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Roles of the teacher and student in the PYP classroom

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A response to the ever popular cartoon

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One of the best sessions I had the chance to attend at the recent Association for Middle Level Education conference (#AMLE2013) was a session on formative assessment, summative judgment, and descriptive feedback presented by Rick Wormeli. In the session, Rick shared this cartoon, which I had seen before:

The argument usually made by folks sharing this cartoon is that we should have different standards of assessment for different students, because the students are clearly unique individuals with different strengths and weaknesses and it isn't fair to hold them all to the same standards. Because it's not going to be any problem for the monkey to climb the tree, right? But how is the fish going to get up there? Or the elephant? Or even the dog?

Before I go further, you should know that Rick is a master teacher, and a recognized expert in several related fields within the realm of education. In his writings--and presentations--he is a tireless advocate for differentiated instruction (tailoring teaching so that every student learns), formative assessment ("taking the temperature" while learning is ongoing), descriptive feedback (explaining to students what they are doing well...and not so well...and giving them the chance to act on it), and collaborative practice (teachers getting their heads together to talk about their teaching and offer critique, challenging each other to get better.) In this presentation, Rick pulled all of these threads together and began weaving them into a seamless piece.

Rick gave us a new twist on this cartoon. He suggested that we actually should hold students to the same standard. If demonstrating understanding of Newton's laws of motion is a critical part of the curriculum that all students need to master, every student must demonstrate this understanding. If writing a persuasive essay is a key part of the curriculum, every student must be able to write a persuasive essay. If climbing the tree is a necessary part of the curriculum, then we simply must have every student get up that tree.

But here's the catch: it's incumbent upon us as educators to do everything we can to help our students meet the high standard. This will likely mean allowing different paths to reaching the standard, and providing ongoing, descriptive feedback to students as they are working to meet the standard that has been set: what is working, what is not working, what else they might try.

To illustrate, Rick shared a series of cartoons drawn by a student in response to the classic cartoon above...

Please remember that these are just an illustration to the point, but I think you get the idea: allowing for multiple pathways (or maybe I should say "multiple evidences of learning?") is the way to ensure that each unique student will be able to show that they have mastered this part of the curriculum.

As I reflect on this, I think the crucial bit is that we keep focused on what we want students to learn and separate this from the vehicle of assessment. If students are learning to write a persuasive essay, they must write a persuasive essay--that is the assessment vehicle that makes sense to show whether or not they have met the standard. But if students are learning about pollution and it's effects on public health, a persuasive essay might be one vehicle to show that they have a proficient understanding of this standard. What else might show this proficiency? An interview with the teacher? A presentation to the class? A short film? Perhaps the students will come up with their own amazing idea?

So here's my three-point summary: (subject-to-revision, but pretty-sure-for-now)

1. If we expect every student to be able to meet the standard, we have to give them true, descriptive feedback. And this goes beyond just "Nice job!" Students need to know what they did well, and what they need to keep working on to meet the standard.

2. Once they have this sort of actionable feedback, they also need the chance to act on it! Many teachers seem to have a problem with redoing work. My argument is this: if it's critical that students master this element of the curriculum...we must do everything we can to ensure that they master it! That might mean multiple attempts with descriptive feedback at each step along the way.

3. We need to provide for (or at least allow for) multiple pathways to showing proficient understanding of the curriculum. Unless the assessment vehicle is the curriculum, allowing for alternatives is key! This sort of differentiation may be the only way to ensure that the fish can climb the tree.

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Fish Climbing Trees: Assessment, Feedback, and Differentiation

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One of the best sessions I had the chance to attend at the recent Association for Middle Level Education conference (#AMLE2013) was a session on formative assessment, summative judgment, and descriptive feedback presented by Rick Wormeli.

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A varied list of learning theories and their meanings

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Learning Theories & Models - Summaries & Guides - Learning Theories

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Read over 100+ summaries of the most important learning theories, along with guides to useful tools for education. Welcome to one of the best resources on the

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What is learning?

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Learning theory: models, product and process. What is learning? Is it a change in behaviour or understanding? Is it a process? Here we survey some common models.

Contents: introduction · learning as a product · task-conscious or acquisition learning, and learning-conscious or formalized learning · learning as a process · the behaviourist orientation to learning · the cognitive orientation to learning · the humanistic orientation to learning · the social/situational orientation to learning · further reading · how to cite this article

See, also, Cultivating learning and possibility. What education is and what it is not.

I want to talk about But the lifeless, sterile, futile, quickly forgotten stuff that is crammed in to the mind of the poor helpless individual tied into his seat by ironclad bonds of conformity! I am talking about LEARNING - the insatiable curiosity that drives the adolescent boy to absorb everything he can see or hear or read about gasoline engines in order to improve the efficiency and speed of his 'cruiser'. I am talking about the student who says, "I am discovering, drawing in from the outside, and making that which is drawn in a real part of me." I am talking about any learning in which the experience of the learner progresses along this line: "No, no, that's not what I want"; "Wait! This is closer to what I am interested in, what I need"; "Ah, here it is! Now I'm grasping and comprehending what I and what I want to know!" Carl Rogers 1983: 18-19

For all the talk of learning amongst educational policymakers and practitioners, there is a surprising lack of attention to what it entails. In Britain and Northern Ireland, for example, theories of learning do not figure strongly in professional education programmes for teachers and those within different arenas of informal education. It is almost as if it is something is unproblematic and that can be taken for granted. Get the instructional regime right, the message seems to be, and learning (as measured by tests and assessment regimes) will follow. This lack of attention to the nature of learning inevitably leads to an impoverishment of education. It isn't simply that the process is less effective as a result, but what passes for education can actually diminish well-being.

Here we begin by examining learning as a product and as a process. The latter takes us into the arena of competing learning theories - ideas about how learning may happen. We also look at Alan Roger's (2003) helpful discussion of task-conscious or acquisition learning, and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

Learning as a product

Pick up a standard psychology textbook - especially from the 1960s and 1970s and you will probably find learning defined as a change in behaviour. In other words, learning is approached as an outcome - the end product of some process. It can be recognized or seen. This approach has the virtue of highlighting a crucial aspect of learning - change. It's apparent clarity may also make some sense when conducting experiments. However, it is rather a blunt instrument. For example:

Does a person need to perform in order for learning to have happened?

Are there other factors that may cause behaviour to change?

Can the change involved include the potential for change? (Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124)

Questions such as these have led to qualification. Some have looked to identifying relatively permanent changes in behaviour (or potential for change) as a result of experiences (see behaviourism below). However, not all changes in behaviour resulting from experience involve learning. It would seem fair to expect that if we are to say that learning has taken place, experience should have been used in some way. Conditioning may result in a change in behaviour, but the change may not involved drawing upon experience to generate new knowledge. Not surprisingly, many theorists have, thus, been less concerned with overt behaviour but with changes in the ways in which people 'understand, or experience, or conceptualize the world around them' (Ramsden 1992: 4) (see cognitivism below). The focus for them, is gaining knowledge or ability through the use of experience.

The depth or nature of the changes involved are likely to be different. Some years ago Säljö (1979) carried out a simple, but very useful piece of research. He asked a number of adult students what they understood by learning. Their responses fell into five main categories:

1. Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge. Learning is acquiring information or 'knowing a lot'.

2. Learning as memorising. Learning is storing information that can be reproduced.

3. Learning as acquiring facts, skills, and methods that can be retained and used as necessary.

4. Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning. Learning involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world.

5. Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way. Learning involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. (quoted in Ramsden 1992: 26)

As Paul Ramsden comments, we can see immediately that conceptions 4 and 5 in are qualitatively different from the first three. Conceptions 1 to 3 imply a less complex view of learning. Learning is something external to the learner. It may even be something that just happens or is done to you by teachers (as in conception 1). In a way learning becomes a bit like shopping. People go out and buy knowledge - it becomes their possession. The last two conceptions look to the 'internal' or personal aspect of learning. Learning is seen as something that you do in order to understand the real world.

Exhibit 1 : 'knowing that' and 'knowing how'

A man knowing little or nothing of medical science could not be a good surgeon, but excellence at surgery is not the same thing as knowledge of medical science; not is it a simple product of it. The surgeon must indeed have learned from instruction, or by his own inductions and observations, a great number of truths; but he must also have learned by practice a great number of aptitudes. (Ryle 1949: 48-49)

Learning how or improving an ability is not like learning that or acquiring information. Truths can be imparted, procedures can only be inculcated, and while inculcation is a gradual process, imparting is relatively sudden. It makes sense to ask at what moment someone became apprised of a truth, but not to ask at what moment someone acquired a skill. (Ryle 1949: 58)

In some ways the difference here involves what Gilbert Ryle (1949) has termed 'knowing that' and 'knowing how'. The first two categories mostly involve 'knowing that'. As we move through the third we see that alongside 'knowing that' there is growing emphasis on 'knowing how'. This system of categories is hierarchical - each higher conception implies all the rest beneath it. 'In other words, students who conceive of learning as understanding reality are also able to see it as increasing their knowledge' (Ramsden 1992: 27).

Learning as a process - task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning

In the five categories that Säljö identified we can see learning appearing as a process - there is a concern with what happens when the learning takes place. In this way, learning could be thought of as 'a process by which behaviour changes as a result of experience' (Maples and Webster 1980 quoted in Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 124). One of the significant questions that arises is the extent to which people are conscious of what is going on. Are they aware that they are engaged in learning - and what significance does it have if they are? Such questions have appeared in various guises over the years - and have surfaced, for example, in debates around the rather confusing notion of ' informal learning '.

One particularly helpful way of approaching the area has been formulated by Alan Rogers (2003). Drawing especially on the work of those who study the learning of language (for example, Krashen 1982), Rogers sets out two contrasting approaches: task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning.

Task-conscious or acquisition learning. Acquisition learning is seen as going on all the time. It is 'concrete, immediate and confined to a specific activity; it is not concerned with general principles' (Rogers 2003: 18). Examples include much of the learning involved in parenting or with running a home. Some have referred to this kind of learning as unconscious or implicit. Rogers (2003: 21), however, suggests that it might be better to speak of it as having a consciousness of the task. In other words, whilst the learner may not be conscious of learning, they are usually aware of the specific task in hand.

Learning-conscious or formalized learning. Formalized learning arises from the process of facilitating learning. It is 'educative learning' rather than the accumulation of experience. To this extent there is a consciousness of learning - people are aware that the task they are engaged in entails learning. 'Learning itself is the task. What formalized learning does is to make learning more conscious in order to enhance it' (Rogers 2003: 27). It involves guided episodes of learning.

When approached in this way it becomes clear that these contrasting ways of learning can appear in the same context. Both are present in schools. Both are present in families. It is possible to think of the mix of acquisition and formalized learning as forming a continuum.

At one extreme lie those unintentional and usually accidental learning events which occur continuously as we walk through life. Next comes incidental learning - unconscious learning through acquisition methods which occurs in the course of some other activity... Then there are various activities in which we are somewhat more more conscious of learning, experiential activities arising from immediate life-related concerns, though even here the focus is still on the task... Then come more purposeful activities - occasions where we set out to learn something in a more systematic way, using whatever comes to hand for that purpose, but often deliberately disregarding engagement with teachers and formal institutions of learning... Further along the continuum lie the self-directed learning projects on which there is so much literature... More formalized and generalized (and consequently less contextualized) forms of learning are the distance and open education programmes, where some elements of acquisition learning are often built into the designed learning programme. Towards the further extreme lie more formalized learning programmes of highly decontextualized learning, using material common to all the learners without paying any regard to their individual preferences, agendas or needs. There are of course no clear boundaries between each of these categories. (Rogers 2003: 41-2)

This distinction is echoed in different ways in the writings of many of those concerned with education - but in particular in key theorists such as Kurt Lewin, Chris Argyris, Donald Schön, or Michael Polanyi.

Learning as a process - learning theory

The focus on process obviously takes us into the realm of learning theories - ideas about how or why change occurs. On these pages we focus on four different orientations (the first three taken from Merriam and Caffarella 1991).

As with any categorization of this sort the divisions are a bit arbitrary: there could be further additions and sub-divisions to the scheme, and there a various ways in which the orientations overlap and draw upon each other.

The four orientations can be summed up in the following figure:

Four orientations to learning (after Merriam and Caffarella 1991: 138)

View of the learning process

Change in behaviour

Internal mental process (including insight, information processing, memory, perception

A personal act to fulfil potential.

Interaction /observation in social contexts. Movement from the periphery to the centre of a community of practice

Stimuli in external environment

Internal cognitive structuring

Affective and cognitive needs

Learning is in relationship between people and environment.

Produce behavioural change in desired direction

Develop capacity and skills to learn better

Become self-actualized, autonomous

Full participation in communities of practice and utilization of resources

Arranges environment to elicit desired response

Structures content of learning activity

Facilitates development of the whole person

Works to establish communities of practice in which conversation and participation can occur.

Manifestations in adult learning

Behavioural objectives Competency -based education

Skill development and training

Cognitive development Intelligence, learning and memory as function of age

Learning how to learn

Andragogy Self-directed learning

Socialization Social participation

Associationalism

Conversation

As can seen from the above schematic presentation and the discussion on the linked pages, these approaches involve contrasting ideas as to the purpose and process of learning and education - and the role that educators may take. It is also important to recognize that the theories may apply to different sectors of the acquision-formalized learning continuum outlined above. For example, the work of Lave and Wenger is broadly a form of acquisition learning that can involve some more formal interludes.

Further reading

For this listing I have tried to bring together a selection of books that look to the main themes arising in the literature around learning (and education). For those familiar with Tennant (1997) (which is a set text on a course I teach!), the writers can be grouped as follows:

humanistic orientations - here I chosen Maslow and Rogers.

psychoanalytical approaches - Salzberger-Wittenberg et al provide a useful introduction.

the cognitive orientation - with Piaget, Gagné and Bruner

learning styles - Witkin on field dependence and independence; and Kolb on experiential learning.

behaviourism - represented here by Skinner.

building learning communities - Dewey on group investigation; Lave and Wenger on situated learning.

critical awareness - Mezirow on the transformative dimensions of learning; Freire on 'conscientization'.

Overviews can be found in Tennant (1997), and Joyce et al (1997).

Overviews

Hartley, J. (1998) Learning and Studying. A research perspective, London: Routledge. 178 + xii pages. A well written and entertaining introduction to studying and learning in higher education. The focus is very much on practice.

Hergenhahn, B. R. and Olson, M. H. (1997) An Introduction to Theories of Learning 5e, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 502 + x pages. Good, standard psychology text on the subject that takes an approach via 'thinkers'. Part one contains three short chapters examining the nature of learning, different approaches to study; and early notions of learning. Part two looks at the predominantly functionalist theories of Thorndike, Skinner and Hull. Part three turns to 'associationalist' theorists: Pavlov, Guthrie and Estes; and part four looks at predominantly cognitive theorists: Gestalt, Piaget, Tolman, Bandura, Norman. Part five explores Hebb as a neurophysiological theorist. A concluding section examines implications for educators.

Illeris,K. (2002) The Three Dimensions of Learning. Contemporary learning theory in the tension field between the cognitive, the emotional and the social, Frederiksberg: Roskilde University Press. Interesting, but at times debatable exploration.

Joyce, B., Calhoun, E. and Hopkins, D. (1997) Models of Learning - tools for teaching, Buckingham: Open University Press. 205 + viii pages. Slightly quirky, but very useful outline of different models of learning The writers isolate four 'families' of teaching based on the the types of learning they promote: information processing; social/building a learning community; personal; and behavioural. They have chapters on learning: to think inductively, to explore concepts, to think metaphorically; mnemonically, through co-operative disciplined enquiry, to study values, through counselling and through simulations. Concluding chapters exami integrating models, and teaching and learning together.

Merriam, S. and Caffarella (1991, 1998) Learning in Adulthood. A comprehensive guide, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 528 pages. Now pretty much the standard text, Merriam and Caffarella provide a good overview of learning theory. In the new edition, part two deals with adult development and learning; and part three with the learning process.

Murphy, P. (ed.) (1999) Learners, Learning and Assessment, London: Paul Chapman. 352 + xiii pages. One of four readers for the Open University MA in Education course Learning, Curriculum and Assessment. This volume has a useful collection of pieces on views of the mind; curriculum implications; and learning and assessment processes. See, also, Leach, J. and Moon, B. (eds.) (1999) Learners and Pedagogy, London: Paul Chapman. 280 + viii pages; and McCormick, R. and Paetcher, C. (eds.) (1999) Learning and Knowledge, London: Paul Chapman. 254 + xiv pages.

Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education, London: Routledge. 290 + xiv pages. Ramsden's text can be profitably read by those teaching in other arenas. It provides a focused introduction to learning and the implications for programme design and encounters in the classroom.

Rogers, A. (2003) What is the Difference? A new critique of adult learning and teaching, Leicester: NIACE. 85 pages. Short and very helpful exploration of the nature of learning (with particular attention to current debates around informal learning) and the extent to which adult learning and the teaching of adults is the same or different from that of younger persons.

Tennant, M. (1988, 1997) Psychology and Adult Learning, London: Routledge. 182 + xii pages. Good discussion of the relevance of psychological theory to adult education. Includes material on humanistic psychology and the self-directed learner; the psychoanalytical approach; adult development; cognitive developmental psychology; learning styles; behaviourism; group dynamics; critical awareness. New edition includes helpful material on situated learning plus updates on the literature

Tennant, M. and Pogson, P. (1995) Learning and Change in the Adult Years. A developmental perspective, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 218 + xvii pages. Examines relationships between development and learning in adulthood; intellectual and cognitive development; practical intelligence and expertise; theories of the life course; autonomy and self-direction; experience; and teacher-learner relationship. Provides a helpful series of insights drawn from a developmental psychology tradition.

Key texts

Bruner, J. (1960, 1977) The Process of Education, Cambridge Ma.: Harvard University Press. 97 + xxvi pages. Argues for 'the spiral curriculum' with a discussion of the importance of structure; readiness for learning; intuitive and analytical thinking; motives for learning; and aids to teaching.

Dewey, J. (1933) How We Think 2e, New York: D. C. Heath. Classic and highly influential discussion of reflective enquiry, with Dewey's famous five elements: suggestion, problem, hypothesis, reasoning, testing. For a discussion that focuses on learning communities see, J. Dewey (1915) The School and Society, 2e., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The introduction of active occupations, of nature-study, of elementary science, of art, of history; the relegation of the merely symbolic and formal to a secondary position; the change in the moral school atmosphere, in the relation of pupils and teachers - of discipline; the introduction of more active, expressive, and self-directing factors - all these are not mere accidents, they are necessities of the larger social evolution. It remains to but to organize all these factors, to appreciate them in their fullness of meaning, and to put the ideas and ideals involved into complete, uncompromising possession of our school system. To do this means to make each one of our schools an embryonic community life, active with types of occupations that reflect the life of the larger society and permeated throughout with the spirit of art, history, and science. When the school introduces and trains each child of society into membership within such a little community, saturating him with the spirit of service, and providing him with the instruments of effective self-direction, we shall have the deepest and best guaranty of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious.

John Dewey (1915) The School and Society, 2e., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pages 28-9.

Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Harmondsworth: Penguin. Classic account of Freire's position. See, also, P. Freire and A. Faundez (1989) Learning to Question. A pedagogy of liberation, Geneva: World Council of Churches. Gives an account of learning through problem-posing.

Gagné, R. M. (1985) The Conditions of Learning 4e, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 308 + viii pages. Important study, first published in 1965, that 'attempts to consider the sets of circumstances that obtain when learning occurs, that is, when certain observable changes in human behaviour take place that justify the inference of learning' (p. 5). Basically a systems approach with chapters on varieties of learning (8 types); basic forms of learning (signal, stimulus response); chaining: motor and verbal; concept learning; problem solving; learning structures; the motivation and control of learning; learning decisions.

Jarvis, P. (1987) Adult Learning in the Social Context, London: Routledge. 220 pages. Important attempt to ground thinking about adult learning in a sociological perspective. A useful addition to thinking around reflection and experiential learning.

Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential Learning, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice Hall. 256 pages. Learning is approached as a process leading to the production of knowledge. Substantial discussion of the ideas underpinning Kolb's well-known model.

Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning. Legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. 138 pages. Significant exploration of learning as participation in communities of practice. Participation moves from the periphery to the 'centre'. Learning is, thus, not seen as the acquisition of knowledge by individuals so much as a process of social participation. The nature of the situation impacts significantly on the process. Chapters on legitimate peripheral participation; practice, person, social world; specific communities of practice.

Maslow, A. (1968) Towards a Psychology of Being 2e, New York: Van Nostrand. In which he argues for the significance of self-actualization. His 'theory of motivation' moves from low to high level needs (physiological, safety, love and belongingness, self-esteem, self-actualization). See, also, A . Maslow (1970) Motivation and Personality 2e, New York: Harper and Row. for a full discussion of the model.

Mezirow, J. (1991) Transformative Dimensions of Learning, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 247 + xix pages. Exploration of some of the processes by which people can free themselves from 'oppressive ideologies, habits of perception, and psychological distractions'. Draws on psycho-analytical, behaviouristic and humanistic theories.

Newman, F. and Holzman, L. (1997) The End of Knowing. A new developmental way of learning, London: Routledge. 185 + viii pages. Looks at learning as performed activity.

Piaget, J. (1926) The Child's Conception of the World, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. It is difficult to know which of Piaget's 50 or more books to choose here - but this and The Origin of Intelligence in Children are classic starting points. H. E. Gruber and J. J. Voneche (1977) The Essential Piaget: an interpretative reference and guide, London is good collection. See, also, M. A. Boden's (1979) Piaget, London: Fontana for a succinct introduction.

Retallick, J., Cocklin, B. and Coombe, K. (1998) Learning Communities in Education, London: Cassell. 248 pages. Explores the theory and practice of learning communities from an international perspective. Covering primary/elementary, secondary and tertiary levels in a variety of educational contexts, leading researchers discuss: theoretical issues and debate; processes and strategies for creating learning communities; and learning communities in action .

Rogers, A. (2003) What is the difference? a new critique of adult learning and teaching, Leicester: NIACE. Very helpful, short discussion that distinguishes between task-conscious or acquisition learning and learning-conscious or formalized learning

Rogers, C. and Freiberg, H. J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd edn.), New York: Merrill. Reworking of the classic Carl Rogers text first published in 1969. Looks at how person-centred learning can be used in schooling and other situations and the nature of facilitation. See, also, H. Kirschenbaum and V. L. Henderson (eds.) (1990) The Carl Rogers Reader, London: Constable. 526 + xvi pages.

Salomon, G. (ed.). Distributed Cognitions, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Path-breaking collection of pieces that explore the extent to which learning lies in the resources to which people have access.

Salzberger-Wittenberg, I., Henry, G. and Osborne, E. (1983) The Emotional Experience of Learning and Teaching, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. 155 + xii pages. While largely focused on adult-child interactions, this book demonstrates the power of psychoanalytical insight into a range of learning relationships.

Skinner, B. F. (1973) Beyond Freedom and Dignity, London: Penguin. Probably the most accessible entry into Skinner's work and provides a classic account of his all embracing vision of behaviourism.

Wenger, E. (1999) Communities of Practice. Learning, meaning and identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 318 + xv pages. Substantial exploration of situated learning and communities of practice.

Witkin, H. and Goodenough, D. (1981) Cognitive Styles, Essence and Origins: Field dependence and field independence, New York: International Universities Press. Account of Witkin's very influential exploration of the impact of context on perceptual judgements.
Other references
Krashen, S. D. (1982) Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition, Oxford: Pergamon.

Säljö, R. (1979) 'Learning in the learner's perspective. I. Some common-sense conceptions', Reports from the Institute of Education, University of Gothenburg, 76.

Links

Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database - TIP is a tool intended to make learning and instructional theory more accessible to educators. The database contains brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction. These theories can also be accessed by learning domains and concepts.

Picture - learn by Mark Brennan. Reproduced here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) licence. http://www.flickr.com/photos/heycoach/1197947341/

How to cite this article: Smith, M. K. (2003). 'Learning theory', the encyclopedia of informal education. [http://infed.org/mobi/learning-theory-models-product-and-process/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K. Smith 1999, 2003

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Learning theory: models, product and process

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Contents: introduction · learning as a product · task-conscious or acquisition learning, and learning-conscious or formalized learning · learning as a process · the behaviourist orientation to learning · the cognitive orientation to learning · the humanistic orientation to learning · the social/situational orientation to learning · further reading · how to cite this article See, also, Cultivating learning and possibility.

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General tips and resources for PYP

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Educator Tips and Resources - PYP Classroom

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Educators from around the world are invited to participate in #pypchat, which was created to provide PYP teachers with an opportunity to come together and share thoughts, experiences and strategies ~ to learn from and with each other.

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Document for IB schools to align

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Handbook for PYP from IB website

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From IB website

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PYP Art teacher website

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Embedding more choice in my PYP Art Room has been an ongoing journey for the last three years. There are numerous ways to use the TAB approach within the PYP, and I thought I would share what is working in my Grades 3-5 art room so far. Please keep in mind that there are links embedded in this first slide that will take you to more detailed information, YouTube videos and docs that I have created.

Many of the ideas in this presentation were adapted from the TAB educator Johanna Russell whose YouTube channel can be found here. If you are interested in sharing ideas with other PYP Art teachers who are in various stages of their TAB journey, please join our Facebook group to connect.

Created using Visme. An easy-to-use Infographic Maker.

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Princess Artypants: Visual Arts in the PYP

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Embedding more choice in my PYP Art Room has been an ongoing journey for the last three years. There are numerous ways to use the TAB approach within the PYP, and I thought I would share what is working in my Grades 3-5 art room so far.

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Beautiful Art based posters of the IB Learning Profile with famous artwork

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Brilliant posters of PYP Attitudes with famous artwork and art based language

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Official blog of IB PYP

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The International Baccalaureate (IB) is a global leader in international education-developing inquiring, knowledgeable, confident, and caring young people. With more than 7,700 programmes being offered worldwide, across over 5,600 schools in 159 countries, an IB education is designed to develop well-rounded individuals who can respond to today's challenges with optimism and an open mind.

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A video result of an art and music collaboration in the unit "We imagine"

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A school created a video on imagination through art and music related to the transdisciplinary theme How we express ourselves.
The fourth grade teachers at Washington International School collaborated with the art and music teachers to design a unit of inquiry around the transdisciplinary theme of How we express ourselves. They focused on helping students to engage their imaginations to discover and express ideas while expanding their understanding of foundational aspects of art and music. The students used drawing materials, musical instruments and technology to combine art and music to represent and communicate an idea.

The following video outlines the teaching and learning process while also including a fun and interesting student work sample. The exemplar is provided by Finn who reflected in his French homeroom class to then write about his creation process. Finn used the iPad to voice record in French sharing his thinking using the Explain Everything app. Below the video is the English translation provided by Finn. To learn more about the lessons provided by the art and music teachers, you can access a post from my Lessons Learned personal blog that gives further details.

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David Carpenter is an international educator having taught in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America. David enjoys co-teaching the Information and Communication Literacies (ICL) curriculum with the school librarians while also collaborating with teachers to design units of inquiry. Another passion is connecting to the greater learning community through his Lessons Learned blog and his co-hosting of the Ed Tech Co-Op podcast. He is now working for Fairfax County Public Schools.

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A school created a video on imagination through art and music related to the transdisciplinary theme How we express ourselves. The fourth grade teachers at Washington International School collaborated with the art and music teachers to design a unit of inquiry around the transdisciplinary theme of How we express ourselves.

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The collaboration of visual arts and music on assessment in the 5th grade arts

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Based on an example from grade 5 How we organize ourselves unit of inquiry, a visual arts teacher describes how she and music teachers collaborate on assessment strategies tools.
I teach three classes of visual arts and have regular planning meetings with our music teacher, when we often focus on assessment strategies and tools. At our school we do not have scheduled drama or dance classes in the elementary school, so the music teacher and I are the only arts teachers (apart from the secondary visual arts teacher who also teaches two classes of elementary art). Our music teacher and I have always believed that if we are to develop stand-alone units, we should as far as possible use the same central idea in music as in visual arts. This helps to create an integrated learning experience for our students and also helps them to see connections between different subject areas. We do not always develop a separate stand-alone central idea because our aim is to integrate with the transdisciplinary programme of inquiry whenever possible, something which is usually possible and also desirable in the arts. However, if we cannot see an authentic connection, we do not try to 'force' one. Instead we may still settle for a thematic connection with what the students are doing in homeroom, while at the same time developing our own central idea to ensure that the focus is on conceptual understanding.

Over the last year, as well as trying to have the same central idea, we have been working together to design complementary reflection activities so that we are also assessing our students in a very similar way. Below is an example from the grade 5 How we organize ourselves unit. In homeroom the central idea is: 'Governance follows systems that grant power and control behaviour' with the key concepts Form, Function, Responsibility, and the lines of inquiry:

▪ The purpose of governance

▪ Systems of governance

▪ The responsibilities of the governors and the governed.

The related concepts are systems, power, control, decision making, legislation, freedom.

Our arts central idea is 'The arts provide us with multiple perspectives', with the following lines of inquiry in visual arts:

▪ Using the elements and principles of art and design in appropriate ways

▪ How art creates emotional connections

▪ The purposes of objects and images in past and present cultures

The related concepts were the same in both visual arts and music (information, interpretation, symbolism) but the lines of inquiry were slightly different in music to reflect different materials and techniques.

In visual arts the students created a piece of propaganda for the fictional country that they were developing in homeroom and in music they created a piece of music that would also be used in this country. In both subjects they viewed or listened to a range of artwork or music connected to the theme of propaganda from a range of cultures and periods. Here is the reflection sheet used in visual arts (a very similar one was developed for music).

We believe that collaboration between single-subject teachers helps to provide a coherent learning experience for our students and keeps the focus on conceptual understanding. The assessment becomes more meaningful for them and they are more likely to be realistic in their self-assessment and aware of areas in which they need to focus. We also believe that such learning engagements in the arts lead them to a deeper understanding of the homeroom central idea.

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The article was originally published in PYP Dunia (vol 1, issue 2, October 2014) - The network of IB PYP schools in Indonesia.

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Mary is a PYP workshop leader and has worked for eight years in a PYP school, for some of that time as a classroom teacher and PYP Coordinator. Mary is passionate about creating a culture of collaboration and integrating the arts with other areas of the curriculum.

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Assessing students' artwork - Collaboration between visual arts and music

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Based on an example from grade 5 How we organize ourselves unit of inquiry, a visual arts teacher describes how she and music teachers collaborate on assessment strategies tools. I teach three classes of visual arts and have regular planning meetings with our music teacher, when we often focus on assessment strategies and tools.

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A drama PYP unit using all areas of the PYP UOI "We Express Ourselves"

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This article is about how a PYP school in Peru reworked a unit of inquiry to put the arts in the driving seat. First grade students wrote and performed their own plays connected with effective communication and the IB learner profile. This year-long project led by their drama department was supported by other disciplines and with action taken by their IB Diploma Programme (DP) students as part of their community, action and service (CAS) project. With the arts in our hearts
During our unit How we express ourselves, our 1st grade students had the opportunity to write their own plays, design their own costumes and scenery, choose their own music, while learning about the science of how the heart functions. They also designed the play programmes and effectively communicated all of their ideas in the final performances of their plays. In addition, as part of their action, the students asked their families to donate Christmas gifts for a local community project to get tickets for their final performances.
Conceptualizing
In the past, this unit of inquiry had a focus on story-telling and entertaining others, but after reflection, we worked collaboratively to try and make the unit as conceptual as possible so that it could be applied and understood from the perspective of many different disciplines. During this process, through collaboration with classroom teachers and subject specialists, we re-wrote the central idea to be: People use their creativity to communicate messages in different ways.

Our drama teacher worked with the students all year on this unit of inquiry, firstly on understanding the central idea and then working with students in each class to define the concepts and problems for writing their own plays. "The concept about effective communication coming from the heart was something I considered very important, as today people often speak without thinking about the consequences. The students did an excellent job making personal connections to this idea and this could be seen in the ideas for their plays and the scripts they wrote."

The students worked tirelessly for 2 months creating characters, the story line, scenes, lines and actions that became their connections with the heart through effective communication. The students also chose one or two IB learner profile attributes to incorporate into their plays because during the process of writing them, they realized the importance of the IB learner profile in connection with effective communication. The most obvious attribute was communicator, but students also found connections with being caring, thinkers, risk-takers, reflective and open-minded. Each play was about 20 minutes long and was written in the host-country language - Spanish.
Transdisciplinarity
During preparation time, important work was taking place in other curricular areas. With their classroom teachers, students had the opportunity to carry out inquiries about how the heart works and to answer their own questions related to this. Some students inquired: "What does it mean to be heart-broken?", "Why do we cry when we are sad?" and "How does my heart help the rest of my body?" These independent inquiries led students to a range of scientific understandings that they presented to their classmates using digital presentations and posters, all helping them to develop confidence and be risk-takers speaking in front of others.

As part of the process, students also used their creativity and art skills to design their costumes and the scenery for the stage. Using their scientific knowledge of the heart and the characters they had chosen, they decided that the costumes should represent valves, veins and even a heartbeat. They chose the colours red, white and blue to make the setting realistic.

Developing gross motor skills was also a key part of their performances. Students worked hard to master body and facial expressions, and also used their voices to convey their messages. Our dance department was involved in helping students create dances for the songs they had chosen to accompany their plays - all songs with the heart at the core.

During the final preparations for their performances, students worked in English and Spanish to further explore the line of inquiry: different purposes for communication - entertain, explain and persuade. They created play programmes for their parents that included: a summary of the plot, 'critics' comments, self-reflections and drawings of their characters. This involved using the writing skills they had learned during the year. They also prepared a short presentation with their class so that they could explain to their audience how they created the play themselves.
Action and reflection
After the plays had been performed, the students collected the Christmas gifts that their audience had donated and proudly gave them to the community as part of the CAS project organized by our IB DP students. The student self-reflections showed deep understanding of both this action and of their process of learning and development during this year-long unit of inquiry.

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Kathryn Rymarz is Deputy Head of Lower School and PYP Coordinator at Newton College in Lima, Peru. She is an IB Workshop Leader and School Reviewer for IB Americas. She has worked in international teaching for 12 years and holds a Masters Degree in Instructional Science and School Leadership from Drexel University, PA. She tweets @KatRz7.

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This article is about how a PYP school in Peru reworked a unit of inquiry to put the arts in the driving seat. First grade students wrote and performed their own plays connected with effective communication and the IB learner profile.

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A poster of the IB Learner Profiles