Theories Of Situated Learning

Learning theories such as Constructivist theory Situated Cognition theory and Cognitive apprenticeship theory have become very critical in the present trends in education. For a long period of time, the implicit learning theory underlying the curriculum and pedagogy of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and Workforce Development (WFD) has been behaviourism, but the emerging theory of constructivism, situated learning and cognitive apprenticeship may have implications for TVET practice in the future. Preparation of workers for entry into and advancement in the workplace in the rapidly changing global economy requires an educational program that provides not only job skills, as TVET did throughout the 1900s, but also higher order

Situated learning essentially is a matter of creating meaning from the real activities of daily living (Stein, 1998,) where learning occurs relative to the teaching environment.

Situated learning involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the situations in which they will be used. Stein (1998) identifies four major tenets associated with situated learning: “(1) learning is grounded in the actions of everyday situations (cognition); (2) knowledge is acquired situationally and transfers only to similar situations (context); (3) learning is the result of social process encompassing ways of thinking, perceiving, problem solving, and interacting in addition to declarative and procedural knowledge (participation); and (4) learning is not separated from the world of action but exists in robust, complex, social environments made up of actors, actions, and situations (community) The main elements of situated cognition—content, context, community, and participation—offer a number of opportunities to engage learners in meaningful learning. Cooperative and participatory teaching methods are prime ways of helping students acquire knowledge, as “knowledge is created or negotiated through the interactions of the learner with others and the environment. Subject matter emerges from the cues provided by the environment and from the dialogue among the learning community. The structure