Comments: Definition of Learning

Listed below are the comments from our conversations about the definition of "learning".

My definition:
When I think of the definition of learning I think of how one acquires knowledge. Learning is when one develops the skills acquired from a goal, task or experience.

Example: Students acquire the skill of learning how to multiply a three digit number by a one digit number. Students use the memory from how to multiply and then acquire new skills to multiply using three digits. Students need to do explore and experience this many times before it becomes a part of their memory. This is learning. Tina

Learning has many different definitions. There are many facets to learning. Learning is acquiring knowledge. It is the process that one goes through to acquire knowledge. However the way one acquires knowledge is different with every person. I believe a better definition is one where one is constructing knowledge through active processes. According to "Best Practice" constructivist students need to recreate and reinvent every cognitive system they encounter.I have told my students often that I can not open up your head and pour in the information. I tell them they need to internalize it and make it their own. A child does not do this by sitting and listening to a teacher. They need to experience it, use it, and explain it many times before it becomes a part of them and then they have learned it. So to me learning is very personal and very different with every person. However, as a teacher it is my responsibility to find out how each student acquires knowledge and to assist them in acquiring the knowledge.
I am a true believer in Mazlows' Hierarchy of Needs. If a student is not comfortable in the learning environment then they will not be able to learn. At the beginning of the year I tell the students this is not my class, it is our class. We make the rules together and decide on consequences that fit the crime when they occur. I have at least 14 jobs and they differ each year. It depends on the needs and the expectations of the class. Every child is different and I treat each child this way. I present material in many different ways as to reach each student. The basic definition that I came up with is it is the way one acquires knowledge.

Maslow's.... just caught that when reading over it. :) (from Ashley)

Thanks Ashley! Tina

Tina!

I love the way you mentioned that the classroom is the community and not yours alone. We establish class rules and consequences at the beginning of the year ourselves. These are all student led, and it is amazing the consequences they come up with. Some are more harsh than what we would establish. Eventually a medium is met.

I too work on meeting each chil's learning potential. It is powerful that you take the time and do so in your classroom. We must remembert that the needs of the students must be met for success to occur.

Tina,

Hello! I responded to this last night but I see it didnt post. Something happened and the wireless froze in the house as I was submitting.

I to believe that anyone learns from accomplishing a particular task or goal. I also believe that learning is being allowed to explore your environment and guiding children to be independent learners. It is up to the teacher to add that spark and find what motivates a student. (from Michelle)

Yes, I truly believe this. Our class is our community while we are at school. We spend more time with their child than the parents do during the week, so it is our responsibility to utilize the time spent with them well. I glad you feel that way also.(Tina)

From Michelle:

Do you feel this way? I love watching my students discover a concept that seemed so foreign not to long ago. I witnessed this just this past week when teaching binomials to the 6th graders. As approaching square roots and solving with materials; one of my students saw the correlation and went on to explain how solving square roots relates to division and by using the materials she was able to relate the algebriac formulas.

I love watching children learn. I introduce a subject and I do not plan a lot. I watch the students and am aware of their questions and comments and then we take the steps and plan. Every year if I introduce the same topic the outcome is different. However, I know my students have learned but it was what they needed to learn and how they needed to learn it that makes a difference. Tina

Learning is a multifaceted term that is used in education and throughout the workforce. As individuals we are always learning and growing in work and in life. I personally feel you never quit learning; and there is always something new and exciting to learn.

As Maria Montessori said “We do not believe in the in the educative power of words and commands alone, but seek cautiously, and almost without the child's knowing it, to guide his natural activity.” It is up to us to nurture and guide the child to develop to his/her fullest potential.

Listed below is what I feel are the key points to learning:

1. Learning is exploration of the environment.
2. Learning incorporates concrete materials that allow a child explore skills/lessons without realizing the knowledge he is obtaining.
3. Learning allows the child to work independently or within groups to develop projects and/or complete lessons.
4. Learning allows freedom of choice in how a child completes an assignment with appropriate direction from the teacher.
5. Teachers act as a guide and impart concepts to the student and then allow him to move forward in his studies.
6. Learning allows for mistakes; since mistakes is what everyone learns from.
7. Students grow and develop into independent and responsible citizens within the school and society.

I do not think our title as teacher is as appropriate as a facilitator. We are here to listen and guide students so they can acquire the knowledge they need in their own way.
Your definition is very powerful. Learning can not be explained with a simple definition. It is not easily explained either. Each of your bullets give a different aspect of learning. Learning is the way one obtains knowledge. It is our responsibility as teachers to facilitate, nurture and guide our students in the learning process. The quote from Maria Montessori is very enlightening. Tina


From Ashley:

Hey girls! I most certainly agree that learning occurs when one acquires new knowledge? However, you mentioned exploration, here. Students must use this new knowledge to explore new concepts, right? Is that the same as application? Applying this new knowledge to another concept. For instance, in my classroom my students have trouble applying language mechanics in their own writing but have no trouble recognizing it in isolation in the Language textbook. Here, I don't acknowledge this as NEW LEARNING? Would you?

Don't students need to be exposed to something new at least 7 to 9 times before they acquire it or learn it. According to Best Practice students need to reinvent it. So the answer to your question is it new learning. Well to the student it is new learning. It just takes them a while to make it their own. I don't think they truly learn it until they do apply it, use it. I would acknowledge it as new learning. Tina

Since this assignment was posted, I have labored over a strict definition to give learning. However, what I have found is there is not one specific definition for this powerful word.
First, learning is a process. I completely agree it is the process in which one acquires new knowledge through a variety of tasks. Secondly, learning occurs after communication and application of new knowledge. Learning is not merely learning a new task. Students must be required to take the new knowledge and communicate and apply it in a given situation. For instance, in my classroom students struggle applying language mechanics rules in their own writing but can apply them in isolation in the language textbook. Strange, but it’s true. Finally, I believe teachers must be able to facilitate learning in the classroom. Teachers must make it clear to students that learning is an on-going and life-long process. Teachers must also make it understood that teachers are learners too!

You are so right. There is no way to define it easily.It is a very powerful word. Learning is not merely learning something new, they do need to use it, and apply it to really say they have learned it. Take multiplication facts for instance.Students memorize them but do they really understand them. I work on the process of multiplication until my students are ready to memorize them. I have two students in my class this year that still do not understand what multiplication is and why we need it. So I continue to work on the process with them. Once they understand the purpose then they will be able to memorize them. Tina

From Valerie:

I think this is an excellent question that every educator should ask him/herself. I've been battling with this question for a few days. My initial thoughts were if a student gains something from an activity or experience, they are learning. Then I decided to sit down and take it a step further. I can’t reduce learning to the usual acquiring skills or knowledge. I believe that this is part of what it means to learn, but there is so much more to it. Students must be able to apply their knowledge and skills through a variety of forms. For example, if students’ goal is to learn how to appropriately use commas in a sentence, they need to be able to do so in their writing and understand it in their reading. Students need to be able to communicate their understandings of the world to other students. I believe this is a crucial part of learning. When my students ask me something that I don’t have an answer to, I usual try to figure it out and then communicate it to them. A vast percentage of learning takes place when you teach something to someone else. Learning is collaboration and research. Learning is acknowledging misconceptions and then gaining truth. Learning is immersion in all aspects of the curriculum. Learning is having (guided or unguided) experiences and then mentally processing those experiences in the form of reflection or application of a new thought or idea.

I think we should definitely use this in our definition of learning. It is amazing that students have to use it that many times just to have it embedded in their existing schemes. You know this really reminds me of assimilation and accommodation. You really have to have the experiences in order to adapt or adjust your existing schemes. So does that mean that we are born with schemes or natural ways of dealing with things? What do you girls think?

Good statement assimilation and accommodation. I believe you do need to experience it to adjust or adapt your existing schemes. Some of must be nature. You must be born with some initiative to some learning. Tina