It is human to crave knowledge, to search for meaning, and to understand. If you have ever watched a baby’s face as they take their first steps it is full of pride and joy in themselves. No one teaches a baby how to walk, yet still they figure it out. Humans have been learning by doing for over 2 millions years. From birth we are consistently learning. Sometimes the learning is formal and other times it is informal. Before there was modern learning, such as sitting in lectures, reading textbooks, watching videos, and searching the internet, there was learning from demonstrations and learning for survival. 

​

   

 

 

 

   

    Sometimes learning is for the simple joy of it, at times it is to acquire a life skill, to gain a credential or certification for a job, or to adapt to a new situation. If you are living, you are learning. It is a constant in our lives. I love learning, especially when it involves cooking, baking, flower arranging, gardening, bird watching, drawing or watercoloring. Learning how to create with my hands is one of the best kinds of learning. Looking back at my formal educational experiences, I always enjoyed the classes I had the opportunity to create things. Unfortunately, most of my classes were sit and get models with minimal opportunities to create, or problem solve.

​

    I believe that learning should be facilitated for learners to connect the dots versus collecting them. Like the learning theorist Bruner, I believe that the role of a teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning, but instead to facilitate the learning process. Lessons should be designed to help students discover the relationship between information. In this style of learning and teaching students construct their own knowledge for themselves. This is known as a constructivist approach. 

​

  Engaging students by starting with the concrete and solving hands-on, real-world problems is a great motivator. Project based learning is a way for students to engage and take ownership of their learning. Research supports this type of learning by doing and problem solving.  If school children are given the gift of exploration, society will be the beneficiary, both in practical and in theoretical ways, scholars say. "This is the way that mathematics started," notes MIT's Seymour Papert. "It started not as this beautiful, pure product of the abstract mind. It started as a way of controlling the water of the Nile, building the pyramids, sailing a ship. And gradually it got richer and richer." (Curtis, 2001).  

​

   By engaging the active, interactive, collaborative and reflective processes that support the constructive theory of learning, students learn more. They learn more when they play an active role, rather than as passive listeners. When students concentrate on problem solving, critical thinking and deep understanding, rather than on memorization they take ownership of their learning. The idea of learning by doing and having students connect the dots instead of giving them the dots is not new. Unfortunately, it is not the norm at most K-12 schools. 

​

   A new learning theory that I connect with is connectivism. Connectivism accepts that technology is a major part of the learning process and that our constant connectedness gives us opportunities to make choices about our learning. The Internet empowers learners with content, but ever more powerful is the connections that can be created with others. Collaborating to learn does not have to be limited to people in your classroom. Teachers can play a role in creating a healthy collaborative environment and nurture  and maintain a classroom that supports collaboration. I believe learners need each other to construct meaning. As a learner, I need others to collaborate with, guide me, and give valuable feedback that enhances growth.

 

  Only after you have a concrete learning philosophy can you create a teaching philosophy to reflect it, because it isn’t about the teacher, it is about the learner. To have a student centered environment that supports COVA, you have to approach it from a learner’s perspective. The teacher’s role is still important for planning, guiding, supporting collaboration, and to give constructive feedback.

​

   To be human is to learn, connect, and make meaning of our world. It is a beautiful process with so much to learn and so many ways to do it. Some ways of learning are better than others and can be more enjoyable experiences. It is important to keep striving for creating learning environments that work for learners and put them in the center of the learning.

​

“Learning is what makes information useful, and what enables people to apply knowledge to make things better for themselves, their families, and their communities.”

— 

Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet

​