Over the course of the last five-weeks, I have been challenged to think about learning theory and how it relates to my personal ideas regarding teaching and learning. When I think about teaching and learning, I have to consider my experiences as both a learner and as a teacher. As a teacher, I believe that everyone is capable of learning. As a teacher, it is my job to build experiences the bridge the distance between where the students are and where I want to take them during the course of instruction. As a learner, I know that teaching and learning involves so much more than just the passing of knowledge from one person to another. Learning is about personal growth and development. Although my beliefs regarding teaching and learning have remained largely unchanged over the last five-weeks, I am beginning to understand that my ability to communicate those beliefs is important to the work I will do post-doctorate, as a researcher, professor, and district leader.
As a K-12 educator, I haven’t had to explain my personal learning theory in a very long time. My classroom instruction and the professional development courses I create are a real-life testament to what I believe about teaching and learning. However, I have learned that my personal learning theory has a profound influence on the work I do as a researcher. In order to be a more subjective researcher, I need a clear understanding of my own teaching and learning beliefs as well as other learning theories. I must continue reading, researching, and refining my own personal learning theory based on new experiences and information.
Although I have always considered myself to be a strong researcher, I have been challenged this semester, in all of my courses, to push myself further. Many of the topics presented by my professors have not been familiar, or even relevant, to me at times. This has forced me outside my comfort zone and created stress at times. It has been harder to research (and argue) a topic when I have no background knowledge or opinion. It requires more time and effort to find the right information and sources to support my ideas and then communicate those in writing. In response to the struggle, I have spent a lot of my free time locating and reading research to determine how to be a better researcher and writer. Although, I am becoming more comfortable with scholarly writing at the doctoral lever, I still have more to learn.