Kati Aus – What Do We Mean by the Changing Learning and Teaching Paradigm?
Studying and any other sort of development is a psychological process, which is quite individual, but still relies of certain patterns. Knowing these patterns is no longer the privilege of secret laboratories and the scientists within them, but something that has become a part of everyday life and every classroom, claims Kati Aus, project manager of teacher education at the Tallinn University Centre for Innovation in Education.
What should a teacher know about the workings of the mind and what do we mean by the changing learning and teaching paradigm?
Learning and the development of any kind of competencies is first and foremost a psychological process, which while being deeply individual still adheres to certain general rules. Being aware of those rules is no longer the privilege of a selected number of scientists in hidden labs, but is becoming part of our everyday life and classroom settings, claims Kati Aus, project manager of teacher education at the Tallinn University Centre for Innovation in Education.
How can a teacher account for the processes of attention and working memory of the learner, how does the brain process mistakes and feedback, how does the development of subject-specific concepts come about, how do we differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information, which competences form the basis for the development of self-regulation and social or entrepreneurial competences? These are just a few of the examples of knowledge that help us make sense of the learning process.
Recently frequent discussions about the changing learning and teaching paradigm are starting to resemble the process of waiting for Godot: we are anxiously looking forward to it, but many of us remain doubtful – have we chosen the right time and place and would we even recognise it once it arrives? In reality, everything is a lot more down-to-earth. Perhaps we shouldn’t strain ourselves too much with trying to recognise it, but instead focus more on actively shaping our pedagogical approaches.
A teacher’s approach to teaching and his understanding of the essence of learning or supporting learning form the basis for the selection of learning tasks and methods. This in turn has an effect on how students experience the learning process, and how they will approach learning in the future. Thus, development in teachers’ approaches to teaching could first and foremost entail a constantly evolving understanding about the essence of learning, and the skills to support the most important competences students need to adapt and successfully act in rapidly and uncontrollably changing environments.
The changing learning and teaching paradigm could thus be characterised by more and more evidence-based understanding of the functions and development of the psyche or the mind, as well as the essence of learning. The mind is a difficult matter to understand, and we cannot and should not expect teachers to come to the understanding about the developmental mechanisms of psychological processes based on their own everyday experiences and intuition.
Knowledge about the essence of the mind must be learned in the same way we learn about all other theories, with learning to understand the basic mechanisms and components of the theory as well as its limitations and applications. Making it possible to acquire such skills is a challenge to be met by teacher education in both degree studies, as well as continuing education. Without knowing the way the mind works and develops, guiding the learning process may and often does remain a random quest. Teachers do present students with their knowledge, but deeper learning on the part of the students might not happen.
Estonian teachers do not have the time nor resources to accept some randomly appearing Godot-like silhouettes, even if they happen to arrive from abroad with flashing colours. There is no guarantee that a novel and fun teaching method will work if it is not accompanied by a deeper understanding of what the method is meant to accomplish in terms of the workings of the mind, and which qualities of the student it pre-requires.
Without such understanding, the actual essence of the method might be lost, leaving behind an empty shell, which cannot and will not fulfil its original purpose. Sad examples can be seen from the failed application of group work, discovery learning or concept mapping methods. Similarly, approaches to teaching and learning will not necessarily benefit from mindless innovations in classroom spaces or each and every kind of gamification.
A university that represents the changing learning and teaching paradigm does not only offer opportunities to learn and practice innovative and ever-improving subject-specific methodologies, but stands as a partner for future and in-service teachers to help find possibilities to form deeper understanding of the core processes of learning as well as its application.