Move to Learn and Learn to Move
I saw a post on Facebook today that really struck a note with me. Here's the link to "Why Kids Need to Move, Touch and Experience to Learn" by Katrina Schwartz. I love how all good teaching ideas come around again and again, and I really like that this article remembered that Maria Montessori found movement to be an essential part of learning and wrote about it in 1966. I find it a bit odd that there was no mention of some of the other learning theorists, but the focus of the article was "embodied learning," so Montessori was the theorist used to illustrate the concept.
I've been part of Montessori educational programs, and I enjoy the way these programs teach students based on what the student wants to learn. Materials are based on the developmental level and knowledge structure of the students, and learning activities are changed when students demonstrate mastery of learning styles. The focus is on Discovery Learning. The focus of this educational philosophy is that the environment must be very structured, but the learner may move through that environment however he or she wishes. The student has the opportunity to indicate what he or she wants to learn and continues to practice skills that he or she is not able to master quickly.
For me, as a learner and as a teacher, I have found that I learn best when I engage many learning forms. I am primarily a visual learner - if I can see it, I can remember it - but I am also a learner that responds well to using my hands to complete a task (kinesthetic learning), who can remember songs (musical learning and auditory learning), and I find that I can learn things best if I have a problem to solve (logical-mathematic learning).
There are many different ways to learn. My educational philosophy is that a teacher is responsible for figuring out how his or her students learn best and then teaching that way. For some students, this may be writing a song while other students are making dioramas. Other students may be acting out the word problems, and still others are writing the problem down. All students are actively engaged in learning the information, but in their own way in their own learning style. This is very difficult to do when you have a group full of people that you have to teach, but good teachers can do this.
My sister is a second grade teacher who does this. In order to give her students opportunities to use their strongest learning styles, she sets up her classroom in centers. Each lesson has three to four different things to do during instructional time. She starts with an introduction to the lesson concept to the entire group, and then she sends kids to their centers. One center is an active teaching center where she goes through the lesson plan and offers the "lecture" part of the lesson. She is able to differentiate her instruction based on the students that are in each group. She has arranged the learning groups into students who are similar in learning needs and strengths. The other centers use computer programs, manipulatives, worksheets, puzzles, games, quizzes, and other learning activities that encourage practice of the skill. The students spend time in each center and then repeat those centers during the lesson duration. My sister has many different activities that encourage her students to demonstrate mastery of the tasks, and she swaps them out to provide novelty. She is constantly challenged to keep her students challenged and engaged, but her test scores and student progress are consistently high and students make more than a year's progress in her classroom. She is someone I feel is a master teacher who is very tuned into her students' learning styles, and I find her ability to teach 25-35 seven year old students simultaneously, while still ensuring that they are learning, to be awe inspiring.
As an internship director, I have a bit more flexibility in how I teach. I have only one or two students at a time, so I can focus on how only one or two people learn.
As a music therapist, I find that the concept of using all of our senses and learning styles is important for my clients. One of the things that I was told when I was first learning about music therapy is that music is a medium that encourages participation on many levels; that persons who have differing ability levels can engage in music together. I continue to believe that this is true and a unique function of music. I also find that, with the addition of music into the environment, people who are reluctant to engage in active treatment are often more easily persuaded to participate.
For me, the takeaway of the original article that started all of this pondering, was that students, clients, people need to experience concepts in order to make them meaningful. Without the experiential aspect, can we truly learn what we need to know?
For more information about Montessori and Learning Styles, check out these websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education
http://www.montessori.edu/
http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori
http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment
http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles
I've been part of Montessori educational programs, and I enjoy the way these programs teach students based on what the student wants to learn. Materials are based on the developmental level and knowledge structure of the students, and learning activities are changed when students demonstrate mastery of learning styles. The focus is on Discovery Learning. The focus of this educational philosophy is that the environment must be very structured, but the learner may move through that environment however he or she wishes. The student has the opportunity to indicate what he or she wants to learn and continues to practice skills that he or she is not able to master quickly.
For me, as a learner and as a teacher, I have found that I learn best when I engage many learning forms. I am primarily a visual learner - if I can see it, I can remember it - but I am also a learner that responds well to using my hands to complete a task (kinesthetic learning), who can remember songs (musical learning and auditory learning), and I find that I can learn things best if I have a problem to solve (logical-mathematic learning).
There are many different ways to learn. My educational philosophy is that a teacher is responsible for figuring out how his or her students learn best and then teaching that way. For some students, this may be writing a song while other students are making dioramas. Other students may be acting out the word problems, and still others are writing the problem down. All students are actively engaged in learning the information, but in their own way in their own learning style. This is very difficult to do when you have a group full of people that you have to teach, but good teachers can do this.
My sister is a second grade teacher who does this. In order to give her students opportunities to use their strongest learning styles, she sets up her classroom in centers. Each lesson has three to four different things to do during instructional time. She starts with an introduction to the lesson concept to the entire group, and then she sends kids to their centers. One center is an active teaching center where she goes through the lesson plan and offers the "lecture" part of the lesson. She is able to differentiate her instruction based on the students that are in each group. She has arranged the learning groups into students who are similar in learning needs and strengths. The other centers use computer programs, manipulatives, worksheets, puzzles, games, quizzes, and other learning activities that encourage practice of the skill. The students spend time in each center and then repeat those centers during the lesson duration. My sister has many different activities that encourage her students to demonstrate mastery of the tasks, and she swaps them out to provide novelty. She is constantly challenged to keep her students challenged and engaged, but her test scores and student progress are consistently high and students make more than a year's progress in her classroom. She is someone I feel is a master teacher who is very tuned into her students' learning styles, and I find her ability to teach 25-35 seven year old students simultaneously, while still ensuring that they are learning, to be awe inspiring.
As an internship director, I have a bit more flexibility in how I teach. I have only one or two students at a time, so I can focus on how only one or two people learn.
As a music therapist, I find that the concept of using all of our senses and learning styles is important for my clients. One of the things that I was told when I was first learning about music therapy is that music is a medium that encourages participation on many levels; that persons who have differing ability levels can engage in music together. I continue to believe that this is true and a unique function of music. I also find that, with the addition of music into the environment, people who are reluctant to engage in active treatment are often more easily persuaded to participate.
For me, the takeaway of the original article that started all of this pondering, was that students, clients, people need to experience concepts in order to make them meaningful. Without the experiential aspect, can we truly learn what we need to know?
For more information about Montessori and Learning Styles, check out these websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education
http://www.montessori.edu/
http://amshq.org/Montessori-Education/Introduction-to-Montessori
http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-assessment
http://www.learning-styles-online.com/overview/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles
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