by PBateman

Created on: January 21, 2009

Understanding in the subject of 'how children learn' has been growing steadily. This understanding is formed from educational psychology theory and research and should impact educational policy and practice in schools.

Perhaps a good place to start is at the debate between behaviourists and nativists. Behaviourists believe that we are born with no real understanding of anything, and it is the role of education to fill children's mind's with knowledge. They believe that children react in a predictable way to external stimulus and can be motivated by the promise of rewards. Nativists, on the other hand, believe that children have innate knowledge of everything, and it is the role of education to draw this out.

Piaget then suggested that the child arriving at school for the first time has some prior knowledge and interacting with the world around him increases and solidifies this knowledge (constructivism). This has greatly influenced educational practice around the world. Many countries now embrace active learning - the child is encouraged to find things out through exploration and investigation rather than listen to the teacher explain the subject from the front of the classroom. Some teachers also test the child's prior knowledge before teaching a topic in order to adapt the lesson to fit the child's needs. These styles of teaching make learning more interactive and fun for the children because they are actively engaged with the subject rather than passively receiving it.

Another theorist, Vygotsky, then built on Piaget's suggestions and postulated that children learn naturally from people who are more knowledgable than them - adults, older siblings or peers. The gap between what they know and what they are learning he called 'the zone of proximal development'. The more developed person can help the other bridge this gap by providing 'scaffolding' for them, which means supporting their learning in a way they can make progress, without doing it all for them.

This school of thought is called social constructivism and has also impacted educational practice. Many schools encourage group work where children can learn from each other when engaging in shared activities. Talking is encouraged because it is through this communication that children can learn more and bridge their gaps in knowledge.

We are all still learning about 'how children learn', which makes every single one of us a learner! Through the processes of engaging with the world (through research and theory) and engaging with each other (through dialogue and ongoing debate) our understanding about learning continues to grow and influence education in a positive way.

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