to learner. Instead, the
learner must construct his or her own knowledge system that is derived from
concrete experience. Piaget viewed the teacher‘s role essentially as a
facilitative one and the teacher must not be coercive or authoritative. (Semmar&
Al-Thani, 2015).
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LEV VYGOTSKY Theory on Language and Zone of Proximal
Development
Lev Vygotsky's theory of language development focused on social
learning and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZPD is a level of
development obtained when children engage in social interactions with others;
it is the distance between a child's potential to learn and the actual learning that
takes place.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The Zone of Proximal Development is a concept that was created by
influential psychologist Lev Vygotsky. According to him, the Zone of Proximal
Development is: "The distance between the actual development level as
determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem-solving under adult guidance or
in collaboration with more capable peers." (Vygotsky, 1935). In the ZPD we
have to consider the Upper Limit which defines the level of additional
responsibility the child can accept with assistance of an able instructor and
the Lower Limit which is the level of problem solving reached on different
tasks by the child working alone. There are a few essential factors that are
critical to the success of this learning process:
▪ The presence of someone with the knowledge and skills to guide the
learner (‗more knowledgeable other‖)
▪ Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the mentor or teacher
that help guide the learner through the ZPD
▪ Social interactions that allow the learner to observe and practice their
skills
The "More Knowledgeable Other"
The concept of the "more knowledgeable other" is quite simple and fairly
self-explanatory. The more knowledgeable other is someone who has a higher
level of knowledge than the learner. It is the more knowledgeable other who
provides critical guidance and instruction during the sensitive learning period.
While a child might not yet be capable of doing something on theirown, they
are able to perform the task with the assistance of a skilled instructor.

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Scaffolding
When children are in this zone of proximal development, providing
them with the appropriate assistance and tools gives students what they need
to accomplish the new task or skill. These activities, instructions, tools, and
resources are known as scaffolding. Eventually, the scaffolding can be
removed and the student will be able to complete the task independently.
While scaffolding is now almost synonymous with the zone of proximal
development, it is not a concept that was initially introduced by Vygotsky.
Instead, this component has been put forth by other researchers who have
expanded upon the original theories. Here is an example of Scaffolding
Scene: Mom is helping child construct a puzzle. They have a model that they
can refer to. The child tries to place green pieces where they do not belong.
Mom: Did we find any green up here? (points to model)
Child: (looks at model) This one. (points to incorrect place
in the model)
Mom: I think maybe that‘s a leftover. Do you think so?
Child: (nods)
Mom: Maybe we don‘t need the green one, cause there isn‘t
any green one up there, is there. Remember?
Child: (looks at pieces‘ pile, puts green pieces back, chooses two appropriate
pieces.
Another example of ZPD in the classroom is: A teacher in an
experimental psychology course might initially provide scaffolding for students
by coaching them step-by-step through their experiments. Next, the teacher
might slowly remove the scaffolding by only providing outlines or brief
descriptions of how to proceed. Finally, students would be expected to develop
and carry out their experiments independently.
Social Interaction
This more knowledgeable other is often a parent, teacher, or another
adult, but this is not always the case. In many instances, peers provide valuable
assistance and instruction. During certain periods of a child's life, they may
even look to peers more than they look to adults. The teen years, when forming
an identity and fitting in is so critical, is just one example. Kidsat this age often
look to their peers for information about how to act and how
38
to dress. Vygotsky believed that peer interaction was an essential part of the
learning process. In order for children to learn new skills, he suggested pairing
more competent students with less skilled ones.
Figure 1 Vygotsky’s Basic Idea of Language and Thought

socialized
speech

private communicative
speech speech

inner
speech

He emphasizes the social contexts of learning, and that knowledge is

mutually built and constructed.
Vygotsky’s Overall Teaching Recommendations
❖ Assess child‘s Zone of Proximal Development
❖ Provide just enough assistance
❖ Use more skilled peers as teachers
❖ Encourage private speech, self-regulation

COGNITIVE and LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

WHAT IS LANGUAGE ? HOW LANGUAGE DEVELOP?

BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL

INFLUENCES

Figure 2 Vygotsky‘s Cognitive and Language Development Theory

39
 Language is ……. a form of communication, spoken, written, or
signed, that is based on a system of symbols.

Phonology --------- Sound system of a language

Morphology ------- Units of meaning involved in word formation

Syntax ------------- Rules for combining words into phrases/sentences

Semantics----------Meaning of words and sentences

Pragmatics-------- Appropriate use of language in different contexts

Biological and Environmental

Influences

Children are neither exclusively

biological linguists nor social architects
of language.

Interactionists emphasize the

contribution of both.

Key Milestones in Language Development

▪ Preschool: learn morphological rules like plurals, -ed for the past tense
▪ Preschool: learn and apply the rules of syntax, e.g., how to form wh-
questions
▪ Middle Childhood: vocabulary development continues at a breathtaking
pace and development of metalinguistic awareness – knowledge of
language, e.g., what a preposition is.
▪ Adolescence: Greater understanding of metaphors, satire, and
complex literary works.
▪ Adolescence: Writing improves as planning and revising skills are
enhanced.

Supporting Vocabulary Development

➢ Increase opportunities for reading and writing
➢ Computers

40
 • Relate the new to the known
• Promote active, in-depth processing
➢ Everyday conversations: introduce and elaborate on new words
➢ Give students an opportunity to use words in a variety of contexts

Study in Vocabulary Training

Read the story with a difficult words and its synonyms.
Lynda and Mely went to school in Davao City. They were antagonists
(enemies). They saw each other often. They had lots of altercations (fights).
At the end of high school, Mely maligned (said bad things about) Lynda. Then
Mely moved away. Lynda stayed in Davao City. She got a job as a bailiff (worked
for a judge). One day Lynda was working, and she saw Mely. Mely did not

see Lynda. Mely looked apprehensive (afraid). She was being

incarcerated (under arrest).
Note: Students from both groups performed equally well on literal questions, but the students
with the difficult words did much worse on inference questions.
Study in Vocabulary Training
Sample Test Questions
Literal Questions such as:
Mely and Lynda saw each other _ in school.
(a) never(c) frequently
(b) not much(d) often
Inference Questions such as:
Lynda works in a .
(a) school(c) courthouse
(b) hospital(d) university
Study in Vocabulary Training
Sample of Training Format
Teacher: This word is ―altercations.‖ What word is this?
Student: ―Altercations.‖
Teacher: Correct, ―altercations.‖ What does ―altercations‖ mean? (points to
meaning on index card).
Student: ―Fights.‖

41
Teacher: Yes, ―altercations‖ means ―fights.‖ Listen do you
have altercations with your teacher? [student responds] Do you have
altercations with a tree? [student responds]. So what does ―altercations‖ mean?
Student: ―Fights.‖
Teacher: (after similar questions about ―antagonist‖) Listen, do you have any
antagonists‖? [student responds] Do you have any altercations with your
antagonists? [student responds]

LAWRENCE KOHLBERG Levels and Sub-Stages of Moral

Development
Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed with Piaget's (1932) theory of moral
development in principle but wanted to develop his ideas further. He used
Piaget‘s storytelling technique to tell people stories involving moral dilemmas.
In each case, he presented a choice to be considered, for example, between
the rights of some authority and the needs of some deserving individual who
is being unfairly treated. One of the best known of Kohlberg‘s (1958) stories
concerns a man called Heinz who lived somewhere in Europe.
A situation was presented that Heinz‘s wife was dying from a particular
type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might save her. The drug had been
discovered by a local chemist, and the Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but
the chemist was charging ten times the money it cost to make the drug, and this
was much more than the Heinz could afford. Heinz could only raise half the
money, even after help from family and friends. He explained to the chemist that
his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug cheaperor pay the rest
of the money later. The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug
and was going to make money from it. The husband was desperate to save his
wife, so later that night he broke into the chemist‘s and stole the drug. Kohlberg
asked a series of questions such as:
1. Should Heinz have stolen the drug?

2. Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?

3. What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make any difference?

4. Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died?

42
 By studying the answers from children of different ages to these
questions, Kohlberg hoped to discover how moral reasoning changed as people
grew older. The sample comprised 72 Chicago boys aged 10–16 years, 58 of
whom were followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20 years (Kohlberg, 1984).
Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the ten dilemmas. What
Kohlberg was mainly interested in was not whether the boys judged the action
right or wrong, but the reasons given for the decision. He found that these
reasons tended to change as the children got older.
Kohlberg identified three distinct levels of moral reasoning: pre-
conventional, conventional, and post-conventional. Each level has two sub-
stages. People can only pass through these levels in the order listed. Each new
stage replaces the reasoning typical of the earlier stage. Not everyone achieves
all the stages.
Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
Level 1 - Pre-conventional Morality
At the pre-conventional level (most nine-year-old and younger, some
over nine), we don‘t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code
is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or
breaking their rules. Authority is outside the individual and reasoning is based
on the physical consequences of actions.
• Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual isgood
in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they musthave
done wrong. In the earliest stage of moral development, obedience, and
punishment is especially common in young children. At this stage, Kohlberg
says, children see rules as fixed and absolute (Cherry, 2018). The child
assumes that powerful authorities laid down a fixed set of rules which he or she
must follow and obey (Crain, 1985).
Obeying the rules set by authorities is important, otherwise severe
punishment will follow (Niekerk, 2014) The child does what is good in order to
avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done something
wrong (McLeod, 2013). For example, a child may think, 'I don'twant to be
scolded by my teacher so I'm not going to spank my classmate!'.

43
• Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. At this stage, children recognize that
there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different
individuals have different viewpoints. They account for individualpoints of view
and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs. It also focuses on
self-reward. Moral decisions in this stage are based on getting a reward that is
personally meaningful. For example, a child may think, 'I want a new dress, so I
will help mom wash the dishes.‘ Reciprocity is possible at this point in moral
development, but only if it serves one's own interests.
Level 2 - Conventional Morality
At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults), we begin to
internalize the moral standards of valued adult role models. Authority is
internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the
group to which the person belongs. The emphasis is more on parental rules and
societal laws. Individuals base their decisions on what their parents,authorities
and/or law enforcers say is right. Authority is internalized but not questioned,
and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs.
Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships
The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person
by others (Niekerk, 2014). Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others.
For example, a student may think, 'Students who cheat on tests are bad, so I
will not cheat.' During this stage, children are entering their teen see morality as
more than simple deals. They believe that people should live up to the
expectations of the family and society and behave in "good" ways. Good
behavior means having good motives and interpersonal feelings such as love,
empathy, trust, and concern for others. (Crain, 1985). Another example, a child
gives away her lunch to one of the street children because she thinks doing so
means being nice.
Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order.
Niekerk (2014) noted that the individual is becoming more concerned
with society as a whole as well as with how important it is to maintain the
social order. This stage speaks about the rule, the law and order for everyone.
The individual is concerned about obeying the rules in order to uphold the law

44
and to avoid guilt (McLeod, 2013; Corpuz et.al. 2013). For example, someone
may think, ―If I steal, I will break the law and breaking the law is wrong.‖
Level 3 - Post-conventional Morality
Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral
reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this
level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. Only 10-15% arecapable
of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post- conventional
morality). That is to say, most people take their moral views from those around
them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.
Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order.
Niekerk (2014) noted that the individual is becoming more concerned
with society as a whole as well as with how important it is to maintain the social
order. This stage speaks about the rule, the law and order for everyone. The
individual is concerned about obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and
to avoid guilt (McLeod, 2013; Corpuz et.al. 2013). For example, someone may
think, ―If I steal, I will break the law and breaking the law is wrong.‖
• Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes
aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number,
there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals
The issues are not always clear-cut. For example, in Heinz‘s dilemma, the
protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing.
• Stage 6. Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own
set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law (. (Sincero, 2012). The
principles apply to everyone. E.g., human rights, justice, and equality.The
person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going
against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences
of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this
stage.
Cherry (2018) stressed that Kohlberg‘s final level of moral reasoning is based
on universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people
follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws
and rules.

45
 According to Barger (2000), Kohlberg believed that people progress in
their moral reasoning. He proposed six stages of moral development which
could be classified into three levels.
First level - moral thinking is focused at the elementary school level.
Stage 1
❖ The child/individual behave according to socially acceptable norms
because they are told to do so by some authority figure (e.g., parent or
teacher).
❖ Obedience is compelled by the threat or application of punishment.
Stage 2
❖ Views that right behavior means acting in one's own best interests.
Second level- moral thinking is focused in society. Young people think as
members of the conventional society with its values, norms, and expectations.
Stage 3
❖ The individual, being a good person, has an attitude which seeks to do
what will gain the approval of others.
Stage 4
❖ One is oriented to abide and obey the law and respond to the
obligations of duty.
Third level- moral thinking according to Kohlberg is not reached by the majority
of adults. Individuals are less concerned with maintaining society for itsown
sake, and more concerned with the principles and values that make for a good
society.
Stage 5
❖ Understanding of social mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare
of others.
Stage 6
❖ Emphasizes respect for universal principle and the demands of
individual conscience.
❖ Implications to Teaching (Ethridge, 2018):
During stage one, children behave in order not to be punished. At stage
two, they become good boys and girls to earn rewards. By stage three, children
begin thinking about the welfare of other people and caring about
their expectations. So, teachers should give students the opportunity to help
46
create a classroom code of conduct. Through this, they will become responsible
for the rules that they set and follow them accordingly, rather than blindly
agreeing to standards set by school administrators or other authorities. Some
of the activities that may be given to the learners are as follows:
• Provide group projects where students work together toward the
understanding of curriculum instead of sitting back and listening to the teacher
talk at them. Group activities encourage engagement.
• Give the students opportunities to hear different perspectives especially in
deciding what is right or wrong. Have discussions, forums, debates, etc. about
certain issues. This will be more meaningful if the issues are related to the
students' lives (Losabia, 2010).
• Discuss issues in a multicultural or global perspective. Present them how are
certain issues tackled in other cultures. Through this, students can widen their
understanding and learn to respect different views and beliefs.
• Be an example to the students. We must walk our talk so to speak. Values are
caught than taught. So as teachers, we must present values and attitudes worth
emulating.

URIE BONFRENBENNER Bio-Ecological Systems Theory

The Ecological Systems Theory of Bronfenbenner looks at a child‘s
development within the context of the system of relationships that form his or
her environment. Bronfenbenner‘s theory defines complex ―la yers‖ of
environment, each having an effect on a child‘s development. This theory has
recently been renamed ―bio-ecological systems theory‖ to emphasize that a
child‘s own biology is a primary environment fueling her development. The
interaction between factors in the child‘s maturing biology, his immediate
family/community environment, and the societal landscape fuels and steers
his development. Changes or conflict in any one layer will ripple throughout
other layers. To study a child‘s development then, we must look not only at
the child and her immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger
environment as well.
How is a child's development affected by their social relationships and
the world around them? Ecological systems theory provides one approach to
answering this question. The ecological systems theory was developed by
47
Urie Bonfenbenner. He believed that a person's development was affected by
everything in their surrounding environment. He further divided the person's
environment into five different levels: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the
exosystem, the macrosystem, and the chronosystem. In this lesson, you will
learn about these different environmental levels by meeting five-year-old Alex
and examining the influences in his life.
Microsystem
We will begin with the first level of Bonfenbenner 's theory: the
microsystem. The microsystem is the system closest to the person and the
one in which they have direct contact. Some examples would be home, school,
daycare, or work. A microsystem typically includes family, peers, or caregivers.
Relationships in a microsystem are bi-directional. In other words, your reactions
to the people in your microsystem will affect how they treat you in return. This
is the most influential level of the ecological systems theory.
Let's look at the microsystem Alex lives in. The first part of his
microsystem is his home environment. This includes his interactions with his
parents and little sister. Alex's school is also part of his microsystem. His regular
school interactions are with his kindergarten teacher and the other children in
his class.
The Microsystem
This is the layer closest to the child and contains the structures with
which the child has direct contact. The microsystem encompasses the
relationships and interactions a child has with her immediate surroundings
(Berk, 2000). Structures in the microsystem include family, school,
neighborhood, or child careen environments. At this level, relationships have
impact in two directions - both away from the child and toward the child. For
example, a child‘s parents may affect his beliefs and behavior; however, the
child also affects the behavior and beliefs of the parent. Bonfenbenner calls
these bi-directional influences, and he shows how they occur among all levels
of environment. The interaction of structures within a layer and interactions of
structures between layers is key to this theory. At the microsystem level, bi-
directional influences are strongest and have the greatest impact on the child.
However, interactions at outer levels can still impact the inner structures.

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Mesosystem
The next level of ecological systems theory is the mesosystem. The
mesosystem consists of the interactions between the different parts of a
person's microsystem. The mesosystem is where a person's individual
microsystems do not function independently, but are interconnected and assert
influence upon one another. These interactions have an indirect impact on the
individual. this layer provides the connection between the structures of the
child‘s microsystem (Berk, 2000).
Examples: the connection between the child‘s teacher and his parents,
between his church and his neighborhood, etc. One aspect of Alex's
mesosystem would be the relationship between his parents and his teacher. His
parents take an active role in his school, such as attending parent/teacher
conferences and volunteering in his classroom. This has a positive impact on
his development because the different elements of his microsystem are working
together. Alex's development could be affected in a negative way if the
different elements of his microsystem were working against one another.
Exosystem
The exosystem is the next level we will examine. The exosystem refers
to a setting that does not involve the person as an active participant, but still
affects them. This includes decisions that have bearing on the person, but in
which they have no participation in the decision-making process. An example
would be a child being affected by a parent receiving a promotion at work or
losing their job. One part of Alex's exosystem would be his father's workplace.
Alex's father is in the Navy. This often takes him away from the family, and
Alex sometimes does not see his father for months at a time. This situation
impacts Alex, and he becomes anxious when his father leaves. This layer
defines the larger social system in which the child does not function directly.
The structures in this layer impact the child‘s development by interacting with
some structure in her microsystem (Berk,2000). Parent workplace schedules
or community-based family resources are examples. The child may not be
directly involved at this level, but he does feel the positive or negative force
involved with the interaction with his own system.

49
The Macrosystem
This layer may be considered the outermost layer in the child‘s
environment. While not being a specific framework, this layer is comprised of
cultural values, customs, and laws (Berk, 2000). The effects of larger principles
defined by the macrosystem have a cascading influence throughout the
interactions of all other layers. For example, if it is the belief of the culture that
parents should be solely responsible for raising their children, that culture is less
likely to provide resources to help parents. This, in turn, affects the structures in
which the parents function. The parents‘ ability or inability to carry out that
responsibility toward their child within the context of the child‘s microsystem is
likewise affected.
The Chronosystem
This system encompasses the dimension of time as it relates to a child‘s
environments. Elements within this system can be either external, such as the
timing of a parent‘s death, or internal, such as the physiological changes that
occur with the aging of a child. As children get older, they may react differently
to environmental
changes and may be more able to determine more how that change will
influence them.
Nature vs. Nurture?
More modern child development theories accept that both a child‘s
biology and his environment play a role in change and growth. Theories now
focus on the role played by each and the extent to which they interact in ongoing
development. Bonfenbenner‘s ecological systems theory focuses on the quality
and context of the child‘s environment. He states that as a child develops, the
interaction within these environments becomes more complex. This complexity
can arise as the child‘s physical and cognitive structures grow and mature. So,
given that nature continues on a given path, how does the world that surrounds
the child help or hinder continued development? This is the question answered
by Bonfenbenner‘s theory.
Urie Bonfenbenner, uses his bio-ecological model to provide a startlingly
clear view of the problems we have been seeing in our studentsand in our
families. He says that technology has changed our society, and
while we are taking great pains to safeguard the physical environment from
50
the damage done by a technology, we have spent no resources to provide
similar safeguards to the damage done to our societal environment.
(Henderson, 1995). Our economy has shifted from an industrial model to a
technological model, yet the patterns of the workplace have continued to rely on
the factory work ethic. Parents are expected to work a schedule thatrevolves
around the factory whistle – even though they may work in a high tech office.
Also of concern to Bonfenbenner is the “deficit” model used to determine the
level of support granted by the public to struggling families. Parents must
declare themselves deficient in some way in order to qualify for help in solving
problems that may come about because of our cultural value of independence.
A larger degree of failure means a larger amount of support. By working from
this deficit model, we expect families to hold their hands up from deep inside a
black hole of helplessness. Then, we expect them to have the psychological
strength to climb up the thin rope the throw down.
Common Real Life Situations Where Teachers can Apply the Bio-
Ecological Theory
Example # 1:
An example would be between a child and their religious setting. This
would be considered part of the Microsystem of Bonfenbrenner‘s bio- ecological
model. When a child's parents are religious, often the child is taken to their
parents' place of worship. They are taught the values and morals ofthat
religion and are expected to live by the "rules" of the religion. For instance, a
child who was raised in a devout Muslim home would not eat anything
containing pork. In other cases, children who are raised in extremist homes, for
example, are more likely to be racist or prejudice against certain groups of
people.
Example #2:
Another real life example would be between a child and their cultural
values. This would be considered part of the macrosystem of Bonfenbrenner‘s
bio-ecological model. A culture's values are its ideas about what is good, right,
and just. A child raised in the United States of America could have a different
set of cultural values than a child raised in an Asian home especially in
Mindanao. Cultural values are based on the setting in which we were raised.
For example, if a child is raised to believe that they are not to look at people of
51
authority when being reprimanded or spoken to, they are not likely to look a
teacher in the eye when the teacher is speaking to them even though in the
United States, it is seen as disrespectful to not look at someone in the eye when
they're talking to you. Another example would be how a child is dressed. In
America, it's normal for kids to go out in the summer dressed in t shirts and
shorts however, a child who is raised in Marawi that it is immoral to show skin
would not be found in shorts in the summer time. Our values are what drive
our decisions.
Example #3:
The relationship between the child and their parents. When parents are
going through a divorce it can create an unstable environment. Children have
no control over their parents getting a divorce. This type of microsystem will
have a potential negative effect on the child, that the parents don‘t realize it at
the time. When the parents are going through a divorce the children‘s
environment becomes the complete opposite than what they had been
accustomed to. They have to go from that stable two- parent home to having
two separate homes and environment. The divorce immediately throws out
any kind of stable of environment that the child is any remotely close too. This
type of negative environment cannot have such a toll not only on the child‘s
home life but also their education. It starts to become a less of priority for the
family because there are a lot more factors that have to be played into their new
situation.
Example #4:
Another real life example is between family and school. An example of
this is when the parents join the PTA. When the family is involved with school
it becomes a positive aspect for the children. Children usually tend to view
school as a boring and stressful environment. When they see that their parents
are involved and enjoy it, then children could tend to start developing this
positive aspect. Another factor of this is that when the family is involved with the
school the family can become more involved with one another. The PTA set up
so many different events throughout the school term that they are always in the
knowing with what is going on with the school. It sets aside time where they can
spend some more time together and it also will help give them more time to
talk about. The parents can start to learn more about their
52
children and who their friends are. Bonfenbrenner says it is important to have
that positive relationship between the family and schools. If the family does not
have that relationship, then children could suffer when it comes to their
education.
Example #5:
The relationship between the child and his or her peer group. The
direct relationship between the two will fall into Bonfenbrenner‘s microsystem
because it deals with immediate relationships. Peer groups in school have a
great influence on a child. In order to fit into social settings, a child will follow
after their peer group. A child will change their certain behaviors in order to fit
that of their peers. Peer groups can encourage positive behavior such as
succeeding in school and participating in extracurricular activities at school,
such as sports, study groups, or clubs. Peer groups can also influence negative
behaviors such as getting involved with illegal substances or situations. Positive
relationship with peers can help a child succeed. Negative relationships with
peers can hinder how well a child succeeds.
Example #6:
Another real life example of Bonfenbrenner‘s bio-ecological theory is in
areas in which the child has no control over. This example falls into
Bonfenbrenner‘s exosytem. An example would be when a parent is laid off from
a job or the parent has no permanent job. Not only were the parents affected by
the loss, but also the child. The child had no influence over the parents losing
their jobs or the repercussions it caused. When parent losses their job, the
typical environment that the child is use to changes. The parents could go into
a financial crisis. This crisis could cause the family to have to move from one
location to another, allot spending, shortage of food or necessities, and parental
stress. All of these factors can lead to abuse and neglect of the child. In this
situation, it will affect the child‘s microsystem because his or her relationship
with parents may be affected by the crisis.
Example #7:
An example of Bonfenbrenner‘s ecological theory is the relationship
between a person and the country they live in. This would be considered the
Macrosystem of Bonfenbrenner‘s theory. It includes the broad ideologies of the
culture. Where a person lives can have a huge impact on them. For
53
instance, if a person is living in the United States where there are no active war
zones, they are going to affected completely differently than someone who is
living in another country that has active war zones. The person in the United
States would be living a comfortable life, with their biggest problems being that
they were late to an appointment or meeting. A person living in an active war
zone could be living comfortably one day and then could have to move because
of increased violence and riots in their neighborhood, thus uplifting their entire
lifestyle. There are many things that seem so distancefrom an individual in
the ecological systems, but yet they can have a huge impact on their day to day
lives. It is something that is taken for granted, and it should not be. This example
shows just how important each of Urie Bonfenbrenner‘s ecological systems is,
even if it is the broadest group. Just because it is not in direct interaction with
an individual does not mean it willnot affect them.
Example #8:
Another example of Bonfenbrenner‘s ecological theory is the relationship
between person and their neighborhood. This would be considered to be in the
person‘s exosystem of Bonfenbrenner‘s theory. It includes neighbors, friends,
extended family, mass media, social welfare services and legal services.
Narrowing it down to an individual in their neighborhood doesn‘t even begin to
narrow it down enough, because of the fact that there are so many different
kinds of neighborhoods just within vicinity. One could live in a subdivision, an
apartment complex, or even a squatters‘ area. Where a person lives, and
what a person considers beingtheir neighborhood is a huge aspect of their
lives. Though this is also not inthe system considered closest to the individual
according to Bonfenbrenner, it is where they identify their home life. A person‘s
home life is a huge aspect of how they develop. If a person lives in a wealthy
subdivision they aren‘t goingto have the same experiences as a person who
lives in an inner city apartment complex. If violence and crime are high in a
person‘s neighborhood they are not going to be able to develop or reach their
fullest potential due to the lack of the sense of safety and security. There are
just so many aspects of all different kinds of neighborhoods that could have an
impact on them and how they develop.

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Summary
While few people are strong proponents of Freud's theory of
psychosexual development today, his work made important contributions to
our understanding of human development. Perhaps his most important and
enduring contribution was the idea that unconscious influences could have a
powerful impact on human behavior. Freud's theory also stressed the
importance of early experiences in development. While experts continue to
debate the relative contributions of early versus later experiences,
developmental experts recognize that the events of early life play a critical role
in the developmental process and can have lasting effects throughout life. It is
important to remember that the psychosocial stages are just one theory of how
personality develops. Some research may support certain aspects of this
theoretical framework, but that does not mean that every aspect of the theory
is supported by evidence. The theory can, however, be a helpful way to think
about some of the different conflicts and challenges that people may face as
they go through life.
On the other hand, Piaget's theory has influenced education and
parenting. Some practical ways teachers and parents can put his ideas to
work are to: remember that kids often learn best by doing things, rather than
hearing about them; learning to solve problems isn't something that can be
taught. It must be discovered; the process of learning is as important (or more
so) than the end result; don't try to teach a child something they aren‘t ready
to learn. According to Piaget's stages, kids must master one level before they
move on to the next; and kids learn as much from each other as from parents
or teachers. Give them projects to do together, as well as individual tasks.
However, Lev Vygotsky‘s theory is very influential today in the field of
education. According to him, there are a few essential factors that are critical
to the success of this learning process namely:
-The presence of someone with the knowledge and skills to guide the learner
(‗more knowledgeable other‖);
- Scaffolding, or supportive activities provided by the mentor or teacher that
help guide the learner through the ZPD; and
- Social interactions that allow the learner to observe and practice their skills.

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It is important to realize that the Zone of Proximal Development is a moving
target. As a learner gains new skills and abilities, this zone moves progressively
forward. Teachers and parents can take advantage of this by continually
providing educational opportunities that are a slight stretch of a child's existing
knowledge and skills. By giving children tasks that they cannot quite do easily
on their own and providing the guidance they need to accomplish it, educators
can progressively advance the learning process.
On the other hand, Erikson's theory described the impact of social experience
across the whole lifespan. He was interested in how social interaction and
relationships played a role in the development and growth of human beings.
Erikson also believed that a sense of competence motivates behaviors and
actions. Each stage in Erikson's theory is concerned with becomingcompetent
in an area of life. If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of
mastery, which is sometimes referred to as ego strength or ego quality. If the
stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy in
that aspect of development.
Furthermore, social learning teaches people positive behaviors. They learn
through observing others‘ behavior, attitudes, and outcomes of those behaviors.
Both teachers and parents recognize how important it is to model appropriate
behaviors. Novel and unique contexts often capture students‘attention, and can
stand out in the memory.
Bonfenbrenner‘s work was very important in understanding a systematic
approach of human and social development. His bioecological theory has
provided links to why children each develop differently and what aspects of
development are in the child‘s control and which are not. It looksnot only into
the biological aspect of development, but also the ecology behind it and the
environment involved. His theory is important for educators to understand
because it allows the educator to build fundamental relationships with their
students and create a communication rich classroom that involves the parents.
Bonfenbenner‘s work also displays how the community and culture that the
children are surrounded by greatly influence their development as well. Things
such as media, school and state policies, or a child‘s neighborhood can shape
how he or she develops. Bonfenbrenner creates three separate systems
(microsystem, exosystem, and macrosystem) that can
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all act individually on the child, but also can act in unison on the child. The
child has control over the events in his or her microsystem, but the exosystem
and macrosystem are out of the child‘s control. Bonfenbrenner clearly states
how each system is vital for every child‘s development and from that, real life
events can be related back to a certain system. Events such as relationships
between peers, parents, and teachers all are shaped in a child‘s microsystem.
Events that take place in a child‘s neighborhood or community all are shaped in
a child‘s exosystem. Societal expectations and norms all are shaped in a child‘s
macrosystem. From Bonfenbenner‘s theory, it has provided a framework for
parents and teachers to build effective relationships from and surround the child
with a positive environment. With immediate relationships and a positive
environment, it will allow the child to develop and succeed tohis or her fullest
potential possible.
Students are more motivated to pay attention if they see others around
them also paying attention. Teachers must encourage students to develop
their individual self-efficacy through confidence building and constructive
feedback. Certain aspects in the curriculum must also be given due
consideration so that students must get a chance to observe and model the
behavior that leads to a positive reinforcement.; in instruction, educators must
encourage collaborative learning, since much of learning happens within
important social and environmental contexts.; and most importantly,
assessment must be observed because a learned behavior often cannot be
performed unless there is the right environment for it. Educators must provide
the incentive and the supportive environment for the behavior to happen.
Otherwise, assessment may not be accurate.

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 Lesson 2 Student Diversity

What to expect?
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:
1. identify the different factors that bring about diversity in the classroom;
2. demonstrate positive attitude towards diversity as an enriching element in
the learning environment;
3. describe the basic categories of exceptional learners;
4. define important terminologies related to student diversity;
5. discuss multiple intelligences; and
6. apply the knowledge learned by answering the given activities after the
lesson
Pre-discussion

The teacher as facilitator of learning is tasked to consider diversity in

learning brought about by individual differences, multiple intelligences,
exceptional learners, their learning and thinking styles among others in planning
for effective instruction. This diversity also comes from other factors like the
following: (1). Socio-economic status – the millionaires‘ lifestyle differs from that
of the middle income or lower income group;
(2). Thinking/ Learning Style – some of you learn better by seeing something;
others by just listening; still others by manipulating something; and (3).
Exceptionalities – in class there may be one who has difficulty in spoken
language comprehension or in seeing, hearing, etc.
In all learning environments, individuals interact with others who are in
some ways different from them. A teacher may be ―challenged ― to handle a
class with students so diverse. There may be students having different
cultural background, different language abilities, different attitudes, aptitude
and behaviors. Teachers might see this diversity as a difficult predicament,
really a hassle! Yet a more reflective teacher may see a diverse classroom as
an exciting place to learn not just for her students, but for herself, as well. A
wise teacher may choose to respect and celebrate diversity! Read on,
discover the benefits and learning opportunities that student diversity can
bring to your classroom. One will have to focus on some important aspects in
diversity.
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Lesson Outline
Exposing students to others with diverse backgrounds and experiences also
serve to help students focus on their awareness of themselves. Whenthey
see how others are different, students are given reference points or comparative
perspectives which sharpen assessment of their own attitudes, values and
behaviors. This will enhance students‘ self-awareness of diversity. Student
diversity contributes to cognitive development
1. Student diversity contributes to cognitive development. The
opportunity to gain access to the perspectives of peers and to learn from
other students, rather than the instructor only, may be especially
important for promoting the cognitive development of learners. Supreme
Court Justice William J. Brennan said ―the classroom is peculiarly
the market place of ideas.‖ The depth and breadth of student learning are
enhanced by exposure to others from diverse backgrounds. Student
diversity in the classroom brings about different points of view and varied
approach to the learning process. As the German philosopher Nietzsche,
said over one hundred years ago ―the more affects we allow to speak
about one thing, the more eyes, different eyes we can use to observe
one thing, the more complete will our concept of this thing, our objectivity,
be.‖
2. Student diversity prepares learners for their role as responsible
members of society. Suzanne Morse stresses one competency that
has strong implications for instructional strategies that capitalize on
diversity ―the capacity to imagine situations are problems from all
perspectives and to appreciate all aspects of diversity‖ furthermore, she
argues ―the classroom can provide more than just theory given by the
teacher in a lecture. With student diversity, the classroom becomes a
public place where community can be practiced.
3. Student diversity can promote harmony. When student diversity is
integrated into the classroom teaching and learning process, it can
become a vehicle for promoting harmonious race relations. Through
student-centered teaching strategies, diverse students can be
encouraged to interact and collaborate with one another on learning
tasks that emphasize unity of effort while capitalizing on their diversity
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 of background. Teachers may consider student diversity by observing
some important tips such as to:
A. Encourage learners to share their personal history and
experiences. Students will be made to realize that they have something
in common with the rest. They also differ in several ways.
B. Integrate learning experience in activities which promote students’
multi-cultural and cross-cultural awareness.
• You can encourage or even imitate co-curricular experiences that are
aimed at promoting diversity awareness. These activities could be
held to coincide with already scheduled national weeks or months
which are designated for appreciation of diverse groups Disability
Awareness Weeks, Linggong Wika, Indigenous People Week, etc.
• Let students interview other students on campus who are from
diverse backgrounds, foreign students, students from other
ethnic/racial groups. These students of different racial and ethnic
origin serve as source of first- hand information on topics related to
their culture. This can also provide opportunity for interaction among
students who may otherwise never come in contact with each other.
• Invite students to internet discussion groups or email; have students
―visit‖ foreign countries ―talk‖ to natives of chosen countries.
• Ask students if they have ever been the personal target of prejudice
or discrimination, and have them share these experiences with other
members of the class.
C. Aside from highlighting diversity, identify patterns of unity that
transcend group differences. Clyde Kluckholn, an early American
anthropologist who spent a lifetime studying human diversity across
different cultures, concluded from his extensive research that, ―every
human is, at the same time, like all other humans, like some human,
and like no other human‖ (Wong, 1991). His observation suggests a
product in the human experience, mainly we are all the same in different
ways. It may be important to pint out to students the biological

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reality that we, human being, share an approximately 95% of our genes
in common, and the less than 5% of our genes account for the physical
differences that exists among us. When focusing on human differences,
these commonalities should not be overlooked; otherwise, our repeated
attempts to promote student-diversity may inadvertently promote student
divisiveness. One way to minimize this risk, and promote unity along with
diversity is to stress the universality of the learning experience by raising
students‘ consciousness of common themes that bind all groups of
people in addition to highlighting the variations on those themes.
• Periodically place students in homogenous groups on the basis of
shared demographic characteristics (e.g., same gender groups or
same race/ethnicity groups), and have them share their personal
views or experiences with respect to course issues. Then form a
panel comprise of representatives from each group who will report
their groups‘ ideas. You can serve as moderator and identify the key
differences and recurrent themes- that emerge across different
groups, or students who are not on the panel can be assigned this
task.
• Try to form groups of students who are different with respect to the
demographic characteristics but similar with respect to another (e.g.,
similar gender but different with respect to race/ethnicity, or similar in
age but different gender). This practice can serve to increase student
awareness that humans who are members of different groups can, at
the same time, be members of the same group – and share similar
experiences, needs or concerns.
• After students have completed self – assessment instruments (e.g.,
learning style inventories or personality profiles), have them line-up
or move to a corner of the room according to their individual scores
or overall profile. This practice can visibly demonstrate to students
how members of different student populations can be quite similar
with respect to their learning styles or personality profiles, i.e.,

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 students can see how individual similarities often overshadow
differences.
D. Communicate high expectations to students from all sub-groups.
• Make a conscious attempt to call on, or draw in students fromdiverse
groups by using effective questioning techniques. That reliably
elicit student involvement. In addition, to consciously calling on them
in class, other strategies for ― drawing in ― in involving students
include (a) assigning them the role of reporter in small – group
discussion, i.e., the one who reports back the groups‘ ideasto the
class, ; (b) having them engaged in paired discussion with another
classmate with the stipulation that each partner must take turns
assuming the role of both listener and speaker; and (c) scheduling
instructor-student conferences with them outside the classroom.
• Learn the names of your students, especially the foreign names that
you may have difficulty pronouncing. This will enable you to establish
early personal rapport with them which can later serve as a
social/emotional foundation or spring board for encouraging them to
participate.
E. Use varied instructional methods to accommodate student
diversity in learning styles.
• Diversify the sensory/perceptual modalities trough which you deliver
and present information (e.g., orally, in print, diagrammatic, and
pictorial representations, or ―hands-on‖ experiences).
• Diversify the instructional formats or procedures you use in class:
❖ Use formats that are student-centered (e.g., class discussion,
small group work) and teacher-centered (e.g., lectures,
demonstrations,).
❖ Use formats that are unstructured (e.g., trial-error discovery
learning) and structured (e.g., step-by-step instructions).
❖ Use procedures that involve both independent learning (e.g.,
independently completed projects, individual learning in pairs
or small groups).

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F. Vary the examples you use to illustrate concepts in order to provide
multiple contexts that are relevant to students from diverse
backgrounds.
Specific strategies for providing multiple examples and varied contexts
that are relevant to their varied backgrounds Include the following
❖ Have student‘s complete personal information card during the first
week of class and use this information to select examples or
illustrations that are relevant to their personal interest and life
experiences.
❖ Use ideas, comments, and questions that students raise in class,
or which they choose to write about to help you think of examples
and illustrations to use.
❖ Ask students to provide their own examples of concepts based on
experiences drawn for their personal lives.
❖ Have students apply concepts by placing them in a situation or
context that is relevant to their lives (e.g., ―how would you show
respect to all persons in your home?‖)
G. Adapt to students’ diverse backgrounds or learning styles by
allowing them personal choice and decision-making opportunities
concerning what they will learn and how they will learn it.
Giving the learner more decision-making opportunity with respect to
learning tasks ( a) promotes positive students‘ attitudes toward the
subject matter; (b) fosters more positive interactions among students;
and (c) results in students‘ working more consistently with lesser teacher
intervention. Also, when individuals are allowed to exert some control
over a task, they tend to experience less anxiety or stress while
performing that tasks.
H. Diversify your methods of assessing and evaluating student
learning.
You can accommodate student diversity not only by varying what you
do with your teaching, but also by varying what you ask students to do to
demonstrate learning. In addition to the traditional paper-in-pencil test in
written assignments, students can demonstrate their learning in variety
of performance formats, such as (a) individually-delivered oral
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 reports; (b) panel presentations; (c) group projects; (d) visual
presentations (e.g., concept maps, slide presentations, power point
presentations, collages, exhibits),; and (e) dramatic vignettes - presented
live or on video tape. One potential benefit of allowing students to choose
how they demonstrate their learning is that the variety of options
exercised may be a powerful way to promote students‘ awareness of the
diversity of human learning styles.
I. Purposely, form small – discussion groups of students from
diverse backgrounds. You can form groups of students with
different learning styles, different cultural backgrounds, etc.
Small peer – learning groups may be effective for promoting students‘ progress
to a more advanced stage of cognitive development. Peer-learning groups may
promote this cognitive advancement because (a) the instructor is removed from
center stage, thereby reducing the likelihood that the teacher is perceived as
the ultimate or absolute authority; and (b) students are exposed to the
perspectives of other students, thus increasing their appreciation of multiple
view points and different approaches to learning.
Learning/Thinking Styles and Multiple Intelligences

One factor that brings about student diversity is thinking/learning styles.

Individuals think and learn in distinct ways. In any group of learners there will
always be different learning characteristics, particularly in the learners manner
of processing information. Some would absorb the lesson better when they work
with their hands than when they just listen. Others would prefer to watcha video
about a topic. Students, likewise have preferred ways of expressing their
thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Some would prefer to write, others would draw or
even dance and sing. These preferences involve thinking/learning styles and
multiple intelligences.
Learning/Thinking styles refer to the preferred way an individual
processes information. They describe a person‘s typical mode of thinking,
remembering, or problem-solving. Furthermore, styles are usually considered
to be bipolar dimensions. For instance, your particular learning/thinking style
would lie at a point in a continuum. Having a particular learning/thinking style
simply denotes a tendency to behave in a certain manner. Your style is

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usually described as a personality dimension which influences your attitudes,
values and social interaction.
There are several perspectives about learning/ thinking styles. We shall
focus on sensory preferences in the global- analytic continuum.
A. Sensory preferences. Individual stand to gravitate toward one or two types
of sensory input and maintain a dominance in one of the following types:
Visual learners. These learners must see their teachers‘ actions and facial
expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting
in front so no one would block their view. They may think in picturesand
learn best from visual aids including: diagrams, illustrated textbooks,overhead
transparencies, videos, flip charts, and hand-outs. During a lecture or
classroom discussions, visual learners often prefer to take detailed notes to
absorb the information. RiCharde further breaks down visual learners into:
❖ Visual - iconic. Those who prefer this form of input are more interested
in visual imagery such as films, graphic displays, or pictures in order to
solidify learning. They usually have good ―picture memory,‖
a.k.a. iconic imagery and attend to pictorial detail. They would like to read
a map better than to read a book.
❖ Visual - symbolic. Those who prefer this form of input feel comfortable
with abstract symbolism such as mathematical formulae or the written
word. They would prefer to read a book than a map and would like to
read about things than hear about them. They tend to be good abstract
thinkers who do not require practical means for learning.
Auditory learners.They learn best through verbal lectures, discussions, talking
things through and listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners
interpret the underlying meaning of speech through listening to toneof voice,
pitch, speed, and other nuances. Written information may have little meaning
until it is heard. These learners often benefit from reading text aloud and using
a tape recorder. They can attend orally to details, translate the spoken word
easily into the written word, and are not easily distracted in their listening ability.
Auditory learners also fall into categories:
❖ The “Listeners” – This is the more common type. Listeners most likely
do well in school. Out of school too, they remember things said to them

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 and make the information their own. They may even carry on mental
conversations and figure out how to extend what they learned by
reviewing in their heads what they heard others say.
❖ The “Talkers”. – They are the ones who prefer to talk and discuss. They
often find themselves talking to those around them. In a class setting
when the instructor is not asking questions, auditory-verbal processors
(talkers) tend to whisper comments to themselves. They are not trying
to be disrupted and may not even realize that they needto talk.
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners – Tactile, kinesthetic persons benefit much from
a hands-on approach, actively exploring the physical world around them. They
may find it hard to sit still for long periods. They may not benefit so much from
the discussion or the written materials and may become distracted by their need
for activity and exploration. Those preferring this input move toward active,
sensory motor learning. They tend to prefer open ―learning by doing,‖ preferring
the use of psychomotor skills to, say, abstract thinking skills. They tend to have
good motor memory and motor coordination.
Global-Analytic Continuum
Analytic thinkers tend towards the linear, step-by-step process of learning.
They tend to see finite elements of patterns rather than the wall. They are the
―tree seers. ―They are more rather comfortable in a word of details hierarchies
of information while Global thinkers lean towards non-linear thought and tend
to see the wall patterns rather than particle elements. They are the ―forest
seers‖ who give attention only to the overall structure and sometimes ignore
details.
Several theories have tied the global-analytic continuum to the left-
brain/right-brain continuum. In accord with Roger Sprry‘s model, the left-brain
dominant individual is portrayed as the linear (analytic), verbal, mathematical
thinker while the right-brain person is one who is viewed as global, non-linear
and holistic in thought preferences.
Both sides of the brain can reason but through different strategies in an
individual, one side may be more dominant than the other. The left brain is
regarded as analytic in approach while the right is described as holistic or
global. A successive processor (left brain) prefers to learn in a step-by-step

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sequential format, beginning with details leading to a conceptual understanding
of a skill. A simultaneous processor (right brain) prefers to learn beginning
with a general concept and then going on to specifics. Seethe comparison
below:
LEFT BRAIN (Analytic) RIGHT BRAIN (Global)
Successive Hemispheric Style Simultaneous Hemispheric Style
1. Verbal 1. Visual
2. Respond to word meaning 2. Responds to tone of voice
3. Sequential 3. Random
4. Processes information linearly 4. Processes information in
5. Responds logic varied order
6. Plans ahead 5. Responds to emotion
7. Recall peoples‘ name 6. Impulsive
8. Speaks with few gestures 7. Recall peoples‘ faces
9. Punctual 8. Gestures when speaking
10. Prefers formal study design 9. Less punctual
studying 10. Prefers sound/music
11. Prefers bright lights while background while
studying 11. Prefers frequent mobility while
studying

Multiple Intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) was first described by Howard
Gardner in frames of mind (1983). Gardner defines intelligence as “an ability
or set of abilities that allows a person to solve a problem or fashion a product
that valued in one or more cultures‖. Gardner believes that different intelligences
may be independent abilities-a person can be low in one domain area but high
and another. All of us possess the intelligences but in varying degrees of
strength. His most current research indicates that there are nine distinct forms
of intelligences. In order to facilitate learning effectively, teachers should use
strategies that match these kinds of intelligences. The nine kinds are:
1. Visual/Spatial intelligence (picture smart) – learning visually and
organizing ideas spatially. Seeing concepts in action in order to
understand them. The ability to‖ see‖ things in one‘s mind in planningto
create a product or solve a problem.
2. Verbal/linguistic (word smart) – learning though the spoken and
written word. This intelligence is always valued in the traditional

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 classroom and in traditional assessment of intelligence and
achievement.
3. Mathematical/logical (number smart/logical smart)-learning though
reasoning and problem solving. Also highly valued in the traditional
classroom where student are asked to adapt to logically sequenced
delivery of instruction.
4. Bodily/kinesthetic (body smart) –learning through interaction with
one‘s environment this intelligence is the domain of ―overly active‖
learners. It promotes understanding though concrete experience.
5. Musical (Music Smart) – learning though patterns, rhythms and music.
This includes not only auditory learning but also the identification of
patterns though all the sense.
6. Intrapersonal (Self Smart) – learning though feelings, values and
attitudes. This is a decidedly affective component of learning though
which students place value on what they learn and take ownership for
their learning.
7. Interpersonal (People Smart) – learning though interaction with others.
Not the domain of children who are simply ―talkative‖ or ―overly social.‖
This intelligence promotes collaborations and working cooperatively with
others.
8. Naturalist (Nature Smart) – learning though classification, categories
and hierarchies. The naturalist intelligence picks up on subtle differences
in meaning. It is not simply the study of nature; it can be used in all areas
of study.
9. Existential (Spirit Smart) – learning by seeing the ―big picture‖: ―why
are we here?‖ ―what is my role in the world?‖ this intelligence seeks
connections to real world understanding and application of new learning.
It is important for teachers to use their knowledge about thinking/
learning style and multiple intelligences in planning activities to help their
students learn effectively. While researches on these typologies continue, it is
clear that the teachers can no longer just teach the text book. It is a sensible
practice to teach each child according to his/her thinking/learning styles and
multiple intelligence.

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Learners with Exceptionalities

One significant factor that highlights individual differences and diversity in

learning is the presence of exceptionalities. We commonly refer learners with
exceptionalities as persons who are different in some way from the ―normal‖ or
―average‖. The term ―exceptional learners‖ includes those with special needs
related to cognitive abilities, behavior, social functioning, physical and sensory
impairments, emotional disturbances, and giftedness. Most of these learners
require a lot of understanding and patience as well as special education and
related services if they are to reach their full potential of development. There
are certain categories that affect the learner‘s development: (a) Cognitive or
Academic Faculties of which learning disabilities are identified such as
perception, language, memory or metacognition. Classified under this are
Dyslexia (reading disorder), Dysgraphia (writing disorder), Dyscalculia
(arithmetic disorder), and Dyspraxia (psychomotor disorder). Other categories
of disorders are the ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which is
characterized by

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inattention, distractibility, and with or without hyperactivity; Speech and
Communication Disorder characterized by the difficulty in pronouncing words
or articulation disorders, and stuttering; (b) Social/Emotional Behavior
Difficulties which include Autism (social skills, repetitive behaviors, and
speech and non-verbal communication), Mental Retardation (sub-average
intelligence and deficits in adaptive behavior or imbecile), Emotional/Conduct
Disorders (presence of emotional states like depression and aggression
disturbing learning and performance in school; (c) Physical Disabilities and
Health Impairments which affect individual‘s energy and strength, mental
alertness and muscle control; (d) Sensory Impairments which include Visual
and Hearing impairments referred to as the impairmentof the eyes and optic
nerves that prevent normal vision and malfunctioning of the ear and auditory
nerves that hinders perception of sounds within a frequency range of normal
speech; (e) Giftedness which speaks of talents in areas of a child‘s life:
academic, artistic, athletic, and social (US Departmentof Education 1993). It
involves significantly high levels of cognitive development, performance, and
accomplishment. It is observed that there are six (6) areas where giftedness can
be found, and these are: (1) creative thinking, (2) general intellectual ability, (3)
psychomotor, (4) specific academic ability, (5) visual/performing arts, and (6)
leadership. They are characterized by being perfectionist and idealistic,
maturity beyond age, problem-solvers, abstract thinkers, and heightened
sensitivity to their own expectations and those of others.

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 Health Impairment Traumatic Brain Inquiry
Learning
Disability
Autism Blindness

Hearing Loss
Mental
Gifted and
Emotional
Speech/Langua Talented
ge Disabilities
Severe/Multiple
Disabilities
Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Physical
Disorder Disabilities

Dealing with Learners with Exceptionalities

1. People-First Language
2. No Generic Labels
3. Emphasizes abilities not limitations
4. No euphemisms
5. No implication of sickness or suffering
6. Brief and simple instructions
7. Clear definition of course requirements and dates of exams and
deadline of assignments
8. Hand-outs, visual aids and study guides
9. Several examples and demonstrations
10. Consultation time
11. Asking and providing assistance
12. Encouragement
13. Patience, patience, patience, and PATIENCE!

Disability. A disability is a measurable impairment or limitation that ―interferes

with a person‘s ability, for example, to walk, left, hear, or learn. It may refer to
a physical, sensory, or mental condition‖ (SchiefelbuschInstitute, 1996). The
word disability has become the more accepted term, having replaced the word
handicap in federal laws in the US, one of which is the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA is the law that provides comprehensive
service and support for exceptional learners. Our very own 1987 Philippine

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Constitution, Article XIV, Sec. 2, uses the word ―disabled‖ in

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paragraph (5) ―provide adult citizens, the disabled, and out-of-school youth with
training.
Handicap. The word handicap does not have the same meaning as disability.
A handicap is a disadvantage that occurs as a result of a disability or
impairment. The degree of disadvantage (or the extent of the handicap) is often
dependent on the adjustment made by both the person and his environment.
Therefore, the extent to which a disability handicaps an individual can vary
greatly. Two persons may have the same disability but not the same degree of
being handicapped. For example, they both have a hearing impairment, one
knows sign language and can read lips while the other cannot. The first
individual would not have as much handicap as the second one. Another
example, two persons who move around on a wheel chair, the one studying in
a school campus with wheel chair accessibility in all areas would be less
handicapped than one in a school without wheel chair accessibility.
Recognizing Students with Learning Disabilities
Students with learning disabilities:
Have average or above average ability (thinking and reasoning).
Demonstrate below average academic achievement.
Demonstrate a significant difference between achievement and ability.
Have processing difficulty.

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Specific Cognitive or Academic Difficulties
Learning disabilities. Is a neurological disorder that results from a difference in
the way a person‘s brain is ―wired. ―Children with disabilities are as smart or
smarter than their peers. But they may have difficulty reading, writing, spelling,
reasoning, recalling and/or organizing information if left to figurethings out by
themselves or if taught in conventional ways. Learning disabilities involve
difficulties in specific cognitive process like perception, language, memory or
metacognition that are not due to other disabilities like mental retardation,
emotional or behavioral disorders, or sensory impairments. Examples of
learning disabilities include dyslexia (reading), dyscalculia (number operations)
and dysgraphia (writing).
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. SDHD is manifested in either or both or
both of these: (1) difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention and (2)
recurrent hyperactive and impulsive behavior.
Speech and Communication Disorders
There is difficulty in spoken language including voice disorders, inability to
produce sounds …correctly, stuttering, difficulty in spoken language
comprehension that significantly hamper classroom performance.
Social/Emotional and Behavioral Difficulties
Autism. It is a condition manifested by different levels of impaired social
interaction and communication, repetitive behaviors and limited interests.
Individual with autism usually have an intense need for routine and a predictable
environment.
Mental Retardation.This refers to significant sub-average intelligence and
deficits in adaptive behavior. There is difficulty in managing activities of daily
living and in conducting themselves appropriately in social situations.
Emotional/Conduct Disorders.This involves the presence of emotional states
like depression and aggression over a considerable amount of time that they
probably disturb learning and performance in school.
Physical Disabilities and Health Impairment
Physical and Health Impairments. This involve physical or medical conditions
( usually long term) including one or more of these: (1) limited energy and
strength, (2) reduced mental alertness, and/or (3) little muscle control.

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Severe and Multiple Disabilities. This refers to the presence of two or more
different types of disability, at times of a profound level. The combination of
disabilities make it necessary to make specific adaptations and have more
specialized educational programs.
Sensory Impairment
Visual impairments. These are conditions when there is malfunction of the eyes
or optic nerves that prevent normal vision even with corrective lenses.
Hearing Impairments. These involve malfunction of the ear or auditory nerves
that hinders perception of sounds within the frequency range of a normal
speech.
Giftedness. This involves a significantly high level of cognitive development.
There is unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more of these aspects:
intellectual ability, aptitude in academic subject, creativity, visual or performing
arts or leadership.
People-First Language
What is people-first language? Just as the term would imply, this language trend
involves putting the person first, not the disability (e.g. a person with disability,
not a disabled person). Thus, people-first language tells us what condition
people have, not what they are (SchiefelbuschInstitude, 1996). This is similar to
saying ―person with AIDS, rather than ―AIDS victim‖. Other suggestions for
referring to those with disabilities include:
Avoiding generic levels (people with mental retardation is preferable to the
mentally retarded);
Emphasizing abilities, not limitations (for instance, uses a wheel chair is
preferable than confined to a wheel chair);
Avoiding euphemism (such as physically-challenged) which are regarded as
condescending and avoid the real issue that results from a disability; and
Avoiding implying illness or suffering (had polio is preferable to is a polio
victim, and has multiple sclerosis is preferable to suffers from multiple
sclerosis) ((Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2000;
SchiefelbuschInstitude, 1996).
Using people-first language in applying the guidelines above will remind you to
have a more respectful and accepting attitude toward learners with
exceptionalities. The presence of impairment requires them to exert more
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effort to do things that others like us find quite easy to do. They are learners
who may turn to you for assistance. Beginning with the right attitude, one of
compassion ( not of pity nor ridicule), will make you a more effective teacher,
one with the hand and heart who can facilitate their learning and adjustment.
Teaching Strategies Guided by Thinking/Learning Styles and Multiple
Intelligence
1. Use questions of all types to stimulate various levels of thinking from recalling
factual information to drawing implications and making value judgments.
2. Provide a general overview of material to be learned, i.e., structured overview,
advance organizers, etc., so that students‘ past experiences will be associated
with the new ideas.
3. Allow sufficient time for information to be processed and then integrate using
both the right-and left-brain hemispheres.
4. Set clear purposes before any listening, viewing or reading experience.
5. Warm up before the lesson development by using brainstorming, set
induction, etc.
6. Use multisensory means for both processing and retrieving information.
(write directions on the board and give them orally.)
7. Use a variety of review and reflection strategies to bring closure to learning
(writing summaries, creating opinion surveys, etc.).
8. Use descriptive feedback rather than simply praising (―the example you‘ve
provided is an excellent one to point to the concept of…‖). (from Cornett, C. E.
(1983). what you should know about teaching and learning styles. Bloomington,
IN: Phi delta kappa educational foundation).

Summary
Diversity is everything that makes people different from each other. This
includes many different factors: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
socio-economic status, ability, age, religious belief, or political conviction. All
these factors work together to inform how students (and teachers, and everyone
else) encounter the world. Diversity is important in the classroom because if the
teacher ignores the issue of diversity in the classroom and choose to not
promote diversity in school, they are not doing their job.

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Children go to school to be prepared for the workforce, so teaching must
effectively address and embrace the realities that come with living and working
in a diverse school, community and country.
The teacher should remember that diversity in the classroom builds better
thinkers. It teaches students to appreciate different perspectives and draw
stronger conclusions. Challenging students to consider different perspectives
can also teach them how to interact with their peers on a social level, and equip
them with skills they‘ll use for the rest of their life. It improves academic
outcomes. Furthermore, diversity in the classroom doesn‘t just improve social
skills, it can also have an impact on academic results. It improves critical
thinking skills and encourages academic confidence.
Diversity expresses itself in so many different ways, so it can be daunting to try
and start conversations around bringing it to the classroom. The teacher should
always bear in mind that the school is already full of students and staff with
diverse and amazing backgrounds, abilities and skills! All that must be done is
to start highlighting that diversity. It also encourages active learning and can be
challenging to keep students engaged and actively involved. Thisis especially
true for students who struggle with learning, speak English as a second
language, or have trouble focusing. Moreover, the teacher must also consider
to: (a) embrace small group and learning stations, (b) group bylearning style,
not ability, (c) promote project-based learning, (d) incorporate ed-tech and
adaptive learning tools, and (e) provide alternative testing options. No matter
what happen, "everyone is unique" because no two individual can have identical
hereditary endowments or the same environmental experiences. Every
individual has their own characteristics,ability, skills, and learning styles. In all
learning environments, individual interact with others who are in some way
different from them and that. Is what we call "diversity" which comes from other
important factors like socio- economic status, thinking/learning styles and
exceptionalities.
In socioeconomic status, it depends on how individual differ in life style from
that of the middle income or lower income group. It also depends on a
combination of variables including occupation, education, income, wealth and
place of residence. Socioeconomic status is the measure of the influence that
the social environment has on individual, families, communities and schools.
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In many ways, socioeconomic status is related to the concept of social class.
The next factor is, thinking / learning style of every learner which involves their
different strategies and techniques on how they learn easily and effectively.
There are some learners who learn by seeing and looking and others by hearing
and listening. On the other hand, there are individuals who learnbetter by
touching and doing, wherein they actually perform what they want to know and
learn, that's why every learner has his/her own style in learning. On the other
hand, exceptional learners are those individuals who are different in some way
from the "normal" or "average". Exceptional learners include those with special
needs related to cognitive abilities, behavior, emotional disturbances and
giftedness. These learners require a lot of understandingand patience as well
as special education and related services to reach the fullness of their
development.
So for these factors that bring about student diversity, the teacher as a
facilitator of learning is tasked to consider the individual differences among
the students in planning for effective instruction. Every individual being
diverse in terms of culture, race, gender, age, learning abilities, social
requirements, physical/mental disorders, learning strategies, skills, past
knowledge, socioeconomic and educational background and language.
Challenges are always present to teachers handling the class, so that a wise
teacher see diversity in a classroom in a respectful way and in a good terms.
In this lesson, you have learned about a number of the most important
aspects of student diversity: cultural, linguistic, exceptionalities, and socio-
economic status. You learned, too, that the perceptions that teachers bring
with them to the classroom can be shaped by their background knowledge
and life experiences. Those perceptions can also be based on stereotypes,
which may or may not be accurate. Wherever they come from, teacher
perceptions influence how they view their students and their students‘
families. When teachers are aware of this tendency, however, and when they
take the time to get to know their students better, they are able to respond to
them more objectively. Moreover, teachers need to understand the ways in
which their perceptions might influence their expectations for their students
and, subsequently, the ways in which they teach. For this reason, in addition
to getting to know their students, teachers should use a range of instructional
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strategies and supports when working with a diverse classroom of students.
When teachers understand the following considerations, they are more likely
to create successful learning experiences for all of their students.
Appreciating the individuality of each student is of prime importance.

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 CHAPTER 3

FOCUSING ON LEARNING

One of the aspects important to human behavior, though, is the feelings

associated with behavior that is controlled by conditioning. When previous
behaviors have been rewarded, children are likely to repeat those behaviors
happily and willingly, feeling that they are doing what they 'want' to be doing. If,
on the other hand, children choose behaviors in order to avoid a repeat of
negative reinforcement, they may behave appropriately, but will be inclined to
feel that their freedoms are being suppressed. In reality, the actual freedom still
exists, of course. Children, like the rest of us, are free to behavein any manner
that they choose, as long as they are willing to accept the consequences of their
actions.
Behaviorism is a learning theory that only focuses on objectively
observable behaviors and discounts any independent activities of the mind.
Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new
behavior based on environmental conditions. The key concepts of behaviorism
comprise the stimulus – response (S-R) equation, the classical and operant
conditioning, and the reinforcement and punishment notions. An example of
behaviorism is when teachers reward their class or certain students with a party
or special treat at the end of the week for good behavior throughout the week.
The same concept is used with punishments. The teacher can take away certain
privileges if the student misbehaves.
Behaviorism theorists believe that knowledge exists independently and
outside of people. Behaviorists believe that learning actually occurs when new
behaviors or changes in behaviors are acquired through associations between
stimuli and responses. Thus, association leads to a change in behavior.

General Objectives

At the end of the chapter, the students can:

1. explain the basic principles of behaviorism;

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2. discuss the various theories affecting the teaching-learning processes;
3. make a simple plan applying the primary laws of learning;
4. determine how to use rewards in the teaching- learning process more
effectively;
5. discuss the processes involved in acquiring, storing, and retrieving
knowledge;
6. cite educational implications of the theory on information processing; and
7. discuss the Gestalt principles.

Lesson 1 Behaviorists Perspective: Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner

Non-behaviorism: Tolman and Bandura
What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners can:

1. explain the perspectives and theories of famous behaviorists and non-

behaviorists;
2. apply these theories in the teaching- learning process;
3. present examples of these theories; and
4. answer the enrichment activities provided after the lesson.
Pre-Discussion
Behaviorism is a learning theory that only focuses on objectively
observable behaviors and discounts any independent activities of the mind.
Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new
behavior based on environmental conditions. Key concepts of behaviorism
comprise the stimulus – response (S-R) equation, the classical and operant
conditioning, and the reinforcement and punishment notions. An example of
behaviorism is when teachers reward their class or certain students with a party
or special treat at the end of the week for good behavior throughout the week.
The same concept is used with punishments. The teacher can take away certain
privileges if the student misbehaves.
Behaviorism theorists believe that knowledge exists independently and
outside of people. ... Behaviorists believe that learning actually occurs when
new behaviors changes in behaviors are acquired through associations

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between stimuli and responses. Thus, association leads to a change in
behavior. The main features of behaviorism are as follows:
• It is based on classical conditioning.
• It associates initial stimuli with neutral events.
• It has operable conditioning.
• Particular actions are followed by something desirable or undesirable.
• It studies the different behaviors that are subject to the laws of
behavior.

Behaviorism emphasizes the role of environmental factors in influencing

behavior, to the near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. This amounts
essentially to a focus on learning. We learn new behavior through classical or
operant conditioning (collectively known as 'learning theory').

Lesson Outline

A. Behaviorists Theories of Learning

Burrhus Frederic Skinner: Operant Conditioning

After the retirement of John B. Watson from the world of Academic
psychology, psychologists and behaviorists were eager to propose new forms
of learning other than the classical conditioning. The most important among
these theories was Operant Conditioning proposed by Burrhus Frederic
Skinner, commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
B. F. Skinner was one of the most influential of American psychologists.
A behaviorist, he developed the theory of operant conditioning
-- the idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they
reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the
behavior will occur again. He investigated operant conditioning of voluntary and
involuntary behavior. Skinner felt that some behavior could be explained by the
person's motive. Therefore, behavior occurs for a reason, and the three main
behavior shaping techniques are positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, and punishment.
Skinner based his theory in the simple fact that the study of observable
behavior is much simpler than trying to study internal mental events. Skinner‘s
works concluded a study far less extreme than those of Watson (1913), and it

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deemed classical conditioning as too simplistic of a theory to be a complete
explanation of complex human behavior. He is famous for his pioneering
research in the field of learning and behavior. He proposed the theory to study
complex human behavior by studying the voluntary responses shown by an
organism when placed in the certain environment. He named these behaviors
or responses as operant. He is also called the Father of Operant Conditioning
Learning, but he based his theory known as ―Law of Effect‖, discovered by
Edward Thorndike in 1905.
Operant Conditioning Learning Theory

B.F. Skinner proposed his theory on operant conditioning by conducting

various experiments on animals. He used a special box known as
―Skinner Box‖ for his experiment on rats.
As the first step to his experiment, he placed a hungry rat inside the
Skinner box. The rat was initially inactive inside the box, but gradually as it
began to adapt to the environment of the box, it began to explore around.
Eventually, the rat discovered a lever, upon pressing which; food was released
inside the box. After it filled its hunger, it started exploring the box again, and
after a while it pressed the lever for the second time as it grew hungry again.
This phenomenon continued for the third, fourth and the fifth time, and after a
while, the hungry rat immediately pressed the lever once it was placed in the
box. Then the conditioning was deemed to be complete.
Here, the action of pressing the lever is an operant response/behavior,
and the food released inside the chamber is the reward. The experiment is
also known as Instrumental Conditioning Learning as the response is
instrumental in getting food.This experiment also deals with and explains the
effects of positive reinforcement. Upon pressing the lever, the hungry rat was
served with food, which filled its hunger; hence, it‘s a positive reinforcement.

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 B.F. Skinner also conducted an experiment that explained negative
reinforcement. Skinner placed a rat in a chamber in the similar manner, but
instead of keeping it hungry, he subjected the chamber to an unpleasant electric
current. The rat having experienced the discomfort started to desperately move
around the box and accidentally knocked the lever. Pressing of the lever
immediately seized the flow of unpleasant current. Aftera few times, the rat
had smartened enough to go directly to the lever in orderto prevent itself from
the discomfort. The electric current reacted as the negative reinforcement, and
the consequence of escaping the electric current made sure that the rat
repeated the action again and again. Here too, the pressing of the lever is an
operant response, and the complete stop of the electric current flow is its
reward.

Ivan Pavlov: Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian conditioning) is learning
through association and was discovered by Pavlov, a Russian physiologist. In
simple terms, two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response
in a person or animal.During the 1890s, Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov was
researching salivation in dogs in response to being fed. He inserted a small test
tube into the cheek of each dog to measure saliva when the dogs were fed
(with a powder made from meat). Pavlov predicted the dogs would salivate in
response to the food placed in front of them, but he noticed that his dogs would
begin to salivate whenever they heard the footsteps of his assistant who was
bringing them the food.

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 While studying the role of saliva in dogs‘ digestive processes, he
stumbled upon a phenomenon he labeled ―psychic reflexes.‖ While an
accidental discovery, he had the foresight to see the importance of it. Pavlov‘s
dogs, restrained in an experimental chamber, were presented with meat powder
and they had their saliva collected via a surgically implanted tube in their saliva
glands. Over time, he noticed that his dogs who begin salivation before the meat
powder was even presented, whether it was by the presence of the handler or
merely by a clicking noise produced by the device that distributed the meat
powder. Fascinated by this finding, Pavlov paired themeat powder with
various stimuli such as the ringing of a bell. After the meat powder and bell
(auditory stimulus) were presented together several times,the bell was used
alone. Pavlov‘s dogs, as predicted, responded by salivating to the sound of the
bell (without the food). The bell began as a neutral stimulus (i.e. the bell itself
did not produce the dogs‘ salivation). However, by pairing the bell with the
stimulus that did produce the salivation response, the bell was able to acquire
the ability to trigger the salivation
response.
Pavlov therefore demonstrated how stimulus-response bonds (which
some consider as the basic building blocks of learning) are formed. He
dedicated much of the rest of his career further exploring this finding. Intechnical
terms, the meat powder is considered an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the
dog‘s salivation is the unconditioned response (UCR). The bell is a neutral
stimulus until the dog learns to associate the bell with food. Then the bell
becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces the conditioned response
(CR) of salivation after repeated pairings between the bell and food. Like many
great scientific advances, Pavlovian conditioning (aka classical conditioning)
was discovered accidentally.

Edward Thorndike: The S-R Learning Theory

Edward Thorndike (1898) is famous in psychology for his work on
learning theory that lead to the development of operant conditioning within
Behaviorism. His ideas paved the way to Skinner‘s operant conditioning theory.

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 This theory also emphasizes the importance of rewards or incentives to
stimulate and influence what and how pupils do things, including how they learn.
The learning theory of Thorndike represents the original Stimulus-Response (S-
R) framework of behavioral psychology: Learning is the result of associations
forming between stimuli and responses. Such associations or
―habits‖ become strengthened or weakened by the nature and frequency of
the S-R pairings.The law of effect principle developed by Edward Thorndike
suggested that: "responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular
situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that
produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation
(Gray, 2011, p. 108–109)."
Just like Pavlov, Thorndike studied learning in animals (usually cats).
He devised a classic experiment in which he used a puzzle box to empirically
test the laws of learning. He placed a cat in the puzzle box, which was
encouraged to escape to reach a scrap of fish placed outside. Thorndike
would put a cat into the box and time how long it took to escape. The cats
experimented with different ways to escape the puzzle box and reach the fish.
Eventually they would stumble upon the lever which opened the cage. When
it had escaped it was put in again, and once more the time it took to escape was
noted. In successive trials the cats would learn that pressing the lever would
have favorable consequences and they would adopt this behavior,becoming
increasingly quick at pressing the lever.
Edward Thorndike put forward a ―Law of Effect‖ which stated that any
behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and
any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.

B. Non-Behaviorist Theories of Learning

ALBERT BANDURA: Social Cognitive Theory
The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of
observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of
others. Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous

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reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental
influences
Bandura asserts that most human behavior is learned through
observation, imitation, and modeling. Using Bandura's social learning theory
in the classroom can help students reach their potential. Students do not only
imitate each other but also the teacher. Being a good role model, open to all the
students, and holding the students to a level of responsibility will beimitated by
the students according to Bandura.
Social learning is based on the behavior modeling theory where people
learn new things by observing others. So assign pre-work, often online e-
learning modules that include knowledge check questions that you can track or
not, but that the facilitator uses to gauge the level of knowledge It's been said
that Albert Bandura's theory of social learning spans the gap between
behaviorism and cognitivism. Social learning theory incorporates the idea of
behavior reinforcement from the former, and cognitive processes such as
attention, motivation and memory from the latter
The social cognitive theory is composed of four processes of goal
realization: self-observation, self-evaluation, self-reaction and self-efficacy. The
four components are interrelated and all have an effect on motivation and goal
attainment (Redmond, 2010). Furthermore, the social learning theory has four
elements, each of which can be applied in our organizations to improve learning
and performance without the need for new technologies.
Learning is generally a complex process that is remarkably influenced by
so many environmental factors. Most teachers have an awareness that
observation plays a critical role in determining how and what children learn.
As the saying goes, ―kids are very much like sponges, soaking up the
experiences they have each and every day‖. Observational learning refers to
the learning gained from other people by means of observing them is an
effective way of gaining knowledge and altering behavior.
Albert Bandura‘s social learning theory postulates that observation,
imitation, and modeling play a primary role in this process. Bandura's theory
suggests that all behaviors are learned through conditioning, and cognitive
theories, which take into account psychological influences such as attention and
memory.
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 For example, children and adults often exhibit learning for things with
which they have no direct experience. So, even if you have never swung a
baseball bat in your life, you would probably know what to do if someone handed
you a bat and told you to try to hit a baseball. This is because youhave seen
others perform this action either in person or on television.
Principles of Social Learning Theory (Cherry, 2017)

1. People can learn through observation. Bandura stressed that children

learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people (Sincero, 2011).
The three basic models of observational learning advocated by Olson and Scott,
2009; and Cherry, 2017 consists of the following:
1. A live model, which involves an actual individual demonstrating or
acting out a behavior.
2. A verbal instructional model, which involves descriptions and
explanations of a behavior.
3. A symbolic model, which involves real or fictional characters
displaying behaviors in books, films, television programs, or online media.
2. Mental states are important to learning. Simply observing someone else's
actions is not always enough to lead to learning. Your own mental state and
motivation play an important role in determining whether a behavior is learned
or not.
Bandura noted that external, environmental reinforcement was not the
only factor to influence learning and behavior. He described intrinsic
reinforcement as a form of internal reward, such as pride, satisfaction, and a
sense of accomplishment.
3. Learning does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior. In many
cases, learning can be seen immediately when the new behavior is displayed.
When you teach a child to ride a bicycle, you can quickly determine if learning
has occurred by having the child ride his or her bike unassisted. But sometimes
we are able to learn things even though that learning might not be immediately
obvious.

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Necessary Conditions for Effective Modeling (McLeod, (2016).
1. Attention: The extent to which we focus to the behavior of a model. For a
behavior to be imitated, it has to grab our attention in order to learn the task
(Wheeler, 2014).
2. Retention: This is remembering what we paid attention to. It includes
symbolic coding, mental images, cognitive organization, symbolic
rehearsal, and motor rehearsal (David, 2015). There is a need to recall
that information later when we are required to respond to a situation that
is similar the situation within which we first learned the information. For
instance, when people start talking about something, they usually relate it
to their personal experiences and when shared with other people, they
connect with it too (Spencer, 2015).
3. Reproduction: This is the ability to perform the behavior that the model
has just demonstrated. We see much behavior on a daily basis that we
would like to be able to imitate. Therefore, we reproduce previously learned
information such as behavior, skills, and knowledge when required.
Wheeler, (2014) stressed that practice through mental and physical
rehearsal usually improves our responses.
4. Motivation: The observer should be motivated to do anything. Rewards
and punishment that follow a behavior will be considered by the observer.
Often that motivation originates from our observation of someone else
being rewarded or punished for something they have done or said. McLeod
(2016) posits that if the perceived rewards compensate the perceived costs
(if there are any), then the behavior will be more likely to be imitated by the
observer. However, if the vicarious reinforcement (seeing and recalling the
reinforced model) is not seen to be important enough to the observer, then
they will not imitate the behavior.
Effects of modeling on behavior:
1. The observer is reinforced by the model. For example, a student who
changes dress to fit in with a certain group of students has a strong
likelihood of being accepted and thus reinforced by that group.
2. The observer is reinforced by a third person. The observer might be
modeling the actions of someone else, for example, an outstanding class
leader or student. The teacher notices this and compliments and
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 praises the observer for modeling such behavior thus reinforcing that
behavior.
3. The imitated behavior itself leads to reinforcing consequences. Many
behaviors that we learn from others produce satisfying or reinforcing
results.
4. On sequences of the model‘s behavior affect the observer‘s behavior
vicariously. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. This is where the
model is reinforced for a response and then the observer shows an
increase in that same response.

Wheeler (2017), pointed out that social modeling is a very powerful

means of educating the young minds. If children can see good and positive
results from a particular type of behavior being modeled, they are more likely
to repeat that behavior themselves. Conversely, if negative consequences are
the result, they are less likely to perform that behavior.

TOLMAN’S Cognitive Map

Edward Chance Tolman had great contribution to the field of learning
and motivation when he proposed his theory of cognitive learning. In his theory"
Cognitive Maps in Rats and Men", Tolman introduced the concept of a cognitive
map, which has found extensive application and intellectual accomplishments
in almost every field of psychology, and even among scientists who are
unaware that they are using the early ideas that were formulated to explain the
behavior of rats in mazes (Miller et al., 1960) ascited by Johnson and Crowe
(2008).
He said, rats and people live in worlds of paths and tools, obstacles and
by-paths. Both rats and people sometimes find an easy means of achieving a
goal though it will take them so much effort or experience such difficulties. More
so, having a goal-directed behavior implies about getting toward something or
getting away from something. That includes what the individual or rat is doing,
what he, she, or it is trying to do, and where it is going. According to Tolman‘s
experiment, rats learned the layout of a maze, which they explored freely even
without reinforcement. After some trials and errors, a food item was placed to
a certain point of the maze, and the rats
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learned to navigate persistently until they were able to reach the food very
quickly.
Tolman assessed both the rats‘ response learning and place learning.
Tolman found out that the rat knows that the response of going a certain way
in the maze will always lead to reaching out the food, he referred this as
response learning; when the rats learn to associate the food in a specific spot
each time, he referred this as place learning. In his trials he observed that all
of the rats in the place-learning maze learned to run following the correct path
within eight trials and that none of the response-learning rats learned that
quickly, and some did not even learn it at all after seventy-two trials. Based on
the results of these experiments, Tolman came up with the idea postulating the
phenomenon of latent learning. He also viewed the latent learning experiments
as one type of experiment that provided evidence in favor of cognitive maps.
However, in his most direct treatment on the topic, Cognitive Maps in Rats and
Men (1948), he referred to cognitive maps as ―something like a field map of the
environment‖ that ―gets established in the rat‘s brain‖and once established, is
then employed by ―intervening brain processes‖ in the selective attention to
stimuli by the nervous system, and the execution of responses

Summary
This lesson discusses the different behaviorist and non-behaviorist
theories. Thorndike (1905) introduced the concept of reinforcement and was the
first to apply psychological principles to the area of learning. His research led to
many theories and laws of learning, such as operant conditioning. Skinner
(1938), like Thorndike, put animals in boxes and observed them tosee what
they were able to learn.
The learning theories of Thorndike and Pavlov were later synthesized by
Hull (1935). Thorndike's research drove comparative psychology for fifty years,
and influenced countless psychologists over that period of time, and even still
today.
Both the experiment clearly explains the working of operant conditioning. The
important part in any operant conditioning learning is to recognize the operant
behavior and the consequence resulted in that particular behavior. Both the

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experiment clearly explains the working of operant conditioning. The important
part in any operant conditioning learning is to recognize the operant behavior
and the consequence resulted in that particular. On the other hand, B. F.
Skinner a behaviorist, developed the theory of operant conditioning -- the idea
that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or
punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior
will occur again. Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian conditioning)
is learning through association and was discovered by Pavlov, a Russian
physiologist. In simple terms, two stimuli are linked together to produce a new
learned response in a person or animal.
However, the proponents of non-behaviorism theory of learning asserts
as in the case of the social learning theory of Bandura which emphasizes the
importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional
reactions of others. Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms
of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an
environmental influence. Tolman‘s learning theory also presents the concept
of a cognitive map, which has found extensive application and intellectual
accomplishments in almost every field of psychology, and even among
scientists who are unaware that they are using the early ideas that were
formulated to explain the behavior of rats in mazes (Miller et al., 1960) as
cited by Johnson and Crowe (2008).

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Lesson 2 The Cognitive Processes

What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:

1. explain the salient features of cognitive learning theories and its
implications to teaching;
2. demonstrate deep understanding on how these theories can be applied
to teaching and learning situations;
3. summarize the important concepts of each learning theory; and
4. answer the given activities after the lesson.
Pre-Discussion
The Cognitive Learning Theory stresses that the different processes
concerning learning can be explained by analyzing the mental processes first.
They focus on how students conceptualize learning processes and address the
issues of how information is received, organized, stored, and retrieved by the
mind and be stored in the memory for a long time (Ertmer& Newby, 2013).
Learning is concerned not so much with what learners can do but with what they
know and how they come to acquire it (Ertmer & Newby,2013). Acquisition of
knowledge is a mental activity that entails internal coding and structuring by the
learner. The learner shows an active participation in the learning process.

Lesson Outline

GESTALT Psychology/Learning Theory

Gestalt theory was developed by three psychologists: Wolfgang Kohler,
Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka. The word gestalt is of German origin which
means ―pattern‖. According to Gestatists, behavior cannot be understood in
terms of its molecular parts because ―the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.‖
The Gestalt theory of learning originated in Germany, being put forth by
three German theorists who were inspired by the works and ideas of the man
who gave the learning theory its name. Graf Christian von Ehrenfels was a
learning theorist who took the holistic approach to learning by putting forth the
idea that learning takes place as students were able to comprehend a concept

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in its entirety, rather than broken up into parts. Gestalt theories propose that the
experiences and perceptions of learners have a significant impact on the way
that they learn.
Application of Gestalt Theory to the Teaching and Learning Process
1. Make your lesson holistic. The word Gestalt itself is almost synonymous to
the word "whole". And for this, Gestalt psychology proposes education to be
an integration of affective and cognitive domains of learning. As teachers, we
can actually do this by setting the objectives that do not only focus on the
cognitive (and psychomotor) domains of teaching and learning but also on the
affective domain as well.
2. In relation to above application, the fulfillment of the cognitive-affective
integration is not only limited to instruction rather also related to the experiences
of the students inside the classroom. This can be done when teachers maintain
an emotionally harmonious and non- threatening atmosphere during the
teaching and learning process which consequently caters exchange of ideas
and learning. Teacher behavior is a critical factor, and if necessary, should be
changed in order to maintain good relationship between the teacher and his/her
students, and relationship among and between students. This can be realized
through teacher development programs, trainings or seminars.
3. Gestalt psychology is a proponent of discovery or insight learning. This takes
place when learners forms relationships of the elements around them then
integrates and organizes these elements to form insight. Hence, teachers must
make use of discovery approach in learning. Teachers can use experiments,
laboratory and inquiry-based strategies. Five Laws of Gestalt Theory that
govern perception are the following:
• Law of Continuity. The law states that we link individual elements
together so they form a continuous pattern that makes sense. Also, we
have the tendency to perceive smooth continuities rather than abrupt
changes. This law accounts for what the teacher does in the classroom.
The manner in which lessons are presented in a continuous manner can
create a lasting impact on the students. When the lessonis presented
with repeated exercises or reinforcements, then learning
the material can be made easy.

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 • Law of Closure. This law holds the idea that incomplete figures tend to
be perceived as complete. Our minds tend to fill in the gaps or missing
parts of the figures.
• Law of Similarity. This law states that similar things appear to be grouped
together. This law emphasizes that objects are perceived as related to
one another.
• Law of Proximity. This law states that things that are near to each other
appear to be grouped together. This law is concerned with the tendency
to perceive objects that are close to each other.
• Law of Pragnanz. The word pragnanz is a German word which means
good figure. This is also known as the Law of simplicity and the law of
good figure. It states that every stimulus pattern is seen in such a way
that the resulting structure is as simple as possible. This holds the belief
that all possible organizations could be perceived in a stimulus array-one
that possesses the best, the simplest, and the most stable form. It means
that lessons which seem very important are remembered. We remember
the most significant part of the lesson or one that stimulates us to think
and learn. Those that are less important are obliterated from memory.
As would- be teachers, it is important to remember these principles:
1) The learner should be encouraged to discover the underlying nature of a
topic or problem (i.e., the relationship among the elements);
2) Gaps, incongruities, or disturbances are an important stimulus for learning;
and
3) Instruction should be based upon the laws of organization: proximity,
closure, similarity and simplicity.

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Information Processing

The information processing theory focuses on the idea that humans

process the information they receive from the environment, in the manner of a
computer, rather than merely responding to stimuli. The student's brain brings
information in, manipulates it, and stores it ready for future use – this is the
learning aspect.
In information processing theory, as the student takes in information, that
information is first briefly stored as sensory storage; then moved to the short
term or working memory; and then either forgotten or transferred to the long
term memory, as:
• semantic memories (concepts and general information);
• procedural memories (processes); and
• images.

This theory addresses how as children grow, their brains likewise

mature, leading to advances in their ability to process and respond to the
information they received through their senses. The theory emphasizes a
continuous pattern of development. The transference of information to the long
term memory is important, as information cannot rest in the short term memory
(the short term memory can only hold seven pieces of information ata time).
An overload in the short term memory can result in cognitive overload. The IPT
assert three primary stages in the progression of external information becoming
incorporated into the internal cognitive structure of choice (schema, concept,
script, frame, mental model, etc.). These three primary stages in IPT are:

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 ❖ Encoding – information is sensed, perceived, and attended to.
❖ Storage – The information is stored for either a brief or extended period
of time, depending upon the processes following encoding.
❖ Retrieval – the information is brought back at the appropriate time and
reactivated for use on a current task, the true measure of effective of
effective memory.
Teachers can help students who are suffering from information overload
by letting students know what are the critical elements of the information; in
other words, prioritizing the information. They should make sure the students‘
attention, and help students to make connections between new material and
what they already know.
To help students retrieve and remember information, the following strategies
are recommended:
1. Whole and part learning. The whole and part learning accounts for
introducing the material as a whole unit. For instance, learning the poems by
Shakespeare necessitates that we consider the entire poem and not stanza
by stanza. On the other hand, part learning makes use of the material that is
broken into smaller chunks or sections and then allows us to put them together
at the end. For example, learning to memorize the poem calls for memorizing
each stanza and then reciting all the stanzas once the entire poem is
memorized.
2. Repetition and drills. We often use relevant materials for practice, repetition,
and drills. Such help, students retain information if they have the interest in it
and if it is related to their prior knowledge.
3. Over learning and automaticity. Once the material or information is repeated
with a purpose, it can lead to automaticity. Consider students who have
memorized the multiplication table. When they recite each table, at the first,
everything is rote memorization where everything seems amorphous. However,
when it has become useful through repeated drills and exercises, students
make such recall automatic.
4. Distributed practice. We need to learn things little by little and those that
come in chunks. In simple terms, practice can be done into relatively long and
uninterrupted periods called massed practice. On the other hand, it can be
spread over time which is known as distributed practice.
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Example of classroom situation on information processing that the theory can
be seen or applied:
Teresa is just learning to read, and she‘s struggling. She‘s a very slow
reader, and by the time she finishes a sentence, she can‘t remember how it
started! Reading, like other types of learning, is about storing information in a
person‘s mind. Specifically, learning involves storing and accessing information
in memory. But how, exactly, does this happen? There are many theories.
Among them, the information processing theory of learning says that
information from the world around us moves from sensory storage to working
memory to long-term memory.
For example, when Teresa is reading, she is receiving sensory
information from the book in front of her: Her eyes are taking in the size and
shape of each letter, the letters grouped together to make words, and how it
all looks on the page. That‘s all in sensory storage. As she moves her eyes
across the page, she remembers what she just read a second or two ago.
That means that the information is in working memory, or storage of memories
that occurred only a few seconds in the past. If things go right, though, Teresa
will remember the information in the book longer than just a few seconds. If
everything works well, it will move to long-term memory, which is really just
memories that are stored for a person to access later.
Miller (1956) presented the idea that short-term memory could onlyhold
5-9 chunks of information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk isany
meaningful unit. Information processing theory has become a general theory of
human cognition. It is a cognitive approach to understanding how the human
mind transforms sensory information.
The Short-Term Memory System (STM) functions in two important
ways:
1) It organizes information by integrating new information with the existing
information, and
2) It temporarily stores information for the learners‘ use.
The Long-term Memory System (LTM) is a warehouse of knowledge. A
data bank that stores information. It is likened to a floppy disk, hard
disk, or USB that stores huge amount of information

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GAGNES” Condition and Categories of Learning

The term ―Instructional events‖ refer to actions of both teacher and

learners during the teaching-learning session. The teacher has to select
appropriate events and plan them in the right format and the right sequence is
crucial in a successful lesson design (Khadjooi, Rostami, & Ishaq, 2011). A
lesson design is a plan showing the type of instructional events, their order
and the kind of activity taking place in each event. In designing a lesson plan,
there are 2 important factors: the objectives and the learners.
Essential to Gagne's ideas of instruction are what he calls ―conditions of
learning‖: internal conditions deal with what the learner knows prior to the
instruction, external conditions deal with the stimuli that are presented to the
learner, e.g. instructions provided by the teacher.
Principles
Different instruction is required for different learning outcomes. Gagne‘s
theory, as cited by Lucas & Corpuz (2014), asserts that there are several
different types or levels of learning. Further, this theory implies that each
different type requires different types of instruction. Gagne identifies five major
categories of learning: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies,
motor skills and attitudes. Different internal and external conditions are
necessary for each type of learning. For example, for cognitive strategiesto be
learned, there must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to
problems; to learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role
model or persuasive arguments which is practical and useful in their daily life.
Gagne identifies five major categories of learning: verbal information,
intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, motor skills and attitudes.
Verbal information Declarative knowledge like laws, stored as distributed
representations. New material should be related to previously learned
information, but also distinctive through visual representation.
Intellectual skills Procedural knowledge like dividing integers, stored as linked
procedural steps arranged in hierarchies where higher skills include lower ones.
The subordinate involved skills must be learned first or be already present
(prior knowledge).

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Cognitive strategies Skills that influence the selection and activation of other
production systems, usually simple like ―break a problem into parts‖, retrieved
by external or internal cueing. Little use of prior learning, but a lot use of
practicing with different examples.
Motor skills Skills like inserting contact lens, manifesting with smooth and
error-less performance. Prior learning and practice enhances learning of motor
skills.
Attitudes Acquired mental states that in certain situations influence one's
actions. Require a human model to learn from.
2. Learning hierarchies define what intellectual skills are to belearned
and a sequence of instruction.
Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be
organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus recognition,
response generation, procedure following, use of terminology, discriminations,
concept formation, rule application, and problem solving. The primary
significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be completed
to facilitate learning at each level. Prerequisites are identified by doing a task
analysis of a learning/training task. Learning hierarchies providea basis for the
sequencing of instruction (Lucas & Corpuz, 2014).
3. Events of learning operate on the learner in ways that constitute the
conditions of learning. Gagne suggests that learning tasks for intellectual
skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: stimulus
recognition, response generation, procedure following, use of terminology,
discriminations, concept formation, rule application, and problem solving
(Culatta, 2018). The primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify
prerequisites that should be completed to facilitate learning at each level.
Prerequisites are identified by doing a task analysis of a learning/training task.
Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction. The
theory identifies nine instructional events and corresponding cognitive
processes (Culatta, 2018):
1. Gaining attention (reception)
2. Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
3. Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
4. Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
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 5. Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
6. Eliciting performance (responding)
7. Providing feedback (reinforcement)
8. Assessing performance (retrieval)
9. Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).
Let‘s study this example of teaching sequences below. It reflects the
events of instruction.
Example 1 Lesson: Equilateral Triangles
Objectives: Recognize an equilateral triangle Target grade: Grade 5 pupils
a. Gain attention – show variety of computer generated triangles
b. Identify objective – pose question: ―What is an equilateral triangle?‖
c. Recall prior learning – review definitions of triangles
d. Present stimulus – give definition of equilateral triangle
e. Guide learning- show example of how to create equilateral
f. Elicit performance – ask students to create 5 different examples
g. Provide feedback – check all examples as correct/incorrect
h. Assess performance- provide scores and remediation
i. Enhance retention/transfer – show pictures of objects and ask students
to identify equilaterals
4. The specific operations that constitute instructional events are
different for each different type of learning outcome. Gagne, who is
concerned with learning and instruction proposed the Conditions of
Learning/instructional events which outlined the relation of learning
objectives to appropriate instructional designs. Gagne‘s Nine Levels of
Learning model gives educators a checklist to use before they engage
in teaching activities. Each step highlights a form of communication that
aids in the learning process. When each step is completed in turn,
learners are much more likely to be engaged and to retain the information
or skills that they are being taught.
Implications to Teaching
❖ different types or levels of learning requires different types of
instruction
❖ different internal and external conditions are necessary for each type of
learning. For example, for cognitive strategies to be learned, there
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 must be a chance to practice developing new solutions to problems; to
learn attitudes, the learner must be exposed to a credible role model or
persuasive arguments
❖ learning tasks for intellectual skills can be arranged in a hierarchical
order: stimulus recognition, response generation, procedure following,
use of terminology, discriminations, concept formation, rule application,
and problem solving.
❖ prerequisites are important in doing a task analysis of a learning task
❖ learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction
Khadjooi, Rostami, &Ishaq (2011) concluded that Gagne's theories
provide a great deal of valuable information to teachers. In the event of applying
Gagne's nine-step model, it is an excellent way that would help ensure an
effective and systematic learning program as it provides a clear structure to the
lesson plans and a holistic view to the teaching. Therefore, teachers need to
keep in mind that the exact form of these events is not something that can be
specified in general for all lessons, but rather must be decided for each learning
objective.
Ausubel‘s meaningful Verbal Learning

AUSUBEL”S Meaningful Verbal Learning Theory

The Subsumption Learning Theory that focuses on how individuals

acquire and learn information through visual or text materials, was developed in
1963 by the American psychologist, David Ausubel. This theory, as opposed to
many other instructional theories, which are psychology-based models applied
to instructional design, the Subsumption Theory was originally developed
exclusively for instructional design. It prescribes a way of creating instructional
material that helps learners organize their content in order to make it meaningful
for transfer. The goal here is for learners to have the necessary background that
will help them solve any problem and also retain this knowledge.
Ausubel explained that the acquisition of knowledge is based on the
actual processes that occur during learning. The key process that takes place
in the learner's brain is Subsumption, where new content is related to relative

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ideas that are already present in the existing cognitive structure on a non-
verbatim basis. Cognitive structures is what‘s left in the human brain from all the
learning experiences, after forgetting inevitably occurs.
The Two Types of Subsumption Theory
1. Correlative Subsumption - The new material is an extension of the already
grasped knowledge.
2. Derivative Subsumption - The new material derives from the existing
structure, and can be linked to other concepts or lead to new interpretations.
The Key Principles of the Subsumption Learning Theory.
This theory should be presented with the most general concepts first,
and then their analysis. The instructional materials should include new, as well
as previously acquired information. Comparisons between new and old
concepts are crucial. Existing cognitive structures should not be developed,
but merely reorganized within the learners‘ memory. The role of the instructor
is to bridge the gap between what‘s already known and what is about to be
learned.
Four Types of Advanced Organizers
Advanced Organizers should always be given prior instruction. It can
be divided into the following 4 types:
• Expository Organizers provide a description of new knowledge;
• Narrative Organizers present the new information in a story format;
• Skimming Organizers flick through the information; and
• Graphic Organizers include pictographs, descriptive or conceptual
patterns and concept maps. They are valuable tools that mentally help
learners learn and retain knowledge, which enable them to combine new
with already known information. This leads to the so called
―meaningful learning‖, which is the complete opposite of the ―parrot- like‖
technique of memorization. Thus, this tool prepares the cognitive
structure of learners for the learning session which is about to occur,
through schemas and conceptual patterns, so that new information can
be seamlessly subsumed into the existing cognitive structures.

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 If instructors provide a brief description or a preview of the information
which is about to be learned, learners will be able to start with the big picture
of things and then link new ideas, theories, and concepts to existing mental
maps of the related field.

Today, Ausubel‘s theory is not particularly popular, because many

educators believe that it promotes a fairly passive role for learners, whomainly
receive verbal instruction that doesn‘t require any struggle and engagement on
their behalf.

BRUNER’S Constructivist Theory

Jerome S. Bruner was an American psychologist, a proponent of
cognitive learning theory who made a significant contribution in the field of
educational psychology. His theory was based upon the idea that the goal of
education should be intellectual development. Bruner's theory emphasizes

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three modes of representation. We will explore his beliefs on learning,
language, and discovery.
Three Stages of Bruner’s Cognitive Representation:
1. Enactive- (0-1 years) (action-based)
In this stage, Bruner believed that a baby can make representations of
knowledge through actions on physical objects and the outcomes of these
actions. It also involves motor responses as they interact to the environment.
For example, a baby shakes a rattle and hears a noise. The baby has directly
manipulated the rattle and the outcome was a pleasurable sound. In thefuture,
the baby may shake his hand, even if there is no rattle, expecting his hand to
produce the rattling sounds. The baby does not have an internal representation
of the rattle and, therefore, does not understand that it needs the rattle in order
to produce the sound (Hurst, 2018).
2. Iconic - (1- 6 years) (image-based)
The iconic stage involves an internal representation of external objects
visually in the form of a mental image or icon. Children learn through the use
of mental images such as models, drawing and pictures. For example, a child
drawing an image of a tree or thinking of an image of a tree would be
representative of this stage. McLeod (2008) points out that this stage may
also explain why when we are learning a new subject, using diagrams or
illustration will be more meaningful accompanied by verbal information.
3. Symbolic -(7 years onward) (language-based)
This stage allows the learner to develop the ability to think in abstract
terms. They can now use logical reasoning and other symbols to describe
experiences. Information is stored in the form of a code or symbol such as
language. Each symbol has a fixed relation to something it represents. For
example, the word 'dog' is a symbolic representation for a single class of animal.
Symbols, unlike mental images or memorized actions, can be manipulated,
ordered, classified and organized by the learner (McLeod 2008).
Bruner believed that all learning occurs through the stages and that
learning should begin with direct manipulation of objects. For example, in
learning math, a learner has the opportunity to directly manipulate the objects.
He should be encouraged to construct visual representations, such as

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drawing a shape or a diagram. As teachers, we need to utilize concrete, pictorial
then symbolic activities to facilitate learning meaningfully.
Discovery Learning
The concept of discovery learning implies that a learner should construct
his or her own knowledge by discovering even without being told
―what to do‖ or ―how to do‖ the task given to him or her (Hurst 2016). Bruner
suggested that the teacher facilitates learning process by developing lessons
and experiences that provide the learner with necessary information theyneed
without organizing and structuring it for them.
Characteristics of Discovery Learning
encourages active engagement
promotes motivation
promotes autonomy, responsibility, independence
develops creativity and problem solving skills
tailors learning experiences
Educational implications
1. Instruction must be appropriate to the level of the learners. For example,
being aware of the learners‘ learning modes (enactive, iconic, symbolic) will
help you plan and prepare appropriate materials for instruction according to
the difficulty that matches learners‘ level.
2. The teachers must revisit material to enhance knowledge. Building on pre-
taught ideas to grasp the full formal concept is of paramount importance
according to Bruner. Feel free to re-introduce vocabulary, grammar points,
and other topics now and then in order to push the students to a deeper
comprehension and longer retention.
3. Material must be presented in a sequence giving the learners the
opportunity to:
a. acquire and construct knowledge,
b. transform and transfer his learning.
4. Students should be involved in using their prior experiences and structures
to learn new knowledge.
5. Help students to categorize new information in order to able to see
similarities and differences between items.

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6. Teachers should assist learners in building their knowledge. This
assistance should fade away as it becomes unnecessary.
7. Teachers should provide feedback that is directed towards intrinsic
motivation. Grades and competition are not helpful in the learning process.
Bruner believes that learners must ―experience success and failure not as
reward and punishment, but as information‖

Summary
Learning theories are one of the foundations of education and influence
the climate and activity within classrooms. They explain how learning occurs
and factors that influence learning. They also afford us variety in pedagogies.
The learning theories help to enhance student development and understanding.
These learning theories are behaviorism, constructivism, cognitivism and
humanism among others.
Behaviorism is a teacher-centered theory that focuses on observable
behaviors instead of a person‘s mental states such as moods, thoughts and
feelings. Behaviorism views the learners as the passive subject, not the active
subject. Based on the work of Ivan Pavlov, it demonstrated that behaviors is
influenced by environment and could be learned through conditioning and
reinforcement. Change in behavior demonstrates some learning. For example,
when teacher create an environment and stimuli (such as lectures and
presentations) that produce desired behavior, learning thought to happen as a
response to that stimuli. This response is further reinforced when the
consequence is positive and pleasant. Successful learning is thought to occur
when the learning process starts from the student's initial knowledge and then
increased gradually. In order for students to master the information, teacher
often provides practice, drill and review activities and self-reaction
Gagne, who is concerned with learning and instruction proposed the
Conditions of Learning/instructional events which outlined the relation of
learning objectives to appropriate instructional designs. Gagne‘s Nine Levels
of Learning model gives educators a checklist to use before they engage in
teaching activities. Each step highlights a form of communication that aids in
the learning process. When each step is completed in turn, learners are

122
much more likely to be engaged and to retain the information or skills that
they are being taught.

On the other hand, Gestalt psychology is a proponent of discovery or

insight learning. This takes place when learners forms relationships of the
elements around them then integrates and organizes these elements to form
insight. Hence, teachers must make use of discovery approach in learning.
Teachers can use experiments, laboratory and inquiry-based strategies. Gestalt
theory has laws of organization by which it must junction. Theseorganizational
laws exist already in the make-up of the human and how perceptions are
structured. His theories propose that the experiences and perceptions of
learners have a significant impact on the way that they learn; that Learning
happens best when the instruction is related to their real life experiences. His
theory also places its main emphasis on cognitive processes of a higher order,
causing the learner to use higher problem solving skills; furthermore, the main
principles of his learning theory focuses on the fact that teachers should
encourage their students to discover the relationship of the elements that make
up a problem and incongruities, gaps, or disturbances are essential stimuli in
the learning process Educational instruction should be based on the Laws of
Organization.
Jerome S. Bruner who was an American psychologist, is also a
proponent of cognitive learning theory and has made a significant contribution
in the field of educational psychology. His theory was based upon the idea that
the goal of education should be intellectual development. Bruner's theory
emphasizes three modes of representation which are the: (1.) Enactive in which
a baby can make representations of knowledge through actions on physical
objects and the outcomes of these actions;
(2.) Iconic which involves an internal representation of external objects visually
in the form of a mental image or icon; and (3). Symbolic which allows the
learner to develop the ability to think in abstract terms. They can now use logical
reasoning and other symbols to describe experiences.
In 1963, the American psychologist, David Ausubel. Developed the
Subsumption Learning Theory that focuses on how individuals acquire and
learn information through visual or text materials, Ausubel explained that the

123
acquisition of knowledge is based on the actual processes that occur during
learning. The key process that takes place in the learner's brain is Subsumption,
where new content is related to relative ideas that are already present in the
existing cognitive structure on a non-verbatim basis. Cognitive structures are
what‘s left in the human brain from all the learning experiences, after forgetting
inevitably occurs.
.

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 Lesson 3 The Theory of Constructivism

What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the learners can:

1. explore the possibilities of applying the theories in the classroom;

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2. explain the basic principles of a teaching methodology that is student-
centered, emphasizing on the ways students construct their knowledge;
3. explain the constructivist theory, its characteristics, principles, and roles in
the teaching-learning process;
4. cite the similarities and differences of the different theorists in
constructivism and its application to the teaching and learning;
5. discuss the implications of constructivist theory to learning, to teaching and
teacher professional development; and
6. answer the given activities after the lesson.
Pre-discussion
Constructivism is basically a theory based on observation and scientific
study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own
understanding and Knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and
reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we have
to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing what
we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In any case,
we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask questions,
explore, and assess what we know.
Lesson Outline
Constructivism states that learning is an active, contextualized process
of constructing knowledge rather than acquiring it. Knowledge is constructed
based on personal experiences and hypotheses of the environment. It is a
learning theory which explains how people might acquire knowledge and learn.
It therefore has direct application to education suggesting that humans
construct knowledge and meaning from their experiences.
Characteristics and Views on Constructivism
Individual constructivism. This is also called cognitive constructivism. It
emphasizes individual, internal construction of knowledge. It is largely based on
Paget‘s theory. Proponents of this type choose child-centered and discovery
learning. They believe the learners should be allowed to discover principles
through their own exploration rather than direct instruction by the teacher.
Social constructivism. This view emphasizes that ―knowledge exists in a
social context and is initially shared with others instead of being represented

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solely in the mind of an individual.‖ It is based on by Vygotsky‘s theory. Here,
construction of knowledge is shared by two or more people. According to
social constructivists, the opportunity to interrupt and share among learners
help to shape and refine their ideas. Knowledge construction becomes social,
not individual.
Whether one takes the individual or social view of constructivism, there are four
(4) characteristics that these two views have in common. According to Eggen
and Kauchak, these are:
1. Learners construct understanding. As discussed earlier, constructivists
do not view learners as just empty vessels waiting to be filled up. They
see learners as active thinkers who interpret new information based on
what they already know. They construct knowledge in a way that makes
sense to them.
2. New learning depends on current understanding. Background
information is very important. It is through the present views or scheme
that the learner has that new information will be interpreted.
3. Learning is facilitated by social interaction. Constructivists believe in
creating a ―community of learners‖ within classrooms. Learning
communities help learners take responsibility for their own learning.
Learners have a lot of opportunities to cooperate and collaborate to solve
problems and discover things. Teachers play the role of a facilitator
rather than an expert who has all the knowledge.
4. Meaningful learning occurs within authentic learning tasks. An authentic
task is one that involves a learning activity that involves constructing
knowledge and understanding that is so akin to the knowledge and
understanding needed when applied in the real world. Example, a writing
activity where six-year olds prepare a checklist of things they need to do
in school is a more an authentic activity than for them to be working only
on tracing work sheets with dotted lines.
Organizing Knowledge
Concepts. A concept is a way of grouping or categorizing objects or events in
our mind. A concept of ―teach‖ includes a group of tasks such as model,
discuss, illustrate, explain, assist, etc. In your life as a student you would learn
thousands of concepts, some simple ones, others more complicated that may
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take you to learn them more gradually. The concepts you learn are also revised
as you learn more and experience more.
Concepts as future lists Learning concept involves learning specific features
that characterize positive instance of the concept. Included here are defining
features and correlational features. A defining feature is a characteristic
present in all instances. Example, a triangle has three sides. Having three sides
is a defining features of triangle because all triangles should have three sides.
If one doesn‘t then it is not a triangle. A correlational feature is one that is
present in many positive instances but not essential for concept membership.
For example, a mother is loving. Being loving is a feature commonly present in
a concept mother. But a mother may not be loving. So
―being loving‖ is only a correlational feature, not a defining one.
Concepts as prototypes. A prototype is an idea or a visual image of a
―typical‖ example. It is usually formed based on the positive instances that
learners encounter most often. Example, close your eyes now and for a moment
think of a cat. Picture in mind what it looks like. You probably thought of an
image of the common cat we see, rather than some rare bred or species. Once
learners have their own concept prototypes, the new examples that they see
are checked against this existing prototype.
Concepts as exemplars. Exemplars represent a variety of examples. It allows
learners to know that an example under a concept may have variability.
Example, a learner‘s concept of vegetable may include a wide a variety of
different examples like cauliflower, kangkong, cabbage, string beans, squash,
corn, potatoes. When he/she encounters a new type of vegetable like
―bitswelas‖, he/she would search from the exemplars he/she knows and looks
for one that is most similar, like string beans.
Making Concept-Learning Effective. As a future teacher, you can help
students learn concepts by doing the following:
• Provide a clear definition of the concept
• Make the defining features very concrete and prominent
• Give a variety of positive instances
• Give negative instances
• Cite a ―best example―or a prototype

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 • Provide opportunity for learners to identify positive and negative
instances
• Asl learners to think of their own example of the concept
• Point out how concepts can be related to each other
Schemas and scripts. A schema is an organized body of knowledge about
something. Like a schema of what a teacher is. A script is a schema that
includes a series of predictable events about a specific activity. Example, would
include knowing the series of steps than when we visit a doctor, or what
transpires at the beginning of the class when the teacher arrives.
Your role as a teacher is to bring learners to construct their own
knowledge such that they have a well-organized set of concepts. Aim to make
clear those concepts that are still vague for them, and to pave the way for
them to overcome misconceptions. It is important that you acquire skills on how
to facilitate concept formation and development. Constructivism can bean
excellent guide for you.
Applying Constructivism in Facilitating Learning
• Aim to make learners understand a few key ideas in an in-depth
manner, rather than taking up so many topics superficially.
• Give varied examples.
• Provide opportunities for experimentation.
• Have lots of hands-on activities.
• Relate your topic to real life situations.
• Do not depend on the explanation method all the time.
Main Theorists
John Dewey (1933/1998)
He is often cited as the philosophical founder of this approach. He
proposed strongly about Progressive education which is essentially a view of
education that emphasizes the need to learn by doing. He believed that human
beings learn through a 'hands-on' approach. This places Dewey in the
educational philosophy of pragmatism. Pragmatists believe that reality must
be experienced.

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Jerome Bruner (1990)
A major theme in his theoretical framework is that learning is an active
process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their
current/past knowledge as such as the instructor and student should engage
in an active dialog (i.e., Socratic learning).
Jean Piaget (1972)
He is considered the chief theorists among the cognitive constructivists
who specifically represent an ontological stance. His flavors of constructivism
focused on how humans make meaning in relation to the interaction between
their experiences and their ideas. He argued that people produce knowledge
and form meaning based upon their experiences. Piaget's theory covered
learning theories, teaching methods, and education Facilitating Learner–
Centered Teaching reforms and believed that assimilating causes anindividual
to incorporate new experiences into the old experiences.
Lev Vygotsky (1978)
He is the major theorist among the social constructivists supporting that
social interaction is significant in learning. Constructivist teaching This is based
on the belief that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process
of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed to passively receiving
information. Learners are the makers of meaning and knowledge. The main
activity in a constructivist classroom is solving problems. In social constructivist
classrooms, collaborative learning is a process of peer interaction that is
mediated and structured by the teacher. In the classroom, the constructivist
view of learning can point towards a number of different teaching practices. In
the most general sense, it usually means encouraging students to use active
techniques (experiments, real-world problem solving) tocreate more knowledge
and then to reflect on and talk about what they are doing and how their
understanding is changing. The teacher makes sure she understands the
students' preexisting conceptions, and guides the activity to address them and
then build on them.
Classroom Applications of Constructivism
Learning theory of constructivism incorporates a learning process
wherein the student gains their own conclusions through the creative aid of
the teacher as a facilitator. The best way to plan teacher worksheets, lesson
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plans, and study skills for the students, is to create a curriculum which allows
each student to solve problems while the teacher monitors and flexibly guides
the students to the correct answer, while encouraging critical thinking Instead
of having the students relying on someone else's information and accepting it
as truth, the students should be exposed to data, primary sources, and the
ability to interact with other students so that they can learn from the
incorporation of their experiences. The classroom experience should be an
invitation for a myriad of different backgrounds and the learning experience
which allows the different backgrounds to come together and observe and
analyze information and ideas. Hands-on activities are the best for the
classroom applications of constructivism, critical thinking and learning. Having
observations take place with a daily journal helps the students to better
understand how their own experiences contribute to the formation of their
theories and observational notes, and then comparing them to another student
reiterates that different backgrounds and cultures create different outlooks,
while neither is wrong, thus, both should be respected.
Some strategies for classroom applications of constructivism for the
teacher include having students working together and aiding to answer one
another's questions. Another strategy includes designating one student as the
"expert" on a subject and having them teach the class. Finally, allowing students
to work in groups or pairs and research controversial topics which they must
then present to the class. Generally, the setting should include classroom
applications of constructivism within a few key concepts.
The first is discovering and maintaining an individual's intellectual
identity. This forces students to support their own theories, in essence taking
responsibility for their words and respecting those of others.
The next component is having the teacher ask open-ended questions
and leaving time to allow the students to think and analyze a response based
on their experiences and personal inquiry.
Open-ended questions and critical thinking encourage students to seek more
than just a simple response or basic facts and incorporate the justification and
defense of their organized thoughts.
The next step is allowing constant conversation between the students
and teacher. This engagement creates a discourse of comfort wherein all
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ideas can be considered and understood and the students then feel safeabout
challenging other hypotheses, defending their own, and supporting real-world
situations with abstract supporting data.
These exercises and classroom applications of constructivism will allow
children to, at an early age or a late age, develop the skills and confidence to
analyze the world around them, create solutions or support for developing
issues, and then justify their words and actions, while encouraging those around
them to do the same and respecting the differences in opinions for the
contributions that they can make to the whole of the situation. Classroom
applications of constructivism support the philosophy of learning which build a
students' and teachers' understanding.
The Practice Implications of Constructivism
Constructivism's central idea is that human learning is constructed, that
learners build new knowledge upon the foundation of previous learning. This
view of learning sharply contrasts with one in which learning is the passive
transmission of information from one individual to another, a view in which
reception, not construction, is key. There are two important notions that orbit
around the simple idea of constructed knowledge.
The first is that learners construct new understandings using what they already
know. There is no tabula rasa on which new knowledge is etched. Rather,
learners come to learning situations with knowledge gained from previous
experience, and that prior
knowledge influences what new or modified knowledge they will construct from
new learning experiences. The second notion is that learning is active rather
than passive .Learners confronts their understanding in light of what they
encounter in the new learning situation. If what learners encounter is
inconsistent with their current understanding, their understanding can change
to accommodate new experience. Learners remain active throughout this
process: they apply current understandings, note relevant elements in new
learning experiences, judge the consistency of prior and emerging knowledge,
and base don‘t that judgment, they can modify knowledge.
Important Implications to Teaching
First, teaching cannot be viewed as the transmission of knowledge from
enlightened to unenlightened; constructivist teachers do not take the role of
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the "sage on the stage‖. Rather, teachers act as "guides on the side" who
provide students with opportunities to test the adequacy of their current
understandings.
Second, if learning is based on prior knowledge, then teachers must note that
knowledge and provide learning environments that exploit inconsistencies
between
learners' current understandings and the new experiences before them. This
Challenges teachers, for they cannot assume that all children understand
something in the same way. Further, children may need different experiences
to advance to different levels of understanding.
Third, if students must apply their current understandings in new situations in
order to build new knowledge, then teachers must engage students in learning,
bringing students' current understandings to the forefront. Teachers can ensure
that learning experiences incorporate problems that are important to students,
not those that are primarily important to teachers and the educational system.
Teachers can also encourage group interaction, wherethe inter play among
participants helps individual students become explicit about their own
understanding by comparing it to that of their peers.
Fourth, if new knowledge is actively built, then time is needed to build it. Ample
time facilitates student reflection about new experiences, how those
experiences line up against current understandings, and how a different
understanding might provide students with an improved (not "correct")view of
the world.
Professional Practices Needed
If learning is a constructive process, and instruction must be designed
to provide opportunities for such construction, then what professional
development practices can bring teachers to teach in student-centered ways?
First recognize that construction in learning is not just the domain of children but
of learners, all learners. Constructivist professional development give teachers
time to make explicit their understandings of learning (e.g., is it a constructive
process?), of teaching (e.g., is a teacher an orator or a facilitator, and what is
the teacher's understanding of content?), and of professional development
(e.g., is a teacher's own learning best approached through a constructivist
orientation?). Furthermore, such professional development
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provides opportunities for teachers to test their understandings and build new
ones. Training that affects student-centered teaching cannot come in one-day
workshops. Systematic, long-term development that allows practice and
reflection on that practice - is required. It is also useful to remember the
educator's maxim, Teachers teach as they are taught, not as they are told to
teach. Thus, trainers in constructivist professional development sessions model
learning activities that teachers can apply in their own classrooms. It is not
enough for trainers to describe new ways of teaching and expect teachers to
translate from talk to action; it is more effective to engage teachers in activities
that will lead to new actions in classrooms.
Constructivism represents one of the big ideas in education. Its
implications for how teachers teach and learn to teach are enormous. If our
efforts in reforming education for all students are to succeed, then we must
focus on students. To date, a focus on student-centered learning may well be
the most important contribution of constructivism.
Benefits of Constructivism to Teaching and Learning
Benefit #1
Children learn more and enjoy learning more when they are actively
involved, rather than passive listeners.
Benefit # 2
Education works best when it concentrates on thinking and
understanding, rather than on rote memorization. Constructivism concentrates
on learning how to think and understand.
Benefit #3
Constructivist learning is transferable. In constructivist classrooms,
students create organizing principles that they can take with them to other
learning settings.
Benefit #4
Constructivism gives students ownership of what they learn, since
learning is based on students' questions and explorations, and often the
students have a hand in designing the assessments as well. Constructivist
assessment engages the students' initiatives and personal investments intheir
journals, research reports, physical models, and artistic representations.
Engaging the creative instincts develops students' abilities to express
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knowledge through a variety of ways. The students are also more likely to
retain and transfer the new knowledge to real life.
Benefit #5
By grounding learning activities in an authentic, real world context,
constructivism stimulates and engages students. Students in constructivist
classrooms learn to question things and to apply their natural curiosity to the
world.
Benefit #6
Constructivism promotes social and communication skills by creating a
classroom environment that emphasizes collaboration and exchange of ideas.
Students must learn how to articulate their ideas clearly as well as to collaborate
on tasks effectively by sharing in group projects. Students must therefore
exchange ideas and so must learn to "negotiate" with others and to evaluate
their contributions in a socially acceptable manner. This is essentialto success
in the real world, since they will always be exposed to a variety of experiences
in which they will have to cooperate and navigate among the ideas of others.
What a Teacher Can Do in a Constructivist Classroom?
Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the
activity is helping them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and
their strategies, students in the constructivist classroom ideally become "expert
learners." This gives them ever-broadening tools to keep learning. With a well-
planned classroom environment, the students learn HOWTOLEARN. You
might look at it as a spiral. When they continuously reflect on their experiences,
students find their ideas gaining in complexityand power, and they develop
increasingly strong abilities to integrate new information. One of the teacher's
main roles becomes to encourage this learning and reflection process.
For example: Groups of students of St. Marcellin in Grade 11 science
class are discussing a problem in physics. Though Teacher Imelda knows the
"answer" to the problem, she focuses on helping students restate their
questions in useful ways. She prompts each student to reflect on and examine
his or her current knowledge. When one of the students comesup with the
relevant concept, Teacher Imelda seizes upon it, and indicates to the group

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that this might be a fruitful avenue for them to explore. They design and perform
relevant experiments. Afterward, the students and teacher talk about what they
have learned, and how their observations and experiments helped (or did not
help) them to better understand the concept.
Contrary to criticisms by some (conservative/traditional) educators,
constructivism does not dismiss the active role of the teacher or the value of
expert knowledge. Constructivism modifies that role, so that teachers help
students to construct knowledge rather than to reproduce a series of facts.
The constructivist teacher provides tools such as problem-solving and inquiry-
based learning activities with which students formulate and test their ideas,
draw conclusions and inferences, and pool and convey their knowledge in a
collaborative learning environment. Constructivism transforms the student from
a passive recipient of information to an active participant in the learning process.
Always guided by the teacher, students construct their knowledge actively
rather than just mechanically ingesting knowledge from the teacher or the
textbook.
Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory that
compels students to "reinvent the wheel." In fact, constructivism taps into and
triggers the student's innate curiosity about the world and how things work.
Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it
turns, how it functions. They become engaged by applying their existing
knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their
theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings. Constructivist
teachers pose questions and problems, then guide students to help them find
their own answers. They use many techniques in the teaching process. For
example, they may:
•* prompt students to formulate their own questions (inquiry)
•* allow multiple interpretations and expressions of learning (multiple
Intelligences)
• *encourage group work and the use of peers as resources (collaborative
learning)
In a constructivist classroom, learning is...
Students are not blank slates upon which knowledge is etched. They
come to learning situations with already formulated knowledge, ideas, and
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understandings. This previous knowledge is the raw material for the new
knowledge they will create.
Example: Teacher Kathleen is an elementary school teacher who
presents a class problem to measure the length of the "Mayflower." Rather than
starting the problem by introducing the ruler, Teacher Kathleen allows students
to reflect and to construct their own methods of measurement. One student,
Amer, offers the knowledge that a doctor said he is four feet tall. Victoria knows
horses are measured in "hands." The students discuss these and other methods
they have heard about, and decide on one to apply to the problem.

The student is the person who creates new understanding for

him/herself. The teacher coaches, moderates, suggests, but allows the
students room to experiment, ask questions, try things that don't work. Learning
activities require the students' full participation (like hands-on experiments). An
important part of the learning process is that students reflect on, and talk about,
their activities. Students also help set their own goals and means of
assessment.
Examples: Teacher Bea, a middle-school language arts teacher sets
aside time each week for a writing lab. The emphasis is on content and getting
ideas down rather than memorizing grammatical rules, though one of the
teacher Bea‘s concerns is the ability of his students to express themselves well
through written language. She provides opportunities for students to examine
the finished and earlier drafts of various authors. Teacher Bea allows students
to select and create projects within the general requirement of building a
portfolio 1. Students serve as peer editors who value originality and uniqueness
rather than the best way to fulfill an assignment.
Teacher Ivan Owen in a history class, asks students to read and think about
different versions of and perspectives on "history" that can lead to interesting
discussions. Is history as taught in textbooks accurate? Are there different
versions of the same history? Whose version of history is most accurate? How
do we know? From there, students can make their own judgments.

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 Students control their own learning process, and they lead the way
by reflecting on their experiences. This process makes them experts of their
own learning. The teacher helps create situations where the students feel safe
questioning and reflecting on their own processes, either privately or in group
discussions. The teacher should also create activities that lead the student to
reflect on his or her prior knowledge and experiences. Talkingabout what
was learned and how it as learned is really important.
Example: Students of Section St. Francis-Grade 7 keep journals in a
writing class where they record how they felt about the class projects, the visual
and verbal reactions of others to the project, and how they felt their own writing
had changed. Periodically teacher Mauricio reads these journals and holds a
conference with the student where the two assess (1) what new knowledge the
student has created, (2) how the student learns best, and (3) the learning
environment and the teacher's role in it.

The constructivist classroom relies heavily oncollaboration

among students. There are many reasons why collaboration
contributes to learning. The main reason it is used so much in constructivism
is that students learn about learning not only from themselves, but also from
their peers. When students review and reflect on their learning processes
together, they can pick up strategies and methods from one another.
Example: In the course of studying ancient civilizations, students of
Grade 8- Acacia undertake an archaeological dig. This may be something
constructed in a large sandbox, or, as in the Dalton School's "Archaeotype"
software simulation, on a computer. As the students find different objects,
Teacher Chrisma introduces classifying techniques. The students are
encouraged to (1) set up a group museum by developing criteria and choosing
which objects should belong, and (2) collaborate with other students who
worked in different quadrants of the dig. Each group is then asked to develop
theories about the civilizations that in habited the area.

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 The main activity in a constructivist classroom is solving
problems. Students use inquiry methods to ask questions, investigate a topic,
and use a variety of resources to find solutions and answers. As students
explore the topic, they draw conclusions, and, as exploration continues, they
revisit those conclusions. Exploration of questions leads to more questions.
Example: Sixth graders of St. Benedict figuring out how to purify water
investigate solutions ranging from coffee-filter paper, to a stove-top distillation
apparatus, to piles of charcoal, to an abstract mathematical solution based on
the size of a water molecule. Depending upon students' responses, Teacher
BaiSheeba encourages abstract as well as concrete, poetic as well as practical,
creations of new knowledge.

Students have ideas that they may later see were invalid,
incorrect, or insufficient to explain new experiences. These ideas are
temporary steps in the integration of knowledge. For instance, a child may
believe that all trees lose their leaves in the fall, until she visits an evergreen
forest. Constructivist teaching takes into account students' current conceptions
and builds from there.
What happens when a student gets a new piece of information? The
constructivist model says that the student compares the information to the
knowledge and understanding he/she already has, and one of three things can
occur:
• The new information matches up with his previous knowledge pretty well
(it's consonant with the previous knowledge), so the student adds it to his
understanding. It may take some work, but it's just a matter of finding the right
fit, as with a puzzle piece.
• The information doesn't match previous knowledge (it's dissonant). The
student has to change her previous understanding to find a fit for the
information. This can be harder work.
• The information doesn't match previous knowledge, and it is ignored.
Rejected bits of information may just not be absorbed by the student. Or they

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may float around, waiting for the day when the student's understanding has
developed and permits a fit.
Example: Teacher Exequiel, an elementary teacher
believes her students are ready to study gravity. He creates
an environment of discovery with objects of varying kinds.
Students explore the differences in weight among similarly
sized blocks of Styrofoam, wood, and
lead. Some students hold the notion that heavier objects fall faster than light
ones. Teacher Exequiel provides materials (stories, posters, and videos) about
Galileo, Newton, etc. He leads a discussion on theories about falling. The
students then replicate Galileo's experiment by dropping objects of different
weights and measuring how fast they fall. They see that objects of different
weights actually usually fall at the same speed, although surface area and
aerodynamic properties can affect the rate of fall.
How Does this Theory Differ from Traditional Ideas about Teaching
and Learning?
In the constructivist classroom, the focus tends to shift from the teacher
to the students. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert")
pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled.
In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their
own process of learning. The teacher functions more as a facilitator who
coaches, mediates, prompts, and helps students develop and assess their
understanding, and thereby their learning. One of the teacher's biggest jobs
becomes ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS.
And, in the constructivist classroom, both teacher and students think of
knowledge not as inert factoids to be memorized, but as a dynamic, ever-
changing view of the world we live in and the ability to successfully stretch and
explore that view.

Summary
Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and
scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things
and reflecting on those experiences. When we encounter something new, we
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have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, maybe changing
what we believe, or maybe discarding the new information as irrelevant. In
any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do this, we must ask
questions, explore, and assess what we know.
Constructivist teachers do not take the role of the "sage on the stage."
Instead, teachers act as a "guide on the side" providing students with
opportunities to test the adequacy of their current understandings. On the
other hand, the expectation within a constructivist learning environment is that
the students plays a more active role in, and accepts more responsibility for their
own learning. Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory
that compels students to "reinvent the wheel." In fact, constructivism taps into
and triggers the student's innate curiosity about the world and how things work.
Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it
turns, how it functions. They become engaged by applying their existing
knowledge and real-world experience, learning to hypothesize, testing their
theories, and ultimately drawing conclusions from their findings. Constructivist
teachers pose questions and problems, then guide students to help them find
their own answers. They use many techniques in the teaching process.

In the constructivist classroom, the focus tends to shift from the teacher
to the students. The classroom is no longer a place where the teacher ("expert")
pours knowledge into passive students, who wait like empty vessels to be filled.
In the constructivist model, the students are urged to be actively involved in their
own process of learning. The teacher functions more as a facilitator who
coaches, mediates, prompts, and helps students develop and assess their
understanding, and thereby their learning

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LESSON 4 Transfer of Learning and Bloom’s Taxonomy

What to expect?
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:
1.explain how transfer of learning occurs;
2. identify the factors that affect transfer of learning;
3. apply principles of transfer in facilitating transfer of learning;
4.discuss the Bloom‘s Taxonomy of learning; and
5. answer the activities after the lesson.
Pre-discussion
Teachers want their students to apply the knowledge and skills learned
in class to other situations. When one recognizes a situation as something
similar in a way to what he/she has experienced before, his/her tendency is to
use the knowledge and skills he/she has learned to this new situation. This is
what transfer of learning is all about.
Lesson Outline
Transfer of learning happens when learning in one context or with one
set of materials affects performance in other contexts or with other related

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materials. Simply put, it is applying to another situation what was previously
learned. Transfer of learning. generally refers to the influence of learning in one
situation on learning in another situation. It is concerned with how learning in
a certain school subject affects subsequent learning in the same or another
subject or how school learning influences achievements outside of school.
Transfer is a very significant concept in education and learning theory because
most of those concerned in education aim to achieve transfer.
Frequently, the circumstance of learning (classrooms, workbooks, tests,
drills) differs significantly from the situation when what is learned is tobe
applied ( in the home, on the job, within complex tasks). As a result, the
educational goals are not met until transfer occurs. This makes transfer a very
important aspect of instruction. It may be true that in most cases, the goal of
transfer of learning from classroom to real life situations is not achieved so it
is vital that as a future teacher you have a clear understanding of how best to
teach your learners so that transfer of learning is facilitated. After all, what good
is there in providing your learners with tons of knowledge and a multitude of
skills if they cannot apply them when they need to.
Types of Transfer
Positive Transfer. Positive transfer occurs when learning in one context
improves performance in some other contexts. For instance, a speaker of
Spanish would find it easier to learn Mexican language than Japanese.
Negative Transfer. Negative transfer occurs when learning in one context
impacts negatively on performance in other. For example, learners commonly
assimilate a new language phone text to crude approximations in their native
tongue and use word orders carried over from their native tongue. Example,
there may be a tendency for a Visayan-speaking child too frequently
interchange the /e/ and /i/ sound when speaking in English. With experience
however, learners correct the effects of negative transfer.
Near Transfer. Near transfer refers to transfer between very similar context.
This is also referred to as specific transfer; for example, when students answer
types of Algebra word problems in an exam which are similar to what they had
in their seat works. Or when a student is learning to use a new cell phone that
is somehow similar to the one she had before.

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Far Transfer.Far transfer refers to transfer between context that, on a
appearance, seem remote and align to one another. This is also called general
transfer. For example, Stephen Covey applied the lesson of the Aesop‘s Fable
of ―The Goose that lays the Golden Eggs‖ to managing corporations. He said
we should take care of the goose rather than kill it. To be successful in
business we should take care of our workers not burden them.
Conditions and Principles of Transfer
These principles are based on the factors that affect transfer of learning.
These factors are similar to what Perkins termed as ―conditions of transfer‖.
Below you will find the factors with the consequent principles and educational
implications.
Conditions/Factors
Affecting Transfer Principles of Transfer Implications
of learning
Similarity between The more similar the two Involve students is
two learning situation are the greater the learning situations and
situations chances that learning from tasks that are similar as
one situation will be possible to the
transferred to another situations where they
situation. would apply the tasks.
Degree of Meaningful learning leads to Remember to provide
meaningfulness/Rel greater transfer than Role opportunities for
evance of learning Learning learning to link new
material to what they
learned in the past.
Length of The longer the time spent in To ensure transfer,
Instructional time Instruction, the greater the teach a few topics in
Probability of transfer. depth rather than many
topics tackled in a
shallow manner.
Variety of learning Exposures to many and Illustrate new concepts
experience many varied examples and and principles with new
opportunities for practice a variety examples.
encourage transfer. Plan activities that
allow your learners to
practice their newly
learned skills.
Context for Transfer of learning a most Relate a topic in one
Learner‘s likely to happen when the subject to topics in
Experience learners discover that what other subjects or
they learned is applicable to disciplines. Relate it
various contexts. also to real life
situations.

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 Focus on principles Principles transfereasier Zero in on principles
rather than tasks than task related to each topic
together with strategies
based on those
principles
Emphasis on Student reflection improves Encourage students to
Metacognition transfer of learning take responsibility for
their own learning and
to reflect on what they
learned.

Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Imagine that you are already working as a teacher. How would you feel
if you enter the classroom without specific learning outcomes? How would you
proceed without clear and specific targets? Being sure about your learning
outcomes will help you to facilitate learning effectively. With appropriate, clear,
and specific learning outcomes, you do not need to guess nor grope in the
dark of what to accomplish. This topic will present the original and revised
Bloom‘s taxonomy of educational objectives. Although the revised taxonomy
came out years ago, it is important to still present both the old and the revised
to have a complete understanding and better appreciation of the taxonomy‘s
use in education.

Old Taxonomy
In 1956, the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of
Educational Goals Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain was published. Initially, the
purpose was simply to have a framework to classify test questions that faculty
members shared. Eventually, it became so relevant and useful in education.
Since then, it has been used in planning the curriculum, planning learning
activities and assessment. Bloom and his colleagues published Handbook II,
The Affective Domain in 1964. Eventually, other experts published a taxonomy
for the psychomotor domain in 1966, 1970, and 1972.
Bloom‘s taxonomy, was a model that described the different levels of
learning outcomes that target what skills and competencies the teachers aim
to develop in the learners. The taxonomy in the cognitive contains the
knowledge from knowledge to evaluation. The six levels progress from simple
to more complex levels of thinking, the last three being referred to as ―Higher-

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Order Thinking Skills‖ or HOTS. So that, you have to got the HOTS to teach
well. We always hear seasoned teachers reminding us to focus on the HOTS
and not just stop at the usual memorizing and enumerating.
To facilitate teaching, we begin teaching with facts, stating memorized
rules, principles, or definitions (knowledge), which must lead to understanding
concepts, rules, and principles (comprehension). But we should not end here.
A proof of comprehension of the concepts and principles is using them in real-
life situations (application). For an in-depth understanding and mastery of these
applied concepts, rules, and principles, these are broken down into parts
(analysis). Students may compare, contrast, classify, further investigate, etc.
These actions now reflect a higher order level of thinking.
A still higher of thinking is when students put together elements of what
has been learned in a new way (synthesis). They come up with a wholistic,,
complete, more integrated, or even a new view or perspective of what was
learned. With a full grasp of what was learned, the students can now assess,
or judge based on a set of standards, on what they have learned (evaluation).
The cognitive domain levels or thinking levels also have sub-categories except
for that of application. Below is a given example of learning outcomes using the
taxonomy.

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 The Original Bloom’s Taxonomy
Cognitive Domain levels and Their Sub-Categories
Simple Verbs
1.Knowledge define, describe, draw, identify, label,
1.1 knowledge of specifics locate, memorize, name, recite,
1.1.1 terminology recognize, select, state, write
1.1.2 specific facts
1.2 Knowledge of ways and means of
dialing with the specifics
1.2.1 conventions
1.2.2 trends and sequences
1.2.3 classifications and category
1.2.4 criteria
1.2.5 methodology
1.3 Knowledge of Universal and
Abstraction in the Field
1.3.1 principles and generalizations
1.3.2 theories and structures
2. Comprehension paraphrase, summarize, restate, retell,
2.1 translation illustrate
2.2 interpretation
2.3 extrapolation
3. Application apply, change, prepare, produceanalyze,
4. Analysis subdivide, take a part, investigate,
4.1 elements compare, contrast, Infer,
4.2 relationships
4.3 organizational principles
5. Synthesis combine, organize, design, formulate
5.1 production of unique communication
5.2 production of a plan, or proposed set
of operation
5.3 derivation of a set of abstract relation
6. Evaluation asses, appraise, critique, judge,
6.1 in terms of internal evidence recommend.
6.2 in terms of external evidence
Examples:
At the end of the lesson/unit/chapter, the students can :
• enumerate the characters in the story ―How My Brother Leon Brought
Home A Wife‖ (knowledge)
• summarize the story (comprehension)
• apply the rules of subject-verb agreement when writing a summary of
the story (application)
• compare and contrast the qualities of the characters in the story
(analysis)

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 • write a song expressing the message or lesson of the story
(synthesis)
• write a critique of the author‘s writing style (evaluation)
The Revised Taxonomy
After 45 years since the publication of Bloom‘s taxonomy, Lorin
Anderson, (Bloom‘s former student) and David Krathwohl lead a new group of
experts to work together. The result is what we call now, the revised
taxonomy.Stated below are the salient differences between the old and the
revised taxonomies:
❖ Levels or categories of thinking in the old taxonomy were nouns, while in
the revised taxonomy they are verbs. The use of action words instead
of nouns was done to highlight that thinking is an active process. For
example, evaluate instead of evaluation, analyze instead of analysis.
❖ While the revised taxonomy remains to be in hierarchical levels of
increasing complexity, it is intended to be more flexible, in that itallows
the categories to overlap. For example, some words in understand
level, like explain, may appear to be more complex than the action word,
show in the apply level. However, when we look into the six levels from
remember to create, we will still find, that over-all, the taxonomy
proceeds in hierarchical order.
❖ The knowledge level was changed to remember. The change was
made because knowledge does not refer to a cognitive or thinking level.
Knowledge is the object of the thinking. Remember is a more
appropriate word for the first thinking level which involves recalling and
retrieving knowledge.
❖ The comprehension level was changed to understand.Teachers are
likely to use the word understand when referring to their work rather than
their comprehension.
❖ Synthesis was changed to create and was placed as the highest level.
❖ The cognitive domain now includes two dimensions: the cognitive
dimension and the knowledge dimension. The knowledge dimension

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of the revised taxonomy was based on the sub-categories of
knowledge in the old taxonomy.

Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Old Revised
Taxonomy( Taxonomy

6. Evaluation

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 The Revised Taxonomy with Two Dimensions of Cognitive Domain
(KRATHWOHL, 2002)
The Cognitive Dimension The Knowledge Dimension
1. Remember A. Factual
Retrieving relevant knowledge from The basic elements that students
long-term memory of: must know. Knowledge of:
1.1 recognizing a. Terminology
1.2 Recalling b. specific details and elements

2. Understand B . Conceptual
Determining the meaning of The interrelationships among the
instructional Messages, includingoral, basic elements within a larger
written, and graphic communication structure that enable them to function
2.1 interpreting 2.5 inferring together. Knowledge of:
2.2 exemplifying 2.6 comparing a. classifications & categories
2.3 classifying 2.7 explaining b. principles and generalizations
2.4 summarizing c. theories, models, and structures
2.5 inferring

3. Apply
Carrying out or using a procedure in C. Procedural Knowledge
given Situation How to do something, methods of
3.1 executing inquiry, and criteria for using skills,
3.2 Implementing algorithms, techniques and methods
Knowledge of:
4. Analyze
a. subject-specific skills and
Breaking material into its constituent
algorithms
parts
b. subject-specific techniques and
And detecting how the part relates to
methods
one
c. criteria for determining when to use
Another and to an over-all structure or
appropriate procedures
Purpose
4.1 differentiating
D. Meta-cognitive Knowledge
4.2 organizing
Knowledge of cognition in general as
4.3 attributing
well as awareness and knowledge of
5. Evaluate one‘s own cognition
Making judgments based on criteria
and Standards a. strategic knowledge
5.1 checking b. knowledge about cognitive tasks,
5.2 critiquing including contextual and conditional
knowledge
6. Create c. self-knowledge
Putting elements together to form a
novel, Coherent wall or make an
original product
6.1 generating
6.2 planning
6.3 producing

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 The revised taxonomy highlights two dimensions; the cognitive and the
knowledge dimensions. The cognitive dimension includes hierarchical or
ordered level of thinking. The thinking level move from the simplest to the most
complex. The levels are remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate,
and create. The knowledge dimension includes four knowledge categories:
factual, conceptual, procedural, meta-cognitive. The knowledge that
teachers aim to teach and students‘ aim to learn can be about facts, concepts,
procedures and metacognitive knowledge.
When you formulate learning objectives, you consider what level of
thinking (cognitive) you want your students to achieve, and also what type of
knowledge it is you want to teach.
When we write a learning objective, the level of thinking is represented
by the verb, while the knowledge dimensions is represented by the noun. In
the example, ― at the end of the lesson, the learner can : explain the
photosynthesis process‖ explain is the action word which will fall under the
second cognitive dimension level, understand and photosynthesis is the
noun that will fall under procedural knowledge. Below is a collection of
action words and possible activities or works which you can use for your
learning plan.
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES,
COGNITVE DIMENSION SAMPLE ACTION OUTPUTS OR OUTCOMES
LEVEL WORDS
Remember recall, name, list, state tell, recitations, worksheets.
(Recalling Information) reproduce, describe locate, definitions, fact charts lists
write, find, under-line, define
Understand explain, translate, interpret, story problems, drawing
(Explaining information and discuss, describe, define show and tell, summary
concepts) report, predict paraphrasing
Apply use, solve, implement, presentation, role-playing,
(Using information in a new construct , practice, execute, simulation ,collection,
way) demonstrate, dramatize model, scrap book, product
Analyze compare, distinguish, chart, plan, questionnaire,
(Distinguishing different investigate, infer, contrast, spread sheet, summary,
parts of a whole) separate, differentiate, survey
sequence
Evaluate assess, debate, defend, opinion, judgment, report
(Defending a concept or dispute, judge, appraise, recommendation, self-
idea) check, decide, justify, rate evaluation, position paper,
critique
Create change, design, formulate, framework, model, story,
(Creating something new) improve, plan, propose, invent, multimedia presentation,
devise, generate compose, poem, haiku, song, essay
combine

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Uses of the Revised Taxonomy
The revised taxonomy provides a framework that helps educators in
the following ways:
1. It provides educators with the common set of terms and levels about
learning outcomes that help planning across subject matter and grade
level.
2. It helps in the drafting of learning standards across levels.
3. It serves as a guide in evaluating the schools‘ curriculum objectives,
activities and assessment.
4. It guides the teacher in formulating learning outcomes that top higher-
order thinking skills.

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LESSON 5 STERNBERG’S Successful Intelligence Theory,
Wics Model And Problem-Solving Creativity

What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:

1. explain Sternberg‘s Successful Intelligence Theory and WICS Model;
2. demonstrate enjoyment of working on WICS-based tasks and activities;
3. prepare a lesson guide that is based on the WICS model;
4. explain the four criteria of creativity by Torrance

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5. apply problem-solving skills; and
4. answer the given activities after the lesson.
Pre-Discussion
Robert Sternberg is a cognitive psychologist who did an extensive work
in the field of intelligence. As a youngster, he had difficulty with intelligence
tests. He did not perform well on such tests. This might have fuelled his interest
in the field that lead him to come up with the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence in
the 1980s. Over the years, his theory evolved from the more complicated,
componential Triarchic Theory to the simpler, successful intelligence theory.
More recently, in collaboration with other prominent psychologists, he proposed
the WICS (Wisdom, Intelligence, Creativity, Synthesis)Model. It is an
alternative paradigm to deliver more relevant admission, instruction, and
assessment in education. This lesson will introduce you to the theory and the
model. It is hoped that it will spawn your interest and make you want to explore
more.

Lesson Outline
Successful Intelligence Theory
The four skills included in the theory are described below:
1. Memory skills help us recall facts and pieces of information. It helps us
retain the knowledge we acquire
2. Analytical skills help the person determine if a certain idea is good.
3.Creative skills allow a person to come up with a new idea, usually to
answer a need or solve a problem. It makes one flexible and able to adjust to
changes in one‘s situation
4. Practical skills enable a person to apply what one has learned. It also
allows one to carry through or implement a plant.
Sternberg believed that traditional views of intelligence focused heavily
on memory and analytical skills. This traditional view led to teaching strategies
that focused mainly on memory and analytical skills as well. It naturally followed
that assessment of learning likewise concentrated heavily on these two skills.
Memory and analytical skills are very much necessary. Being able to
recall information or have knowledge is needed to begin thinking creatively.

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One cannot apply knowledge witch he cannot remember. Analysis is important
before one can think of new and better ideas. However, memory and
analytical skills should not be the only focus of education.
Sternberg also emphasized creative and practical intelligence. Creativity
is what moves people forward. Creativity gives birth to new and better solutions
to problem. Without creativity we will get trapped in things and ways that don‘t
work anymore, practical intelligence, on the other hand, makes us apply what
we have learned. It gets us to actually do what needs to be done.
According to Sternberg, successful intelligence is ―the ability to
succeed in life, given one‘s own goals, within one‘s environmental contexts.‖ It
is maximizing one‘s own strengths not only to adapt to one‘s environment, but
to also contribute significantly.
Each person may have his/her own unique way of practicing the four
skills because each has different strengths. The idea is to further develop one‘s
unique strengths in the context of the four skills rather than simply making it the
goal of the school to just develop memory and analytical skills. The theory of
successful Intelligence points ―that some student who do not do well in
conventional courses may, in fact, have the ability to succeed, if they are taught
in a way that better fits their patterns of abilities.‖ The balanced combination of
the four skills of memory, analytical,creative and practical skills is what leads to
successful Intelligence. It is vital that we remember what we learn (memory);
use critical thinking to evaluate the things we learn (analytical); be innovative
in finding better ways of doing things and solving problem (creative); and put to
action what we learn (practical)

The WICS Model

In the WICS model, intelligence is viewed as a set fluid abilities to learn
from experience and to adapt to one‘s surroundings. Individuals possess
abilities that can be nurtured into competencies and further cultivated into
expertise. The WICS is a more recent model of how humans think andreason
that can help us understand how students will learn most effectively. It aims to
develop basic abilities to true expertise.

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WICS stands for wisdom, Intelligence, creativity, synthesized.Sternberg
(2010) described the WICS model as follows:
―The basic idea is that citizens of the world need creativity to form a
vision of where they want to go and to cope with changes in the environment,
analytical intelligence to ascertain whether their creative ideas are good
ones, practical intelligence to implement their ideas and to persuade other
of the value of their ideas, and wisdom and order to ensure that the ideas will
help achieve some ethically-based common good, over the long and short
terms, rather than just what is good for them and their families and friends.‖
Applying the WICS Model
The uses of the WICS model include admission, instruction and
assessment. However, for this lesson, we shall focus only on the model‘s
instructional and assessment uses.
One way that you can apply the WICS model in instruction is when you
reflect and make choices on the tasks and activities that you will give to teach
and assess your students. You may choose to teach
analytically,creatively,practically as well as teach for wisdom. Your choice can
be based on the preferences and strengths of your learners. This is useful for
any level, from preschool to higher education, Sternberg described each of
these. Some examples relevant to education in the Philippines are also
provided below.
How do you teach analytically? Make your students use critical
thinking. Design tasks and activities that provide opportunity for your learners
to
1. Analyze 4. Compare and Contrast
2. Critique 5. Evaluate
3. Judge 6. Assess
Here are some examples for analytical intelligence:
a. Analyze the development of the character of Ibarra in Noli Me Tangere
b. Critique the design and features of the latest smart phone

c. Judge the artistic merits of Filipino cartoonist, Larry Alcala‘s ―Slice of

Life.‖

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 d. Compare and contrast the Italian approaches of Montessori and
Reggio Emilia in early childhood education.
e. Evaluate the validity of the theory of evolution. Write a term paper on
this.
f. Assess the strategy of the Manila city government to improve the traffic
situation around the city.
How do you teach creatively? It is important for you to encourage andsustain
your students‘ creative ideas. Remember to be an example to them by taking
the risk to share your own creative ideas. Think out of the box. Design tasks and
activities that help students to:
1. Creative
2. Invent
3. Discover
4. Imagine if…
5. Suppose that…
6. Predict
Here are some examples for creative intelligence:
a. Create an alternative ending to Florante at Laura (Literature)
b. Invent a dialogue that would transpire if Jose Rizal and Ninoy Aquino met
(Araling Panlipunan)
c. Discover a way to explain why heavy ships float at sea. (Science)
d. Imagine if the EDSA Revolution did not happen in 1986. What do you think
our country will be like present and 10 years later? (Araling Panlipunan)
e. Suppose that you were to design a computer game to help[ children learn
about love and sacrifice. The game you will create. (Computer Education,
Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
f. Predict changes that will happen if humans had a third eye at the back of their
heads. Choose an appliance or gadget that would need to be changed in
order to be useful. Proposed a new function design. (HELE)
How to do you teach practically? Have in mind real life situations where
students can use what they learn to meet their own and also others‘ practical
needs. Design tasks and activities that allow your student to:
1. Apply
2. Use
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 3. Put into practice
4. Implement
5. Employ
6. Render practical what they know
Here are some examples for practical intelligence:
a. Apply addition concept in determining number of boys and girls in the
classroom (Mathematics)
b. Use the knowledge of Excel to keep track of daily household expenses
(Computer Education, Mathematics)
c. Put into practice what you learn about classroom rules in making your
own classroom rules poster (Classroom Management)
d. Implement a lesson plan that one has made ( Principles of Teaching)
e. Employ the formula of computing the area of one‘s living room to
determine the number of 12‖ 12‖ tiles needed to cover the floor.
f. Render practical a proposed assembly design for a computer PC
How do you teach for wisdom? One of the goals is for learners to learn to
see and understand the point of view of others. It is important for your learners
to balance one‘s own needs with the needs of other people and also that of the
world or the environment. It is developing your learners to consistently act
based on positive ethical values. You teach for wisdom when you are able to
move your students to:
1. try to find a common good
2. see things from others‘ points of view
3. balance your own interests with those of others and of institutions.
4. look at the long term as well as the short term
5. reflect about how one can base his every decision on positive ethical
values
6. appreciate that in life what is seen as true and effective may vary
overtime and place
Here are some examples for wisdom:
a. What might be a solution for the common good in the Philippines and
China claim on Spratly Islands ?(Araling Panlipunan, Political Science)
b. Think of a person you had a conflict or fight with. Put yourself in the
person‘s place. Write down her point of view and concerns as detailed as
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 possible. What can you do or say to express that you understand the person
now? ( Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
c. Should parents expect their children to take care of them when they are
old? Why? (Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
d. How is global warming going to affect the world, and the Philippines in
particular? What can you do? (Science, Geology, Edukasyon sa
Pagpapakatao)
e. Is it ever ethical to shoot down a plane with civilians and terrorists on board
if the terrorists plan to slam the plane to a building with thousands of
people? (Edukasyon sapag papakatao)
f. How does parenting change over time? What would you say are different now
than before what are the constant things that should be present to make the
parent-child relationship work? (Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao)
The WICS model has been used not only for instruction but also for
admission and assessment. Sternberg and his colleagues proposed, tried out
and studied creative ways of doing student admission as well as assessing
students‖ learning. Based on their studies, the WICS model was successful
for teachers and their learners because it (1) celebrated the differences of
learners through a supportive learning environment, (2) made students
remember better what they learned, (3) build on the strengths of the learners,
and (4) strengthened the motivations of the learners.

Torrance Framework for Creative Thinking

A common framework for creative thinking processes is described by
Torrance (1979). Each aspect is defined below, along with ways to facilitate the
respective aspect by using key words and application activities.
Fluency – this refers to the production of a great number of ideas or
alternate solutions to a problem. Fluency implies understanding, not just
remembering information that is learned.
Key words: compare, convert, count, define, describe, explain, identify,
label, list, match, name, outline, paraphrase, predict, summarize.
Sample Application Activities:
❖ Trace a picture and label the parts
❖ Outline an article you find on your topic

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 ❖ How many uses can you think of for a clothes hanger?
❖ List 15 things that are commonly red or contain red?
Example: Apple, blood, brick, caboose, cherry, Christmas stocking,exit
sign, fire alarm, flag, heart, red nose reindeer, rose, tomato, wagon
Flexibility – refers to the production of ideas that show a variety of
possibilities or realms of thought. It involves the ability to see things from
different points of view, to use many different approaches or strategies.
Key words: change, demonstrate, distinguish, employ, extrapolate,
interpolate, interpret, predict
Application ideas:
❖ What would happen if…there were no automobiles?
❖ How would a … dog look like to a flea?
❖ How is like ?
❖ How would you feel if… you were invisible for a day?
❖ How would you group the ideas about ―red‖ into categories?
Example: fruit, safety features, vehicles
Once categories are identifies, fluency may be further demonstrated by
generating more ideas about the idea red within categories. Even a modest
attempt could result in the following lists, recognizing that the creative thinking
process may shift the mind in a spiral way between all four aspects of creativity.
Elaboration – refers to the process of enhancing ideas by providing more
details. Additional detail and clarity improves interest in, and understanding of,
the topic.
Key words: appraise, critique, determine, evaluate, grade, judge, measure,
select, test.
Application ideas:
❖ Tell your neighbor about your last family trip using as many details as
possible.
❖ What can you add to to improve its quality or
performance.
❖ Describe all the possible characteristics of the red quality in a wagon.
Examples: shade, finish, texture, uniformity

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 Originality – it involves the production of ideas that are unique or
unusual. It involves synthesis or putting information about a topic back
together in a new way.
Key words: compose, create, design, generate, integrate, modify,
rearrange, reconstruct, reorganize, revise
Application ideas:
❖ Find an original use for
❖ What would be the strangest way to get out of bed?
❖ Design a new that is better than the one you have.
❖ Write an unusual title for the ideas
about red
Example: Revolutionary ―Red‖ Representation.
In its most extended and formalized for, the CPS has six stages , each
having a divergent and non-convergent phase which were described in a
skeleton by Van Gundy (1988): Mess Finding, Data Finding, Problem Finding,
Idea Finding, Solution Finding, and Acceptance Finding. You can retrieve this
from: http//www.mycoted.com/Creative Problem Solving- CPS.

Summary

Sternberg present a model for education that is relevant to the need of

the time. Time and again the world has seen leaders on countries, corporations,
religious groups and other institutions who have been considered intelligent.
They were capable of serious analysis of issues and problems. They were good
at coming up with new ideas. However, some of these leader lacked the moral
and ethical ―muscles‖ to really act for the goodof their people and not just for
their own. Your role as a teacher is not to educate the mind alone, but to
educate the soul as well. Accept this not justas a job but embrace it as a
mission.
Sternberg proposed that while education develop analytical and practical
intelligence as well as creativity, wisdom should be an integral part of the whole
process. Whatever topic you will be teaching, it is important to integrate
questions, tasks or activities that target the development of wisdom. You should
also come up with creative ways for your learners to put togetheror synthesize
intelligence, creativity and wisdom.
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 Moreover, Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is an intentional process for
solving problems and discovering opportunities. It espouses the use of creativity
in coming up with solutions which are not only novel but practical as well. In the
1950s Alex Osborn described this process in his book, Applied Imagination.
Osborn opened the process in the public domain which meant anyone can use
it. Over the years countless people have utilized the CPs in the various fields
and endeavors.

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 CHAPTER 4

FOCUS ON CLASSROOM PROCESSES

Studying is a hard task. However, it ceases to be a task if you have the

right kind and the right amount of motivation. it is the act or process of
motivating, a force, stimulus or influence. It is an inner drive that causes you
to do something and persevere at something to achieve your setting goals.
The lessons in this chapter will present important theories, principles and
strategies influencing the learning processes most particularly on motivation,
sources of motivation, factors affecting motivation,. Furthermore, it will also
discuss the implications of these theories to classroom practices and the social
and cultural influences on the cognitive and motivational process of learning.

General Objectives

At the end of the chapter, the students can:

a. define motivation and identify its types;
b. explain the theories on the sources of motivation ;
c. discuss the factors affecting motivation;
c. cite the implication of these theories to classroom processes;
d. present the social and cultural influences on the cognitive andmotivational
processes of learning; and
e. answer the given activities after the lessons.

What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:

1. define motivation ;
2. distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; and
3. justify the role of extrinsic motivation in view of the development of intrinsic
motivation.

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Pre-discussion
Motivation is an inner drive that causes you to do something and
persevere at something. It energizes you to do something. It is the strength of
the drive toward an action. While ability refers to what children can do,
motivation refers to what these children will do. Motivation refers to the initiation,
direction, intensity and persistence of behavior. When we get motivated to do
something, it is not enough that we start working at that thing but that we get
attracted to it. Our attraction towards it becomes so intensethat we persist
working on it through thick and thin until its completion.
Learner‘s motivation is the primary factor influencing both performance
and success in school (Ryan, et al, 2007).

Lesson Outline
Motivation, Its Meaning and Types
Motivation can be defined as a reason (or reasons) which leads an
individual to act in a certain way. The phenomenon of motivation isn‘t limited
to just humans, and occurs in every organism living. The reasons might not
always be the same between two individuals acting in a certain way, but
almost every action is directed by certain motivation. Intrinsic and Extrinsic
motivation are completely in contrast with each other in the manner they work.
Intrinsic motivation refers to getting motivated from the inside or self-
motivation. In other words, intrinsic motivation means doing something just
because you want to. There is neither pressure nor any sort of reward for your
actions, but you still do them because you want to or you believe it‘s the right
thing to do. Intrinsic motivation can also be termed as the stimulation that drives
an individual to bring about change or perform certain behavior for hisor her
own internal satisfaction or pleasure.
The concept of intrinsic motivation was first acknowledged when
conducting experimental studies of animal behavior. It was seen that animals
engaged in playful activities even without any presence of reward. Intrinsic
motivation has now been found to be a fundamental natural motivational
tendency in cognitive, social and physical development of an organism. It is
an important factor that helps a person to learn and improve themselves to be
better. The needs or causes that lead to intrinsic motivation are:
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 ❖ Autonomy: the need to have complete control over one‘s own life.
❖ Relatedness: the need to maintain companionship or connection with
others.
❖ Competence: the need to do be the best and/or succeed.
Example 1: Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective, never solved
cases for money or fame. Curiosity always got the best of him and he solved
them because he wanted to, he needed to for self-satisfaction of knowing.
Example 2: A student attending guitar classes because he wanted to. Whether
he was inspired by some rock stars or he just enjoyed the idea of playing in front
of a crowd, this sort of motivation is classified as intrinsic motivation.
In contrast to intrinsic motivation, is extrinsic motivation which refers to
self-motivation or motivation from within, Extrinsic motivation is further referred
to as the action or behavior performed in the hopes of receiving an external
reward or outcome. This form of motivation differs from intrinsic motivation in
the way it works, its effects, advantages and disadvantages.
Whenever an individual performs an action or behavior because the
individual is affected by the external factors such as rewards or punishments,
such form of motivation is called extrinsic motivation. Whenever a person is
motivated by external factors, whether to avoid negative consequences or to
achieve positive outcomes, it is wholly considered to be extrinsic motivation.
There can be numerous causes of extrinsic motivation. Some of the most
common needs (external factors) that lead a person to do certain things are
❖ Money
❖ Praise
❖ Competition
❖ Threat of a punishment
Example 1: From the example of the Sherlock Holmes in the Intrinsic Motivation,
if Sherlock Holmes solved cases for money and/or fame; that would be an
example of extrinsic motivation.
Example 2: A student attends guitar classes because his parents promise to
double his allowance money.
The classic example of extrinsic motivation applies to most of us normal
folks. Most folks working 9 to 5 job are unmoved and don‘t even care

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about their personal interests or happiness regarding the job. They work

because they get paid for it. Things like happiness are irrelevant for most
working class men and women. Some of its advantages are:
Extrinsic incentives can be used to motivate a whole group, thus increasing
productivity in workplace or creating a better learning environment in
classrooms. Extrinsic incentives lead to individual benefits. These motivations
can lead to behavior, which would have never been possible otherwise.
Example: A student might never feel the intrinsic motivation to study, but
external factors like medals or other forms of prize might motivate the student
to study harder. However, there are also some noted disadvantages of such as:
extrinsic motivations have been known to down the intrinsic motivation in an
individual. This could interfere with a person‘s happiness. Folks who spend their
whole life chasing rewards at work often retire only to regret the things they
missed in life.
.For the students, their levels of motivation is shown in their choice of
action, intensity and persistence of effort. If you have a highly motivatedstudent,
you have a student who is excited about learning and accomplishing things. He
/She takes the initiative to undertake learning tasks, assignments and projects
without being pushed by his/her teachers and parents. He/ She has goals to
accomplish and dreams to realize. He/ She is convinced that accomplishing the
things he/ she is asked to accomplish in class helps her/him realize the goals
he/ she has set for herself/himself and his/her dream in life. He/ She is willing to
give up the satisfaction of immediate goals for sake of more important remote
goals. An example is her willingness to give up joining his/her ―barkada‖ to
watch a movie in order to prepare thoroughly for final examinations.
A student who is highly motivated to learn enjoys learning and learns
much more than the one who is not as motivated. He/ She persists and
perseveres in her/his studies even when things turn out to be difficult. He/ She
does not give up easily. As a result, his/her performance is satisfactory. In
contrast, a student who is not motivated does not enjoy learning, does not study
unless ―pushed‖. When s/he feels the difficulty of study, s/he readily gives up.
S/he lacks perseverance.
In summary, motivated students have the following characteristics traits:

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 ❖ have positive attitudes toward school and describe school as satisfying.
❖ persist on difficult tasks and cause few management problems.
❖ process information in depth and excel in classroom learning expertise.
(Stipek, 1996, 2002 cited by Wooltol, 2013)
Main Types of Motivation
Motivation is classified as either intrinsic or extrinsic. It is intrinsic when
the source of motivation is from within the person himself/herself sake (Schunk
et al, 2008). An example is when a student reads pocketbooks because s/he
herself/himself wants to read them or because reading them is in itself
worthwhile and enjoyable. Motivation is extrinsic when that which motivates a
person is someone or something outside him/her. When a student fail and
his/her parents will make her/him stop schooling or because it willlead to a
good grade, we can say that s/he is extrinsically motivated. Extrinsic motivation
is motivation to engage in an activity as a means to an end. In our examples,
the student studies to please her/his teacher, parents or to get a good grade.
He does not study for the joy of studying. Obviously, intrinsic motivation is more
beneficial than extrinsic motivation because intrinsic motivation comes from
within the person himself/herself. If that which motivates a person is something
or someone outside, the moment that person or that something is gone, the
person‘s motivation is also gone. Intrinsic motivation is evident when people
engage in an activity for its own sake, without some obvious external incentive
present. Reading for no reason other than the joy of reading illustrates intrinsic
motivation. Research indicates that intrinsic motivation is preferable because of
its focus on learning and understanding (Brophy, 2004).
To elucidate further about these types of motivation, let us try to focus on
each of them particularly on the internal and external rewards they use to
motivate.
1. Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation represents all the things that motivate you based on
internal rewards like self-improvement or helping a friend in need. For example,
you may be motivated to get a promotion because you‘ll learnvaluable skills.
Conversely, you might be motivated to succeed because you
want to positively affect the lives of the people around you.

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However, while the above examples are positive, intrinsic motivation can also
have negative drivers. For example, you can motivate yourself to learn new
things because otherwise you‘ll feel unfulfilled. The outcome of your actions is
positive, but the specific type of motivation you used was focused on stopping
a negative outcome rather than creating a positive outcome. For this reason and
more, there are many types of intrinsic motivation that all focus on a specific
motivational reward or driver.
Regardless of positive or negative, intrinsic motivation is typically more
sustainable than extrinsic motivation because it usually focuses on positive or
altruistic things you can control. Conversely, extrinsic motivation typically
focuses on things that are given to you by someone else and therefore is not
directly within your control to achieve.
2. Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation represents all the things that motivate you based
on external rewards like money or praise. These types of motivation are more
common than intrinsic motivators and include achieving things due to a
tangible incentive, fear, or expectation, all of which depend on external
factors. For example, people want to get a promotion because of the expected
raise.Like intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation can sometimes be negative.
For example, you can be motivated to perform better at your job due to
fear of being fired. This shows that extrinsic motivation, like its high-level
counterpart, has many different motivational-types that highlight a specific
external motivational driver and explains how effective it is at motivation. As you
can see, motivation is more complex than simply categorizing it as either an
internal or external incentive.
Types of Internal Motivation
Here are the specific types of intrinsic motivation and the rewards they
use to motivate:
❖ Competence & Learning Motivation
Competence motivation, also known as learning motivation, states that
people are motivated more by the process itself rather than by the reward at the
end. The reason is that people who are motivated by competence motivation
are literally motivated by the act of learning or getting better asthey move
towards the completion of a goal or task instead of the destination
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itself.For example, if you want a promotion because you‘ll learn valuable skills
and not because of the higher expected salary, you‘re motivated by competence
or learning motivation. This is an extremely valuable motivator and should be
used in almost any motivational strategy. This is because new, relevant skills
are often more valuable than even money because, unlike material things,
they‘re assets that no one can take away from you.
❖ Attitude Motivation
Attitude motivation refers to the type of motivation that‘s cultivated
through the desire to change the way you or other people think and feel.While
it has some similarities to the externally-focused social motivation below,
people who are motivated by attitude engage in actions and interactions with
the express intent of making themselves and the people around them feel better
in a positive and uplifting way.For example, if you‘re motivated to work for a non-
profit or volunteer in a soup kitchen because making people feel good makes
you feel good, you‘re motivated by a change in attitude. Similarly, if you‘re a
manager at a company and you get joy out of helping your direct reports grow
and succeed, you‘re also taking part in attitude motivation.
❖ Achievement Motivation
Achievement motivation states that people are driven by the desire to
pursue and achieve specific goals. People who are driven by this type of
motivation desire the achievement of a task or goal itself, and not necessarily
because of the reward that‘s attached. For example, an entrepreneur might
build a business for the goal of building a world-class organization, and not
necessarily because there‘s money involved.
If you‘re driven by achievement motivation, you are typically self-motivated and
process-oriented, meaning that you value the process of getting better more
than the end result itself. While the achievement of a goal might seem like an
external reward, in actuality this type of motivation is largely internal. This is
because you aren‘t enamored by the glitz and glamour of a reward like money,
but rather the feeling of accomplishment you get when you complete a worthy
task.

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 ❖ Creative Motivation
Many people are motivated by creativity or the innate drive for creative
expression. When you‘re motivated by the desire to express yourself, you are
tapping into creative motivation. Examples of creative motivation include things
in which you feel compelled to create, such as the motivation to write a book,
act in a movie, play the guitar, build a product, or start a business.
Creative motivation typically manifests itself as an internal feeling that you have
something to say that needs to get out. Whether you want the entire world to
see your art or just a few people, anything you create in an attempt at self-
expression is driven by creative motivation. While the things you create can be
tangible they can also be intangible or ephemeral.
❖ Physiological Motivation
Often, humans are driven by some internal force beyond their
explanation. For example, this is sometimes the case when you pursue
someone out of love. Your actions are motivated by deep physiological feelings
that are primal and cannot be ignored, regardless of how hard we try. This
represents the physiological motivational factors that are both internaland
outside of our control.
Consider Maslow‘s Heirarchy of Needs. All humans are motivated by basic
needs such as food and shelter, as well as higher-level psychological needs
and self-fulfillment. These needs are innate in all of us and we are internally-
motivated to achieve them at all costs, making it helpful when trying to
understand the thought process of yourself or others.
Types of External Motivation
Here are the specific types of extrinsic motivation and the rewards they
use to motivate:
❖ Incentive Motivation
Incentive motivation, unlike achievement motivation, says that people
are motivated more by the reward than by the achievement of the goal itself.
Instead of being motivated by the pursuit of a task, those who are motivated
by incentives are driven to take action because of an expected (and often
specific) reward. For example, if you want a promotion because of the higher
salary and not because the new responsibility makes you feel fulfilled, you are
motivated by incentives over achievement. However, incentive motivation isn‘t
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a bad thing. In fact, while it seems like the opposite of achievement motivation,
the two can actually be used together. For example, if you want a promotion,
you can be motivated both by the higher salary as well as themore complex
and fulfilling work. In scenarios like this, it‘s a win-win, because you are
externally rewarded as well as internally fulfilled. Seek goals or tasks that have
incentives as well as elements of achievement motivation.
❖ Fear Motivation
Fear motivation is a motivational type that uses consequences to drive
people into action. Fear motivation can be thought of as a ―negative motivator‖
in that you aren‘t motivated by a reward but by the avoidance of pain or
consequences. Rather than incentivizing yourself or others with positive
motivators, fear motivation uses punishment or negative motivators—like getting
fired—as a way to keep you productively moving towards specific goals, tasks,
or deliverables.
While fear motivation sounds bad, it can actually be used as a positive. For
example, if you need to get in shape, you can plan a summer pool party at
your house or apartment complex, and use the fear of showing up out of shape
as motivation to stick with the gym and your diet. Think of fear motivation as
positive stressors or positive constraints that help you outsmart your future self,
overcome bad habits, and live the life you want (but might be too afraid to go
after).
❖ Power Motivation
Power motivation is a motivational factor that says people are motivated
by control over their own lives and the lives of others. Everyone wants choices,
and people are often motivated to increase their overall life- options and control
the environment around them. For this reason, power motivation manifests itself
in the desire to affect the direction of our lives and the lives of those around us.
Power motivation, taken to its extreme, can be seen in real-world horrors
like Nazi Germany and other scenarios where the hunger to control others
outweighs any moral obligation or code. However, when scaled back, power
motivation can actually be positive. For example, while it might be bad to control
others, trying to place control over your own life can be a good

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thing. Power motivation, then, motivates you to be intentional in your thoughts
and actions so you manifest the life you want.
❖ Affiliation & Social Motivation
Humans are social creatures, and social motivation—also known as
affiliation motivation—states that people are motivated by social factors like
belonging and acceptance. Humans have an innate desire to connect with
others, and social motivation causes us to seek connections by contributing to
a social group. While it may seem internally motivating, acceptance is often
the motivating factor, which isn‘t something you can give yourself within a group.
The Role of Extrinsic Motivation
Initially, extrinsic motivation is necessary to develop the love for learning
among poorly motivated students. If good grades, rewards, praises or words of
encouragement or fear of failing grade can motivate unmotivated students to
study, why not? For as long as student are hardly motivated, external motivation
in the form of rewards, incentives or punishment play a significant role in the
development of motivated students. It is expected, however, that these extrinsic
motivational factors by gradually replaced by internal motivation. In the
concrete, this means that after motivating the students to study by way of
reward, praise, encouragement, punishment,hopefully the students develop the
genuine love for learning and becomes intrinsically motivated in the process. In
short, we may begin employing extrinsic motivation at the start but this should
fade away as the students get intrinsically motivated themselves.

Summary
Intrinsic motivation is shown in the enjoyment of the activity itself and the
inner conviction of the learner that such things are the right things to do in order
to realize a personal goal or a life dream. It yields more advantages that extrinsic
motivation. However, extrinsic motivation also plays an important function when
a learner is not yet intrinsically motivated to learn. For optimum learning, this
extrinsic motivation, however, must gradually take the back seat as intrinsic
motivation comes to the fore.

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 There are varieties of different forces at play in order for an individual
to be motivated to perform certain actions. So, as a learner, all the theories must
be studied and evaluated on a broader perspective to grasp the full
understanding of forces that cause motivation.Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
are the two main types of motivation and represent all motivational drivers.
Intrinsic motivation describes all motivational-types driven by internal rewards
while extrinsic motivation describes all motivational-types driven by external
rewards. However, within these two broad categories are more granular types
of motivation that highlight specific motivating factors.
Furthermore, evolutionary psychology tells us that all humans are
motivated by social factors. For this reason, it‘s important to always seek new
connections as well as continue to grow the connections individuals already
have. Finding a group of people who love and accept you, can motivate you to
new heights and result in true happiness.

While it‘s also important to have a baseline understanding of general

internal and external rewards, the motivational-types that fall within thesebroad
intrinsic or extrinsic categories and better identify specific rewards and
incentives you can use to motivate your students and you yourself as an
educator.

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 Lesson 6

At the end of the lesson, the students can:

1. determine the theories on the sources of motivation ;
2. cite the implications of these theories in the facilitation of learning;
3. explain the two principles on the social &cultural influences on
motivation; and

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4. answer the given activities after the lesson.
Pre- discussion
There is currently no unified theory to explain the origins or elements of
intrinsic motivation. Most explanations combine elements of Bernard Weiner‘s
attribution theory, Bandura‘s work on self-efficacy, Maslow‘s Hierarchy of
Needs, William Glasser‘s choice theory, and other studies relating to goal
orientation.
It is thought that students are more likely to experience intrinsic
motivation if they attribute their educational results to internal factors that they
can control ( e.g., the amount of effort they put in, not fixed ability). They are
also likely to be intrinsically motivated when they believe they can be effective
agents in reaching desired goals(e.g., thye results are not determined bydumb
luck).

Lesson Outline

Attribution Theory
What is the attribution theory? This theory explains that we attribute our
successes or failures or other events to several factors. For instance, you
attribute your popularity performance or you attribute the poor economic
condition you are in to the Land Reform of the Philippine government (your
lands were subjected to land reform) or to the vices of your father. These
attributions differ from one another in three ways – locus, stability and
controllability (Ormrod, 2004).
1. Locus (place): Internal versus external. If your student traces his good grade
to his ability and to his hard work, he attributes his good grade to internal factor.
If your student, however, claims that his good grade is due to the effective
teaching of his teacher or to the adequate library facilities, he attributes his good
grades to factors external to himself.
2. Stability: Stable versus unstable. If you attribute your poor performance to
what you have inherited from your parents, then you are attributing the cause of
your performance to something stable, something that cannot change because
it is in your genes. If you attribute it to excessive watching of tv, then you are
claiming that your poor eyesight is caused by an unstable factor,

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something that can change. (You can prolong or shorten your period of
watching tv).
3. Controllability: Controllable versus uncontrollable. If your student claims his
poor academic performance is due to his teacher‘s ineffective teaching strategy,
he attributes his poor performance to a factor beyond his control. If, however,
your student admits that his poor class performance is due to his poor study
habits and low motivation, he attributes the event to factors which are very much
within his control.
How does attribution affect motivation?
If your student attributes his/her success or failure to something within
him/her and therefore is within his/her control or to something unstable and,
therefore, can be changed s/he is more likely to be motivated. If, however,
your student traces his/her success to something outside him/her and therefore
beyond his/her control, He/ She is likely to be less motivated. Motivation tends
to increase when students attribute failure to lack of effort because effort can be
controlled. It tends to decrease when students attribute failure to uncontrollable
causes (e.g. luck, or ability if viewed as stable (Weinstock, 2007).
Self-Efficacy Theory
A sense of high self-efficacy means a high sense of competence. Self-
efficacy is the belief that one has the necessary capabilities to perform a task,
fulfill role expectations, or meet a challenging situation successfully. When your
students believe that they have the ability to perform learning activities
successfully, they are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to do such
learning activities. The secret, therefore, to enhancing intrinsic motivation is
enhancing our students‘ sense of self-efficacy. Social cognitive theorists
identified several self-efficacy – enhancing strategies.
❖ Make sure students master the basic skills. Mastery of the basic skills
like reading, writing, arithmetic will enable the child to tackle higher not
mastered the basic skills! Unable to perform higher-level learning tasks
that require display and use of basic skills, your student will feel he is a
failure in his school life.
❖ Help them make noticeable progress on difficult tasks. You like to give
up climbing a mountain when you feel that you are not making

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 progress at all. When you have spent hours and hours on a difficult task
and you seem not to be progressing, you are made to think that your
efforts are leading you nowhere and you are helped to see progress
while you are working on your difficult task. The knowledge that you are
progressing inspires you inspires you to keep on.
❖ Communicate confidence in students‘ abilities through words and
actions. Express confidence that your students with all their abilities
can easily tackle the learning task. Words like, ―if you were able to do a
more difficult task yesterday, what you are asked to do today is much
easier than that of yesterday.‖ Needless to say that your body language
and your words expressing your belief in their abilities must match.
❖ Expose them to successful peers. Being with successful peers, your
students will inhale success and get energized to succeed as well.
Success is infectious in the same way that failure is also contagious.
(Ormnod, 2004).
Other recommendations from motivation theorists are:
❖ Provide competence-promoting feedback. Communicate to your
students that they can do the job. They have the ability to succeed.
❖ Promote mastery on challenging tasks. Don‘t give your students
extremely difficult nor extremely easy tasks. If the task you give is
extremely easy, they do not get challenged and you do not draw the best
from them; if it is extremely difficult, they get frustrated. Then it is best to
strike the golden mean between the two extremes. A challenging task is
one that encourages your students to stretch themselves to their limits.
❖ Promote self-comparison rather than comparison with other. Desiderata
says: If you compare yourself with others, you will become vain and
bitter. For always there will be greater and lesser persons than
yourself.‖
After encouraging your students to set their personal goals, ask them
to evaluate their progress against their own goals.
❖ Be sure errors occur within an overall context of success. (Ormrod,
2004) There will always be errors or mistakes as we learn, as we go

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 through life. But they cease to be mistakes once we learn from them. But
if it is all errors that come one after another without a taste of success,
chances are your students will feel so down that they are robbed of the
courage to proceed. ―The learning process requires the challenge of new
and different experiences, the trying of the unknown, and therefore,
necessarily must involve the making of mistakes. Inorder for people to
learn, they need the opportunity to explore new situations and ideas
without being penalized or punished for mistakes which are integral to
the activity of learning.‖ (Ortigas, 1990).
Self-Determination and Self-Regulation Theories
Students are intrinsically motivated when they have a sense of self-
determination when they believe that they have some choice and control
regarding the things they do and the directions their lives take. A student‘s
sense of self-determination is demonstrated in his capacity for self-regulation.
Self-regulation refers to a person‘s ability to master himself. He is the ―I am the
captain of my soul‖ type of person. He is not a victim of circumstances. He is
capable of directing himself.
What are indicators of self-regulation? They are the abilities to:
• set standards for oneself
• monitor and evaluate one‘s own behavior against such standards, and
• impose consequences on oneself for one‘s successes or failures.
(Ornrod, 2004)
How does self-regulation relate to motivation?
A student who is capable of self-regulation is more likely to be more
intrinsically motivated because he sets his goals and standards, he monitors his
progress, and evaluates his own performance.
A student who is capable of self-regulation, is not only capable of
reulating his behavior but he is also capable of regulating his own learning.
Ormrod (2004) cites the following processes involved in self-regulated learning:
❖ Goal-setting. Self-regulated learners know what they want to accomplish
when they read or study.
❖ Planning. Self-regulated learners determine ahead of time how best to
use the time they have available for learning.

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 ❖ Attention control. Self-regulated learners try to focus their attention on
the subject matter at hand and clear their minds of distracting thoughts
and emotions.
❖ Application of learning strategies. Self-regulated learners choose
different learning strategies depending on the specific goal they want to
accomplish.
❖ Self-monitoring. Self-regulated learners continually monitor their
progress toward their goals and they change their learning strategies or
modify their goals, if necessary.
❖ Self-evaluation. Self-regulated learners determine whether ewhat they
have learned is sufficient for the goals they have set.
A student who has self-determination and self-regulation is more likely to be
intrinsically motivated and so is more capable of self-regulated learning.
Here are some suggestions from motivation theorists to enhance
students‘ sense of self-determination about school activities and assignments.
❖ Present rules and instructions in an informational manner rather than
controlling manner. Here are examples on how to present rules in an
informational manner:
• ―We can make sure everyone has an equal chance to speak and be
heard if we listen without interrupting and if we raise our hands when
we want to contribute to the discussion.‖
• ―I‘m giving you a particular format to follow when you do your Math
homework. If you use this format, it will be easier for me to find your
answers and to figure out how I can help you improve.‖
❖ Provide opportunities for students to make choices. A particular lesson
objective can be reached by the use of varied strategies. Students will
be more likely to be intrinsically motivated to attain the objective when
they are given the freedom to choose how to attain it, of course, within
the set parameters. An example is when we allow our students to choose
their manner of group work presentation to the class after the group
activity.
❖ Evaluate student performance in a non-controlling fashion.
Communicate evaluation results to inform your students of their

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 progress without passing judgment of some sort but to make them see
that they are strong in some points but not so in other items. The practice
of self-evaluation especially with the use of scoring rubrics will be of great
help. Says renowned author, consultant and speaker Alfie Kohn,
―rewards for learning undermines intrinsic motivation,‖ Kohn Alfie (1993).
Choice Theory
Bob Sullo (2007) stated that ― the choice theory is a biological theory
that suggests that we are born with specific needs that we are genetically
instructed to satisfy.‖ All of our behavior represents our best attempt at any
moment to satisfy our basic needs or genetic instructions. In addition to the
physical need for survival, we have four basic psychological needs that must be
satisfies to be emotionally healthy:
• Belonging or connecting
• Power or competence
• Freedom
• Fun
The need for belonging or connecting motivates us to develop
relationships and cooperative with others. Without the need for belonging and
cooperating, we would only survive to be independent.The need for power is
more than just a drive to dominate, Power is gained through competence,
achievement and mastery. Our genetic instruction is to achieve, master new
skills and to be recognized for our accomplishments…
As humans, we are also motivated to be free, to choose. Having choices
is part of what it means to be human and is one reason our species has been
able to evolve, adapt, and thrive. Each time we learn somethingnew, we are
having fun, another universal human motivator. It is our playfulness and our
sense of discovery that allow us to learn as much as we do.
What do these imply to our task to facilitate learning? We have to come
up with a need-satisfying environment. To motivate our students for learning,
we should satisfy their need to belong, their need to have power by being
competent, the need to have a free choice, and the need to enjoy learning
and have fun.

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 How can these be done? If we create a sense of community in the
classroom and make every student feel s/he belongs to that classroom
community, he/she will more likely love to go to school. If we make use of
cooperative learning structures, we strengthen the spirit of cooperation and
collaboration and reduce, if not eliminate, the spirit of cut-throat competition.
(For examples of cooperative learning structures, please refer to Principles of
Teaching 1 written by Brenda B. Corpuz and Gloria G. Salandaman.) In a non-
threatening atmosphere, students are more likely to perform.
To satisfy our students‘ need for power, let us help them acquire it by making
them achieve, by making them master their lessons and end up very competent.
As a result of their competence and excellent achievement, they get recognized
and experience genuine power.
Let us teach our students that the source of authentic power is
competence, not bullying and other irresponsible behaviors. This way, they will
learn the true road to real power.To motivate our students for learning, let us
give them ample freedom to choose within parameters that are safe and
responsible, developmentally appropriate, and supportive of learning for that
is the ultimate purpose of freedom: to help our students learn and grow into
the responsible persons they are called to be. When our students are made to
feel that they have a lot of free choices, they are driven to satisfy this need for
freedom. On the other hand, when our students perceive themselves to be so
suffocated by our impositions and limits, they are most likely to behave in ways,
even irresponsible ways, to get them the freedom they believe is not satisfied.
Fun is a universal human motivator. If our student‘s need for fun is satisfied,
they are most likely to learn much.
Glasser (1990) claims ―fun is the genetic payoff of learning.‖ A joyless
classroom does not motivate students to perform. Let‘s have fun while we teach.
Without our knowing, our students are learning and mastering what we are
teaching while we are having fun.―What happens outside of us has a lot to do
with what we choose to do but the outside event does not cause our behavior.
What we get, and all we ever get from the outside is information;how we
choose to act on that information is up to us. (William Glasser. 1990 quoted by
Bob Sullo, p. 6)

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
A student‘s lower-order needs must first be met before s/he works for the
satisfaction of his/her higher-order needs. The lower-order needs include first-
level needs and second-level needs. The first-level needs are basic survival and
physiological needs for food, air, water and sleep. The second- level needs are
bodily safety and economic security.
There are three (3) levels in the higher-order needs. The first (which is
now the third level in Maslow‘s need hierarchy) is the need for love and
belonging. The needs at the fourth level include those for esteem and status,
including one‘s feelings of self-worth and of competence. The fifth level need is
self-actualization, which means becoming all that one is capable of becoming,
using one‘s skills to the fullest, and stretching talents to the maximum. Based
on Maslow‘s theory, a satisfied need is not a strong motivator but an unsatisfied
need is. Research proves that ―unless the two lower-order needs (physiological
and security) are basically satisfied, employees (in our teaching-learning
context) or our students will not be greatly concerned with higher-order needs.
(Newstrom, 1997)
For us teachers, this means that we cannot teach students with hungry
stomachs. We cannot teach students when they feel afraid and insecure. While
it is not our obligation to feed them, working with parents, the school nurse and
all others who can help can address the problem of students‘ hunger, lack of
sleep and the like.Our students‘ need for love and belonging is satisfied in a
class where they feel they belong and are accepted regardless of their
academic standing in class, economic status or ethnic background. Their need
for self-esteem is satisfied when we help them succeed, recognize their effort
and contribution no matter how insignificant and praise their achievement.
Doing so actually propels them to self-actualization.
Goal Theory
Learning goals versus performance goals. The goals we set for
ourselves affect our level of motivation. There are several types of goals. In
relation to learning we can speak of learning goals and performance goals. How
do they differ?

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 A learning goal is a ―desire to acquire additional knowledge or master
new skills‖ while a performance goal is a ―desire to look good and receive
favorable judgments from others or else look bad and receive unfavorable
judgments.‖ (Ormrod, 2004).Between these two goals, with which type of goal
is the intrinsically-motivated student occupied? Obviously, the ideal student is
the student with a learning goal. The student with a learning goal is mastery-
focused while the student with a performance goal is performance-focused.
Self-determined goals.
Personally-relevant and self-determined goals enhance a student‘s
motivation. When lesson objectives are relevant to the life of students, then they
turn out to be more motivated to learn. When the lesson objectives are owned
by the students because they find them relevant to their life, most likely they
become highly motivated for learning. This departs from de- contextualized
teaching and happens when all we do is deposit informationinto the minds of
our students, students, memorize, and we withdraw what we taught every
periodic examination.
Goal setting.
As a motivational tool, goal setting is effective when the following major
elements are present: 1.) goal acceptance, 2.) specificity, 3.) challenge, 4.)
performance monitoring, and 5.) performance feedback. Thus it is necessary
that our students accept and own our lesson objectives (see self-determined
goals in the foregoing paragraph) and that our lesson objectives must be
SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, result-oriented and time-bound) and
challenging. It is equally important that we monitor our students‘ learning.
However, simply monitoring results is not enough. We have to give our students
feedback about their performance.
Students’ Diversity in Motivation
Our students‘ motivation may vary on account of age, gender, cultural.
Socioeconomic of background and special education needs. Our class is a
conglomerate of students with varying ages and gender and most especially
cultural background and socioeconomic status. Our students‘ motivational
drives reflect the elements of the culture in which they grow up – their family,
their friends, school, church and books. To motivate all of them for learning, it is
best to employ differentiated approaches. ―Different folks, different strokes.‖
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What is medicine for one may be poison for another. There are two principles
to consider regarding social and cultural influences on motivation namely:
1. Students are most likely to model the behaviors they believe are relevant
to their situation.
2. Students develop greater efficacy for a task when they see others like
themselves performing the task successfully. (Ormrod, 2004)
What conclusion can be derived from the two principles? ―Students need
models who are similar to themselves in terms of race, cultural background,
socioeconomic status, gender, and (if applicable) disability. (Ormrod, 2004).In
the choice of a motivating method, two principles are worth remembering:
1. students are most likely to model the behaviors they believe are relevant to
their situation; and
2. students develop greater efficacy for a task when they see others like
themselves performing the tasks successfully.

Summary
There are varieties of different forces at play in order for an individual
to be motivated to perform certain actions. So, as a learner, all the theories must
be studied and evaluated on a broader perspective to grasp the full
understanding of forces that cause motivation.
In educational settings, motivation is typically taught as theories rather
than actionable advice. For this reason, the best types of motivation center
around actual educational motivational theories,Also, it must be good to expose
our students to models of their age and to models who come from similar
cultural, socio-economic backgrounds. Students‘ motivation is likely to vary as
a function of age, culture, gender, socio-economic background, and special
education needs. There is no single best method of motivating learners.

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Lesson 7 Human Environmental Factors Affecting Motivation

What to expect?

Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:

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1. identify the different teacher‘s behavioral traits that are facilitative of
learning;
2. discuss the de-motivating function of bullying in schools;
3. reflect on the behavioral traits of parents who are supportive of learning;
and
4. answer the activities given after the lesson.
Pre-discussion
If environment is defined as the sum total of one‘s surroundings then
environmental factors that affect student‘s motivation include human as well
as non-human factors. The immediate human factors that surround the learner
are the teachers, the other students and his/her parents.
The human learning environment of the learner consists of teachers,
classmates, and parents. By their very being and behavior, they can motivate
or de-motivate a child to learn from and perform in school. The interaction of the
teacher, the learner and parents produces the classroom climate for learning.

Lesson Outline
Studies suggest that management and instructional processes are key
to facilitating learning but many interview responses, emphasize the teacher‘s
affective characteristics or social and emotional behaviors, more than
pedagogical practices. Some teachers were motivating and inspiring. Others
were not.
You are grateful to those who motivated and inspired you. You must also
be grateful to those who were not as motivating and inspiring. In a way, they
also helped you become better persons in the sense that you strive to become
better than them.
Teacher’s Affective Traits
Researches cite the following affective characteristics of effective teachers
(James H. Stronge, 2002):
• Caring – Specific attributes that show caring are:
❖ sympathetic listening to students not only about life inside the
classroom but more about students‘ lives in general
❖ understanding of students‘ questions and concerns

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❖ knowing students‘ individually, their likes and dislikes, and personal
situations affecting behavior and performance
• Fairness and respect – These are shown in specific behaviors like:
❖ treating students as people
❖ avoiding the use of ridicule and preventing situations in which students
lose respect in front of their peers
❖ practicing gender, racial and ethnic fairness
❖ providing students with opportunities for them to participate and to
succeed
• Social interactions with students – The specific behaviors of a
facilitative social interactions are:
❖ consistently behaving in a friendly, personal manner while maintaining
professional distance with students
❖ working with students not for the students
❖ interacting productively by giving students responsibility and respect
❖ allowing students to participate in decision making
❖ willing to participate in class activities and demonstrating a sense of fun
❖ having a sense of humor and is willing to share jokes
• Enthusiasm and motivation for learning shown in:
❖ encouraging students to be responsible for their own learning
❖ maintaining an organized classroom environment
❖ setting high standards
❖ assigning appropriate challenges
❖ providing reinforcement and encouragement during tasks
• Attitude toward the teaching profession
❖ having dual commitment to personal learning and to students‘ learning
anchored on the belief that all students can learn
❖ helping students succeed by using differentiated instruction
❖ working collaboratively with colleagues and other staff
❖ serving as an example of a lifelong learner to his/her students and
colleagues
• Positive expectations of students manifested in:
❖ striving to make all students feel competent

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 ❖ communicating positive expectations to students, i.e., they will be
successful
❖ having high personal teaching efficacy shown in their belief that they
can cause all students to learn
• Reflective Practice
❖ reviewing and thinking on his/her teaching process
❖ eliciting feedback from others in the interest of teaching and learning

Classmates – Bullying and the Need to Belong

Students form part of the human environment of the learner. In fact, they
far outnumber the teachers in the learning environment.
The need to belong is a basic human need. Students who are accepted
by teachers and classmates feel they belong to the class. Students who feel
that they are part of the class look forward to attending and participating in class.
The sense of belongingness enhances their learning and performance. The
prevalence of bullying, however, obstructs the creation of a learningcommunity
where everyone fell that they belong. With bullying in schools, the learning
environment cannot be safe. Then by all means, bullying should be eliminated
in schools. Bullying takes on several forms. It can be mild, it can be intense or
deeply-seated and highly violent. Today, safety in schools is being raised all
over the world.
Parents as Part of the Learners’ Human Learning Environment
The learner spends at least six hours in school. The rest, he/she spends
at home. Parents, therefore, are supposed to have more opportunityto be with
their children than teachers. How many of our parents use this opportunity to
support their children in their studies?
What parents‘ behavioral traits are supportive of their children‘s
learning? Parents who are supportive of their children‘s learning are observed
to do the following:
• Follow up status of their children‘s performance
• Supervise their children in their performance
• Check their children‘s notebooks
• Review their children‘s corrected seat works and test papers

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 • Attend conferences for Parents, Teachers, and Community Association
(PTCA)
• Participate actively in school-community projects
• Confer with their children‘s teachers when necessary
• Are aware of their children‘s activities in school
• Meet the friends of their children
• Invite their children‘s friend at home
Unsupportable parent behaviors are the opposite of all those listed
above.

Summary
A teacher‘s positive affective traits such as caring, understanding,
genuine respect, enthusiasm, and professionalism; the students‘ sense of
belonging to a learning community; and parents‘ supportive behavior definitely
create a learning environment that is facilitative of learning, The contrast of
these produces a counter- productive learning environment.
Reflective practice-reviewing and thinking on his/her teaching process-
eliciting feedbacks from others in the interest of teaching and learning.The
interaction between the learner and the teacher, among the learners, and
among the learner, teacher and parents affect the learner‘s motivation. Whether
the climate that comes as a by-product of the interactions nurtures or obstructs
learning depends on the quality of these interactions. Parents support is
likewise considered as an important behavior in the development of their
children.

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 Lesson 4 The Classroom Climate

The classroom climate is more of a product of the interaction between

and among teacher and students than of the physical condition of the
classroom. The physical condition of the classroom may exert an influence on
the social interaction among the personalities in class but it may not contribute
as much as the classroom social interaction does.

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What to expect?
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:
1. describe the classroom climate that is conducive for learning by the use of
simile or metaphor;
2. discuss what is a classroom climate that facilitates quality learning; and
3. answer the given activities after the lesson.
Pre-discussion
Classroom climate refers to the prevailing mood, attitudes, standards,
and tone that you and your students feel when they are in your classroom. A
negative classroom climate can feel hostile, chaotic, and out of control. A
positive classroom climate feels safe, respectful, welcoming, and supportive
of student learning. It is one of the most important factors affecting student
learning. Such an environment provides relevant content, clear learning goals
and feedback, opportunities to build social skills, and strategies to help students
succeed (Weimer, 2009). ...
The ideal classroom is a positive place where a student can come to
work toward specific goals set before them in the class objectives. The teacher
ought to be positive, organized, outgoing, confident, and compassionate. The
instructor often sets the tone for the entire classroom. For example: If the
teacher approaches her day with dread, is not prepared, and often seems
overwhelmed then her students will play off of her attitude and disposition.
Though teachers often have very hectic schedules, however they should not let
their anxiety bleed over into their classrooms.
Lesson Outline
The classroom climate is the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical
environment where students can learn as a by-product of the social interaction
between and among teachers and students. Students experience the classroom
not as just an intellectual space but also a social, emotional, physical
environment. Classrooms that subtly or indirectly exclude certain groups of
students tend to be common from the students perspectives; students have a
particularly negative reactions to instructors who fail to acknowledge
consequential local or national events (Huston and DiPietro,1997).

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Aspects of Classroom Climate
Physical – Physical aspect of the classroom and course delivery, such as
classroom type (e.g., an auditorium, a small classroom, a lab), layout (e.g.,
students sit facing the front of the room, students sit in small groups, everyone
sits in a circle), and medium (e.g., face-to-face, online).
Intellectual – Intellectual aspect of the course and class, such as the course
content, class discussion topics, course materials (e.g., textbooks, videos
screened in class), and the forms and levels of skills and knowledge that
students are expected to demonstrate.
Social – The social aspect of classroom climate refers to relationships between
students (e.g., individualistic vs. team-oriented, or competitive vs. cooperative)
and between students and instructor (e.g., the instructor being approachable or
authoritative to students) and the social atmosphere of the class (e.g., casual,
formal, democratic, inclusive).
Emotional – The classroom contains various emotions, and the emotions can
shift quickly. Students and instructor can have different emotional reactions to
course materials and class discussions. These emotions can widely range from
discomfort to comfort, from anger to joy, from fear to empowerment, from
confusion to excitement, and everything in-between and beyond. Instructors
may not be able to fully predict or control factors that are brought into the
classroom or what may happen in the classroom, but they have a great deal
of control over, and responsibility for, the classroom environment they create.
Moreover, classroom climate is also influenced by two (2) things: (1) The
Physical Environment which covers the physical classroom condition, furniture
arrangement, seating arrangement and temperature and lighting. &
(2) The Psychological Climate. As an educator, he/she must ensure that his/her
classroom has a positive climate. The classroom climate that is conducive for
learning is one that is non-threatening yet business-like. It is a classroom where:
1. Specific classroom rules and procedures are clear;
2. Classroom rules are discussed on the first day of the class;
3. Students are involved in rule-making;
4. Acceptable behavior is reinforced and negative consequences employed;
5. Clear limit for unacceptable behavior are established;

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6. There is a healthy balance between dominance and cooperation;
7. The teacher is aware of the different needs and types of students;
8. Students‘ responsibility for their own behavior is enhanced;
9. Active learning is encouraged;
10. The individual‘s discovery of personal meaning of idea is promoted and
facilitated;
11. The unique personal and subjective nature of learning is emphasized;
12. There is respect for diversity;
13. The individual‘s right to make mistake is recognized;
14. Ambiguity is tolerated;
15. Evaluation is a cooperative process with emphasis on self-evaluation;
16. Openness of self rather than concealment of self is encouraged;
17. Learners are encouraged to trust in themselves as well as external
sources;
18. People feel respected and accepted;
19. Confrontation is allowed or permitted; and
20. The cognitive and affective faculties of the learners are developed.

Summary
The classroom climate is a by-product of the social interactions between
and among teachers and students. The conducive classroom climate is one that
is business-like yet non-threatening. It is a classroom where expectations, rules
and procedures, limits on behavior are made clear fromthe very first day of
school.
The teacher, who is the leader, is fully aware of what is happening and
is in control of the classroom proceedings and yet conveys the message that
he/she is interested in the concerns of students as a whole; he/she makes it
clear to the students that they are made responsible for their own behavior.
The teachers get affected not only by the psychological climate in the
classroom. But also by the physical condition of the learning place. The learner
is put at a disadvantage when the classroom is overcrowded, dark and damp.
We hear of teachers saying ―it gets into my nerve‖ when students are
unnecessarily noisy and unruly in a classroom that is disorganized. The

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physical learning environment matters, too, in facilitating learning because it is
the immediate environment of the learner.
Let us not forget the fact that while the physical condition of the
classroom and the persons that the students interact with constitute their
immediate environment, our students are also influenced by factors outside
their immediate environment, Our students bring to the classroom many
attitudes as a result of their being conditioned by their families, their ethnic
groups, their communities: These attitudes influence their class performance.

Assessment/Enrichment Activities
In a short size bond paper, give what is asked in the following:
1. Give adjectives that can best describe the classroom climate that is
conducive to learning. Write the antonym for each adjective. (15pts)
2. In your words, give the conditions that give rise to a classroom climate that
is conducive for learning (10)
3. Describe an ideal classroom atmosphere by means of a simile or metaphor
(10pts)
4. Make a graphic organizer indicating your own concept of a classroom
setting (15pts).
5. Is a quiet classroom necessarily favorable for learning? If yes, why? If not,
why? (10pts)
6. Design a classroom that is conducive for learning. Indicate color of paint,
arrangement of desks/chairs, teacher‘s table and other fixtures. (29pts)

Lesson 9 Assessment & Strategies That Can Increase Motivation

What to expect?
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:
1. discuss assessment strategies that can increase motivation;
2. cite ways to make assessment more motivating to students;
3. demonstrate appreciation of assessment as a process to evaluate and
facilitate learning; and
4. answer the given activities after the lesson.

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Pre-discussion
Motivational strategies are tactics, techniques, or approaches to
encourage learners or students to participate in the teaching and learning
process. Teachers should always have in mind that students must be clarified
about their objectives every time so that they will have a sense of ownership
of the lesson and that they can also set their own personal targets or goals.
Furthermore, teachers should engage the students in self-assessment
after they have established or set a clear target..
Lesson Outline
Teachers are facilitators of learning. As such, they must endeavor to
create a student-centered classroom and motivate students for success in the
teaching-learning process. . For many students who struggle with motivation,
giving them more ownership and opportunity to offer their own opinions canbe
very helpful.
Teachers must focus more on the Intrinsic Motivation, give students a s, take
the time to personalize, and encourage students to monitor their own progress.
Teachers who develop useful assessments, provide corrective
instruction, and give students second chances to demonstrate success ,can
improve their instruction and help students learn. Plus, the results are
immediate and easy to analyze at the individual student‘s level. Sometimes
small, quick strategies can make major differences in student motivation.They
can increase student involvement with the lesson and stop interference and
distractions. Each of the following strategies was developed to meet the needs
of urban students and has had great results.
1. Follow Through- It helps students who have highly unstructured home lives,
as is the case for so many urban youth, to understand that your requests are
serious and that you will follow through on them. This reinforces the underlying
stability of the classroom environment, reduces powerstruggles, and, hopefully,
cuts down on the kind of repetitive requests for behavior changes that students
inevitably come to view as nagging and that, as a result of this perception,
frequently erode motivation.
2. Let All Students Hear- Students sometimes have difficulty hearing the
teacher and one another regardless of class size, but this problem intensifies

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in an overly large class, either because the space itself is bigger or because the
buzz of conversation makes listening impossible. Students rarely tell their
teacher when they cannot hear the lesson or another student's comments.
Instead, they simply tune out. If you have ever been in a workshop or similar
group where you had to struggle to hear the questions being asked, then you
understand the frustration these students feel. Solve the problem by privately
asking students on the sides and in the back of the room if they can hear you.
It might seem repetitious, but do this at least twice a week. In addition, when
students interact with you during a discussion or question-and-answer session,
repeat for the class the answers given or comments made. Keep in mind that
although you can hear them, other students might not.
3. Stop Student Texting- We cannot escape the degree to which cell phones
and texting are ensconced in our culture. The Pew Internet & American Life
Project reported in 2009 that 71 percent of American teens own a cell phone
(compared with 45 percent in 2004), 50 percent sometimes use informal
capitalization and punctuation in school assignments, and 38 percent have used
texting lingo in schoolwork (Lenhart, 2009). Not only do students text one
another throughout the day, but parents also frequently text students, usually
for no good reason. (Have you ever asked a student to put his cell phone away
only to have him say, "But it's my mother. . . ."?) Taking cell phones away may
not be worth the battle it usually generates or the loss of learning caused by that
battle. In addition, cell phones can save lives inemergencies. It is preferred that
holding a class meeting to discuss how to handle inappropriate cell phone use
will be conducted. Solicit students' suggestions and use them when you
discover inappropriate cell phone use.Of course, stopping cell phone use in
class requires us to detect it, a challenge in itself. Students find ways to text
on devices hidden in pockets, earpieces can easily be hidden by long hair, and
adults can't always hear high-pitched ring tones. Seeing cell phone use from
the front of the classroom is difficult, so that the teacher should make sure
that he/she moves aroundthe room as he/she teaches (a technique that can
help address a variety of problems). If he/she sees a student using a cell phone
or other mobile device, the teacher must be firm and insistent about putting it
away. Use the plan adopted in your class meeting. If a student consistently
receives calls or texts
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from a parent during class time, call the parent—or ask an administrator to call—
and politely insist that he or she contacts the school office rather than interrupt
the student in the class.
Example: A teacher from Dallas found a creative way to address the cell phone
problem. If students wanted to bring a cell phone to class, they had to pay a
dollar at the beginning of the year (help was provided for students who couldn't
pay). The teacher took a dime from the dollar every time a student refused to
put his phone away when asked. If a student's dollar ran out, he or she had to
pay another. The money collected was donated to a charity chosen by the
class at the end of the year, and the unused balance was returned to the
students.
Sometimes when we call on a student who is uninvolved or not paying
attention, he shrugs his shoulders or looks away. "I don't know," he says, his
tone of voice proclaiming "And I don't care, either." We may be tempted to give
up and call on a student who is more likely to respond. We all prefer to call on
students who are actively involved. Rather than let this student go, however, it
makes more sense to show him that you expect him to be involved in classroom
activities. One response is to channel Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic
character the Terminator, whose tag line was "I'll be back." The following
sample dialogue demonstrates the Terminator technique:
Teacher: Darleen, what is the definition of an adjective?
Darleen: I dunno.
Teacher: That's OK. I don't expect you to know everything. But you deserve
another chance. I'll call on you again soon.
Darleen: Whatever!
Teacher (seven minutes later): Darleen, here's another chance for you. What
is the definition of a noun?
Darleen: Still dunno.
Teacher: That's OK, but you still deserve a chance to get one right. I'll call on
you again soon.
(The teacher continues to call on Darleen until she gives an answer.)
The idea in this example is to let your student know that you won't let her
off the hook and that you expect her to answer. This works best with gentle
persistence. In other words, call on the student enough to show resolve
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but not so much as to be overbearing or aggressive. The teacher should
remember that each student has a different tolerance for persistence, sowatch
for signs of severe frustration. Naturally, the student will show some frustration
when continually called on, but no student can be allowed to believe that she
can simply coast through class. This only reinforces the student's self-
perception that she is unable to learn.
4. Reduce Distractions - All students can get distracted, but children with
ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) are especially susceptible to
interruptions and distractions. MarylnAppelbaum, noted author and teacher
trainer, suggests screening out visual distractions by building a carrel desk out
of two manila folders stapled together to form a three-sided structure. Inaddition,
due to their tendency to fidget, students with ADHD sometimes create
distractions for other students. One such behavior is pencil tapping. The
problem is not the tapping but the resulting noise. Letting the student tap on
tissue, a sponge, or a mouse pad eliminates the distraction while still allowing
the student to expend pent-up energy.
To accommodate students who find it difficult to sit through an entire
class period, consider providing stand-up desks or asking the music department
to loan out music stands. Richards (2008) points out that "stand- up desks
provide a firm footing for fidgety students and teachers report improved focus
and behavior." The ability to stand up or sit down as needed during a lesson
provides movement and comfort for those students who simply cannot sit still.
This option can be offered to students of all ages, but itis especially useful for
those in middle school. Don't forget the "fair is not necessarily equal" principle
when students who do not need this accommodation ask for it.
5. Start On Time - Many teachers, especially at the secondary level, don't start
class on time. Some are still preparing the day's lesson, some are writing the
lesson on the board, and still others are simply waiting for all their students to
arrive. Starting class late, however, can exacerbate tardiness: the later class
starts, the later students know they can be. Starting on time is important
because, like many of the other suggestions and techniques I offerin this book,
it provides a predictable environment for students who have unstructured home
lives. To avoid starting late, make sure you are prepared

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to start class the minute you enter the classroom. In addition, use overheads
or flip charts rather than spending time writing on the chalkboard. Lastly, do
not wait for tardy students. Students who show up on time shouldn't have to wait
for those who don't. The best strategy to combat tardiness is to startclass
with something students do not want to miss (see Chapter 7 for suggestions on
how to do this). I do not believe in removing tardy students from class or
restricting their entry, but if they are late, then make it clear that they are missing
something.
6. Greet Students at the Door - At least two or three times a week, be at the
door when students enter the classroom. Greet as many as you can with a
personal statement, making sure to include your least motivated students. For
some urban students, your greeting may be the most positive one-on-one
interaction they get all day. The following are examples of simple statements
you can make to welcome your students and start the class on a positive note:
"Pedro, I'm glad you're on time. I miss you when you're late."
"Wilma, let's have a great class today, OK?"
"Sara, I have a special question I reserved especially for you to answer today.
I hope you like it."
7. Protect Against Procedural Satiation - In this context, refers to theprocess
of losing power over time. Most procedures satiate. If you have a technique to
quiet the class, it stops working after a while. Raise your hand, everyone who
sees this raises his or her hand and stops talking; form groups and assign one
student to be the group's "shusher" for the week. Other common classroom
routines for which you will likely need a variety of procedures include lining up,
handing in homework, and leaving class for the bathroom, a snack, or nap time
or a minute break.
8. Follow Your Own Rules - Children are bombarded by examples of adults
who say one thing and do another. Children need role models whose actions
correspond to their words. If you tell your students you expect them to arrive
on time, then be on time yourself. If you expect your students to turn in work on
time, then return grades and comments to them on time. If you want students to
dress appropriately, then do so yourself. Failing to follow your own rules places
you in the category of yet another "do as I say, not as I do" adult.

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In addition, when students see teachers breaking their own rules, it sends a
message that the rule is unimportant and that it is OK for them to break the
rules, too.
9. Encourage Student Humor - A number of comedians from urban
backgrounds—Bill Cosby, Lewis Black, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock among
them—tell stories about having their personalities stifled by teachers who were
uncomfortable with their jokes and humorous antics. Trying to suppress such
behavior usually results in a power struggle in which no one wins. Instead,
consider turning your classroom comedians' talents into another tool for
motivating students. In order to achieve this, it may be necessary to teach
students the difference between appropriate and inappropriate language and
content. Here are five ways to encourage your students' use of humor and
include it in the classroom in a productive way:
• Ask the class clown to come prepared to tell one or two jokes in class.
Have the student tell the joke(s) during transitions between activities.
• Ask two or three students to be ready to start class with a quick joke
two or three times a week.
• Break students into small groups of three to four students and have them
come up with funny sayings about what you are about to teach. For
example, a 4th grader came up with this limerick before a science lesson
on frogs:
There was a frog
Who sat on a log
And was about to be studied in school.
He jumped in the water
Saying, "It was a bother
And I'm not that kind of fool."
• End class with a student or two inventing a funny saying about the lesson
content that you just taught. For example, after a lesson on
communication, one 9th grader observed that "the telegraph was the first
text message."
• Use a student's joke before a test or quiz to lower tension.

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 The strategies are quite easy to integrate in the classroom, and they
can have a significant effect on student motivation. Small changes can earn
big results.
In terms of the students‘ performance, it is also suggested to observe the
following :
1. Practice criterion-referenced assessment rather than norm-referenced
assessment. Make your students compare their performance against
established criterion, i.e., the learning objective or target and not against other
students‘ performance. Comparing a student‘s performance with the latter
makes assessment quite threatening.
If you are indeed criterion-referenced, then your assessments is certainly based
on established criterion,. It has been observed, however, that a number of
teachers set learning objectives but assess another. This leads to students‘
confusion and discouragement;
2. Inspire your students to have mastery-focus rather than performance-focus.
Set their hearts on lesson mastery for the love of learning rather than on scores,
grades and performance. If they fail to get an item or items in a test,tell them
not to worry and assure them that they will be taught again until mastery;
3. Have a ―growth mindset‖. Believe that your students can improve. Failure or
wrong answer is welcome. Assure your student that they are not made less of
themselves by a wrong answer or a mistake. What is most important is that they
learn from their mistakes and continuously grow and improve;
4. Your assessment practice must be sensitive and constructive because
assessment has an emotional impact. Bear in mind that your comments,marks
and grades, as well as the manner you communicate them to students, can
affect their self-confidence. Asse4ssment should be constructive as much as
possible. Judging student s harshly to the point that they feel belittled or insulted
will kill their spirit and may lead them to have a negative view both of themselves
and the subject;
5. Inspire your students to have mastery-focus rather than performance-focus.
Set their hearts on lesson mastery for the love of learning rather than on scores,
grades and performance. If they fail to get an item or items in a test,

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tell them not to worry and assure them that they will be taught again until
mastery;
6. Have a ‗great mindset‖. Believe that your students can improve. Failure or
wrong answer is welcomed. Assure your students that they are not made less
of themselves by a wrong answer or a mistake. What is most important is that
they learn from their mistakes and continuously grow and improve;
7. You assessment practice must be sensitive and constructive because
assessment has an emotional impact. Bear in mind that your comments,marks
and grades, as well as the manner you communicate them to students, can
affect their self-confidence. Assessment should be constructive as much as
possible. Judging students harshly to the point that they feel belittled or insulted
will kill their spirit and may lead them to have a negative view both of themselves
and the subject;
8. Don‘t make the test too difficult to discourage student nor to easy to make
them complacent. An extremely easy test is not challenging while an extremely
difficult test is discouraging.
Finally, it is very important to communicate results/feedbacks to the
students. A teacher facilitates learning by providing students with important
feedbacks on their learning areas.(Bloom, Madaus and Hastings, Stiggins as
cited in Guskey, 2003).

Summary
An indispensable part of the teaching-learning process is assessment.
It is usually at the end of a lesson plan termed ―evaluation‖. A lesson plan is not
complete without an assessment and the instructional‖ cycle indeed is not also
complete without assessment.
Assessment is at the service of learning, thus the phrase, assessment
for learning. Assessment is meant to ensure that learning takes place. This is
possible only when the assessment process motivates students to learn.
Unfortunately, in many instances, assessment as a process does not motivate,
instead it threatens. A teacher should endeavor to motivate his/her students and
facilitate learning as a fulfilling experience among his/her students.

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 The challenge for teachers is how to make assessment a palatable menu
for the students. The experiences in classroom assessment and principles
clearly tell us that learner‘s objectives must be made clear every time because
they need to be clarified most especially that they needed in evaluating their
learning.
When learners are given the opportunity to evaluate their own
performance, they bring to mind the personal task strategy variables applicable
to them. They reflect on their personal characteristics that affect their learning,
the tasks they need to work on and the strategies that can help them. In this
way, assessment empowers the students to take a more active role in their own
learning process. It is also suggested that teachers practice criterion-referenced
assessment rather than norm-referenced assessment.

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 CHAPTER 5

INTEGRATION

Lesson 10 Revisiting the 14 Learner-centered Psychological

Principles
What to expect?
Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students can:
1. describe how the LCP are connected to the lesson in the module;
2. recapitulate the 14 LCP and insights gained; and
3. demonstrate appreciation on the 14 LCP as a sound framework for
effective facilitating of learning
Pre-discussion
Facilitating learning should be firmly anchored on the 14 Learner-
Centered Psychological Principles. The 14 principle espouse that everyone in
the learning community is a learner, not just the student. The lesson expresses
the view that teaching allows you to learn and that when you have learned well,
you can teach well. There is mutuality in learning and students are expected
learn much from teachers being the facilitators of learning. Likewise, students
learn from one another. As teachers, it is more importantfor you to remember
that, teachers also learn in the life experiences of his/her students.
Lesson Outline
The fourteen (14) Learner-Centered Psychological Principles put
together by the American Psychological Association pertain to the learner and
the learning process which has the following aspects:
1. Cognitive and Metacognitive Factors.( 6 principles);
2. Developmental and Social Factors (2 principles);
3. Motivational and Affective Factors (3 principles); and
4. Individual Differences Factors (3 principles).
Revisiting the Learner-Centered principles ,must also take cognizance
of the following considerations that each and every facilitating teacher should

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have in his/her frame of mind and must be applied or manifested in his/her
instruction:
1. Learners are at the center of the learning process.
The criticisms of direct instruction have led educators to put more emphasis
on the role of the student in the learning process. Many opted for a more
student-centered environment as opposed to the traditional teacher-centered
set-up. Learners are given more choices. Learning activities are designed with
needs, interests and developmental levels of the learners in foremost
consideration.
2. Teachers guides students’ construction of understanding.
The 14 principles were put together because of the growing implications
of rresearch in cognitive psychology. Teachers in learner- centered classrooms
should provide a lot of opportunity for the learners to actively think figure out
things and learn on their own. The teacher serves more as a facilitator, a ―guide
on the side‖ rather than a ―sage on stage.‖
3. Teachers teach for understanding.
Students are placed at the center of the learning process. The teachers
as facilitators should help his/her students to take responsibility for their
learning. As a result, students, through their own active search and
experimentation, experience a movement from confusion to searching for
answers, to discovery, and finally to understanding.

Summary
The nature of the learning process is that, it is so complex. Most
especially the learners are so diverse in nature and the uniqueness of the
learners in the classroom must be give due attention by the teacher for him/her
to be effective and for quality learning-teaching to take place. It is in the light of
these principles that the teacher as a facilitator of learning should internalize the
learner-centered principles being advocated by most theorists and those
engaged in the education processes in as much as they have been proven to
effect changes in the development and transformation of the learners, likewise,
in the enhancement of teachers‘ skills and competency in the field of education.

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