Cognitivism as a Learning Theory

Theories are like windows in a house, where you can look through multiple windows into the same room and get a different view point from each window taken from this YouTube video 

I agree with Bill Kerr's (2007) observation, "these _isms do not stand still." In other words, they cannot be used solely. I personally cannot agree solely with Behaviorism, Cognitivism, or Constructivism, because there are some parts of each with which I do not agree. This reminds me of Rick Lavoie, who holds three degrees in special education. I believe his teachings of behavior management for the classroom are brilliant and most of my classroom structure is based on his philosophies. I state most, because the more I learned from him, the more I realized all of his techniques would not work in my classroom. That does not mean his ideas, techniques, and teachings are any less valuable. Perhaps in a different setting all of his philosophies would apply. There are too many factors that influence the classroom to determine why not all are possible: the students, their background, their disabilities, their behavior problems, the teacher, the support staff, the administration, the physical structure of the classroom, and so forth.

Karl Kapp (2007) agreed with Bill Kerr's ideas when he wrote, "Cognitivism doesn’t explain 100% how humans process information and neither does Constructivism or Behaviorism. What we need to is take the best from each philosophy and use it wisely to create solid educational experiences for our learners." This is what I have been doing thus far, taking what works for me the most and using that. However, in order to determine what that is, it is critical to learn all of the aspects of the _isms.

Karl Kapp (2007) summarized that lower level learning could be related to the Behaviorist approach, rule-based learning related to Cognitivism, and problem-solving related to Constructivism. This gave me a greater insight as to why all of Rick Lavoie's behavior techniques do not work in my classroom. I have an ungraded classroom of varying developmental levels and learning needs. Rick Lavoie’s techniques help the behavior management of those who are on the rule-based learning and problem-solving learning levels. Those on the lower level learning would require more of a behaviorist approach, which is not fully appropriate for Rick Lavoie's philosophies.

Here are some video clips of Rick Lavoie:

Motivational Breakthrough: http://youtu.be/ByjSIcIyDN4 

Social Skills and Learning Disabilities: http://youtu.be/ODxwotH5IEo

 

Resources

Kapp, K. (2007, January 2). Out and about: Discussion on educational schools of thought [Web

log post]. Retrieved from

http://www.kaplaneduneering.com/kappnotes/index.php/2007/01/out-and-about-discussion-on-educational/

Kerr, B. (2007, January 1). _isms as filter, not blinker [Web log post]. Retrieved from

http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/2007/01/isms-as-filter-not-blinker.html