Learning theories intro

J M U L e a r n i n g & Te a c h i n g P r e s s volume 4 issue 1

Learning through research:
an introduction to the main theories of learning
Martyn Stewart Learning Development Unit

At a glance: This article aims to introduce the reader to some of the key concepts
arising out of this research. Naturally, given limited space for such a
# There is no single, simple explanation for how people learn. vast topic only a brief outline can be presented, but the intention is to
This article provides an overview of the main groups of learning provide a feel for the varieties in approach to research and outline the
theories. range of key findings along with their implications for teaching.
# Different perspectives are highlighted to provide a flavour of
how this complex topic has been treated through research. THE APPLIANCE OF SCIENCE
# For each group of theories, the practical implications for Behaviourist Research
teaching are described.
Learning has been studied throughout history,
largely focussed on philosophical debates
he propensity for learning and adaptation is one of the about the nature of consciousness and

T defining attributes of our species: learning is the very
essence of being human. Whether we are conscious of it
or not, we are actively learning every day and we have been
reference to inner thoughts about what it was
like to learn (see Palmer, 2001 for an
overview). From the early 20th Century,
since the day we were born. Furthermore, each person reading however, the advancement of science into the field of learning
this will likely be involved in enabling or supporting learning in behaviour brought a new objective approach based on systematic
others, and will have their own experiences and viewpoints on observation and experimentation under conditions where
what appears to lead to effective learning and what does not. variables were controlled. This research was focussed on compiling
empirical evidence to establish facts and to construct theories that
But what does formal research into the processes of learning tell us? demonstrated reliability and predictability.
What is effective learning? Knowledge that persists in the mind?
Competency in practical skills and mental approaches to problem- Much of this research, referred to as ‘behaviourist’ research because
solving? Transforming the way a person perceives the world around of its focus on observed behaviours during experimentation, involved
them? Helping to build an individual’s belief that they can go out there the investigation of animal learning behaviour. Pavlov’s experiments
and make a difference? with dogs and the discovery of learning by association is the most
famous example. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist studying the
And for those of us who teach or support the learning of others, what digestive system of dogs, noted during the course of his repeated
strategies are most successful in maximising the effectiveness of experiments (1906) that the dogs began to salivate in anticipation of
that learning? Clearly structured, integrated and effectively communi- food arriving. Pavlov recognised the significance of this in that it
cated subject matter? Using assessment appropriately and providing meant that the dogs were learning to associate food with the sight of
timely feedback? Inspiring interest in the subject? Creating opportu- the oncoming researcher. He conducted more systematic
nities for hands-on experience? Taking an interest in students and experiments and taught the dogs to associate food with new,
helping to build confidence and self belief? unrelated stimuli such as the sound of bells.

The science and nature of learning has been studied since classical Theories arising out of behaviourist research
times, and this article presents an outline of the key advances of the
past century that guide the design of learning activities today. Classical conditioning: One of the key findings of behaviourist
Although referred to as theories it is perhaps more apt to consider the research is the principle of learning by association, as in the case of
principles outlined here as descriptions of different aspects of a highly Pavlov’s experiments and illustrated in Figure 1. This type of learning
complex phenomenon, rather than conflicting theories whose describes how we come to associate two stimuli and therefore
intention was to provide definitive answers to how we learn. In each anticipate events. This automatic associative learning, which when
case, the implications of these theories for the practical design of repeated becomes imprinted in the memory is referred to as classical
teaching and learning strategies are outlined. conditioning.

The landscape of research into learning
For those unfamiliar with learning theory, the ‘landscape’ of research
in this field will seem highly complex because human learning and
the factors that shape learning have been studied from a wide range
of perspectives. Learning has been researched scientifically by
psychologists and biologists in terms of how we, as biological
organisms record new information, recall and process this, and how
we mature through different levels of sophistication in the ways that
we think. Learning has been studied by educators, social scientists,
humanistic psychologists and sociologists in terms of pedagogy,
personal development and peer, emotional, ethical and cultural
influences. More widely, learning and education have been
Figure 1: Illustration of classical conditioning. A scenario where a romantic
investigated in terms of philosophy, policy, politics and economics. episode creates a feeling of happiness. This episode occurs in a setting where
pan-pipe music is commonly played and the two are subconsciously associated.
As a result of being treated from such a variety of research paradigms a This association means that in future, hearing pan-pipe music is likely to jog happy
feelings or memories.
wide range of methodologies have been employed, ranging from the
pure experimental and scientific to phenomenological and subjective.

6 Learning Development Unit

Spring 2004 J M U L e a r n i n g & Te a c h i n g P r e s s

Classical conditioning forms a major part of our everyday learning and Influenced by early behaviourist principles, educational
the shaping of our perceptions. It explains many situations, say programmes were characterised by the following features:
where we come to develop a fear of spiders from repeated exposure
# A teacher-centred approach where the content, delivery and
to associated negative emotions we see in others or in the media; we
design of learning activities were in the control of the teacher
are not born with an innate fear of spiders. The principle is heavily
exploited in the advertising industry, establishing repeated associations
# A carefully designed course structure with clearly defined
between a product and positive imagery. objectives and target learning outcomes
Operant conditioning: One of the most influential figures of # Use of trial and error exercises
behaviourism was B.F. Skinner (1904 - 1990). Skinner famously
conducted experiments with rats in puzzle boxes, in which the animal # Use of repetition, rote learning and practice to reinforce skills
was required to perform a task, such as learning to open a door by and memory connections
pushing a bar in order to obtain a reward (food). Further experiments
were designed to shape learning by building on these learnt # Use of incentives, rewards &/or punishment strategies
behaviours (‘carrot & stick approach’),

# A step-by-step attainment of learning outcomes

# Programmed learning (e.g. computer-based courses where
students work at their own pace and need to successfully
complete one stage before moving on to the next).

Conditioning and associative learning principles are manifest also in
our everyday teaching experience. For example:
# Some students who have previously performed poorly in earlier
schooling may lack self-belief; i.e. they have been conditioned by
previous negative experiences of education.

# Practical skill training, say for techniques of data collection or use
of technical apparatus, is fine-tuned through repetition and
continued exposure.
Figure 2: Operant conditioning. The shaping of behaviour through positive
and negative reinforcers. # Information such as historical dates, the periodic table and the
geological timescale, for example, are often learned by rote or
Such experiments led to the discovery of another principle of over time through repeated exposure.
behavioural learning that we refer to as operant conditioning. This
states that an operator can control or shape a learner’s behaviour # Reward strategies to direct good practice or use of feedback to
toward a target outcome through a series of positive or direct behaviour are common examples.
negative reinforcers: rewards, punishments or removal of
negative experiences (Figure 2). The principles arising from this research were very influential and
applied heavily in education programmes in the early 20th century.
Implications of early behaviourist research
to the practice of teaching Criticisms of teaching based
These studies have shown how learning occurs by processes of
on early behaviourist principles
environmental conditioning, through connecting acts with outcomes, The behaviourist school wanted to move away from talking about
through trial-and-error learning, and through imprinting on memory what the experience of learning felt like and to apply scientific
the repeated exposure to associated experiences. They also showed methodology to establish factual evidence about the process and
that learning principles apply across species and illustrated how mechanics of learning. This required an objective, empirical and
external influences could shape behaviour The fact that subjects’ quantitative approach to generate theories whose findings were
learning could be shaped and directed through a teacher’s intervention generalisable and replicable. This placed the researcher in the
left a great legacy in teaching of the age. One of the key pioneers of position of observer, measurer and analyst, standing back from the
the behaviourist school, John B. Watson famously commented in subject under investigation to look for general patterns of behaviour.
1924:
Although this led to enormous leaps
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own forward in our understanding of
specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take learning processes, the strictness
any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist of the methodologies also proved a
limitation. Firstly, focussing on the
www.cartoonstock.com

I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and,
yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, generation of generalisable theories
penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his tended to make the researcher view
the mind of the subject as a blank
ancestors.
template onto which knowledge and
I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the experience could be imprinted.
advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for
many thousands of years. * At their worst interpretation, these principles led to an authoritarian,
content-based view of learning where students were seen to be
empty vessels to be filled with knowledge (Figure 3 & cartoon).
* Although this claim highlights his belief in the significance of controlled
conditioning, to an extent his statement was intended as hyperbole to draw
attention to the steadfastness of his opponents in their positioning.

learningdevelopment@livjm.ac.uk 7


Jean Piaget and constructivism
The most well-known of these researchers is the former
Swiss biologist, and later child psychologist Jean Piaget
(1896 - 1980). He pointed out that the thinking of children
often seems illogical to adults, and studied how thinking
patterns changed during growth.

Piaget proposed that the thought processes of children matured, and
they developed different ways of perceiving, interpreting and gaining
meaning at different stages of growth. Through observations,
analysis of dialogue and simple perception and memory tests, he
identified a sequence of cognitive levels through which children
Figure 3: Multi-channel pipettes filling identical vials with the appeared to progress as they mature. The implications of this for
same substance: an analogy to illustrate how critics teaching in schools were profound, meaning that there was little
viewed behaviourist approaches to teaching. point in teaching certain levels of complexity, reasoning or abstraction
until childrens’ minds had developed an appropriate level of
The teacher was perceived to be the owner of knowledge, and the sophistication able to deal with it. These ideas led Einstein to
students as passive recipients of this, almost as raw materials to be comment that Piaget’s discovery “was so simple, only a genius could
moulded by the teacher, so there existed moral issue too. have thought of it”.

There also existed the danger that, adhering closely to these principles Piaget identified 4 major stages of cognitive development in children.
would lead to a belief that, because learning outcomes have been The earliest stage, that he proposed lasted from birth to approximately
achieved, the education programme had been a success. Techniques 2 years, was characterised by reflex activities and then progressively
like rote learning are effective at achieving results in the short term, more purposeful activities, but the child performs these actions
but the long term effectiveness is certainly questionable. Does without thinking about doing so. The second stage, from ages 2 to 7
repetition and association alone lead to sophisticated understanding is characterised by symbolic activity (e.g. dolls represent people),
and an ability to think critically? egocentricism (e.g. sitting in front of the television unaware that they
are blocking the view of others), and centring attention on only one
Secondly, many psychologists saw the use of purely scientific methods aspect of a problem. During Piaget’s third stage (7-11) thinking
and the generalisation of findings from experiments based on animal becomes less egocentric and more organised, symbolic and linked to
subjects to understanding the complexity of human learning as concrete experiences. There is also strong development of logical
somewhat naïve. Dealing only with observable sense data meant that operations (classifying, serialising). Finally, the fourth stage
internal mental processing and more ‘fuzzy’ concepts like thinking (12 upwards) is characterised by logical and systematic reasoning
were not considered as they could not be measured objectively. Only and the ability to develop hypotheses without being based on
the external behavioural manifestation of thinking could be concrete experience.
measured. How could we study learning without reference to
mentalistic acts like thinking? They asked, ‘surely we are more than This approach we now refer to as ‘cognitive constructivism’. Central
the sum of our behaviours?’ to the idea of constructivism is the notion that the maturing brain
develops concepts; flexible frameworks into which we assimilate
experience. Piaget referred to these conceptual frameworks, or
bundles of memory, experience and understanding as ‘schemas’.
THE MYSTERIOUS MIND Figure 4, below , illustrates on the left how a toddler may develop a
Cognitivist & Related Research schema for the concept ‘dog’; in their simple understanding, a living
‘thing’ with 4 legs and a furry body.
From the 1920s, psychologists and educators had started to
question the validity of omitting these crucial mentalistic
dimensions from the study of learning purely on the basis they
were unseen and thus unobservable. This school of psychologists
we now refer to as cognitivists.

They argued for a need to place more emphasis on the key
questions not answered through behavioural experiments and their
principles. Questions like: Figure 4: The development of schemata

# Why does a 5 year old think differently from a 55 year old? As the child grows, sees more animals (‘dogs’) and hears more
associations between visual images and names, the existing concept
# What of ‘higher order’ thinking, such as moral and ethical of ‘dog’ will need to restructure for these new experiences to be
development? assimilated. ‘Dog’ now becomes the specific canine animal, with
other schemata for the different animal-forms developing (as shown
# What about the different strategies that individuals adopt to in Figure 4, right). By adulthood a person will have developed
solve problems? countless classifications and schemata for everything from peeling
an orange to sophisticated concepts like love and anger.
# How do we go from memorising or associating facts to the
generation of new ideas and reasoning? Piaget’s key argument and criticism of behaviourist research is that
we can only understand how to improve education once we
Their approach focussed on how we store, retrieve and process understand how we deal with information mentally:
information, how we develop cognitively and how we assimilate
“To present an adequate notion of learning one must first
new experiences to make sense of the world. Researching these
explain how the individual manages to construct and invent,
issues required a less rigid reliance on pure scientific experimentation.
not merely how he repeats and copies.”



He continued that when we do so, we start to realize that the There are a numerous studies that focus on how active experience
process of learning involves active construction, and by implication, fits into a cycle of learning, foremost amongst which are Lewin
learning as an activity should be active itself, not the passive (1948) and Kolb (1984). David Kolb proposed a cyclical model of
receiving of secondary knowledge. experiential learning that involves 4 stages linked in a progressive
upward spiral (Figure 5). The cycle begins where (1) the learner has a
“Children have real understanding only of that which they concrete experience, something that (2) makes them take notice,
invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them analyse and reflect on the implications of this observation. There
something too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it follows (3) a stage of theorising to understand and explain the
themselves.” scenario (referred to as abstract conceptualisation) and a following
stage where this theory is tested in practice, leading onto (1) a new
Piaget’s work has been criticised on the basis of generalising on small concrete experience.
sample sizes and case studies, seeing development as occurring in
discrete stages (most educators today see it as a more transitional
process) and for assigning cognitive development to physical age.
However, the overall contribution made by Piaget to the wider under-
standing of learning as a cognitive developmental process has been
of immense influence. In primary and secondary level education this
has lead to the design of learning activities that align with the level of
cognitive development of the child. Through all levels of education,
the importance of focussing on how new learning is integrated with
learners’ existing schemata is highlighted.

Other cognitive developmental theorists
Most cognitivists developed theories based on human development. www.cartoonstock.com

Kohlberg (1986) developed a stage theory for moral development,
suggesting that an individual passes from an early stage of ‘sticking
to the rules’ through to later stages of following their own principles
regardless of whether or not they conflict with laws. Lev Vygotsky
(1962, 1978) highlighted the influence of culture and language and
the influences of human intervention on a learners development. Research into cognitive diversity
Vygotsky also highlighted the importance of recognising the potential and learning preference
of a person to develop, and of identifying an individual’s zones A major strand of research in psychology has focussed on the nature
of current capabilities and potential for improvement. Basically, left of differences in individuals’ cognitive style or preferred approach to
to their own devices a person may get so far but with a degree of learning.
intervention and ‘scaffolding’ support that individual could achieve
more. He argued that it is within this zone of potential that learning First, the concept of intelligence is difficult to define. Gardner (1983,
activities should be focussed. 1993) argues that there are multiple intelligences of which individuals
will possess different types in varying degrees. These intelligences
Experiential learning include linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, and interpersonal
intelligence amongst many others. In contrast, Sternberg (1985,
American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859 - 1962) was a 1996) conceives intelligence not so much as phenomena that can be
key figure in highlighting the importance of students’ experience in measured by psychometric tests but as the success with which an
the role of education and recognising that no two individuals share individual selects, adapts to, and shapes the real-world environment
the same past experience. In order to understand how to design through the integration of various practical, analytical and creative
effective learning programmes, he argued, we need to understand skills.
how people have the experiences that they do. Rather than achieving
learning in terms of outcomes, it would be better achieved as a Second, it is clear that individuals will adopt markedly different
process, a continuous process that is grounded in experience. strategies for doing the same thing. For example, some may prefer
Encouraging learners to reflect on experience through active learning to plan a project by going out for a walk for inspiration while others
should be a key process. will bury themselves in books. Riding & Rayner (1998) have critically
reviewed the wide range of studies into individual cognitive style and
learning preference and concluded that the findings of this collective
research could be grouped into two dimensions, as illustrated in
figure 6.

An Analyst-Wholist dimension: This describes two end-member
ways in which a person may deal with information or a concept. An
‘analyst’ would tend to break information into constituent parts and
deal with these separately. In contrast, a ‘wholist’ would tend to deal
with a concept as a complete entity.

A Visualist-Verbaliser dimension: This describes two end-member
ways in which a person thinks – in images or in words.

The majority of learners will be multi-modal rather than fall into any
one of these distinct categories. But the value of this research is that
it can identify where an individual sits and allow the teacher to reflect
Figure 5: David Kolb’s cycle of experiential learning. on their own style and consider whether this is at odds with the way
the students in their class learn.



Figure 6: Figure 7:
End-member Blocks of Inca-worked stone
categories of seamlessley blended onto a
cognitive style natural granite bedrock
(Riding & foundation, Temple of the Sun,
Rayner, 1998) Machu Picchu, Peru.

A metaphor for
constructivist principles

An interesting extension of this might be the relationship between
learning preferences and subject disciplines. Are architects more
visual and linguists verbal, for example, or does a complete range of
Based on research into cognitive development and constructivist
preferences and styles exist in these discipline cohorts? Simple
principles, an educational programme would be strongly flavoured by:
inventories are available from these studies to allow a reader to apply
these studies to their own class. Examples include: # A strong focus on active exploration to develop existing and
new schemata, through use of strategies such as
# VARK: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp
# Project work / exploration / hands-on research
# Honey & Mumford: http://www.peterhoney.com/main/
# Active practical or laboratory work
Research into variations in understanding # Problem-based learning / active simulation of real-world
problems
Swedish educationalists Marton and Säljö developed a qualitative
research methodology that explored the subjectively different ways # Work-based learning
that people experience the same phenomenon. They applied this # A focus not just on the product of student thinking but on
approach (called phenomenography and based on interviewing the process
subjects and analyzing the dialogue) to the ways that students read
# Strategies that encourage students to be aware and reflect on
books, and distinguished between ‘surface’ approaches where the
existing understandings and new learning (e.g. reflective logs or
students were reading simply to memorise facts to gain sufficient
diaries, ‘ideas’ workbooks or simply writing down developing
knowledge to pass a test, and ‘deep’ approaches, where the reader
ideas in existing lab-books, field note-books etc)
was concerned with understanding the meanings of the text.
# Assigning equal emphasis to all of the stages of the learning
From the mid 1980s this approach has been applied widely across cycle (e.g. in project work).
the Higher Education sector (e.g. Prosser et al, 1994) and has proved # Emphasising learning-to-learn skills, critical thinking,
valuable and highly relevant because it is grounded directly in the creativity / exploration
higher education setting, unlike many other theories that have been
drawn from general studies in psychology and applied to education. # Using group-work to explor the perceptions of others
More recent manifestations of phenomenography are primarily through active discussion and debate
concerned with identifying how many different levels of understanding # A focus on recognising and developing potential
the students within a particular class take from a concept or reading,
and then the teacher reflecting on how his or her teaching may be # Providing ‘scaffolding’ to support development within a
modified to ensure all students reach a deeper level. person’s zone of potential. This includes directing attention to
new parts of the problem and helping with the sequencing of
activities before gradually removing support
Implications of findings from cognitivist and
# Using group-work and collaboration with students of different
constructivist research to the practice of teaching levels of performance to aid one another
The main contribution of this research is the view that learners are
# Providing opportunities for students to express and develop
not passive, empty vessels into which we can pour secondary
creativity
knowledge & experience. Individuals possess different cognitive
styles, will have different perceptions and understandings of the # Recognition and awareness of individual differences
same phenomenon and different levels of background knowledge. # Being aware that students from different backgrounds and
cultures will have different schemata (constructed understandings)
The key implication is that learning is most effective if the learner is
# Identifying the teacher’s own learning / teaching preference
actively involved in the primary construction of understanding. For
(e.g. using a study-styles inventory) and if polarised into an
the teacher, the importance is recognising that this construction
extreme type, modifying teaching style to include variety to
occurs onto an existing foundation of knowledge, understandings and
cater for individual differences
beliefs, a foundation that differs from individual to individual.
Therefore exploration of the links between the existing and the new # Helping students to identify and exploit particular cognitive
is paramount (Figure 7). styles or learning preference
# Acknowledging that the memory can only take so much
This emphasis on individual difference is also important in the context in one go
of recognising potential and designing and supporting activities that
help the individual realise this - the role of the teacher gradually # Avoiding overloading the student with too much information
letting go to allow the individual to realise their own capability. An and making good use of early parts of sessions when the
important implication is to help the learner become aware of their attention is fresh
thinking, reflect on existing understandings and how new ideas form # Helping memory connectivity by clearly linking new material to
with the learning of new material, and to help them take control of existing knowledge
their learning & thinking strategies (metacognition). # Reinforcing memory using frequent summaries



Box 1 outlines some more group concepts, many of which we would
THE SOCIAL SCENE know as peer pressure. Peer pressure, or the pressure to conform is
another major aspect of social learning. Turner (1991) argued that we
Research into Social Learning may often feel pressured into imitating others because of a range of
Behaviourist, cognitivist and related research has factors: we lack self confidence in our decisions when faced with
received criticism from social psychologists and opposition, we feel uncomfortable standing out, and/or we get
sociologists for focusing on how individuals learn. carried along with the collective thinking of a group having
Instead, they argued, we rarely learn in isolation and established an identity within it.
therefore must focus attention on the effects and
influences of social and cultural interaction, which Situated Learning
can have a profound impact. Lave & Wenger (1991) argued that learning should be regarded not
so much in terms of being educated as part of a formal programme,
They also pointed to what is sometimes referred to as the ‘hidden but as a largely social act that occurs in everyday life. When viewed
curriculum’, the benefits of learning that include forming relations in this way, they suggest it involves the process of engaging with
with others, developing communication, negotiation and debating ‘communities of practice’. A community of practice refers to the
skills, developing empathy with others, a sense of community and differing situated contexts in which an individual experiences learning.
appreciation of others’ viewpoints. For example, consider a typical student. He or she will likely be a
member of:
Research into the social side of learning has explored numerous
dimensions: the way that an individual’s approach to learning is # A project group within a programme module
influenced by the presence of others, the way we adapt in different # The wider programme cohort
social contexts, and the socially constructed nature of knowledge. # The family home
The research methodologies employed in this research have varied
from objective, controlled group experiments and observations to # A hall of residence community
qualitative methodologies such as interviewing, ethnographic and # A sports club
phenomenological studies. # The workforce in a part-time or seasonal job

Individual behaviour within group settings
Much research into social aspects of learning has focussed on how
an individual’s performance or approach to learning is influenced by
the presence of others. Research into compliance considered those
strategies that an individual employs to encourage others to comply
with a request. Brehm & Kassin (1996), for example, have reasoned
that people are more likely to comply under favourable conditions:
when they are taken by surprise, when the request sounds
reasonable, when the person feels indebted to the requester, or
when that person feels guilty about refusing an earlier, larger request.
Figure 8: Situated learning - becoming established in a community of practice.
Box 1: Group learning concepts
Lave & Wenger argue that their learning is situated in each of these
distinct contexts and that success in any one of these is a function
Social facilitation / inhibition: The tendency of how well that individual fits in and learns to become competent in
for an individual’s performance to be strengthened that context. To illustrate, consider the characteristics of any one of
or inhibited due to the pressure of performing in
these communities, for example, a student joining a sports club.
front of an audience.
There will be characteristic features of that social environment:
# Shared activities and interests
Social loafing: # Collective motivation to move forward
The total being less than sum of it’s parts. # Club motto and style tradition
The tendency for individual input to be reduced
when working in a team. # A particular structure through which advancement is possible
# Technical language used
# Club rules and regulations
De-individuation: # Home & symbols
The phenomenon whereby an individual
acts out-of-character when carried along They explain how the individual enters this community at the
on a bandwagon periphery (Figure 8) with the aim of gradually moving towards the
centre as s/he becomes an established member with increasing
competency (however competency is defined in that setting). Their
key point is that, rather than acquire structures or construct models
Group polarisation:
to understand the world, as implied by research described earlier, we
Viewpoints tend to become more polarised
participate within and adapt to frameworks that already possess
and extreme following debate
structure. The implication therefore is that we should refocus
emphasis on the social process to consider:

Group-think: ‘Decisions designed by committee’. # How do we become active participants in these communities ?
A phenomenon occurring in group situations where # Are there barriers to entry
poor-decision making occurs. Group-think describes
the scenario where the desire to maintain harmony # How do we develop identities within these communities?
exceeds that to reach an ideal, albeit unpopular,
“The purpose is not to learn through talk but to learn to talk
solution.
to legitimise their position in a community”. Lave & Wenger



Criticisms of situated learning THE RIGHT CLIMATE
Excessive application of this philosophy has been criticised along
several lines. First, in the context of employee professional Humanistic Research
development where these principles are often applied, the value of
formal education is downplayed in favour of the real-life workplace as Other schools of thought have been critical of the
a learning environment. This causes tensions with those who try to way that learning has been treated through
promote the value of lifelong learning and an expansive approach to research and have rejected the notion that humans
apprenticeship by opening access to learning at formal educational are simply biological objects to which everything
institutions, say through part-time study. Second, it presumes that can be explained by networks of causes. They ask:
communities of practice are reasonably stable and the learner adapts ‘What about being human, dealing with phenomena
to a structured, self-contained environment. Critics point to the fact such as freedom, choice, and meaningfulness of
that we live in a world of increasing change where such communities existence?’
are unstable, evolve rapidly, and within which membership is highly
mobile. It has also been argued that the process of crossing Humanist psychologists emphasise peoples’ inherent potential for
boundaries between these situated communities in itself provides a self-fulfilment. They try to direct attention away from mechanistic
stimulus for learning (Engestrom et al. 1995). and environmental conditioning and emphasise the human condition
and personal growth. Their perspective is on explorating the self and
Other social dimensions to learning: Gender & Culture asking such questions as:

Others have questioned the way ideas of learning have been socially # What motivates an individual to succeed?
constructed. For example, have psychologists over-generalised with # What are the emotional dimensions to learning?
their findings by presuming that cognitive development is common # Where do episodes of frustration, boredom, anxiety, achievement
for men & women, and for people from very different cultural and fulfilment occur and why?’.
upbringings? Studies by Gilligan (1982) imply that women find identity
more within relationships and, on issues of moral development, place Such concepts cannot be researched and treated in a conventional
strong emphasis on a care & responsibility dimension unlike men scientific manner, they argue, but these phenomena are very real and
who tend to emphasise issues of rights. There have also been many any study of learning that ignores these dimensions must paint an
studies comparing cultural influences. Biggs (1996), for example, has incomplete picture.
considered differences between the teaching traditions and learning
“The concepts of psyche and soul, of course, have long
philosophies in Europe and those Confucian-heritage cultures in east
been discarded by a disenchanted science. It is not surprising
Asia (see Jarvis et al. 2003, chapter 8). that many psychologists are now suggesting that it is time
for the reenchantment of science.
Implications of findings from social learning research
for teaching practice It is ultimately a matter of integrity and, in conventional
scientific terminology, validity. Are we studying something
An educational programme strongly influenced by findings of social of value and studying it comprehensively? My common-
learning research would likely be characterised by a focus on team- sense definition of the validity of a study is that it must tell
building skills, reflecting on those processes that lead to success in the whole truth about an experience. To study with integrity
everyday working life, on emphasising awareness and reflection on the full measure and depth of human experience, even our
the processes of group interaction, awareness of differences in methodologies must face on the full enormity of being fully
culture, avoiding stereotyping and so on. It might be characterised by human”
a focus on: Rosemarie Anderson (1998)

# Valuing the real-world as a learning environment and making The basis for research is the exploration of the self; studying
learning relevant through simulations and role play phenomena not through the eyes of the researcher but through
those of the subject, viewing the real world as they see it. The
# Emphasising group-work and collaboration research methodologies employed typically take the form of
interviews, case studies or phenomenological first-person accounts.
# Exploiting collaboration and valuing networking, communication The aim of this research is less to provide factual evidence to generate
and negotiation skills universal laws as in science, but more to explore and illuminate a
situation or poorly understood phenomenon. Verification of theories
# Building cohesive groups and highlighting management of group is often sought by comparing a narrative with similar accounts by
work through establishing unity of purpose, defining individual other researchers. Critics from a scientific tradition might question
roles and accountability to negate ‘loafing’ the validity of these case studies on their lack of generality and thus
applicability. Those of the humanist tradition would instead maintain
# Using group discussion to help foster empathy with others’ and that we are all unique and as such, there can be no general
understanding of others’ perceptions
explanations or theories of behaviour.
# Work-based learning / placements
Humanist researchers are thus interested in the reflective analysis of
real life experience, i.e. understanding learning as seen by the
# Problem-based learning
student. They maintain that in order to understand how an individual
can fulfill their potential we must see the complete rich picture of the
process of learning in all of its cognitive and emotional dimensions.
Their belief is one in which we are unique individuals who exercise
free will over our behaviour. We choose who we want to be. Clearly
the humanist perspective is concerned more with personal
development and growth than the mechanics of how we think or
acquire knowledge acquisition.



Key studies
Abraham Maslow and motivation # Provision of choice and control in how an individual goes about
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was a pioneer of the humanist learning (e.g. through strategies like learning agreements,
tradition in psychology and at the forefront in directing attention to student-directed learning).
the growth potential of people. He developed a theory (1943, 1970) # Encouraging the learner to define their own goals and purposes.
stating that humans are motivated by unsatisfied needs and that
once a need has been satisfied it no longer becomes a motivator. He # An emphasis on reflection strategies and personal development
identified a hierarchy of need categories, defining lower order needs # Recognising the importance of emotion factors and providing
that required satisfying prior to that person becoming motivated to support
fulfil higher order needs. From low to high order, these are physiological
needs, safety needs, a need to belong and be loved, esteem needs, # Developing a positive, encouraging learning climate where the
a need to know and understand, aesthetic needs and finally, highest views of the student are valued and explored
order being the need to fulfil one’s potential (self actualisation). As a # A focus on the learning process and critical self reflection
theory of motivation this has great implications for education:
if students do not feel that they belong, they will not be motivated # Variety and choice in learning methods and accessibility to
to learn for learning’s sake, or ultimately to fulfil their potential. materials and support
# Accessibility to plentiful resources
Carl Rogers and personal growth
Carl Rogers is perhaps the most well known ‘father’ of humanistic
education, psychotherapy and counselling. Like Maslow, he believed
that people possess a natural propensity to learn and to fulfil their SUMMARY
potential. This has major implications for the organisation of education The complexity of learning
and the role of the teacher. His theories imply that the teacher should
not be there to control and dictate learning but rather to facilitate and The different theories described here relate to general principles of
make possible learning by creating a climate that is most conducive learning and illustrate how different philosophies for researching
to allowing personal growth. Therefore the role of the teacher is more learning have collided in a search to find ‘The Answer’ to understanding
to enable the learner to find the route that is most likely to see them how people learn. Today, however, we tend not to see these studies
fulfil their potential. As well as creating the right climate, the key role and their findings as competing theories but rather descriptions of
of the teacher should be to make clear the purposes of learning, to different aspects of an immensely complex concept (figure 9). This
ensure that the necessary resources are in place, and to comprises more mechanical aspects of the working of the mind in
acknowledge and balance the emotional dimensions. terms of memory processing and thinking development (a cognitive
domain), and at the other extreme the more emotional dimensions of
Malcolm Knowles and adult learning consciousness (affective domain). There are also individual and social
Humanist principles influenced work on adult learning by the dimensions. In a higher education context there is also the element
foremost adult learning theorist, Malcolm Knowles. He introduced of preparing the student to cope with and contribute to a super-
the term ‘andragogy’ to mean adult learning, as distinct from complex world. (e.g. Barnett and Hallam, 1999).
pedagogy which usually refers more specifically to the education of
children. Social

Knowles (1980) argued that there are key differences in the way that
adults learn compared to children. He suggested that, with increased

Affective (Emotional)
maturity, adults:
Cognitive (Mental)

# become more problem-centred, unlike children who are more
subject-centred
# need to identify why they need to learn something beforehand
- it needs relevance
# prefer autonomy and to be treated as capable of self-direction
# have an enormous resource of experience on which to draw
# are more motivated to learn by intrinsic factors
(i.e. desire rather than need)
Individual
# are more task-oriented
Figure 9: Dimensions to learning and fields or research

Implications of findings from humanist The challenge of applying research findings
research to teaching practice to practice
Researchers of this school might argue that in many strictly struc- This article has focussed on studies that have attempted to
tured learning environments, or those where there is little variety in understand the learning process and direct educators to those
learning methodology, some students will be doomed to failure, not strategies most likely to yield high quality learning. In an ideal world
because they lack motivation or ability, but because they are not where we could start with a blank sheet to design a brand new
educated in a manner which best suits them. Central to these course informed directly by findings of learning research, a world in
studies are the implications of creating the right conditions and which there were no limitations on how courses could be resourced,
environment to maximise the likelihood of successful learning taking where tradition and innovation were not in conflict and where learners
place. Designed with humanist principles in mind, an educational responded in the ways that researchers had predicted they would
programme would be strongly flavoured by: through their studies, we might see curricula that looked very different
from those that we are familiar with.



In the real world, however, formal learning occurs within an
Biggs, J. (1996) Western misperceptions of the Confucian-heritage
educational setting that needs to be responsive and accommodating learning culture, in The Chinese Learner, ed D. Watkins & J. Biggs,
of a wide range of needs. Programme design will be constrained or University of Hong Kong Comparative Education Centre, Hong
influenced by curricular structures imposed by institutional policy and Kong.
regulations, by limitations in material and staffing resources, by
individual, departmental and / or discipline traditions and by demands Engestrom, Y., Engestrom, R., and Karkkainen, M. (1995)
of learners, employers and professional bodies. Last, but by no Polycontextuality and Boundary Crossing in Expert Cognition,
means least, students are not perfect plastic learners who respond in Learning and Instruction, Vol. 5, pp 319-336.
the way we would necessarily like but real people with different Gardner, H. (1983) Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
expectations, motivations and who have preferences for different Intelligences. New York, Basic Books.
learning activities, and many of whom will be strategic and selective
about how they go about and engage (or not) in their studies. Gardner, H. (1993) Multiple intelligences: The Theory in Practice.
New York, Basic Books.
The value of research and detailed evaluation therefore, as it is in any Gilligan, C. (1982) In a different voice: Psychological Theory and
other context, is that it provides a grounding informed by extensive Womens’ Development, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
investigation to enable us to understand the world around us, in this
case to shed light on the complex processes and influences that we Honey, P. and Mumford, A. (1982) Manual of Learning Styles,
encounter in the act of teaching and enabling student learning. Each P.Honey, London.
reader may ‘connect’ with a particular perspective outlined here, Jarvis, P., Holford, J. & Griffin, C. (2003) The theory & practice of
perhaps because of personal philosophy, experience or alignment learning, Second Edition. Kogan Page, London.
with one’s own discipline philosophy. Perhaps certain findings
outwardly, and given the benefit of hindsight, appear common-sense Kohlberg, L. (1986) The philosophy of moral development,
or to state ‘the obvious’, but common-sense and intuition alone can Harper & Row, San Francisco.
be fallible based on subjective experience. Illumination from findings Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential learning, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
of such studies provide direction for making best use of the situations
and resources available and to design those activities most likely to Knowles, M. (1980) The modern practice of Adult Education: From
Pedagogy to Andragogy (2nd Edn) Cambridge Book Co. New York
yield a high impact in ‘deep’ learning over the long-term.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning, Cambridge
For more information University Press.
There is a growing resource base of accessible literature on formal
Lewin, K. (1948) Resolving social conflicts; selected papers on
evaluation and research and the University subscribes to many of the
group dynamics. Gertrude W. Lewin (ed.). New York: Harper & Row,
key HE journals, most of which are available in electronic form (see
1948.
the Learning Information Services web-site for full details).
Marton, F. & Säljö, R. (1984) Approaches to Learning, in The
Also there are new opportunities to network and engage in evaluation Experience of Learning, F. Marton, D Hounsell & N Entwistle (Eds),
and pedagogic research: Edinburgh, Scottish Academic Press.
Maslow, A. H. (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological
# The Research into Learning and Teaching Forum: research
Review 1, pp 370-396.
methods workshops, newsletter. Contact the author for
futher details. Maslow, A. H. (1970) Motivation & Personality (2nd Ed). New York,
Harper & Row.
# The proposed Centre for Educational Research and Evaluation: Palmer, J. A. (2001) Ed. Fifty Major Thinkers on Education, London,
see page 15 for details. Routledge.

Piaget, J. (1932) The moral judgement of the child. New York,
Would you like to comment on this article?
Harcourt, Brace & World.
Any comments on or arising out of this article are welcomed and
questions or comments raised can form the basis for discussion Prosser, M., Trigwell, K. and Taylor, P. (1994) A phenomenographic
through for a seminar later in the year or an online discussion study of academics’ conceptions of science learning and teaching.
(through the Research into Learning and Teaching Forum). Please Learning & Instruction, Vol. 4, pp 217-231.
send any comments to the author (details below) Riding, R. & Rayner, S. (1998) Cognitive styles and Learning
strategies: Understanding style differences in learning and
behaviour. David Fulton Publishers, London.
Martyn Stewart
Learning Development Unit, 2 Maryland Street, Liverpool L1 9DE Sternberg, R.J. (1985) Beyond IQ, New York, Cambridge University
M.Stewart@livjm.ac.uk, (0151) 231 3290 Press.
Sternberg, R.J. (1996) Successful Intelligence: How practical
and creative intelligence determine success in life. New York,
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Barnett, R. and Hallam, S. (1999) Teaching for Supercomplexity: a Cambridge MA
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