Learning Defined:
Learning is the process and outcome of a person’s
interaction with the environment that produces a change.
Five Intriguing Principles and Connections:
·
Principle 2:
Learning is a necessary and instinctive function that happens everywhere
simply based on the fact that an individual is living.
Connection:
Learning the necessary skills of eating
and playing are essential task for a child’s survival and growth. Children learn everyday life habits at an
early age. Learning occurs by watching
and modeling a parent or caregiver and to some degree it happens automatically. How do parents model these routine
skills? Do children learn to play
physically active games or sedentary computer games? Do children learn to eat healthy meals or do
they eat high chloric fast food meals?
As a child, I ate fresh vegetables,
fruit, meat, bread, and diary every day.
I rarely remember eating fast food meals. Food items like soft drinks, chips, cookies,
and other junk food were seldom in our house.
As a child, I rode my bike, played games in the yard, and was physically
active each day. I did not eat fruits
and vegetables and exercise because I was aware of the health benefits. Eating was essential, and what I ate was an
automatic inevitable response to my environment. I learned how to live a healthy lifestyle
automatically through my environment and life experiences. Learning about how to live and maintain a
healthy lifestyle has continued and evolved over time due to my formal
education and experiences.
· Principle 4: Learning may be healthy or unhealthy
as well as beneficial or detrimental.
Connection:
Domestic violence or
intimate partner violence (IPV) is an unhealthy and detrimental behavior that
affects the victim as well as other members of the family that may witness the
abuse. According to the National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence (2013),
domestic violence is considered a learned behavior. The child’s socialization to violence during
childhood is a strong indicator, according to numerous documented research
efforts that they will continue the cycle of violence as a perpetrator
(Barnett, Miller-Perrin, & Perrin, 2005). This unfavorable learned behavior
is satisfying to the perpetrator but is viewed by the majority of society as
unacceptable behavior.
References:
Barnett, O., Miller-Perrin, C.L., &
Perrin, R.D. (2005). Family violence
across the
lifespan. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence. (2013). Spouse/partner abuse
· Principle 7:
Learning is the act of change as it occurs and the outcome or result of
a change. Both the outcome and change are
important to the exploration of how learning occurs.
Connection:
Sorrel King is a mother and author of
the book Josie’s Story. Josie King was eighteen months old when she
was hospitalized due to an accidentally severe hot water burn. She was a patient at Johns Hopkins hospital
and died as a result of a medical error during her treatment for the severe
burns. King and her family suffered
a dramatic loss. Throughout Josie’s Story, King reveals how after
her daughter’s death she dedicated her life to learning about patient safety
and initiating educational programs designed to increase patient safety. Prior to the death of Josie, King was a
stay at home mom and did not work outside the home. King’s learning was a process that evolved
as she read, talked to people, attended conferences, and educated herself on
patient safety. The process of learning
resulted in changes happening over time.
King used the horrible loss of her daughter to become a patient-safety
advocate. The learning outcome was that King became a nationally known
patient-safety advocate. She continues
to learn, grow, and advocate for patient safety within the health care
profession. The process and product of
King’s learning has a tremendous impact on society as her work continues to
impact patient safety nationally.
Reference:
King, S. (2009). Josie’s
story; A mother’s inspiring crusade to make medical care
safe. New York, NY: Grove Press.
·
Principle 8:
The process of learning evolves over time and the way an individual
learns changes as they mature.
Connection:
Illustration by: Paul Mirocha
The metamorphosis of a butterfly is
similar to the process of how learning evolves over time. The butterfly goes through four distinct
stages and must respond to the environment in a different way during each
phase. This is similar to the
transformation that takes place over time as an individual learns in different
ways depending on their current life stage.
The butterfly and learner both go through stages. The various stages allow for growth to occur,
and that growth is necessary in moving forward with the life process of
change. The butterfly must grow and
change from stage to stage, and the learner must acquire new knowledge at each
stage in order to develop higher level critical thinking skills. This comparison also highlights how the
environment plays an active role in the butterflies process and the learners’
progression.
·
Principle 9: Learning is dependent upon how
the individual engages, interacts, and reacts to the environment.
Connection:
According to Alexander Astin’s theory of
student engagement, when a student is actively involved in the social and
physical environment their learning improves.
Astin stated, “…student involvement refers to the amount of physical and
psychological energy that the student devotes to the academic experience” (p.
134). This theory becomes critical for college
students, especially freshmen. When a
student is involved in co-curricular activities, lives on campus, interacts
with peers and faculty, and devotes a considerable amount of time to their class
work they are actively interacting with and within their academic world. Learning occurs as a reaction and interaction
to the environment both in and outside the classroom. Through the student’s involvement, they continue to learn, grow, change, and take control of
their college learning experience. A
significant portion of the learning experience is due to engagement with the
environment.
Reference:
Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving educational excellence: A critical assessment of
priorities
and practices in higher education. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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