Day 2 - Learning about theories

As employees in the field of education, it is essential that we be aware of the various theories of learning that have shaped our past and have brought us to our current place in education. The discussions surrounding learning theories was a great review for me and prompted me to think about how the theories of the past can be looked at in today’s educational world, one filled with technology, social connectedness and unknown possibility.
I can still remember sitting through a psych 101 class, in a lecture hall at UPEI, surrounded by 199 classmates, learning about the work of Pavlov and Skinner. And I do not remember much else. I assume the prof was using a behaviorist approach in a teacher centred classroom to convey learning of theories of development. This approach did not work for me.

“Learning is the new form of labour” (Quinlan, 2009). I love learning! If learning is a job, than sign me up. It is estimated that the average adult participates in 4-5 learning projects per year (Quinlan, 2009). I participate in 4-5 projects per year and would well exceed that number if I had more resources in the form of time and finances. I am a crafter, a techie, and a mom. These roles, coupled with my job as “information officer”, allow me great opportunity to take on both informal and formal projects.

Today in class, it was stated that some believe that the best way to learn something is to do it first. The experience should come first, the theory follows. I am so thrilled to hear this and will take this argument back to my current position and refer to it as I promote articulation agreements. Recently, with new changes to the kindergarten system, there has been some debate about the value of a college diploma compared to a university degree. This debate is not new, but it seems to be ongoing no matter how successful college grads become. One of the values of articulation agreements between college and university is that students can be exposed to hands on, practical, industry specific learning for two years at college and continue on with the theory portion of their studies at university if they so choose. This is an example of "learning to be" and then "learning about". It is nice to continue to gain more evidence to support what we are doing at Holland College.