Developing the Learner and the Learning Process (Coursework Sample)

The Learner and Learning
Developing the Learner and the Learning Process
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Due Date: DATE \@ "d MMMM yyyy" 24 October 2015
Abstract
The paper attempts to respond to four theory-provoking questions on the learner and the learning process, thus providing a critical summary of the core concepts of learners and learning. In this effect, the paper reviews who are learners, where can learners be found, when does learning happen, and how does learning happen, based on an integrated appraisal of several traditional nd contemporary learning theories in the literature.
Contents
TOC \o "1-7" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc413736916 \h 2
Contents PAGEREF _Toc413736917 \h 2
Introduction PAGEREF _Toc413736918 \h 3
The Learner and the Learning Process PAGEREF _Toc413736919 \h 3
Who are Learners? PAGEREF _Toc413736920 \h 3
Where Are Learners To Be Found? PAGEREF _Toc413736921 \h 4
When Does Learning Happen? PAGEREF _Toc413736922 \h 4
How Does Learning Happen? PAGEREF _Toc413736923 \h 5
Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc413736924 \h 6
References PAGEREF _Toc413736925 \h 7
The Learner and Learning: Developing the Learner and the Learning Process
Introduction
This paper provides a critical summary of learning and the learners, determining who learners are, where learners can be found, when learning happens, and how learning happens. Long after psychologists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky propounded the cognitive development model of learning, scholars and researchers have advanced assorted theoretical assertions/propositions on humanist, cognitive, behavioral, social/situational, and constructivist learning perspectives (Churchill et al., 2013). Arguments reviewed hereafter are integrated from assorted peer-reviewed literature on the theory of learning.
The Learner and the Learning Process
Who are Learners?
Learning is an integrated process of acquiring different facets of knowledge (cognitive, experiential, emotional and environmental), which ultimately molds an individual’s understanding and world view, besides activating, retaining and advancing requisite skills and knowledge that are critical to the existence and survival of an individual (Ormrod, 2012). Since learning starts long before school, and after (Churchill et al., 2013, p. 76), a learner is an individual who is actively involved in investigating, questioning, reflecting, and experiencing novel concepts or ideas that constitute or facilitate acquisition of new knowledge and skills (Butler, 2000).
From a theoretical perspective, a learner is anyone involved in (a) any "quantitative increase in knowledge”, (b) "memorizing" new skills, (c) "acquiring" new knowledge, (d) "making sense of or abstracting meaning" about new concepts, and (e) "interpreting and understanding reality in a different way," as proposed by Ramsden (1992, p. 92) (cited by Churchill et al., 2013, p. 78). A learner is thus an individual in the early childhood, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood or adulthood stages if life, who is ready for, willing and actively engaged in acquiring new, increased or transformed knowledge (Churchill et al., 2013; Clarke & Pittway, 2014; Claxton 1999; Butler, 2000).
Where Are Learners To Be Found?
The social cognitive development theory asserts that learning occurs within a social context, meaning that learners are children, teens or adults in any social interactions or within a social environment (Olson & Dweck, 2008). These social contexts are where most learners are found from a social cognitive perspective (Vygotsky, 1978). The literature variedly proposes that learners are to be found in diverse social and environmental contexts (Norman, 1982; Churchill et al., 2013). These includes when in environments provoking cognitive adaptation to social behavior (psychological perspective - (Piaget, 1977), in social institutions such as the school/organization (sociology cognition perspective - (Olson & Dweck, 2008), and in culturally defined units such as the family or society (Clarke & Pittway, 2014).
When Does Learning Happen?
Learning happens in phases, progressively, and developmentally to be a life-long process in a variety of contexts before and after schooling (Clarke & Pittway, 2014). Learning happens from the moment an individual is born (early childhood), even before schooling is initiated, through adolescence, early adulthood and adulthood (Berger, 2011). Learning opportunities emerge from interactions with others in various contexts, after numerous activities, and after experiencing numerous environmental variables. Learning accrues when individuals (children, adolescents, or adults) make it a goal or "have an interest" with something (are thus intrinsically and extrinsically "motivated”), to actively "seek information," understand phenomena, reflect on experiences, and settle on the achievement of certain knowledge or skills (Butler, 2000, p. 162). Given that learning involves "the changes that occur in humans between conception and death" (Clarke & Pittway, 2014, p. 32), then learning is a lifelong process and as Berger (2011) asserts, learning is "developing the person through the life span" (p. 17).
How Does Learning Happen?
The process and state/product of learning happens in diverse contexts, and in assorted ways (Norman, 1982). From a psychological perspective, learning involves the transformation/improvement of the mind and behavior of an individual, while in sociology, learning is the impact of cultural dynamics, human relationships, and the social ideologies surrounding an individual. To philosophers, learning involves the accumulation of reality and knowledge through reasoning and logic, while to historians, learning involves a review of past events for insights on reality and relationships.
Based on the socio-cultural cognitive theory advanced by Vygotsky (1978), learning is a mandatory impact of the socio-cultural context. Learning thus involves the mind (cognitive) (Olson & Dweck, 2008; Norman, 1982) and the body (behaviorist) (Piaget, 1977; Ormrod, 2012), when an ...