Should a Cognitive Approach be taken in Education?

Cognitivism is the philosophy of learning and developing ideas through experiences. This approach to education is considered active learning because the learner makes their own conclusions after observing and considering a situation. In schools, this philosophy focuses on asking students questions and helping them think critically and develop an answer based on what they know and have experienced in their lives. The questions asked to students are usually open-ended and can be discussed. There is usually not one right answer. This teaching technique focuses on teaching students skills in studying and reasoning so that they can be learners throughout their entire lives. It also tries to bring real-world applications to the learning.

An opposing view of cogntivism is the philosophy of behaviorism. Behaviorism doesn’t take into account what someone thinks about a situation. The idea is that people learn by being conditioned. This is the same idea that is seen with Pavlov and his dogs. This is a common philosophy in schools. If a child finishes their work on time and is given extra time at recess, then the student will learn to finish his work on time all of the time because he believes he will receive a reward for this action.

I tend to agree more with cognitivism because it takes into account what people are thinking and how that effects their beliefs and actions. Opposing philosophies such as behaviorism do not consider what someone is thinking about. The problem that I have with this is why do some people continue to do the same thing even though they are continuously punished. Why do some people speed when they are driving even though they have been given multiple speeding tickets? I believe it is because they do not think that speeding is wrong. Even though you cannot observe people thinking that doesn’t mean that nothing is going on in their head.

A teacher that believes in the cognitive philosophy will work to guide students in their learning instead of worrying about what the student learns at the end. What each student learns will be different because everyone has different experiences and beliefs and those developed beliefs influence how they will think about something. Teachers should focus on how a student gets to an answer instead of what the answer is. This learning approach teaches student to think critically, which is a skill they will use throughout their lives to solve problems and learn new things. If students are taught specific information or a taught to do certain tasks they will eventually forget those things if they are not used in their daily lives.

 

Cognitivism and Constructivism

Behaviorism

Cognitivism   

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