Learning In Other Contexts

What is teaching?

By definition: “Give lessons in, lecture in, give instruction in… to impart knowledge or skill to… to advocate or preach” (TheFreeDictionary, 2013) (Accessed on 22/04/2013) All these three different definitions all have one thing in common; they are all the process of somebody sharing their knowledge to somebody else.

What is learning?

By definition: “The cognitive process of acquiring skill or knowledge; ‘the child's acquisition of language’ ” (TheFreeDictionary, 2013) (Accessed on 22/04/2013)

Many people think that being taught and learning is the same thing, whereas they are in fact very different. Children can be taught and find that when they leave the classroom they are no better than when they entered. They therefore haven’t technically learnt anything. It’s only once a child is interested and chooses to participate that they learn. Different contexts and environments can affect this, and can make boring subjects, interesting.

Encouraging learning through different environments and contexts

General schooling shouldn’t just conform to the standard, stereotypical approach and view of what schooling is. For instance, Children sat in a stuffy classroom, at a desk, in an organised lesson, in front of a teacher, being drilled with information. School should be thought of as an exciting experience that varies from day to day, exists within a ‘mishmash’ of indoor and outdoor experiences and activities. This has been introduced through approaches like Montessori and Forest schools, where children have freedom and experiences of different contexts. These approaches that boast different contexts have proven to gain some great results.

School trips are another great experience for children in school. Children are given the opportunity to visit a new environment, that is normally enjoyable, but learn a great deal at the same time. This again is taking the stereotypical view of education away and inputting new contexts that should help to increase and enhance children’s learning.

Techniquest science museum in Cardiff Bay is a pure example of a great learning context that boasts an amazing interactive experience, where you can go and have so much fun whilst learning a great deal, sometimes without realising. This context makes learning easy, effortless and fun. Both Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are of the belief this is important for children’s need to discover the world and build on their mental schema.

 

I believe schooling shouldn’t just be constricted to the classroom but should be explored in many different contexts. Although it can be useful to have a structured, formal, inside approach to some areas of education, it shouldn’t be the only context in which children learn. As children don’t like being taught, but they love to learn, and different learning contexts is the process that brings teaching and learning together.

Reference List:

• TheFreeDictionary (2013), (Accessed on 11/04/2013), (Accessed on website: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Montessori+method)