Key learning theories in education
Three 20th century schools of thought have shaped today's educational landscape: behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism. An understanding of the principles of these theoretical approaches can help us become better educators and implement effective learning strategies for students. The following chart summarizes the key concepts of each of these theoretical frameworks, and the ways in which they can be applied to teaching and learning.
| Perspective on learning | Learning is observable behavioural change that occurs in response to environmental stimuli. | ||||||||||
| How it works | Positive or negative stimuli (rewards and punishments) become associated with a behaviour. Through this process of conditioning, people learn to either repeat or avoid behaviours. | ||||||||||
| Strengths of the approach |
| ||||||||||
| Application in teaching |
|
| Perspective on learning | Learning is the acquisition of knowledge and the development of understanding as a result of unseen mental 'processing', i.e. thought, reflection, problem-solving, etc. | ||||||||||
| How it works | Knowledge is acquired schematically and symbolically and involves changing mental models or schemas. | ||||||||||
| Strengths of the approach |
| ||||||||||
| Application in teaching |
|
| Perspective on learning | Learning involves creating one's own subjective knowledge by interpreting the world and restructuring one's thinking. | ||||||||||||||||
| How it works | Learning is a natural process of discovery, where students hypothesize about their environment and test these hypotheses through social negotiations, building on previous knowledge. | ||||||||||||||||
| Strengths of the approach |
| ||||||||||||||||
| Application in teaching |
|
