Formal Learning And Informal Learning Essay

Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.

From an early age I found learning hard and in my early educational years I

Education is a topic that can be explored in many ways. Education is looked at in depth by both Richard Rodriguez in his essay, “The Achievement of Desire”, and by Paulo Freire in his essay, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education.” After reading both essays, one can make some assumptions about different methods of education and exactly by which method Rodriguez was taught. The types of relationships Rodriguez had with his teachers, family and in life were affected by specific styles of education.

Although pedagogy varies across European countries, there are similar roots that have developed into differing strands of contemporary thinking in pedagogy. Hämäläinen explains that “historically, social pedagogy is based on the belief that you can decisively influence social circumstances through education” – and importantly, education is seen as a life-long learning process that does not only refer to children but includes educating adults, for instance in order to change their idea of children.

But when a child is reared in a nurturing and loving environment they can blossom into a free thinking questioning intelligent human being. Another article that uses these ideas to explore the problems with rigid top-down cultures is Paulo Freire’s “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education”. In this article, Paulo Freire describes two main concepts relating to how the education system functions, one which is the current problem, and one that is his proposed solution. The problematic system is called the banking concept of education. Freire explains, “In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who consider themselves knowledgeable upon those whom they consider to know nothing.” With this he is explaining how within the banking system teachers are the ones with all the knowledge and are of a higher power than the students, so the teachers give everything to the students and the students give nothing to the teacher. This is because the students are described as simply being responsible to absorb what the teacher has to teach them. This is due to the fact that it is believed that it is not possible for them to comprehend anything the teacher does not already understand because that would be too

The learning perspective what is it? This is the study of how exactly a person is effected through what they learn on a daily basis. Through family, their surroundings and behavior. The people who believe this line of thinking are called behaviorists. Many people look at the learning perspective in a suspiciouse manner not believeing or trusting any of the experiments. But there are many contributions and many limitations of the learning perspective.

Schools also have a hidden curriculum in which values and norms of behaviour are transmitted. For example, wearing a school uniform and keeping to a set timetable can all be seen as activities that encourage particular standards of behaviour which could be viewed as producing disciplined future workers. Therefore the hidden curriculum implies that pupils not only learn formal subjects such as English or physics but also receive hidden messages about their class, ethnicity and gender from their experience of schooling. Through the choice of teaching strategies and characteristics chosen to be employed by educational institutions it indirectly conveys to students the norms, values and expectations. This is what we refer to as the hidden curriculum. As we will later explore there are many that argue the hidden curriculum and processes within schools help to produce inequalities between children of different social classes. Whitty and Young (1976) view the

Instead of absorbing knowledge, students are left gazing through their teachers’ eyes as information goes in one ear and out the other. The best students are the ones who memorize for tests, yet they do not understand what it is they are learning or how it can relate to the world. In school systems, the job of the educator “is to regulate the way the world “enters into” the students” (Freire 4). The teacher manipulates the way a student learns by allowing only certain information to be released. Only supportive statement for the “banking” concept is that an “educated individual is the adapted person, because she or he is better “fit” for the world” (Freire 4).

In the book “Social Problems: Continuity and Change”, I studied the chapter Schools and Education. This chapter is very informative on the different social problems that are occurring within schools and education in the United States. The chapter begins with the definition of education, briefly explaining how it is a social establishment that teaches people skills, knowledge, norms, and values that will be beneficial in today society. There are two different types of education. They are formal education and informal education. Teachers, through professional training, often teach formal education to students whereas informal education can occur anywhere, mainly in homes by parents or guardians.

Many people in history, as well as my mentors, have influenced my personal learning philosophy about early childhood learning.

There are many theories that are relevant to classroom teaching today. Marsh (2008, p. 17) states that “each theory is nothing more than a set of reasonable suggestions”. A teacher should look at the information available to them and take what is necessary to achieve a positive learning environment in their classroom. This may mean taking a little part of one theory and combining in with another part of a different theory, there is no singular theory or theorist that encompasses everything that is required in a modern classroom. Some of the most important theories of learning are motivation, constructivism and behaviourism. Teachers choose their teaching style and strategy to complement their students, to arrive at their own personal

The relation between the study of how people act towards each other and education is a subject of debate. One idea says education is meant to overcome where two things are not the same. Whereas other says the most important function of education is helping to increase balance status of good people in the world and to maintain inequality whatever state it comes in. I will focus on three areas that affects the educations of Socialogy. The first area is Structural Functionalism.

In order for a society to function, individuals must be productive members of that society. This is accomplished through education. The philosophy of education is determined by society. As society changes so does the concept of education.

Most people believe that, learning is done only through formal education and that this process stops once they graduate but this is not true. According to Delors’ (1996) four ‘pillars’ of education for the future, lifelong learning can be defined as one which is done throughout a person’s lifetime. It is adjustable, diverse and attainable all through the various stages of human life. This points out that, learning is not done through formal means only and cannot be avoided as one progresses through life’s various stages (from infancy till death).

Nowadays, there are more and more people educated in different degrees and different ways. It seems that "education" has become a common word in daily life and it seems to be easy to understand. In fact, education, as a social activity, with a long history of development, a complex and diverse internal structure, interacts with other social activities in multilevel and multifaceted way.