Introduction to Education Knowledge, Practice, Engagement

Learning is the fundamental process that teachers are seeking to influence in the classroom. But what is learning? And how can we, as teachers, help our students to learn effectively? Learning has been a topic of investigation for centuries. Educators have sought to understand learning through philosophy, observation, experiments and even neuroscience. Learning is a complex human behaviour. As a teacher, you need to understand how your students learn. That means becoming aware of some of the theories people have put forward about how learning works, developing an appreciation for how you can know whether or not learning has occurred in your classroom, and understanding what you can do to maximise the learning possibilities for all of your students. What you will learn in this chapter might surprise you – for example, some of the intuitive ideas we have about learning seem not to be how learning really occurs. This is an important insight for you as a teacher. The students in your classes will often have intuitive ideas about their learning that may not be accurate, particularly when it comes to the use of technology in education. These ideas may come from their home, informal education settings they interact with, from popular media representations, or from elsewhere. It is important to be aware of how learning really works.