The Stages of Development in Adult Learning
Learning and development
THE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT WALL OF FAME
Learning and development have always been areas of interest for many. People from birth on go through multiple stages physically, culturally, intellectually, socially and emotionally. Multiple series of events create learning opportunities which in turn trigger development and change. There are lots of studies and researches about learning and development. Many theories and philosophies have emerged with the goal of helping people better understand their own learning style and developmental process. All those theories make it so hard to define what learning is or understand what causes change in people but they all provide us with exciting ideas that we can use to have a much broader approach about learning and development. My philosophy of education has indeed been modified as I engaged in studying different theories. My vision of education is now broader so is my understanding of human development. Having always believed that all learners bring some skills and knowledge into the learning experience, I decided to use a wall of fame as my representation of what learning is. First of all the bottom layer of my wall will represent the theories of Jean Piaget with four major developmental stages. According to Piaget, the child is a “little scientist”. Learning happens in the early stages and gets more and more complex as the child grows older. Learning, in those stages, is fully the responsibility of the individual as a result of a strong willingness to experiment and discover, it is the foundation of the wall. With a strong foundation, the learner can use the acquired skills and knowledge as little as they are to engage in other types of learning. Learning at the early stages as Piaget admitted does involve the intervention of peers and even adults at some point but, nevertheless, the majority of the credits in the learning enterprise go to the learner as an individual. The
THE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT WALL OF FAME
Learning and development have always been areas of interest for many. People from birth on go through multiple stages physically, culturally, intellectually, socially and emotionally. Multiple series of events create learning opportunities which in turn trigger development and change. There are lots of studies and researches about learning and development. Many theories and philosophies have emerged with the goal of helping people better understand their own learning style and developmental process. All those theories make it so hard to define what learning is or understand what causes change in people but they all provide us with exciting ideas that we can use to have a much broader approach about learning and development. My philosophy of education has indeed been modified as I engaged in studying different theories. My vision of education is now broader so is my understanding of human development. Having always believed that all learners bring some skills and knowledge into the learning experience, I decided to use a wall of fame as my representation of what learning is. First of all the bottom layer of my wall will represent the theories of Jean Piaget with four major developmental stages. According to Piaget, the child is a “little scientist”. Learning happens in the early stages and gets more and more complex as the child grows older. Learning, in those stages, is fully the responsibility of the individual as a result of a strong willingness to experiment and discover, it is the foundation of the wall. With a strong foundation, the learner can use the acquired skills and knowledge as little as they are to engage in other types of learning. Learning at the early stages as Piaget admitted does involve the intervention of peers and even adults at some point but, nevertheless, the majority of the credits in the learning enterprise go to the learner as an individual. The
References: Tudge, R.H. Johnathan & Winterhoff Paul A. (1993). Vygotsky, Piaget and Bandura: Perspective on the relations between the social world and cognitive development. [pic]Human development paper; 36: 61-81. [pic] [pic] THE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT WALL OF FAME Bocar Ndiaye Alverno college Abstract