Teaching

The following was originally published April 8, 2008 at http://bcsmith.edublogs.org/2008/04/07/theories-approaches-teaching/ I’m currently reading [|Communities of Practice] by [|Etienne Wenger] and as I began a question popped into my head. Do most educators knowingly base their practice within a particular theory or approach? A web search for [|theories of learning] turned up [|a site] that categorized learning theories into [|Paradigms]: I imagine that most educators use a variety of these in their practice, but I wonder if most educators identify with one more than the other, if at all. Should an educator base themselves within one of these paradigms?
 * Behaviorism** - Based on stimulus-response and can be explained without considering conscious thought.
 * Cognitivism** - Mental function can be understood where the learner is seen as an information processor.
 * Constructivism** - Learning is an active, constructive process where students expected to construct understanding and knowledge from information.
 * Humanism** - learning is a personal act to fulfill one’s potential where learner has affective and cognitive needs.


 * //Does identifying one’s practice within one of these paradigms provided a entry point for a joining a community of practice?//**

Authored by [|Brian C. Smith]. Hosted by [|Edublogs].

The following was originally published January 1, 1970 at