The Ideal Learning Environment

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“A good teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary” (Thomas Carruthers). Before we can consider ourselves professional teachers or even an expert teacher, we must first understand the way in which our students learn, how they are motivated to learn and what kind of environment would support their best learning. These questions have long been pondered by psychologists and teachers alike. As a pre-service teachers, I believe it is important for us to also begin considering these questions and take them into account for our future teaching practices. Moreover, in order for meaningful learning to occur and remain relevant for our students, we need to create a safe and inclusive learning environment. I believe this environment of safe and inclusive education is created through three key areas. These areas consist of the different facets of a child’s motivation and the idea of scaffolding particularly in regards to information processing. To a certain extent it can be said that without a sense of motivation, whether it be intrinsic or extrinsic, a child’s ability to learn and reach their potential is greatly lessened. Motivation is best described as an internal state that not only arouses and directs behaviour but also helps to maintain it (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2013). Motivation not only plays a large role in a child’s learning ability, it also shapes a student’s interests and enjoyment of school and study (Martin, 2003). For both pre-service teachers and expert teachers it is easy to see that if a student possesses high motivation to learn, their behaviour towards their school work is more positive and in turn leads to higher academic success, whereas a student with little to no motivation will exhibit negative behavi... ... middle of paper ... ...llors, teachers, and parents (3rd ed.pp. 471). Alexandria, VA: American counselling association. Linnenbrink, E. A. & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Motivation as an enabler for success. School Psychology Review, 31 (3), 313-327 Martin, A. J. (2003). Boys and motivation. The Australian Educational Researcher, 30 (3), 43. Puntambekar, S. & Hubscher. R. (2005). Tools for scaffolding students in a complex learning environment: What have we gained and what have we missed? Educational Psychologist, 40, 1-12. Reeve, J. & Jang, H. (2006). Teachers as facilitators: What autonomy-supportive teachers do and why their students benefit. Elementary School Journal, 106, 225-236. Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental process. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Woolfolk, A. & Margetts, K. (2013). Educational Psychology (3rd ed). NSW: Pearson.

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