SYLLABUS OF THEORY 2 CHILD PSYCHOLOGY UNIT 9 LEARNING AND ITS INFLUENCING FACTORS DAY 11

SYLLABUS OF THEORY 2 CHILD PSYCHOLOGY UNIT 9 LEARNING AND ITS INFLUENCING FACTORS DAY 11

Pre Home Assignments

Learning Activity 1: Meditation on the Passage (as home assignment): Students should read the passages in this unit minimum 3 times. After reading each paragraph, close your eyes & think about the paragraph content for a few minutes.

Learning Activities for Live Class Session:

Learning Activity 1: Speech: Write the factors influencing learning in small pieces of paper one by one. Fold or roll them and keep together. Let one trainee pick one from the lot as a lot to pick and give a speech about that in 2 or 3 minutes. After that remove that lotto from the lotto and continue the process with the remaining lotto. One student anchors the program.

Learning Activity 2: Arrange a discussion about factors affecting learning by forming trainees into 7 or 8 members groups. One student anchors the program.

Learning Activity 3: Learning activity as per students’ choice. Conduct a learning activity as per the choice of lesson activities coordinating group.

Learning Activity 4: Group Discussion: Arrange a Group Discussion like in TV. All students are participating in the discussion.
Round 1: Purpose and objectives of learning and practicing the content in this theory unit
Round 2: How to apply the knowledge and the ideas in this unit in your life, career and in society.

Self-Home Assignments & with classmates:

Learning Activity 1: Self Speech in front of Mirror: Do a Self-Speech in 5 minutes about learning process.

Learning Activity 2: Pair Interview with a Teacher: One takes the role of a parent and another one takes the role of a preschool teacher. Sub: Factors Influencing Learning. Faculty prepare the list & put it in the group.

Individual & pair learning activities as Post Home Assignments:

Learning Activity 1: Awareness: Give awareness in English to a teacher who punishes her children physically and mentally. Clarify the negative effects of punishment with scientific aspects.

Learning Activity 2: Self Imaginary practice with closed eyes: Learning and its influencing factors- by one by one points way.

Learning Activity 3: Slogans Making in Chart Paper: Write 20 slogans in a Chart Paper based on this subject- Child Psychology in an attractive way. Eg: ‘Let the child grow as a child’.

Introduction

Like other animals, man also acquires different developments and skills naturally and occasionally. Eg: walking, sitting etc. These we can fully call maturity. Balance skills we absorb and acquire purposefully. This type of purposive acquiring skills and its process is called learning.

Behaviourism

Behaviourism is a programmed instruction by fixing a fixed learning objective and attains that objective by giving suitable motivations. The core of this theory is the formation of behaviours by giving encouragement and prizes.

Gestalt psychology

If we break down the world famous Tajmahal into pieces. What do we get? Some pieces of marbles and stones aren’t? Is Tajmahal the mixture of these pieces? No, not at all. Perfection is beyond the sum is the core of Gestalt psychology. It says that learning problems should be given in perfection. Then only we get a solution. Learning we need to give priority to problem solving thinking rather than observed behaviours. According to this theory, if we give chances to learners to observe the problem situations fully, they find out the link and relationship and they arrange and re structure things and find the solution.

Knowledge Building Theory

Jean Piaget is the main contributor of this theory. The outside pressure or the control over the situation cannot change the inner capabilities and knowledge structure in a person. Any one acquires knowledge through using their experiences and inborn talents in their own style and speed. So the centre position in learning we need to give to the learner and the situation and environment we need to arrange on the basis of that.

Learning to Find

Jerom S. Brooner found that learning is the finding of things by the learner by involving him in the environment. He totally rejects the traditional way of memorizing things from the text books. Learning is not collecting information. It is searching the basic structure of learning subjects beyond information. We find the basic structure by the way of comparison and identifying the similarities and differences.

Social Knowledge building

Brooner and Vigodsky are the people behind this idea. All basic knowledge skills are developing in social and historical background. When we build knowledge, social, cultural factors are also involved in that process. Retaliation learning, coexistence learning, cooperative learning etc. are formed through this idea.

Humanism Concept and Learning

Mainly Carl Rogers, Abraham Marslo are connected to the humanist concept with education. This theory says that man has limitless powers and skills and people aim at self-fulfilment and they have the inner motive and capacity to reach that aim. All like to work not to maintain life but to establish existence.

Neuropsychology

Neuropsychology says that learning happens in our by establishing a bio- chemical relationship that happens in 10,000 cores of Neurons in our brain. Learning happens in all people through outer senses, imaginary senses and thinking. Information and experiences coming from senses are not fully accepted by the mind. The brain processes it by connecting it with previous experiences. So learning experiences have to be always connected with the previous experiences. Things we learn from a known thing make learning easy.

Learning Process:

Each learner goes through a complicated mental process. Below explains the process of an experience change into learning:
a. Accepting experiences through senses.
b. Connecting the experiences with the old ones.
c. By comparison I find the differences.
d. Classifying the things on the basis of similarities and differences.
e. Analysing the new things and forming conclusions.
f. Conclusions implemented in the new situation.
g. Is it effective, then learning happens stronger.
h. If wrong, conclusions are put into revaluation.
i. Through self-correcting going further ahead.
Though a cyclical way of learning happens.

Factors Influencing Learning:

The inward & outward factors that influence learning are described below:

a. Motivation:
According to Jean Piaget, motivation comes from an inner or outer need or aim. Then motivation and its need to get it creates a mental imbalance. To avoid this imbalance, people are involved in activities suitable to it. Aim moves a person forward. After reaching aim, satisfaction comes and avoids tension.

b. Memory:
Memory is the base for all knowledge. Memory is the knowledge about past things. Biologically, four types of memories are in man.
i. spiritual memory: It is the memory transferred through spirit through succession of births.
ii. DNA memory: It is transferred through genes and generations.
iii. Blood vessel memory: – It is the memory about each germ in our body. With this memory, the body creates antibodies.
iv. Neuron memory: The Neuron memory in the brain is the commonly said memory.
Three systems in memory:
i. Sensory memory: The signals coming from senses reach firstly in sense memory. It exists only for a short period. With this memory we can understand the meaning of a sentence while listening or reading by connecting the meaning of words from the start.
ii. Short term memory: It is called working memory. This memory helps to talk with another person or do a thing.
iii. Long term memory: In this memory, information is stored for a longer period. Strong feelings go to this memory. Some may exist up to life’s end and others may be partially forgotten.
Memory is not the actual incident or thing. Person adds that time observations, evaluations, interpretations etc. to it. Moreover, memory is not the copy of reality. It can be said as recreation. More than that, we did not get the real copy of the stored thing when we were taking it. The emotional and mental conditions of the person in that stored period may also influence it.

c. Attention:
In the childhood and preschool stage the things to attend at a time and its volume is comparatively low. Moreover, doing one activity at a time feels boring. We need to consider this before planning & implementing preschool learning activities.

d. Maturity:
Expected standard of learning is possible only if natural development (Maturity) happens correctly in each age stage. Otherwise we need to consider the level of maturity at that time of formulating their learning activity. Many researches proved that learning before maturity is useless.

e. Interest / Taste:
Now public instruction and a common curriculum became common. So children are forced to learn different subjects without having interest. This creates so many issues and difficulties in the learning process. Learning can become effective & joyful, only if we consider the interest and aptitude of the learners.

f. Attitude:
The attitude is the personal stand of a person towards the subjects and situations like knowledge, social, emotional etc. Values, interests, aptitude, emotional level, standard of knowledge etc. are the determining factors of attitude in a person. Positive attitude leads to success and negative attitude leads to failure. The main aim of learning is to create personally and socially suitable aims in persons. The children are closely observing the attitudes of their teachers. It also influences them.

g. Aptitude:
If we give training to any person by considering his aptitude, we can achieve success in him. Effective training is also needed for this. Some people have aptitude in more fields. The learning system should find out the aptitude in each student and give chances to get training in that field.

h. Anxiety:
It is the mental state in all people. If its volume increases, it may lead to mental diseases. Conscious stress causes fear and anxiety. Situations that happen beyond expectations creates stress in people. If school creates unhappy experiences in children, it creates anxiety and diseases like headache, fever, stomach ache, omitting etc. and leads to hesitation diseases. If there is no gentleness in body language, talk, look, facial expression, or dealing with teachers, it creates anxiety in children.
If any teacher depends on reproach, punishment, threatening, disrespect etc., it will increase anxiety and sometimes it may damage the mental condition of children. If children get beaten, blamed, harassed, ridiculed etc. from teachers, of course it creates detachment and fear in children. Fear and anxiety pulls back the mental ability of children. Without peace in mind nobody can learn anything. Punishment is nothing, but a way to finish the anger.

i. Independence:
The need for independence increases together with learning different skills. Children also have the thirst to do things independently like elders. The main reason behind the anger in children is lack of freedom. Small children may express this anger by way of crying. If we control children, it will affect the skill and aptitude development of children. Intelligent parents and teachers give enough freedom to their children.
Freedom is the main fact behind the growth of life. For developing one’s own skills, freedom is a must. A child who enjoys freedom only feels to take initiative and self-respect. People getting freedom in their work become more self-sufficient later.

j. Recognition:
As a social animal man needs recognition and a respectful position in society. One’s skills and talents only become meaningful if they are recognized by others. Absences of recognition create a feeling of non-belongings in persons.
With timely encouragement, interest in learning and good behaving comes in children. Continuous repetition makes behaving as a habit. Encouragement we can give in different ways such as by words, smiles, claps, presenting like things, behaving lovably etc. Children always like others’ recognition. So they present their skills and talents. Absence of recognition creates negative attitudes in people.

k. Security:
For a healthy and satisfied life we need security. Not only need safety, but to create a sense of security in children. Love is the base of security. If they get a sense of getting love, they become safe. Children living in insecure surroundings find difficulty in knowing their position in society. So his life may be filled with anxiety and worries. They may sometime change into anti-social beings in future. In the family they get security feelings from the lovable parents. In school they get it from teachers. All children should have the feeling that the teacher is working for their progress. The lovable attitude and activities of the teacher creates it in them.

l. Imagination:
Imagination is the making of new things by interpreting and integrating the already stored things in the mind. All people have imagination. These are the symbols of our emotional life. All people do creative activities by using the colours of imagination.
From one year of age, children use imagination. Childhood is the period of imagination. Giving food to a puppet, talking to things, acting, emotional expressions etc. are the expressions of imagination. Usually tells that imagination in childhood is unreal. Imagination in teenagers is ideal. At a younger age it is real. But really they are interrelated.
Imaginations lead people forward. The planning we do with the help of imagination. Invention is the result of some people’s scientific approach to imagination. Imagination is the energy source to move forward to progress. So we utilize the possibilities of imagination fully in learning. Because imagination leads to creativity.

j. Tension: Tension comes when the mental needs are not at all adjustable with the social and individual realities. The complexity of life also increases tension. The competitive and money oriented social set up creates tension in people.

k. Social and Family Factors: Social matters like Family, religion, politics, life surroundings etc. also influence learning.

l. Transfer of Learning: Already learned things influencing the learning are called Transfer of Learning. The teacher should understand that, the things to develop in children like understanding, skills, values, attitudes, stands etc. Children may use or use in all their life situations. Moreover the teachers should find out the link and the possibility of integration of an object or a subject with other objects and subjects.

Module Developed by: Baba Alexander