Candidate Assessment #6, ED310
Your Personal Reflections on Theories of Teaching and Learning
ASSIGNED TASK FOR CANDIDATE ASSESSMENT #5
1.
2.
I
Write a note or letter to Ms.Brannon that will accompany your paper.
A brief, but important part of your assignment is that you will write a short, but audienceappropriate letter to Mrs. Brannon, knowing that if you are applying for a job there, you will
want to write this letter carefully. You don’t want to get off on the wrong foot. In addition to the
note, you will also be emailing Ms. Brannon your theory of teaching and learning.
Write a paper that fulfills the assignment and that both Mr. and Ms. Brannon will find
interesting to read and that addresses the issues listed in the “evidence” that is
described. Before you begin to write, be sure to look carefully at the rubric and the paper list
of “evidence” that your assignment requests. The questions to consider are not required to be
answered, but they may help you fulfill the criteria. (See rubric).
The Assignment that Prompts Your Philosophy Statement:
Your assignment for Education 310 is that you are to write a philosophy of teaching and learning, based
on your reading of a number of books or articles on learning theory and on your experience in education
courses and field experiences since the beginning of the school year. Your assignment asks you to write
a paper that provides several kinds of evidence that you have thought about teaching and learning and
how it happens.
a. Evidence of understanding of learning theories and philosophies. You should show that you
have a basic understanding of the continuum of learning theories that range from traditional
authoritarian thinking through humanistic and student centered approaches to education.
Thus, somewhere in the document, you need to describe or contrast and compare the ideas
of theorists who influenced your thinking (citing in APA form from texts or articles that support
your explanations).
b. Evidence of your own ideas about learning. Your paper should show that you have begun to
formulate your own ideas about how students learn and what teachers or other students can
do to facilitate their learning. You are able to develop a working definition of learning and to
describe the roles of teachers and students, as well as the teaching that you believe will build
a positive community of learners. You need to be able to explain in your own words, or cite
ideas of others that are similar to and/or support your beliefs. You know that you need to be
able to explain how the ideas that you have are similar to or different from the philosophical
and/or theoretical approaches that you have addressed. You should be able to describe at
least 3 ideas or concepts that you believe are “non-negotiable” in teaching. “Non-negotiables”
are the ideas that you feel most strongly about. You feel passionate about them as a
teacher!
c.
Evidence of the impact or importance of diversity on learning and teaching. Your paper must
show that you have begun to recognize the importance of planning for integrating diversity
into your classroom. It is important that you can describe not only the types of diversity, but
ways that diverse learners can be both celebrated and integrated .
d. Evidence of understanding of the relationship of “community” or “connectedness” to learning.
Your paper may discuss how members of the school, the class, the community, the families
may influence learning and support or discourage a sense of “community” within the
classroom. Do schools and families influence communities? How?
e. Evidence of awareness of how/in what direction your own ideas of learning have developed.
Can you your ideas to particular experiences, communities, individuals, or concepts. Have
they changed? How are you influenced by theories of learning?
f.
Evidence that you can tie the learning theory to the organizing themes and standards. This
evidence will relate to active learning, collaboration, facilitation of learning, and building
communities of learning (the 4 organizing themes). It will also be placed in the reflection
section in your portfolio for CA6.
g. Evidence that you can tie ideas together and address your material to a specific audience.
The second part of the scenario will enable you to demonstrate the audience-adaptation that
is part of effective communication. Your use of organizational skills and your ability to
implement the conventions of written communication will address this type of evidence.
II. The hypothetical situation (scenario) that will make the assignment more challenging and interesting.
First, picture yourself in the following situation: You’ve decided where you’d like to be geographically for
your first year of teaching. It happens to be in a city where your favorite aunt and uncle live, and you
decide to pay them a visit over fall break. When you call to say you’re coming, your aunt says that she
wants you to go out to dinner with them at the local country club. You know that she’ll expect you to look
nice, so you dress accordingly. As you travel there, your mind returns to a major assignment that must be
completed shortly after break—a philosophy of teaching and learning. You think to yourself, “It seems like
a lot of work, irrelevant work. What teacher that you knew ever had a philosophy of learning?”
Looking forward to relaxing with your aunt and uncle, you pay little attention as the waiter ushers the
three of you to your usual table. To your surprise, a man and woman are already at their table. Your aunt
warmly introduces them as Mary and Tom Brannon, their new friends from bridge club.“ We thought you’d
like to meet them, especially since Mary has taught middle school English for a long time, and Tom is the
principal at our local high school. You’ll probably have lots to talk about since you’re going to be a
teacher, too.” You have not told your aunt that you want to move to this area, and you know that her
intentions were simply for you to have a chance to get acquainted with professional educators, but you
suddenly feel as though you’re about ready for your first job interview—momentarily dry-mouthed and
sweaty palmed and uncomfortable, afraid of saying something wrong.
The meal progresses comfortably enough with general conversation until Mary asks you what classes
you are in this semester, and you mention that you’re in an educational psychology class. She asks,
“What have you been studying about?” You say “Learning theory” and hope she’ll leave it at that. But
she doesn’t. She asks you what you’d write if you were writing a theory of learning and teaching for
yourself. “What theory did you like the best? Which ideas do you think you’ll use when you’re teaching?
Did you study teaching implications or just theory?” You answer the questions vaguely and, in an effort at
self preservation, you take a stab at getting her to talk about what she thinks, whether she’d studied the
same theories, what she uses in her teaching, etc.
She says, “Actually, I do have my heroes, and they’ve held up well over the years. Based on years of
teaching experience, I now have a good idea of what I believe about teaching and learning, but I don’t
want to bias you. I really want to know what you’ve been studying and what approach you think about the
whole idea of learning theory. I think teachers ought to be able to put their beliefs into words. Tom, isn’t
there a question that you ask applicants for teaching positions teaching in interviews about whose ideas
have influenced their thinking about teaching?”
Tom laughs saying, “You’ve heard me complain much too often about how few beginners have any
awareness that they’re supposed to back up their ideas with the ideas of others, not just with anecdotal
evidence. They always think their ideas are new and original, and some of them might be, but how do
they know they’re original if they can’t talk about theories that have made an impact on them? They’ll
change as they gain experience, but it’s my pet peeve when new teachers start out without any
awareness of what has gone before them. I want to hear names attached to ideas. I want to know what
these new teachers will go to bat for. What really matters? Sorry, …...didn’t mean to get on a soapbox!”
Wanting to appear somewhat coherent, but now, more than ever, wanting not to splutter out the wrong
thing, you tell the Brannons that as it happens, you have to write an essay reflecting on your reactions to
the recent unit on learning theory and outlining some of your key beliefs. You say, “I’d like some
feedback from you. I’m going to write this paper in the next week or two. Would you be interested in
reading it over and giving me some ideas?”
Mary said that she would like to do that very much. You leave the dinner that evening thinking that you
must have had rocks for brains. How could you have done that? This will be worse than having
“Hoffman” grading you. So much for getting a job in that city!
Nonetheless, you know that your aunt will not forget the discussion until you send something to Mary and
Tom. You begin to hope that with time to think about it you can write something worth sharing and
perhaps make a good impression. Who knows? Maybe it will make you stand out among other
candidates for positions.
You go back and look at the following questions in the assignment, and you begin to write your own
philosophy of teaching and learning, identifying the ideas and the individuals who influenced your thinking
and what your ideas are about what matters in teaching.
Questions that you may want to consider.
Your paper should include answers to the following questions, but not in a “question and answer format.”
Write in paragraphs and use examples whenever possible. You can use examples from your own life,
and you can describe ideas that have influenced your thinking. You should cite sources and include a
bibliography of the sources that you cite. Mrs. Brannon asked some questions that you should certainly
plan to answer in your paper. Your paper needs to let us know that you know the major theorists, not just
the authors of textbooks.
A. You should include a very professional, audience-appropriate, yet friendly, cover letter to Ms.
Brannon,
B. You should write your separate philosophy statement. Be sure to edit carefully and use standard
English. Careful writing can support your ideas. Careless writing often causes your audience to
lose interest in your ideas. Use the following questions as guidelines, but you should not write
your paper as a question and answer paper. It should be an essay.
1. Describe how you think students learn. Define learning from your own perspective. What are the
non-negotiable principles that you incorporate into your philosophy? Consider how you would
complete the following statements.
 Learning occurs when……
 Teachers assist students to learn by……
 Students are more likely to learn when …..
 The goal of teaching/instruction is……
 A student’s level of development can influence learning by …
 What matters most to me as a teacher is_______.
2. Describe a learning environment (not a classroom or gymnasium, but an “environment in the
broader sense of the word. What is happening in the learning spaces that contributes to
learning? Describe your ideal style of teacher/student interaction and explain how that particular
kind of interaction is likely to assist students to learn. Describe what students are doing and how
they are learning. Tell why you think that this is a positive learning environment.
3. Discuss the theoretical perspectives and the theorists whose ideas you considered while writing
your philosophy. Which ideas or principles from the individual theories do you find useful? Which
ideas do you reject or criticize? Consider instructional methods that you will use in your
discipline. How do they reflect your theoretical preferences? If you were asked to label your
theory of learning, what label would you use? (Create your own label if none of the theories seem
quite right). More likely, you may describe yourself on a continuum between behaviorism and
constructivism or humanism. Your paper should reflect the source of your ideas. (Cite the name
of the author, the date, and, if you quote word for word, the page.) Mr. and Mrs. Brannon and I
expect to be able to tell from reading your paper that you did some reading in the area of
behaviorism, humanism, cognitivist theory, and constructivism to stimulate your own thinking and
to support your own ideas.
4. To what extent are you as a teacher responsible for motivating students to learn? Is your theory
of learning flexible enough to accommodate those students who learn differently from you or who
perceive the need for education differently from you? How does what you’ve written so far
acknowledge the need for you to adapt your teaching to the needs of students whose needs
seem to fall outside your expectations? To what extent are you responsible are you for learners
with special needs?
5. How have your ideas about teaching and learning developed? How have they changed since you
began taking education courses?
6. What have you learned about yourself during the process of trying to describe your own beliefs
about teaching? Where are you in the process of understanding learning theories? What are
you planning to do to expand your awareness of the theoretical basis of teaching?
REFLECTION: You will notice that the rubric includes a rating for reflection. That reflection should be
written as a separate and final portion of your paper. Your philosophy is, of course, a reflection on many
ideas. However, this is a section in which you must reflect on first the organizing themes and then the
standards.
FORMAT OF THE PAPER I prefer your paper and your letter to be typed, single spaced, with double
spacing between paragraphs and titles. I once read research that says that the meaning of a paragraph
is more readily grasped if the sentences are grouped together more closely than double spaced. Also, I
prefer that your papers have a justified left margin, but definitely not a right margin. Please do not center
your text. Centering the titles is fine.
NOTE: This project must be placed in your portfolio. The discipline plan itself, as well as an appropriate
reflection, should be included. You should include reflection on the following questions:
1. To what extent have you become a more active learner? More capable of facilitating
learning? More collaborative? More aware of the need to create communities of
learners? (These are referred to as our organizing themes.)
2. Of the particular standards that are listed for this project, which ones in particular have
you identified as significant in your own growth? In which standards do you feel most
competent? Which standards related to classroom community do you expect to address
more in student teaching?
Millikin Teaching Standards for Reflection on Your Beliefs About Theories of Learning
Candidate Assessment 6
Education 310 Creating Communities of Learners
This candidate assessment will be used in the philosophy section of Phase II of your portfolio. This Candidate
Assessment is directed toward several Millikin Teaching Standards. Specifically, it addresses MTS#2, MTS 3, and
MTS5. The specific standards and indicators are listed below.
MTS#2: Human Development and Learning. The teacher-learner understands how individuals grow, develop
and learn and provides learning opportunities that support -- with care and empathy -- the intellectual, social,
emotional, and physical development of all students. The competent teacher:
2A. understands how students construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop habits of mind ;
2B. understands that students’ physical, social, emotional, ethical, and cognitive development influences learning;
2C. understands human development, learning theory, neural science, and the ranges of individual variation within
each domain;
2D. understands that differences in approaches to learning and performance interact with development;
2E. understands how to include student development factors when making instructional decisions;
2F
analyzes individual and group performance in order to design instruction that meets learners’ current needs in
the cognitive, social, emotional, ethical, and physical domains at the appropriate level of development.
MTS3: Diversity. The teacher-learner understands how individuals differ in their approaches to learning and
creates learning environments that value and appreciate human diversity, show respect for students’ varied
talents and perspectives and that are fair and equitable to all students. The competent teacher:
3C
Understands how students’ learning is influenced by individual experiences, talents, and prior learning, as
well as language, culture, family, and community values;
3D.
Understands and identifies differences in approaches to learning and performance, including different learning
styles, multiple intelligences, and performance modes.
3F.
facilitates a learning community in which individual differences are respected;
3G.
makes appropriate provisions (in terms of time and circumstances for work, tasks assigned, communication
response modes) for individual students who have particular learning differences or needs;
3H.
uses information about students’ families, cultures, and communities as a basis for connecting instruction to
students’ experiences;
MTS 5: Creating Communities of Learners: The teacher-learner draws on an understanding of individual and
group motivation to create effective learning environments that encourage self-discipline, respect for self
and others, and responsible problem solving. The competent teacher:
5B.
understands how to help students work cooperatively and productively in groups;
5D.
understands factors that influence motivation and engagement and how to help students become selfmotivated;
5E
knows procedures for inventorying the instructional environment to determine when and how best to meet a
student’s individual needs;
5H.
analyzes the classroom environment and makes decisions to enhance social relationships, student motivation
and engagement in productive work through mutual respect, cooperation, and support for one another.
MTS#10: Reflection and Professional Growth: The teacher-learner values reflection, continually evaluates
how choices and actions affect students, parents and other professionals in the learning community, and
actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally. The competent teacher:
10A. understands that reflection is an integral part of professional growth and improvement of instruction;