Introduction

This report is divided into two sections.  The first section discusses the models and theories of learning and looks particularly at the work of Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner.  The second section describes how learning theory and styles affect pedagogy and management in schools and are based on the practical experiences of the author during serial and block visits to Knowl Hill CE Primary School between January and March 2000.  A conclusion follows Section 2. Examples of school policies, schemes of work and other planning can be found in the appendices.

Section 1
A Critical Examination of Theories and Models of Children's Learning

 Over the last four decades a number of theories have been put forward to try to explain how children learn.  Pollard (1997) suggests that these theories can be categorised as behaviourist, constructivist or social-constructivist.  This essay will first look at the work of two behaviourists, Thorndike and Skinner.  The second part will discuss constructivism and the work of Piaget.  There will then be an examination of the theories of Vygotsky and Bruner and the idea of social-constructivism.  The final paragraph will briefly describe Gardner's work on multiple-intelligences.

 The central theme of behaviourism, which dominated learning theory until the 1960s, is that living creatures learn by building up bonds between their experiences, their thinking and their behaviour (Pollard, 1997). In other words, humans "learn language, social behaviour and their understanding of the physical world through rapid and often unconscious accumulation of associations" (Hargreaves & Hargreaves in Kitson & Merry, 1997: p30).  The two most significant behaviourists are Thorndike and Skinner and teaching methods influenced by them can be found in most schools today (Pollard, 1997).   The teaching methods associated with behaviourism are often described as traditional and place the learner in a passive role where the teacher controls what is taught (see Figure 1).  Lessons are aimed at the whole class, teacher centred, subject orientated and tightly disciplined and controlled.  Facts are often learned by rote and reinforcement, based on Thorndike's Law of Exercise, is particularly important (Pollard, 1997).

Figure 1: A behaviourist model of roles in the teaching - learning process (Pollard, 1997: p119)

Hargreaves and Hargreaves (ibid), however, argue that behaviourist theories cannot explain complex, but common, behaviour such as empathy, which require internal representation and occur without reinforcement.  Pollard (1997) also suggests that teaching methods based on behaviourist theories can be problematic.  Whole class teaching, where the teacher decides the knowledge and skills that are to be taught, does not take into account the children's existing understanding, whilst learning by rote may leave a child knowing a fact, but unable to apply it.  As Harlen suggests “understanding implies that the knowledge can be transformed, applied in other contexts and used in various ways…” (Harlen in Fraser & Tobin, 1998: p188).

 Piaget's theory of intellectual development challenges behaviourist theories by arguing that learning occurs through concrete experiences (Foster, 1999).  His ideas form the basis of the constructivist theory of learning which postulates that facts gathered from experience are internalized "to create mental structures that consist of related ideas or concepts" (Foster, 1999: p140).  Piaget suggested that the construction of knowledge begins from the moment a child is born and continues through a series of stages throughout their lifetime.  These stages are defined as sensori-motor (from birth to 2 years old); pre-operational (from 2 to 7 years old), concrete operational (from 7 to 11 years old) and formal operational (11 years old onwards) (Hargreaves and Hargreaves, ibid).  In the beginning, objects in the child's environment help to structure the world through play and exploration.  The tools used to create these mental structures are the five senses.  As the child grows and becomes familiar with the environment, they are increasingly able to interpret the world using these objects.  Eventually, the objects are no longer needed and ideas help to structure the world instead (Foster, 1999).  Another constructivist, Dienes, similarly argues that learning is a "process of increasingly intricate play" (Dienes, 1964 cited in Liebeck, 1984: p243).  Primary play involves the senses in manipulating and investigating objects, whilst secondary play involves discovering patterns and forming rules based on the patterns found (Liebeck, 1984).

Piaget argues that a child's thinking develops through the interaction of the processes of assimilation and accommodation (Hargreaves and Hargreaves, ibid; Wood, 1988).  Foster (1999) describes assimilation as the process of information being internalized to become part of an existing concept and accommodation as the process of "adapting the mental structure to the information that has been internalized" (p143).  In other words, new information is associated with what we already know in two ways - it is modified to fit our old knowledge better or our old knowledge is changed to take account of the new information (Meadows and Cashdan, 1988).

 Implicit in Piaget's theory is the notion of 'readiness'.  Piaget believed that unless a child had developed to a point of 'readiness', they would be unable to do the thinking, assimilation and accommodation necessary for learning (Meadows & Cashdan, 1988; Foster, 1999; Wood, 1988).  Consequently, Piaget believed that it was pointless to teach children skills to accelerate learning until they were 'ready' (Meadows & Cashdan, 1988).  However, it is argued that unless a child is given the opportunity to learn, it is impossible to know if that child is 'ready'.  In other words, "the problem is not one simply of whether the child is 'ready' or not, but how the opportunity to learn is presented and managed" (Meadows & Cashdan, 1988: p51).  Another criticism, by Foster (1999), is that it is not necessarily the case that a child will always progress from one stage to the next.  Foster (1999) suggests that progression varies from concept to concept because each child’s experience, motivation, interests and social interactions (i.e. their ‘learning context’) are different.  Indeed, a major criticism of Piaget is that he "overemphasizes the individual too much" (Pollard, 1997: p122) and fails to appreciate the role of interaction with others (Wood, 1988; Moyles, 1992).  Figure 2 shows how in the constructivist model of roles in the teaching - learning process, a child works with little contact with its peers or adults.

Figure 2: A constructivist model of roles in the teaching - learning process (Pollard, 1997: p123)
 
 Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, agreed with Piaget that activity is the basis for learning (Wood, 1988), but argued that children develop through social interactions which they internalize to form their own concepts (Hargreaves & Hargreaves, ibid).  In other words, the role of other people, particularly teachers, is of great importance in a child's development.  As Wood puts it, "instruction, formal and informal, in many social contexts, performed by more knowledgeable peers or adults - is the main vehicle for cultural transmission of knowledge" (1988: p123).  It is for these reasons that Vygotsky is often described as a Social-Constructivist (Pollard, 1997).

 Vygotsky also disagreed with Piaget about the idea of 'readiness'.  Instead, he suggested that learners have two levels of development, a present level and a potential level (Wood, 1988).  He defined the present level as what a child can do on their own and the potential level as what they can do only with help.  The gap in between, or Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), indicates what the child is ready to learn (Hargreaves & Hargreaves, ibid).  Consequently, the role of the teacher, as shown in Figure 3, is to scaffold the children's learning so that their "understanding…can be extended far beyond that which they could reach alone" (Pollard, 1997: p125).

Figure 3: A social-constructivist model of roles in the teaching - learning process (Pollard, 1997: p126)

 Another Social-Constructivist is Bruner.  Although heavily influenced by Vygotsky, he argued that "growth cannot be understood without reference to human culture and primate evolution" (Bruner, 1968 cited in Wood, 1988: p36).  Like Piaget, he believed that biology and evolution were involved in cognitive development, but accepted the importance of culture and social interaction (Wood, 1988).  Bruner also argued that development was not a series of stages, but a successive mastery of three modes of development and the ability to translate one into the others.  He defined his modes as enactive, iconic and symbolic (Liebeck, 1984).  Bruner has been described as being interested in the process of socialised cognition, or acquiring, manipulating and testing information, and his work draws heavily on information theory (Wood, 1988).  He suggested that teachers needed to consider the way in which the knowledge to be learnt is structured, the sequence the knowledge is presented in, the motivation provided and the fact that children are predisposed to learn (Liebeck, 1988).

 Gardner (1991, cited in Bowring-Carr & West-Burnham, 1997) has criticised the behaviourist, constructivist and social-constructivist models for assuming that children develop uniformly in all areas.  Instead, Gardner (1983, cited in Merry & Kitson, 1997) argues that there are multiple intelligences and defines them as linguistic, musical, spatial, logical-mathematical, bodily kinesthetic, inter-personal and intra-personal.  Development in each of these domains is affected by each particular situation and the thinking involved.  As Gardner puts it, the domains develop "independently of each other and the structures of the mind evolve in different directions at different places" (Gardner, 1991, ibid: p68).  One particular advantage of Gardner's approach is that children are encouraged to use metacognition.  In other words, to use their cognitive skills, to think about their reasoning, draw upon conceptual understanding and to use a variety of skills and strategies (Pollard, 1997).  Recent research by neurobiologists has also begun to challenge the ‘macro’ learning theories with a ‘micro’ view based on the nature and quantity of neural networks in the brain and their links to genetic and social influences (Pollard, 1997).  However, it is as yet too “limited to contribute to the development of powerful teaching and learning strategies” (Duit & Treagust in Fraser & Tobin, 1998: p20).
 
Although the debate continues, all the theories discussed in this essay have contributed to our current understanding of how children think and learn.  Each of the models suggest a particular approach to the curriculum, planning and teaching in the Primary School.  In Section 2, the author describes the learning theories observed at Knowl Hill Primary School.

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Introduction
This section relates to my school experience at Knowl Hill C of E Primary School, in which I taught a Year 4-6 class, between January and March 2000.  Knowl Hill is a small, rural school located between Reading and Maidenhead.  It has a total roll of 51 children ranging from Reception through to Year 6, two full and two part-time teachers and several Non Teaching Assistants (NTAs).  The following report will examine the evidence of learning theory in the school and the implications for pedagogy, planning, organisation and learning style.

Learning Styles
 Jones and Jones (1986 cited in Moyles, 1992) proposed that there were four learning styles which they described as Innovative, Analytic, Common Sense and Dynamic.  They defined innovative learners as those needing a personal involvement in learning situations and requiring meaning and reason in what they learnt and Analytic learners as wanting to know facts and able to use reflection to build mental and practical models.   Learners that needed to know how things worked and solved problems through hands on experience were described as Common Sense learners, whilst Dynamic learners were self discoverers who sought action and followed plans.  By implication these styles also included visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles and a differing role for the teacher.  Innovative learners need the teacher to provide motivation and to discuss ideas, whilst Analytic learners see the teacher as a direct instructor.  Common Sense learners want the teacher to provide feedback and to act as a coach, whilst Dynamic learners see teachers as facilitators (Moyles, 1992).  Consequently, teachers have to employ a wide variety of strategies in their teaching and provide opportunities for all types of learner.  In my teaching, I tried to reinforce verbal points by using visual prompts, often by drawing a diagram on the board.  However, I also used artifacts and equipment such as a globe where possible and tried to include practical applications for Common Sense learners.

As well as being aware of the children's learning styles, I had to consider the National Curriculum, school policies, the National Literary Strategy (NLS) and the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) when planning and teaching.

Pedagogy
 The National Curriculum, school policies, the NNS and NLS all govern teaching at Knowl Hill.  As Pollard (1997) suggests, the National Curriculum, which states that "education influences and reflects the values of society" (DfEE, 2000: p10), is heavily influenced by the social constructivist ideas of Vygotsky and Bruner.  The National Curriculum and the school's policies also draw upon the work of Gardner and emphasize the importance of using thinking skills to improve learning and performance (DfEE, 2000).  The school's Policy for Teaching and Learning (See Appendix 1) clearly states that not only should the children be actively involved, but also they should work in a variety of groupings.  The policy also commits teachers to allowing children to discuss and reflect on their own progress and achievement (See Appendix 2).  In reality the pressures of class sizes, national tests and the other curricular objectives mean that a compromise has to be made between the ideal and the practical (Pollard, 1997).

The use of the NNS and NLS in the school also has an effect on pedagogy and planning.  Both strategies draw on social-constructivist ideas and particularly those of Bruner who proposed a spiral curriculum (Wood, 1988).  There is also emphasis on direct teaching and reinforcement, ideas usually associated with behaviourist models, although it is noted that children gain from working in-groups.  Most of the Maths lessons I observed were child centred and involved practical activities, however, as the SATs approached there was a tendency to use a didactic approach to prepare the children and to cover the curriculum.  As Wells warned prior to the introduction of the National Curriculum, this reduces "open ended, exploratory interaction" (Wells, 1986: p117).  In the Maths that I planned and taught (see Appendix 3), I tried to include a variety of different groupings and strategies.  I wanted to present Maths as a subject relevant to everyday life and for the children to work collaboratively on open-ended tasks.  I was particularly pleased with the lessons (see Appendix 4) covering problem solving in which the children were required not only to solve problems, but also to explain how they did it.  I spent some time working with the children as a whole class.  Dean (1999) argues that maths teaching benefits from interactive, whole class teaching.

In Science, I took a social-constructivist approach.  I started by finding out the children's existing knowledge about the heart and circulation system.  From this information, I planned a practical experiment to measure pulse rates.  Rather than carry out the experiment during the artificial circumstances of a Science lesson, I chose to incorporate the experiment into a PE lesson (see Appendix 5) to link the concept to an everyday situation.  Harlen (1996) argues that for concept development to take place, children must be exposed to a variety of contexts, and allowed to apply their knowledge to them.  The children worked in small groups to make predictions and to discuss what would make their hearts beat faster.

English was taught using the NLS and each day there was a literacy hour.  A 45-minute handwriting lesson each Friday and regular silent reading and handwriting periods supplemented this.  As with Maths, the Literacy Hour tended to be interactive and child centred.  The handwriting and reading activities, however, are examples of behaviourist learning theories.  The children mainly practiced and reinforced their handwriting by copying out previous work for display or using workbooks.  This relates to Thorndike's Law of Exercise which states that "the probability of a response occurring in a given situation increases with the number of times that response has occurred in that situation in the past" (Thorndike, 1911 cited in Pollard, 1997: p119).

Planning & Organisation
In the English that I planned (see Appendix 6), I tried to provide a variety of contexts for the children to work in and opportunities for the children to share and discuss their work.  To support the different learning styles, I used a variety of resources, including ICT, to provide visual, aural and physical examples.  I also used cross curriculum links to provide reinforcement for certain points.  For example, I used persuasive writing in English, Geography and Science, but in different contexts.

 The planning for foundation subjects reflects both the National Curriculum and school policies and has a strong emphasis on hands on experience and group work.  In Geography (see Appendix 7) I planned a series of lessons that used drama and other resources to teach about the locality and how it was linked to the wider world.  The planning included different groupings and gave the children opportunities to talk about their feelings, experiences and knowledge of Knowl Hill and the wider world.  A variety of methods were used to record the children's work, including posters, drama, presentations and descriptive writing.  When planning, I was aware that I not only had to build on the children's existing knowledge, but also had to provide a clear progression and structure to the lessons (Dean, 1999).  As Meadows and Cashdan point out, "if new information is too strange, too distant from what we know, we will have great difficulty in learning it" (1988: p43).

 As Hastings argues "motivation seems to be central to successful teaching and learning" (in Croll and Hastings 1996: p55).  Planning plays a key role in motivating the children by providing well-resourced and structured lessons catering for a variety of learning styles.  Well-planned differentiation and assessment can also aid motivation in children.  If the work set for a child is too far above a their abilities, not only will they not learn anything, but they will be demotivated (Ames, 1992; Pollard & Bourne, 1994).   In my planning, I tried to identify those children that required extra support or that needed to be extended further.

 Another way that the school attempted to motivate children was to use happy faces to reward good work or behaviour (see Appendix 8).  A sad face was awarded for those who misbehaved.  Happy faces built up to gain a larger prize, whilst too many sad faces could cost a break time.  This and similar systems are based on Thorndike's Law of Effect which argues that "the greater the satisfaction or discomfort, the greater the strengthening or weakening of the bond" (Thorndike, 1911 cited in Pollard, 1997: p119).  In other words, it is hoped that the children will learn to do something by associating it with getting a happy face.  The problem with these schemes, identified by Holt (in Pollard & Bourne, 1994) and Ames (1992), is that they can make children so afraid of making mistakes that they become dependent on the teacher.  By concentrating on behaviour rather than work, the school has largely avoided this.
 
Conclusion
 It is clear from the observations that I've made during my school experience that there is evidence of learning theory, ranging from behaviourist to the work of Gardner, at Knowl Hill.  It is also clear that there are a variety of approaches to teaching and that the key is not to chose a single method, but to build a repertoire.  One theme, however, that dominated was that children learn best when they are motivated and working in a supportive atmosphere which provides opportunities for all learning styles.

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