PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING :: VYGOTSKY's CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY.

Constructivism is a category of learning theories in which stress is laid on the agency and prior knowledge of the learner, and often on the social and cultural determinants of the learning process.

The major theme of Vygotsky’s theoretical framework is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition. Vygotsky states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”

The work of Vygotsky and others are together known as Social Development Theory.

Vygotsky’s theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition, as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of ‘Making Meaning’.

Unlike Piaget’s notion that children’s development must necessarily precede their learning. Vygotsky argued, learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organised, specifically human psychological function.

The main principles of Vygotsky’s work:

1. MKO (More Knowledgeable Other)

2. ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development)

MKO indicates someone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner with respect to a task, process or concept. MKO can be a teacher, an older adult or a child’s peer, who has more knowledge or experience.

ZPD and MKO are related integrally. Taken together they form the basis of the scaffolding component of the cognitive apprenticeship model of instruction.

Another important feature of this theory is scaffolding. When an adult provides support for a child, they will adjust the amount of help they give depending on their progress. For example, a child learning to walk might at first have both their hands held and pulled upwards. As they learn to support their own weight, the mother might hold both their hands loosely. Then she might just hold one hand, then eventually nothing. This progression of different levels of help is scaffolding. It draws parallels from real scaffolding for buildings; it is used as a support for construction of new material (the skill/information to be learnt) and then removed once the building is complete (the skill/information has been learnt).

There are two levels of attainment for the ZPD:

Level 1 – the ‘present level of development’. This describes what the child is capable of doing without any help from others.

Level 2 – the ‘potential level of development’. This means what the child could potentially be capable of with help from other people of teachers.

The gap between level 1 and 2 (the present and potential development) is what Vygotsky described as this zone of proximal development. He believed that through help from other, more knowledgeable people, the child can potentially gain knowledge already held by them. However, the knowledge must be appropriate for the child’s level of comprehension. Anything that is too complicated for the child to learn that isn’t in their ZPD cannot be learnt at all until there is a shift in the ZPD. When a child does attain their potential, this shift occurs, and the child can continue learning more complex, higher level material.

Vygotsky (1978) defines the ZPD as the distance between the actual developmental 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 believed that when a student is at the ZPD for a particular task, providing the appropriate assistance(scaffolding) will give the student enough of a “boost” to achieve the task.

Once the student, with the benefit of scaffolding masters the task the scaffolding can be then removed, and the student will then be able to complete the task again on his own.

He believed that language, particularly self-talk and inner speech plays a major role in learning.

Major applications of Vygotsky’s theory to education include:

1 Zone of Proximal Development

2 Scaffolding

3 Guided Participation

4 Apprenticeship

5 Peer Interaction.

PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ::URIE BRONFENBRENNER' s ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY.

Urie Bronfenbrenner, Russian-born American psychologist is best known for having developed human ecology theory. The human ecology theory also known as the ecological systems theory, in which individuals are maturing not in isolation. Individuals are developing within the context of relationships, such as those involving families, friends, schools, neighbourhoods, and society.

Bronfenbrenner divided the entire ecological system in which human growth occurs into five subsystems that are organized socially:

1. The microsystem,

2. The mesosystem,

3. The exosystem,

4. The macrosystem, and

5. The chronosystem.

Viewed from the innermost system outwards, Bronfenbrenner’s model illustrates the following systems:

A child lies in the middle of the image. Each circle that surrounds the child is a different layer or environmental system that affects the child's growth and development.

Microsystem — This is the first, and closest, layer of the nested systems which encompasses an individual’s human relationships, interpersonal interactions and most immediate surroundings. Thus, depicting the relationship between an individual child and his/her parents, siblings, and school environment.

Mesosystem — Moving outwards, the second layer surrounding the microsystem encompasses the different interactions between the characters contained within the microsystem. This could include, for instance, the relationships between a child’s family and their schoolteachers. For any interaction to qualify as part of the mesosystem, it must be a direct interaction between two features of the bio-ecological system which influence the development of the individual child.

Exosystem — The third layer is the exosystem which incorporates elements of the bio-ecological systems which do not directly affect the child but may have an indirect influence. For instance, if a parent were to be made redundant or have their working hours reduced, this would then indirectly affect their child in that such events would create parental stress and reduce the family income.

Macrosystem — The outermost, “macro” layer of the bio-ecological model encompasses cultural and societal beliefs, decisions and actions which influence an individual child’s development. This might include, for example, religious influences or parliamentary legislation.

Chronosystem - Lastly is the chronosystem. This system includes major life transitions, environmental events and historical events that occur during development. Moving to another city is one example, as is the first moon landing being televised.

The application of social ecological theories and models focus on several goals: to explain the person-environment interaction, to improve people-environment transactions, to nurture human growth and development environments, and to improve environments so they support expression of individual's system's dispositions.

Urie's work led him to define human development as a lasting change in the way a person perceives and deals with his or her environment. A child is viewed as a growing dynamic entity that progressively moves into and restructures an environment. The environment in turn exerts an influence on the individual, requiring a process of reciprocity between person and environment. 

Urie’s Ecological Systems Theory proposed that human development unfolds in a nested set of systems, involving cultural, social, economic and political elements, not merely psychological ones. These systems and their interactions can nurture or stifle optimal development. Policies and programs can play a major role in shaping these systems – thus potentially promoting human health and well-being. This perspective transformed the study of human development. Among other influences, it encouraged more developmental scientists to examine both naturally occurring and deliberately designed experiments in the real world to illuminate the influences of contexts on human development, and particularly on child development.

Moreover, Bronfenbrenner realized that the developmental process varies by place and time and that public policy affects the development of humans by influencing the conditions of their lives.

With American developmental psychologist Stephen J. Ceci, Bronfenbrenner extended his theory to behaviour genetics. They recommended that explicit measures of the environment in systems terms be incorporated, and they proposed the existence of empirically assessable mechanisms—proximal processes through which genetic potentials for effective psychological functioning are actualized. They hypothesized that when proximal processes are weak, genetically based potentials for effective psychological functioning remain relatively unrealized and, as proximal processes increase in magnitude, potentials become actualized to a progressively greater extent.

Process Person Context Time Model

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s most significant departure from his original theory is the inclusion of processes of human development. Processes, per Bronfenbrenner, explain the connection between some aspect of the context or some aspect of the individual and an outcome of interest. The full, revised theory deals with the interaction among processes, person, context and time, and is labelled the Process–Person–Context–Time model (PPCT). Two interdependent propositions define the properties of the model. Furthermore, contrary to the original model, the Process–Person–Context–Time model is more suitable for scientific investigation.

As per Bronfenbrenner:

"Proposition 1: In its early phase and throughout the life course, human development takes place through processes of progressively more complex reciprocal interactions between an active, evolving biopsychological human organism and the persons, objects and symbols in its immediate environment. To be effective, the interaction must occur on a fairly regular basis over extended periods of time. These forms of interaction in the immediate environment are referred to as proximal processes.

Proposition 2: the form, power and content and direction of the proximal processes effecting development vary systematically as a joint function of the characteristics of the developing person, of the environment-immediate and more remote-in which the processes are taking place and the nature of the developmental outcome under consideration."

Processes: Processes play a crucial role in development. Proximal processes are fundamental to the theory. They constitute the engines of development because it is by engaging in activities and interactions that individuals come to make sense of their world, understand their place in it, and both play their part in changing the prevailing order while fitting into the existing one. 

The nature of proximal processes varies according to aspects of the individual and of the context—both spatially and temporally. As explained in the second of the two central propositions, the social continuities and changes occur overtime through the life course and the historical period during which the person lives. Effects of proximal processes are thus more powerful than those of the environmental contexts in which they occur.

Person: Bronfenbrenner acknowledges here the relevance of biological and genetic aspects of the person. However, he devoted more attention to the personal characteristics that individuals bring with them into any social situation. He divided these characteristics into three types' demand, resource, and force characteristics. 

Demand characteristics are those that act as an immediate stimulus to another person, such as age, gender, skin colour, and physical appearance. These types of characteristics may influence initial interactions because of the expectations formed immediately. Resource characteristics are those that relate partly to mental and emotional resources such as past experiences, skills, and intelligence, and to social and material resources (access to good food, housing, caring parents, and educational opportunities appropriate to the needs of the society). Finally, force characteristics are those that have to do with differences of temperament, motivation, and persistence. 

According to Bronfenbrenner, two children may have equal resource characteristics, but their developmental trajectories will be quite different if one is motivated to succeed and persists in tasks and the other is not motivated and does not persist.

 As such, Bronfenbrenner provided a clearer view of individuals’ roles in changing their context. The change can be relatively passive (a person changes the environment simply by being in it), to more active (the ways in which the person changes the environment are linked to his or her resource characteristics, whether physical, mental, or emotional), to most active (the extent to which the person changes the environment is linked, in part, to the desire and drive to do so, or force characteristics).

The context, or environment, involves four of the five interrelated systems of the original theory: the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the macrosystem.

Time: The final element of the PPCT model is time. Time plays a crucial role in human development. In the same way that both context and individual factors are divided into sub-factors or sub-systems, Bronfenbrenner and Morris wrote about time as constituting micro-time (what is occurring during the course of some specific activity or interaction), meso-time (the extent to which activities and interactions occur with some consistency in the developing person’s environment), and macro-time (the chronosystem). Time and timing are equally important because all aspects of the PPCT model can be thought of in terms of relative constancy and change.

This rightly talks about the concept of what happens in a school, as the teacher is….... so, the child learns. Or, as the parent is……. so, the child adopts. 

In today’s scenario, bringing up a blooming and curious child, where there are several distractions is too difficult.

To reap best we need to work hard as a parent, teacher and as a responsible individual. Providing an individual with a better environment is very important, may not be a strict environment where children are stressed but a healthy one with proper limits. Providing too much freedom is also not very good for a proper development. 

Too much of anything is bad!

The entire cycle of development is connected and so is the universe. Children are the ‘Ambassadors of World Peace.'

PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING :: INSIGHTFUL LEARNING THEORY AND EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS.

Dear all,

Thank you for all the support and encouragement. I am getting good responses from different parts of the world. I am so overwhelmed that felt to start today’s blog with a heartfelt reply.

 “Thank you for motivating me.”

Today’s blog is about a wonderful learning theory from psychology postulated by…... Wolfgang Kohler, a German Gestalt psychologist.

 In our day to day life we experience the various theories and the ways in which we try to learn things. Insight learning theory is very close to my heart as I believe a lot in the concept of subconscious mind….so let’s go ahead and discuss it in detail!

Max Wertheimer is the father of Gestalt Theory. Later, Wertheimer’s theory was further refined and developed by Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. C. V. Good defines gestalt-configuration, total structure, form or shape, a term designating an undivided articulate as a whole that cannot be made by the more addition of independent elements, the nature of each element depending on its relationship to the whole. The term ‘gestalt’ means a whole, a total composition. According to this theory, an individual learns an object, a single entity, not in parts or bits. In other words, an individual’s understanding of an object comprehends the whole object, not merely parts or bits of the object. This theory can be summed up in the succinct statement: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’

In the 1920s, German psychologist Wolfgang Kohler studied the behaviour of apes. He designed some simple experiments that led to the development of one of the first cognitive theories of learning, which he called insight learning. It is based upon the concept that whole is meaningful than sum of its parts. Insight in learning occurs in a flash and that involves the solving of a problem.

Kohler’s Experiment:

Kohler (1925) performed set of experiments with a chimpanzee name Sultan inside a cage. In the cage was a bunch of bananas hanging from the roof. A box was kept inside the cage. The chimpanzee tried to get the bananas but was unable to due to his height. Finally, he used the box, climbed on it to reach the bananas.

In another experiment, the chimpanzee required two or three boxes to reach the bananas. He succeeded in reaching the bananas by placing a box on the top of the other.

In another experiment, the banana bunch was kept outside the cage and two sticks were placed in the cage. After several trials the chimpanzee joined the sticks to reach the bananas.

Characteristics:

Insight is the sudden grasping of the solution of the problem.

It depends upon the intellectual ability of the learner.

It is facilitated by the previous experiences.

It involves understanding and reasoning about the problem.

Steps in Insight learning:

Kohler feels these steps are involved in learning-

Identifying the problem: Learner identifies the problems in goal attainment.

Understanding the problem: The learner analyses the situation and the nature of the problem.

Initial Efforts: Efforts in the form of simple trial and error mechanism.

Incubation of Ideas: A period of hesitation or pause from the problematic situation. During this period, mind keeps the task alive.

Insight Development: A flash of lightening comes in mind to solve the problematic situation.

Repetition and Generalisation: After obtaining an insightful solution for the problem the individual applies, this knowledge thus obtained in another situation which require similar type of solution.

Principles Involved in Insightful Learning:

There are principles involved in perceptual organization or insightful learning. Some of the basic laws propounded by Gestalt psychologists are as follows;

Law of figure ground:  This is a type of perceptual grouping which is a vital necessity for recognizing objects through vision. Everything is perceived in the context of its background.  This law examines how the eye can separate shapes in a design from the background of that design. This law is also called law of closure.

Law of pragnanz: An organism is motivated to learn when there is tension or disequilibrium of forces in the psychological field. Learning is the removal of this tension. When we perceive an object, we find some gaps in our perceptions. These gaps are filled by the perceiver and a whole figure is prepared.

Law of continuity: Objects having continuity are learnt easily because they can easily make a whole.

Law of similarity: This law makes the individual to grasp things which are similar. They are picked out as they were from the total context. Similar ideas and experiences get associated. An object revives another object which resembles or looks like it. For example, seeing a man and remembering an intimate friend by some resemblance though never saw them together in the past.

Law of proximity: This law states the proximate or near together things are picked up first and learnt easily than distant things. In other words, perceptual grounds are favoured according to the nearness of their respective parts. Items tend to form groups if they are spaced together. For instance, a triangle or a circle is understood in this way.

Educational Implications:

1. The teacher should present the concept as a whole to facilitate the insight learning.

2. The theory also focuses on the motivational part. Motivation is very important for learning.

3. The theory believes on the fact that understanding is very much essential for solving the problem. The teacher should encourage the students to understand the task.

4. The intellectual capacity of the learners also contributes to the insightful learning.

5. The theory takes into consideration the individual differences in learning.

6. The teacher should develop the reasoning power and capacity to discover new facts rather than spoon feeding and providing bookish knowledge.

7. The theory advocates the child-centered approach to teaching-learning.

PSYCHOLOGY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ::TRIAL AND ERROR THEORY BY THORNDIKE

Trial and error theory are known as connectionism and S-R reinforcement theory. The American Psychologist Thorndike put forth this theory after conducting the experiments with animals.

Thorndike believes, learning is a connection between stimulus and response. It is a bond between S and R. The S-R connection is through trial and error and hence this process is called as Trial and error learning.

Thorndike explained this theory and he arrived at it after several experiments. According to him learning takes place through a process of approximation and correction. A person makes many trials, some responses do not give satisfaction to the individual, but he goes on making further trial till he gets satisfactory response.

Thorndike’s Experiment:

Thorndike performed an experiment with a cat. A hungry cat was kept in a cage. The cage can be opened by pulling a string. Infront of the cat was kept a piece of fish in a plate away from the cage. In order to eat, the cat did number of attempts to pull the strings or say random movements like jumping, hitting, dashing, pushing the bars. In order to reach the goal, the cat makes a number of responses to the situation, i.e. it makes a number of trials. Let the trials be R1, R2, R3, R4, etc. After such trial and errors, the cat succeeded. Every time the cat came out of the cage, it was put inside again. On subsequent trials, the cat took shorter periods of time, committed a smaller number of errors. Finally learning how to escape from the cage.

Features:

With increase in the number of trials, the random movements or activities decrease. Learning by trial and error is gradual. There is learning only if there in a motive (cat hungry). The learner makes random movements. Satisfying response become better learned as they lead to the attainment of goal. So, after several trial and error activities, the learner attains the correct learning.

Thorndike’s Laws of Learning:

Based on his experiment, he postulated three laws:

Law of Readiness: - Readiness is the preparedness of an organism in a certain manner. Readiness depends upon the maturation and experience of the learner.

Law of Exercise: - The law of exercise is known as the law of habit formation. The law implies the strengthening of S-R connection with practice. The effect of learning is improved by continued practice. This law has two sub-laws.

Law of use: - S-R connection is strengthened by practice.

Law of Disuse: - S-R connection weakens without practice.

Law of Effect: - The law explains the importance of effect or consequence in strengthening or weakening of the S-R connection. If the learner is satisfied, he gets stamped in. If not stamped out. Satisfying results strengthen the S-R bond. Thus, this law emphasises on the role of reward and punishment in the process of learning.

Subordinate Laws of Learning:

Law of Multiple Response: -According to it the organism varies or changes its response till an appropriate behaviour is hit upon. Without varying the responses, the correspondence for the solution might never be elicited. In new situation learner response in a variety of ways before arriving at correct response.

Law of Set/ Attitude: - Learning is guided by a total set or attitude of the organism, which determines not only what the person will do but what will satisfy or annoy him. The attitude leads to perform the task well.

Law of Prepotency of Elements: - According to this law, the learner reacts selectively to the important or essential in the situation and neglects the other features or elements which may be irrelevant or non- essential. The ability to deal with the essential or the relevant part of the situation, makes analytical and insightful learning possible. A learner makes sensitive responses in learning situation. 

Law of Response by Analogy: - According to this law, the individual makes use of old experiences or acquisitions while learning a new situation. There is a tendency to utilise common elements in the new situation as existed in a similar past situation. Most of the time new situations are tackled by past experiences.

Law of Associative Shifting: - According to this law we may get a response, of which a learner is capable, associated with any other situation to which he is sensitive. Thorndike illustrated this by the act of teaching a cat to stand up at a command. A fish was dangled before the cat while he said, ‘stand up’. After several trails by presenting the fish after uttering the command ‘stand up’, he later ousted the fish and the overall command of ‘stand up’ was found enough to evoke the response in the cat by standing up or her hind legs. Responses shift by situation.

 Educational Implications of Trial and Error Theory:

Trial and error learning are connected with motor learning. But it has also some implications for abstract thinking. Some of the school subjects that require abstract thinking like science and mathematics, are affected by this process. The pupils must make several unsuccessful attempts before he/she arrives at the desired result.

He/she should, therefore, be trained to make attempts over and over again, and without feeling bored off. Everything related to this process must be taken positively and with parental support so that things are done patiently for higher achievement.

Practice leads a man towards maturity. Practice is the main feature of trial and error method. Practice helps in reducing the errors committed by the child in learning any concept.

Habits are formed as a result of repetition. With the help of this theory the wrong habits of the children can be modified, and the good habits strengthened.

As parents and teachers, we must see to it that the future generation must make a solid slogan of ‘try, try again’ and ‘never to give up’. The children must be taught, it is ok to lose. Winning and losing are the parts of the journey of life. What is important is to live and learn. Life skills these days are very important for the overall growth of the children.

Before I end this month's blog..... 

The time for the celebration of the victory of the good over the evil has arrived. Let's continue the same spirit. 

Happy Dusshera!