Introduction to Foundations of Learning Theory

Introduction to Foundations of Learning Theory

 

Many teachers believe that teachers are mainly involved in learning with students, while others think otherwise. Melrose et al. (2015), the theoretical foundation in education mainly involves understanding and evaluating how to incorporate scholarship into teaching practice. Then, they say that teachers can be clinical when they provide theoretical guidance set by the educational curriculum. Some have different priorities and how teachers think about learning and the difference between learning and teaching. In my opinion, I believe that education mainly involves teaching others and learning something from others. These ideas and priorities form the “screen” against which we understand and evaluate what psychology teaches. This means that many teachers meet different qualifications. They help teachers solve various critical problems they face in the classroom. For example, educational psychologists have developed different theories that apply to different classes. These theories explain what happens in the classroom and provide guidelines for learning.

It is important to apply the theoretical foundation of the study. It provides students, teachers, and educators with a clear introduction to psychological and pedagogical theories and guides the design of new learning environments (Jonassen & Land, 2012). This article will focus on the history and philosophy of teaching and learning, mainly analyzing the philosophy of teaching and learning. The report will also discuss historical and contemporary leadership theories and their application to teaching and learning. The philosophical link between accountability and assessment will be discussed in this article to bring the relationship between teaching and learning. Last year’s report will provide a good overview of various leadership theories that focus on synthesis, evaluation, learning, and accountability.

 

History and philosophy of teaching and learning

 

Any concepts taught in secondary and tertiary education focus more on the philosophy of education, various empirical and conceptual works on education, learning theory and the reality of basic education in the classroom. According to Yilmaz (2008), learning and teaching mainly requires the interpretation of the philosophy of historical education. Conceptual and epistemological foundations shape and color the approach to various problems of history education. He then defined history as a term that refers mainly to events, processes, and situations that occurred in the past and that are different from the past.

History presents various accounts of multifaceted and multifaceted human experiences across space and time. Teaching has evolved from an important simple educational function to a more complex profession. Teaching mainly develops the minds of young adults or children and prepares them to become worthy citizens. According to Hirs (2010), it teaches ministers and housewives trained during the colonial period. The Pilgrim School was first established by the Pilgrims in 1635 and later a ‘ladies’ school for women was built. Teaching includes from the colonial period to the 1800s, with significant changes in the teaching profession and the existence of training centers that teach teachers how to teach. Hirsch (2010) states that all cities in Massachusetts with a population of more than 500 must have a middle school for all students in the area. The National Association of Teachers was founded in 1857 and is one of the largest unions in the United States. He fought for teachers’ rights and improved conditions for the teaching profession.

In the 1900s, teaching became a more desirable profession as conditions began to improve. In 1954, the US Supreme Court ordered the integration of public schools in the United States. The teaching profession emphasizes the development of different teaching methods to meet the different educational needs of a changing society.

Teaching today has evolved because there are many ways to teach students other than traditional face-to-face education. Today’s children can learn through various communication channels such as television and computers. According to Hirs (2010), this began to open new and different educational opportunities. It has increased awareness of different types of education, such as vocational and adult. Education is career-oriented by preparing students for careers through future technical education.

The philosophy of teaching and learning focuses mainly on teaching. This is a method that many teachers use to clarify their goals, express their commitment to teaching, develop professionally and personally, and demonstrate their skills (Wasserman, 2009). In other words, the philosophy of sentence teaching mainly involves comparing the theoretical identity with the actual identity. This sentence is mainly a reflective essay, which gives an understanding of what autobiography is and how to proceed with teaching and learning. As noted earlier, there is an increase in the number of teachers and the hope that teachers in the United States and internationally will develop a teaching philosophy. However, not all educators believe in building a descriptive philosophy of teaching, and its usefulness is highly contested and debatable. Some students find learning boring, useless, and meaningless, which is a challenge for teachers. According to Yilmaz (2008), without positive perception and attitude, students have little chance to understand and take responsibility for their learning. In conclusion, according to Curren (1998), the philosophy of education through learning and teaching tends to be at the intersection of political and moral philosophy, linguistic philosophy of mind, and epistemology that underpins education experience.

 

History and current leadership theory

 

The main purpose of educational leadership is for educational leaders to influence other teachers in various administrative settings. In other cases, educational leaders can involve our team. This leader will try to find effective ways to improve learning and students. Educational leadership theory borrows from business management theory or principles. In the United States, leadership models from a business perspective are being borrowed and integrated into educational settings. Because schools and the communities they serve are diverse, they change over time. Various theories about the roles and responsibilities of different educational leaders will be modified and reconstructed. It is important to note that there may be differences in leadership styles integrated into educational settings, and this does not mean that one is better than the other. Not every leadership theory is more effective depending on the educational context in which the leader operates. Various factors such as staff, culture, school, personality, and seniority determine the leadership style that best suits the educational setting.

Leadership theories, but especially schools of thought, have been proposed to explain why and how certain people become leaders. Derived from business management principles, various leadership theories emphasize the qualities and attributes that individuals can adopt to improve their leadership abilities. According to CFI (2018), early research on the psychology of leadership suggests that leadership skills are innate abilities that people are born with. Recently, various early leadership theories have emerged. According to Hunt (2013), having leadership in the school requires a vision which in turn helps to develop a sense of belonging. It also inspired various workers to take action, he said. This supports various employees by empowering them, especially those who invest time, recognize the team, facilitate innovative collaboration, improve clarity-solving problems and professional development.

Various management principles have been borrowed to incorporate learning theory. This includes; is a great theory of personality that assumes that an individual’s ability to lead is innate. This means that great leaders are born not made. This theory describes the leader as mythical, heroic, and intended to step up and lead when needed. At that time, leadership was generally held and considered a male quality. Second, we have a theory of character related to the theory of great men. He believes that most people will inherit leadership traits and characteristics that make them better suited to be leaders. Trait theory often defines individual personality and refers to the personalities of other leaders. The key question in explaining this theory is that if you start with specific traits that tend to distinguish non-leaders from leaders, how do you explain people who tend to show these traits but are not leaders?

Third, we have a trait theory similar to the two theories above which is based on the fact that great leaders are made and not born. This leadership theory focuses mainly on the leader’s behavior rather than mental attributes or abilities. This theory basically reveals that if you want to be a leader, you can do it by teaching, guiding, or observing. Fourth, we have a participative theory that focuses on the ideal leadership style that considers the various contributions of other individuals. In other words, it is especially felt that the leader encourages the contribution and participation of many team members, and makes team members feel committed and important in decision-making. Participatory theory provides the idea that other members have the right to allow input.

Finally, we have relationship theory, also known as transformational theory, which focuses mainly on the relationship built between leaders and followers. This theory was first proposed by Bass (1985) who is of the opinion that leaders focus more on the organization of group performance and the role of supervision. He also identified four components that make up a transformational leader: intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, personal reflection, and ideal influence that tend to unify the transformational personality (Bass, 1985). These leaders primarily inspire and motivate people by helping all team members understand the importance of completing assigned tasks. Transformational leaders focus primarily on the performance of their team members, but they want everyone on their team to perform to their full potential. According to CFI (2018), this type of leader has high ethical and moral standards.

 

Philosophical relationship between assessment and responsibility

 

In recent decades, both fields have gained popularity in education, from kindergarten to universities. These two areas are responsibility and evaluation; These terms are often used interchangeably and have important differences. Simply put, our evaluation is when we evaluate our performance. On the other hand, responsibility is when others tend to judge our performance. According to Frye (2021), responsibility is basically a set of initiatives that involves controlling the consequences of our actions and rewarding or punishing them according to the results. On the other hand, assessment is basically a set of initiatives that we take to monitor our behavior and improve the various weaknesses that we want to show.

Assessment becomes a powerful tool for change because of the political importance, persuasiveness, and potential impact of assessment on student learning. If we compare this to other tools or vehicles for change, such as long-term professional development, it becomes an interesting strategy that policymakers can use. It is also cheaper to build and manage. According to the National Research Council (2002, p. 60), evaluation can be external and therefore easy to administer, producing tangible results. It is important to integrate assessment into the education system. It provides teachers, parents, students, policy makers, and the public with a consistent way to report how students are performing in and out of class. Test results reports represent the simplest form of accountability reporting. If there is a strong motivation for educational change, various accountability mechanisms are provided that use several assessments to make decisions about teachers, students, or schools. Policy makers are developing assessment and accountability policies for teachers and students to clearly define principles related to student performance. According to the National Research Council (2002, p. 61), many educators and policy makers in various states of the United States believe that assessment, when combined with accountability, is one of the most powerful strategies for achieving this. all students, regardless of their level, are held to the same high standards. Evaluation mainly aims to improve the quality of education. However, this is mainly limited by the budget, on the other hand, accountability clearly helps in improving physical efficiency, but is limited by the quality of education (Fry, 2021). Both can be linked if all stakeholders are more focused on student learning outcomes.

 

A synthesis of learning theory, leadership, assessment, and accountability

 

Assessment is often a large part of student learning and pedagogy, and is often associated with multiple teacher questions related to different teacher classes and curricula (Jankowski, 2017). The main purpose of assessment is formative and mainly to improve student learning. With this evaluation process, the lecturer’s role is considered primarily as one of the educational procedures and usually includes teaching and learning. As previously discussed, prioritizing learning encourages learning and is a necessary means of initiating improvement. If combined with an effective leadership style such as transformational leadership, it can have dramatic results in increasing school capacity, engaging students with high quality content, and improving overall learning.

How is the relationship between accountability, school performance, and leadership illustrated when school leaders use different accountability systems to position themselves and the organization in an advantageous position to obtain more resources and opportunities in education? . But that doesn’t mean they are successful leaders for students in society as a whole. Although accountability is a great tool, many schools have little knowledge of how to respond to accountability policies. According to Elmore (2006), making accountability policies is not enough if school improvement practices are not implemented. It also states that there is clear evidence that professional accountability is necessary for any school to respond effectively to outcomes-based accountability.

 

Conclusion

 

As we have noted, most countries, including the United States, use different approaches to assess and evaluate students, school leaders, teachers, schools, and educational systems. This tool is mainly used for better understanding when students learn well. It is also used to inform parents and the wider community about educational performance and ways to improve school teaching practice and school leadership. One of the most important challenges for the educational accountability system is to increase the capacity of schools and produce the desired effects to improve student learning by enabling teachers to deliver quality curriculum and valuable content. Teachers must have a clear plan for accountability. You need to be at the forefront of setting clear goals, making plans for how to achieve those goals, using the data collected for continuous monitoring, and setting commitments for continuous improvement. I think we should tend to respect and hold educators accountable. When this happens, the benefits to all students will be very visible, immediate and effective.