Theories of Teaching & Learning

In Smith's article, "What's Going on Here," I found myself comparing Smith's theory on learning with my own education. The "official view" of learning is often found throughout the country's education system, and Smith makes it clear that this view can be dangerous. As Smith notes, "The official theory became an unquestioned part of most of us because it permeates the broad educational culture in which we have grown up" (5). From my own experiences as a learner, I can agree that the most emphasis in my education has been placed on grades and scores instead of learning. Our society tends to associate grades and scores with effort and educational gains, but as educators, we have all seen our struggling students who do exert effort. It's important to realize that learning does happen everyday, and learning is often a social act. Therefore, students should have the time to learn from each other and collaborate together in order to advance their knowledge, rather than segregating learners.

Smith's article also helped me reflect on my practice as a teacher. At my new job this year, my school uses a competency based learning model to ensure that students reach mastery level of a subject in order to advance to the next grade. This means, teachers give students the opportunity to revise their work until they reach the master level. Although I can foresee certain challenges this may create for teachers and learners, I do think the message relates to Smith's view on the classic view of learning. Learning is continuous, and giving students multiple chances to revise could help them even improve their own confidence since they will eventually meet the mastery level.

As I continue my journey in this new year, I found Dodd's article, "Learning to Read the Classroom: The Stages Leading to Teacher Self-Actualization," helpful. Personally, I feel that I still fall in step three since I am turning to research to best help me create curriculum for a new year. Going into my fourth year as an educator, I found it insightful and even comical at times to read through the first stages of teaching. I am happy to know that there are stages of teaching which are not expected to transition year-to-year. There have been moments where I doubt myself as a teacher because I have felt that I should be more confident in my teaching practices since I have been doing this several years already. This article helped me come back to reality in terms of teachers being life-long learners who should continue to reflect on their practices, "students learn best when their teachers are always engaged in the process of 'becoming better teachers'" (249).