Chapter 3 - Views of Teaching and Learning

As a child of an English teacher who firmly believed in behaviorist teaching models such as rote memory learning, and teacher/parent-guided outlines, it is a relief to me to learn about the Cognitive methods of learning.  Cognitive learning places the student more in control of their education process.  If one plays a more active role in what they are going to learn, with teacher-guidance, than it is sensible that they will be more interested in the content material.  Self-assessment, a key tool in cognitive learning, is a skill that will serve all students well long into their personal and business futures.

The other thing important in Cognitive teaching are the great benefits for educators when including considerations of culture and learning styles in their teaching strategies.  The fact that there are content objectives and learning strategy objectives are crucial in correlation with each other.  The focus on cognitive learning then translates into affective learning strategies that can increase self-esteem, and build bridges between families, schools, and teachers and students.  When we understand the ties between self-esteem, anxiety, motivation, and the teacher’s role as a psychological sounding board in their student’s education, we know better how to teach, and treat with empathy, each student individually, than we can become successful teachers.

Response 1:  In Elizabeth Villa's blog, she notes the various methods of philosophical teaching methods; which  include behavioral, humanistic, and cognitive methods.  What she says about humanistic teaching methods, that they include teacher thoughtfulness, and teacher encouragement, seem very poignant to me and well-mentioned.  In my own learning experiences, when I have been encouraged be a teacher, it has meant 100% difference in my abilities and understanding of the coursework.  Just to know that someone is one your side, and not constantly pointing out all of your flaws, is a huge help towards educating one's self.

Response 2:  In response to David Sosa's post about behaviorism's use of external rewards for student achievement.  This technique has long been used by educators as a way to reward students for behavior.  However, it does, over time, diminish the student's ability or desire to achieve goals.  With my own child, the reward works maybe one time, and then is no longer effective.