the relationship between the functions of man and learning
What is the Relationship between the Functions of Man and Learning?
By
Anna-Kay Byfield
History and Philosophy of Education
October 14, 2013 © Anna-Kay Byfield
Introduction According to Royce (1961) man has many activities which are of many different kinds. He believed that man’s operations include some which are distinctly physical, and some which are distinctly psychological. That is, man has external behaviour experiences and functions, as well as conscious experiences and functions. As a result of that, man is forced to learn to develop, adapt, and sustain the operations of these functions. So what are these functions and what role does learning plays in nurturing and developing these operations? Before tackling these questions, we first need to delineate man, function, and learning respectively. Therefore, what is man? Man is all the members of the species Homo sapiens collectively, without regard to sex (Dictionary.com); Function is the way something operates or works (Collins Canadian Dictionary); and Learning is the process through which experience causes permanent change in knowledge or behaviour (Woolfolk, 2010). It is said that man’s functions are intellectual, moral, spiritual, social, economic, political, physical, domestic, aesthetic, and re-creational. Given these functions, we will look at four of these as it relates to learning.
Intellect and Moral
The amalgamation of man’s moral and intellectual functions have shape the major virtue of mankind. Therefore man cannot be human without the development and nurture of these two functions. According to Locke, man is not man unless he’s educated. Man therefore has to learn to educate himself through intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world (Woolfolk, 2010). The main thing that separates us from any other animal is our intelligence. However, people vary in intelligence. Everyone has
By
Anna-Kay Byfield
History and Philosophy of Education
October 14, 2013 © Anna-Kay Byfield
Introduction According to Royce (1961) man has many activities which are of many different kinds. He believed that man’s operations include some which are distinctly physical, and some which are distinctly psychological. That is, man has external behaviour experiences and functions, as well as conscious experiences and functions. As a result of that, man is forced to learn to develop, adapt, and sustain the operations of these functions. So what are these functions and what role does learning plays in nurturing and developing these operations? Before tackling these questions, we first need to delineate man, function, and learning respectively. Therefore, what is man? Man is all the members of the species Homo sapiens collectively, without regard to sex (Dictionary.com); Function is the way something operates or works (Collins Canadian Dictionary); and Learning is the process through which experience causes permanent change in knowledge or behaviour (Woolfolk, 2010). It is said that man’s functions are intellectual, moral, spiritual, social, economic, political, physical, domestic, aesthetic, and re-creational. Given these functions, we will look at four of these as it relates to learning.
Intellect and Moral
The amalgamation of man’s moral and intellectual functions have shape the major virtue of mankind. Therefore man cannot be human without the development and nurture of these two functions. According to Locke, man is not man unless he’s educated. Man therefore has to learn to educate himself through intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to acquire and use knowledge for solving problems and adapting to the world (Woolfolk, 2010). The main thing that separates us from any other animal is our intelligence. However, people vary in intelligence. Everyone has
References: Dictionary.com. (2013). Man. Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/man. Royce, J. E. (1961). Man and his nature. NY: McGraw-Hill. Woolfolk, A. (2010). Educational psychology (11th ed.). NJ: Kevin M. Davis.