DEPARTMENT OF ARTS & SCIENCES
St. Paul College of Ilocos AND TEACHER EDUCATION
Sur Early Childhood Education • Elementary
Education • Secondary Education
(Member, St. Paul University System) PAASCU Re-Accredited Level II
Different theories in teaching
An Output
Presented to
Department of Arts & Science and Teacher Education
PAASCU Re-Accredited Level II
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the subject
RES 111
Research Writing 1
Second Semester, AY 2025-2026
Instructor: Dr. Wendell A. Lived
Mary Rose A. Gallardo
Bachelor of Elementary Education 3
2025
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS & SCIENCES
St. Paul College of Ilocos AND TEACHER EDUCATION
Sur Early Childhood Education • Elementary
Education • Secondary Education
(Member, St. Paul University System) PAASCU Re-Accredited Level II
Different Theories about Teaching in Grade 1-6
What are learning theories?
Is a theory of learning are ideas about the ways students learn and retain
information. “Learning theories help educators understand the process of
learning. Understanding and application of these theories is essential for effective
instruction and successful curriculum development”. This is an addition for
helping the students absorb the information being taught, learning theories can
also help teachers manage students’ behavior.
What are the 5 major learning theories?
1. Behaviorism - (John B. Watson) is the idea that, like Bandura’s Social Learning
Theory. Children learn by observing the behavior of others, whether adults and
authority figures or friends and peers their own age. In behaviorism, the learner’s
mind is a “blank slate” ready to absorb knowledge and repetition and
reinforcement play a key role in communicating with students. Behavioral
learning theory is the basis for psychology that can be observed and quantified.
Positive reinforcement is a popular element of behaviorism; classical conditioning
observed in Pavlov’s dog experiments suggests that behaviors are directly
motivated by the reward that can be obtained.
2. Cognitivism - was introduced during the middle of the 20th century, cognitivism
is a shift away from behaviorism to place a heavier emphasis on the internal
thoughts of the observer, as opposed to merely observing others’ behavior and
responding to stimuli. Constructivism holds that learning chiefly takes place while
the students are working to break down and organize new information in their
mind. Journaling is frequently suggested as a helpful classroom exercise that
uses the principles of cognitivism. Cognitive learning theory impacts students
because their understanding of their thought process can help them learn.
Teachers can give students opportunities to ask questions, to fail, and think out
loud. These strategies can help students understand how their thought process
works, and utilize this knowledge to construct better learning opportunities.
3. Constructivism - students learn new information by building upon or in other
words, constructing knowledge they’ve already gained. This can represent a
more active approach to learning, as opposed to an approach like behaviorism,
where students arguably take a more passive role in learning. Cognitive
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS & SCIENCES
St. Paul College of Ilocos AND TEACHER EDUCATION
Sur Early Childhood Education • Elementary
Education • Secondary Education
(Member, St. Paul University System) PAASCU Re-Accredited Level II
Constructivism was associated with Jean Piaget, while Social Constructivism is
linked to pioneer Lev Vygotsky. Teachers can utilize constructivism to help
understand that each student will bring their own past to the classroom every
day. Teachers in constructivist classrooms act as more of a guide to helping
students create their own learning and understanding. They help them create
their own process and reality based on their own past. This is crucial to helping
many kinds of students take their own experiences and include them in their
learning.
4. Humanism - directly focuses on the idea of self-actualization. Everyone
functions under a hierarchy of needs. Self-actualization is at the top of the
hierarchy of needs it’s the brief moments where a person feels all of their needs
are met and that they’re the best possible version of themselves. Everyone is
striving for this, and learning environments can either move toward meeting
needs or away from meeting needs. Teachers can create classroom
environments that help students get closer to their self-actualization. Educators
can help fulfill students’ emotional and physical needs, giving them a safe and
comfortable place to learn, plenty of food, and the support they need to succeed.
This kind of environment is the most conducive to helping students learn.
5. Connectivism - is one of the newest educational learning theories. It focuses on
the idea that people learn and grow when they form connections. This can be
connections with each other or connections with their roles and obligations in
their lives. Hobbies, goals, and people can all be connections that influence
learning. Teachers can utilize connectivism in their classrooms to help students
make connections to things that excite them, helping them learn. Teachers can
use digital media to make good, positive connections to learning. They can help
create connections and relationships with their students and with their peer
groups to help students feel motivated about learning.
Additional Learning Theory:
1. Transformative - was founded by Jack Mezirow, who discovered it after doing
studies on adult women who went back to school. His initial research found that
adults don’t apply their old understanding to new situations and that having a
new perspective helped them gain a new understanding of things as they
change. Mezirow also believed that students had important teaching and learning
opportunities connected to their past experiences and that critical reflection and
review could lead to a transformation of their understanding.
DEPARTMENT OF ARTS & SCIENCES
St. Paul College of Ilocos AND TEACHER EDUCATION
Sur Early Childhood Education • Elementary
Education • Secondary Education
(Member, St. Paul University System) PAASCU Re-Accredited Level II
2. Social - was founded by Albert Bandura. He conducted an experiment called the
Bobo doll experiment in the early ’60s, during which he studied children’s
behavior after they watched an adult act aggressively with a doll-like toy. He
noted how the children reacted when the adult got rewarded, punished, or
suffered no consequences after they attacked the doll. Bandura wrote about his
findings in 1977, detailing social learning theory and how it affected the
behavioral development of students.
There are four elements to social learning theory:
Attention, which calls upon different or unique lessons or activities to help
children focus.
Retention, focusing on how the student will internalize information and recall it
later on.
Reproduction, drawing on previously learned behavior and when it’s appropriate
to use it.
Motivation, which can extend from seeing other classmates being rewarded or
punished for their actions.
3. Experiential - was identified by David Kolb in 1984. Though his influence came
from other theorists such as John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget, Kolb was
able to identify four stages of ELT. The first two stages, concrete learning and
reflective observation, focus on grasping an experience. The latter two, abstract
conceptualization and active experimentation are about transforming an
experience. To Kolb, effective learning is seen as the learner goes through the
cycle of experiential learning theory. Students can enter the cycle in any way and
at any point. Some examples of this form of learning include taking students to
the zoo to learn about animals instead of just reading about them or growing a
garden to learn about photosynthesis instead of watching a video about it. By
creating environments where students can learn and experience at the same
time, teachers offer students the opportunity to immediately apply their
knowledge and get real-world experiences.
Reference:
N/A, May 30, 2020; Five Educational Learning; https://www.wgu.edu/blog/five-
educational-learning-theories2005.html
