We are all unique, and each of us has likes and dislikes, and effective and ineffective methods of learning. In this respect, there is an almost endless list of individual learning theories. Take a moment to consider where and when you think best. Perhaps it is in the shower in the morning. Is it late at night just before you go to sleep? Individual variations such as these influence the success or failure of learning.

The strategies that we use for our learning and that of others are based upon our conscious or subconscious philosophies about how people learn and their ability to learn. For example, if we believe that there is almost unlimited potential within human beings, we may be encouraged to help them achieve their targets. If, on the contrary, we believe that some people are intelligent, and others ‘do not have it,’ we may be less inclined to support them. The influence of personal philosophies and more general ones is pervasive and can inhibit the learning process. It is important to be aware of the value of learning philosophies that can provide insights into the learning process, but we should also understand the ‘flip side’ in that they can constrain our thinking and thus limit our potential to help people learn.

Let us always remember that there can be no learning without action and no action without learning. Let me use the following quote I got from Charles Handy (1989) in The Age of Unreason to end my last journal entry:

“If changing is, as I have argued, only another word for learning, the theories of learning will also be the theories of changing. Those who are always learning are those who can ride the waves of change and who see a changing world as full of opportunities rather than damage. They are the ones most likely to be the survivors in a time of discontinuity. They are also enthusiasts and architects of new ways and forms and ideas. If you want to change, try learning what one might say, or more precisely, if you want to be in control of your change, take learning more seriously.”

Lastly, let us not forget that we need to have a good understanding of the learning theories as this will enable us to select strategic choices regarding the manner in which we can encourage learning.

Based on the readings for this topic, how would you characterize your epistemological beliefs?

Coming from a health care profession where accuracy is a big issue, I would say that my epistemological beliefs looks rigid. For me, a person’s knowledge is representative of his or her established amount of accurate information. Information, in itself, is insufficient. There must be a complete justification for me to say that you have enough knowledge. This belief is the influence of my education where I was trained in learning how to learn, to think independently, and to reflect on what I have learned. This means that for me, knowledge is not solely about learning the content. Instead, it must include the process of learning and the development of critical thinking. If someone develops a good critical thinking skill, then this is a skill that the learner can use in any courses. For example, after I finish this course, I do not have to remember the concrete information I have learned, but I should be able to apply the knowledge I have learned here to solve the problems I will face outside.

Though my epistemological beliefs look rigid because of the justification requirement I want, don’t get me wrong. I still strongly believe that knowledge is not concrete, nor is it stagnant, and thus should constantly be scrutinized based on new and innovative erudition, or cultural and historical norms that serve to expand its parameters. Thus, it is interesting to constantly reflect on my epistemological beliefs, and apply them to various contextual, individualized, and philosophical accounts in an attempt toward obtaining its elusive existence.

How have these beliefs been facilitating or inhibiting the ways you learn?
Because of my beliefs that knowledge needs to be justified, I usually engage myself in deep learning like reading several resources and considering different views to attain a good understanding of a concept. Justification for me is important because, with so much information available out there, I want the best knowledge that is more relevant to life and acceptable to many. Once I am happy with the justification I find, then this is the only time I will have a good grasp of the knowledge I am trying to learn.

Knowledge is inside individuals; information is outside. One must have several experiences (engagements) with information before understanding can begin. When students are engaged, the teacher can see that the students are thinking. If you can’t see the students doing something, you probably need to rethink what you are requiring. We know that students are engaged if we can get them to the point of framing their own questions.

Students, as prime actors, must frame their own questions to be directors of their own inquiry. When we challenge a student to ask the right questions, we are moving the student to ask, “What is this about anyway?”

Sometimes I will ask my students what they think are the most relevant questions about a topic under study, and sometimes I will ask them to pose relevant questions both at the start and at the conclusion of the lesson. The contrast in student responses at the beginning and end of the lesson gives me evidence of student learning and provides the student with an opportunity for worthwhile reflection.

For example, at the start of a task to create a booklet that shows and explains cloud formations—a student might be addressing the question, “What is a cloud?” After engagement with the task, including prompts from me, the student may have shifted his thinking toward, “Do clouds influence the weather or do weather patterns create clouds?”

As a constructivist, I try to create an environment that engages the student to develop the understanding that leads to the ability to use the information to draw conclusions and take effective action. In other words, all information is external and is just information until it is internalized (understood) by a learner; it then becomes knowledge.

On the other side of the note, there is a growing recognition that effective teachers are people who are becoming guides on the side rather than masters on the stage. With my experience, this is much easier to say than to do. To become a guide on the side requires expertise with group work, performance tasks, reflective activities, and a variety of teaching strategies that most of us did not observe when we were students, and most of us have not been taught to teach.

Sometimes I will find myself comfortable with one of the strategies required to conduct a learner-centered classroom (cooperative learning, performance tasks, authentic assessment, journaling, etc.), but to get to this stage, it took me at least three years to achieve a comfort level with the strategy. It did not happen overnight, and there was a great deal of trial and error.

In conclusion, students learn best when new ideas are connected to what they already know and have experienced and when they use real-world problems to apply and test their knowledge, and as a teacher it is my obligation to design a learning environment where they can build on what they have learned and use their own interests and strengths are a springboard for learning.

Of all the learning theories we have studied, the constructivist theory is my favorite so far. The concept of Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding struck me most. So, let me share my realizations on these aspects especially about scaffolding.

Scaffolding helps students reach beyond where they can go on their own. It is a powerful tool for learning. The helping hand of scaffolding can be offered to students by teachers, by other more experienced students, or through learning materials. Scaffolding aims to help students achieve the intended learning outcomes. A helping hand is offered in cases where students are unlikely to complete the task without this extra aid. When the goal is for students to build competence, not just undertake specific tasks, scaffolding is offered quickly as required and withdrawn slowly when no longer needed. The idea is to help students lower their anxiety levels and be more open and engaged in learning so that they can continue moving forward.

I have had the pleasure and honor of working with students and educators in my previous employers in Leyte and have seen how the techniques they have used transformed my teaching and learning. When I was still new in the academe, I did not know how to get my students involved in their own learning. The by-product — self-confidence on the part of my students — was what they most comment on. From the perspective of my students – those who had been stuck in a cycle of self-recrimination for the difficulties they experienced in acquiring new skills and understanding the lessons, showed visible relief and enjoyment in being able to interact with materials in ways that helped them assimilate new knowledge almost seamlessly.

One way to achieve this student’s confidence is for us to have a clear articulation of our instructional goal—first for ourselves and then for our students. Without a fine-tuned focus, our scaffolds fall apart before we can even get started, and we miss the bull’s-eye entirely, and we will feel depleted, frustrated, and ineffective. Simply put, if we aren’t clear, our learners aren’t clear. Therefore, to constructively guide our learners across the zone of proximal development, we must be clear about exactly where we are and where we’re going. Only then can we begin to plot a direct course to get there.

In conclusion, only through a clear and intentional focus will make our scaffolding technique effective in helping our students. When we plan our scaffolds, it’s not enough to land somewhere on the target. Every time we draw back our instructional arrow and release it, it should fly straight and steady, landing solidly in the center of the bull’s eye of the learning goal.

After the immense learning about cognitive load theory, it has changed my perspective on how much information I should be sharing with my future students. The concept of cognitive overload has struck me the most, so I want to share my reflection on this subject matter on how I can possibly and effectively manage cognitive overload that can lead to cognitive disequilibrium. Disequilibrium is often an uncomfortable state for any learner; thus, we always seek to return to a state of equilibrium quickly. If we encounter something in our environment that doesn’t fit our existing schema, we may devote our mental energy to developing a new schema or adapting a current schema. There are so many ways we can minimize cognitive disequilibrium in the classroom if we use effective teaching strategies.

One of the most common tools I used when I was still teaching was the power point. Though it is a good strategy for making everyone on the same page, a powerpoint presentation can be a source of cognitive overload if not used properly. One way to reduce cognitive overload is to avoid reading out my slides because of the ‘redundancy effect.’ If we provide additional, unnecessary information for students to process, then we are making more mess in their minds. Also, if all the information is available for students in the text, then the addition of narration, mainly if it is not faithful to precisely what is written on the slide, will cause unnecessary cognitive load. This issue is also linked to dual channel processing and is, as such, a feature of Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning, which is connected to CLT. Our working memories effectively have two ‘channels’. One processes visual information and the other processes spoken the language. Reading starts in the first channel with the letters being observed visually. These are then decoded into virtual sounds that are processed on the spoken language channel. If a student is required to process spoken language at the same time as reading, then this jams up the spoken language channel. Some students may be able to select either the spoken or the written and pay attention to just one of the sources, but it likely benefits nobody. The redundancy effect does depend on the information being redundant. If you cannot read a word or it is not in your vocabulary, then information about the word and what it means is not redundant.

Another method that I can effectively use to reduce cognitive overload is to break the long topic into manageable chunks. If we do not divide them, the tendency for the newly learned information is to disappear immediately without the opportunity to process it. This is when the primacy and recency principles come into play. If we present a new concept, it will be best to stop and do some activities so that students will have fresh minds for the next topic. This is also effective if we are introducing an extremely challenging concept that students might struggle to grasp.

In conclusion, a good understanding of the causes and management of cognitive overload will be helpful if we want our students to learn deeper and transfer the information into their long-term memory.

Social learning or social pedagogy is a learning process through observing and imitating others that occur at a larger scale like societal level. Learning occurs even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior, learning also occurs through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious reinforcement. When an action is rewarded regularly, it will most likely persist; conversely, if a behavior is constantly punished, it will most likely desist. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the important roles of various internal processes in the learning individual.

The influence of social media is increasing in all aspects including education. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are used by almost everyone. Social media is about collaborating, networking, sharing and generating knowledge and content, and all of these features are of great value in the context of higher education. However, social media and technology must be utilized for the good of the community. It must be used to transmit correct information and show appropriate behaviors.

The recent church attack in a Muslim Church in New Zealand, for example, was inspired by people watching violence on Facebook and YouTube, and after this incident, Facebook made a policy that all anti-social posts that encourage racism and discrimination will be deleted. This is how social media should be. Another unfortunate result of social media or technology was the Momo Challenge on YouTube, where it led to the death of a child. Whether we agree or not, we tend to acquire some behaviors we saw on TV, movies, YouTube, or Facebook. Sometimes I think that even movies must not show violence because this also influences those young individuals to imitate such behaviors. Even for us adults, if we love watching horror movies, we sometimes imitate scary actions and scare our siblings or friends, and if they became scared, we became happy, and we tend to do it again.

In conclusion, though we cannot stop the proliferation of social media and technology, I think the society must use them responsibly in transmitting correct information and behaviors as they might have led to change in our behavior.

Models and Mentors in My Life

Role Models and Mentors	Their Contribution
Mervyn, 70 years old	I and Mervyn work as casual employees. At his age, he is very active and still working 3-4 times a week. Like me, he is also very busy outside work. His energy and dedication at work always inspire me to be like him. I’ve learned a lot from him the way he handles difficult client situations.
Judy, 63 years old	Judy also works as casual like me. She has been a director of an organization, a manager of her unit until she was diagnosed to have a bowel cancer and their family business was bankrupt. Even after these very sad events in her life, she is still having positive views in life and works more than me. He continually inspires me on how become humble and to have courage to continue life despite of difficult challenges. I’m sure it takes a great courage to work almost everyday at the lowest level if you have been at the top before.
Mae, 65 years	Mae was my former Dean of Nursing. She is now retired. She was role model of dedication and doing the right thing and helping her students. She inspired me on how to become a happy person on whatever I will do in life.

The type of role model I want to be for others (other learners)
Describe which characteristics and behaviors you believe are the most important for you to model for your students.

1. Compassion is number one on my list. Being compassionate to people, especially those below us, takes a lot of wisdom and humility. In my experience, I noticed that it is easy to blame those below us. It is easy to fix things for those in a position. That’s why I do not see the point of arguing with students or with parents. As future educators who have a better understanding of the learning institutions, we have to understand our clients. Why should I be asking money from parents to buy an electric fan or to build a toilet wherein this the sole responsibility of the school? If we have compassion for our students and parents, we will not be doing silly things like this. Even outside school, I always try to become a compassionate person, especially those who are less fortunate.
2. I also want to model respect for my students. In life, I have always given a strong emphasis on the value of respect to myself and others. We will always be happy if we respect the views of others. Even in my family, I always respect the decisions made by my parents and siblings, even if they are completely opposite to mine. I can only give advice, but the final decision is always from the person.
3. Attentive to details is another characteristic I want to show to my students. If my students learn or see from me on how to become very attentive to details, then this will influence how they will work in the future. If they submit projects in school or even when they are working, their work will be excellent and of quality because emphasizing to all the details. I do not want my students to submit an assignment that did not address all the keywords in the questions.
4. Patience and determinism come hand in hand, and I want my students to learn this from me in handling challenging tasks. I want to show them how to give their full attention and undivided time to achieve their goal, and this can be done only if they will practice patience. Patience is not only for achieving goals, but it is also important in real life. People who have long patience tend to have fewer anger issues.
5. Initiative skills. I want to show my students about the moral lesson of the tip of the iceberg as this is related to developing an initiative skill. I want them to see that there are more hidden opportunities below the tip of the iceberg. I encourage them to ask questions if they’re going to know the answers. I will help them with how to go after their dreams as they will not come to them.

How I will incorporate models and mentors in my profession (as an educator)
Describe a systematic plan for bringing models and mentors into your students’ lives in one or more domain(s) you plan to teach, such as math, English, science, music, and so on.

In English, I will use a model and a mentor. For a model, I can use ready-made essays, for example, and teach my students how to paraphrase them.  Once they get used to it and see the pattern of writing an essay, they can now write their own essays without looking at the model. For mentors, I will ask those students at a higher level to tutor students at a lower level. Though this is not common in the Philippines, this is practice in first world countries, and it is advantageous because sometimes peer modeling is much more effective than teacher’s modeling. 

Who will be my education mentor? What would my ideal education mentor be like?
Do you have someone in mind who might serve as an education mentor when you become a teacher? If so, describe the person.

What would your ideal education mentor be like?

My ideal education mentor is the one who is compassionate to his/her students and other people below him/her, a mentor who fights for what is right even if this is facing all the school administrators, a mentor who is apolitical and treats everyone equally with respect and without any favoritism. A mentor who is dedicated to his/her career by truly helping students comprehend the subject he/she is teaching — lastly, a mentor who has a life outside of school.