The Belief2Practice Blog
In Comparing Pedagogical Stances I set out the defining elements of four 'learning theories':
In another post (Analysing 'learning theories') I identified strengths and weaknesses of each of these four pedagogical stances.
...continue reading "Sociocultural theory – the best explanation of how we learn"I want to explore the strengths and weaknesses of four 'learning theories' as explanations of how people learn. See Comparing Pedagogical Stances for the defining elements of each of these theories.
Before I start I want to make clear that the answer to the question 'Which theory best explains how people learn?' is different from the question 'Which theory should a school adopt as its pedagogical stance?'. Different people/schools will have different values and beliefs, and one has to start there.
...continue reading "Analysing ‘learning theories’"The notion that you can have a 'PedTech tool' is fundamentally flawed. Let me explain why.
...continue reading "PedTech Misconceptions: PedTech Tools"This is part of a series addressing common misconceptions about what a PedTech approach actually involves. The first post in the series includes three misconceptions:
This post goes deeper — to a mistake that is easy to make precisely because it looks like good practice.
...continue reading "PedTech Misconceptions: Start with your learning intention"Originally published 24 Oct 2022
The Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) taxonomy was developed by John Biggs and Kevin Collis (1982) to support the assessment of learning, by identifying the sophistication of the learner’s understanding (mental model). This post suggests a couple of shortcomings of the taxonomy and a revised taxonomy (SOLO2.0) which helps to address them.
...continue reading "SOLO 2.0"Originally posted 26 Sept 2023
A growing number of people are starting to talk and write about PedTech – a new approach to thinking about digital technology in education that Fiona Aubrey-Smith and I introduce and explain in our recent book - From EdTech to PedTech: Changing the way we think about digital technologyOpens in a new window. However, it is becoming clear that some of them have misconceptions about the PedTech approach. This post aims to realign some of these mis-understandings.
...continue reading "PedTech Misconceptions"There are four dominant pedagogical stances — ways of understanding how people learn. Each of these is a full theory of learning, built on distinct and interconnected assumptions about knowledge, learners, learning, teaching, and the purpose of education. The four theories are:
The table below, adapted from Aubrey-Smith & Twining (2024, pp. 131–132), outlines the key assumptions made by each theory.
...continue reading "Comparing pedagogical stances"This is the third video in this series on alignment in schools. The previous two (which I suggest you watch before watching this one) are:
This episode looks at pedagogical alignment and includes an activity that helps you to make your personal pedagogical stance explicit. This is the first step in enhancing alignment in your school.
...continue reading "Enhancing alignment in schools"This is the second of three videos about alignment in schools. If you haven't watched the first video already then I suggest you do that before watching this one - it introduces some terms (which people often use 'differently').
The third video in the series looks at ways of enhancing alignment in schools.
This is the first of three brief videos about the importance of alignment in schools. It addresses the questions 'Why does alignment matter?' and 'What needs to be aligned?' as well as defining some key terms.
...continue reading "Alignment matters"
