How do you help your learners?

B P
Oct 8, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Oct 9, 2023

In this world, students are surrounded by information that aim to shape their thoughts and beliefs. As they process new thoughts and ideas, students are encouraged to take responsibility of their own learning through metacognition. This aims to make learning ‘intentional’ by elevating self-awareness skills and encouraging individuals to examine thinking and learning itself (Stirling, 2023). What a great skill to learn if you ask me!

How then can students best manage the vast amount of data that's around them? Who decides what information we keep and what information is thrown aside?

According to cognitive theorists, our brains help us sort information like a computer by navigating through external stimuli to filter out vital information through information processing. This process transfers information from our sensory memory to our short-term memory and then later stores it to our long-term memory for future use (Growth Engineering, 2022).

With the idea that our mind works like a machine, how much control do we really have in manipulating and distributing information? Let’s think about this concept some more!

As a previous educator, I discovered that for growth and innovation to take place, my students cannot simply process information to store it. Instead, they must be given the time and autonomy to analyze the information presented to them to discover how it compares with their prior knowledge.

According to Piaget, constructivism gives students the power to hold onto their worldview when new knowledge supports pre-existing schemas, through a process known as assimilation. On the other hand, new information can be utilized to reshape thoughts and beliefs through accommodation. Additionally, when teachers take the extra step to tailor instruction to the art of learning, better known as constructionism, they encourage self-directed learning to take place and enable students to draw their own conclusions (Ackerman, 2001).

Let’s use this moment to pause.

If you are a current educator or a new educator looking to make a difference in the classroom, I now encourage you to reflect on your teaching style and think about the effectiveness of your instruction.

Are your students motivated to learn on their own or are they only learning because they have to?

In considering these cognitive theories to strengthen your teaching strategies, I also recommend that you analyze its limitations to be better aware of where certain ideas fall short.

For instance, information processing underestimates the capacity of human emotion and transformation. Additionally we cannot generalize results towards all populations as it may make us susceptible to forming bias. Lastly, we must consider the role of genetics and biology which cognitive theorists do not focus on.

Regardless of these shortcomings, familiarizing ourselves with these concepts can help us empower our learners to be self-sufficient and to utilize guidance as a tool for sharpening our students' skills.

Below, you will find media content on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. This aims to better explain the active spaces that separate what students can do on their own, what they can do with help and what they cannot do (Cherry, 2023).

See below to learn more!