A Role of Worldviews in Learning: Part 1

I would like to explore some of my favourite theories in learning and teaching in this two-part article. I have to divide this topic into two articles because I started writing this article before I accepted an opportunity with excitement to teach the other day in a whole day workshop and these are my reflections are largely from that teaching and learning experience.

Sitting in a lecture theatre as part of the teaching team, I blended into the crowd and listened insightful Lived Experience lectures on mental health made me wonder about my own worldview and the worldview of others around me. I sat with the feeling of unease and tuning into my of feelings and learning experiences of being a student. My unease came from a place of lived experience of being an overseas born student where I often find myself with a different worldview. I lived most of my life in 'translation' and it has always taken me longer to comprehend and interpret information in lectures. To help me understand how people learn, I wanted to unpack and explore the word “worldview” and educate myself on how people interpret the world around them.

I thought I would start with something that may be familiar, James Sire’s book Naming the elephant: World view as a concept is a source of where the word "worldview" is explored by a variety of philosophers and definitions of worldviews are shared, here are some examples:

“Every Person carries in this head a mental model of the world – a subjective representation of external reality.” Alvin Toffler, Futurologist

“A set of mental categories arising from deeply lived experience which essentially determines how a person understand, feels and response to action to what he or she perceives of the surrounding world and the riddles it presents.” Wilhelm Dilthey, German Philosopher

“A worldview (or vision of life) is a framework or a set of fundamental beliefs through which we view the world and our calling and future in it. This vision need not be fully articulated: it may be so internalized that it goes largely unquestioned; it may not be explicitly developed into a systematic conception of life; it may not be theoretically deepened into a philosophy; it may not even be confined into creedal form; it may be greatly refined through cultural-historical development. Nevertheless, this vision is a channel for the ultimate beliefs which give direction and meaning to life. It is the integrative and interpretive framework which by which order and disorder are judged; it is the standard by which reality is managed and pursued; it is the set of hinges on which all our everyday thinking and doing turns.” James Olthuis, Theology philosopher, USA.

Worldviews are also being explored in professional settings, Alison Gray formulated a definition to what a worldview maybe in her organisation and area of practice and she conceptualises it as:

“A worldview is a collection of attitudes, values, stories and expectations about the world around us, which inform our every thought and action. Worldview is expressed in ethics, religion, philosophy, scientific beliefs and so on.”

In a YouTube video by Circle of Life Susie Jones, Elder from Walpole Island First Nation, Canada formulates a response to What is the Aboriginal Worldview? - Aboriginal Peoples are advised to open this link with caution as it my contain images, voices and names of deceased people.

A short Australian ‘PlantDoc’ documentary shares the stories of Aboriginal Australians. The Men of the Fifth World Times – Aboriginal Peoples are advised to open this link with caution as it my contain images, voices and names of deceased people.

In my brief investigation of what a worldview is, I will attempt formulating a definition myself; "a worldview is shaped by the early life experiences a person learns from their families, friends, communities, culture, religion, spirituality and society. It forms the individuals' values and beliefs about the world. The graphic below captures some other words that may describe worldviews.

?

Theories that explore student worldviews

Appreciation of a diverse worldviews in classroom provides educators with rich learning opportunities. However, it may clash with our own worldviews or the worldviews of other student or teaching peers, I attempt to translate how these can be incorporated into an inclusive classroom that practices compassion across primary, secondary and tertiary teachers.

Firstly, let’s explore Information Processing Theory (IPT). IPT views learning as the results of operations taking place in the human brain. These operations involve input reception, processing, storing, and output generation one of three ways:

• The?sensory register?few second capacity
• Short-term?memory?approximate 30 second capacity
• Long-term?memory?unlimited capacity.

In a Compassionate Classroom the application could look like;

• Presentations, activity instructions, assessment instructions are clear and specific.
• Opportunities are provided for repetition and using the same concept/content in different ways.
• There is no silly question, support is provided to students to question and analyse own interpretation and understanding of the subject.
• Time and space in giving presentation or information is provided to give students the opportunity to process new information, retrieve it and apply it during class.
• Allow time for linguistically diverse students.
• Manage and adapt the environment to meet the sensory needs of students (i.e. sound, touch, smell, taste, sight).

?

The second theory is cognitive constructivism where learners modify schema or activate learning. Teachers who use constructivist approaches to address complex social issues or challenge individual bias need to be aware that there may be an emotional response from the student or peers who have suddenly been confronted with discomfort or distress.

In a Compassionate Classroom the application could look like;

• Develop learning activities around relationship building between teacher-student and student-student.
• Establish class values and group norms in classrooms or virtual learning environments.
• Recognise and address micro-aggression in class and promote inclusive language.
• Role model inquiry, curiosity and worldview lens.
• Promote safety and wellbeing allowing time to learn, explore and socially connect to peers.
• Balance emotional activating activities with mind and calming activities.

?

The third theory is social constructivists which focuses on learning through social interactions where learners are able to test and challenge their own understanding with their peers. Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist and philosopher in the 1930s, is most often associated with the social constructivist theory. He emphasizes the influences of cultural and social contexts in learning and supports a discovery model of learning. This type of model places the teacher in an active role while the students mental abilities develop naturally through various paths of learning inquiries.

In a Compassionate Classroom the application could look like;

• Get to know your students and friendship groups.
• Allow students to choose their own pairs or pair students with other students who they will learn well with.
• Create culturally inclusive activities with inclusive language, images, artwork, photographs, use of simple instructions and explanation.
• Role model inquiry, curiosity and worldview lens.
• Include role of society, culture and histories in the learning activities.

?

My final theory is Humanistic Education which is most familiar to me and is heavily influenced by Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation and Carl Rogers' person-centered counselling model, which he later applied to education. The basic assumptions of this model are;

• People are genuinely trying to do their best
• People have free will and make their own choices
• People seek to improve and be successful
• Acceptance and unconditional positive regard.?

The Compassionate Classroom application ideas could look like;

• Promote and support students' self-determination.
• Allow students to use their own knowledge of the topic and construct their own meaning without penalties or rewards.
• Create surprise and allow students to discover their own gaps in knowledge through learning activities.
• Respond to students Maslow hierarchy of needs before learning can occur.
• Include reflection activities to activate their metacognition which increases learning engagement.
• Encourage self-compassion and connection to kindness, common humanity and mindfulness in learning.
• Allow plenty of time for social interaction, movement breaks and brain break throughout learning.

?

Getting in touch with my own worldview and understanding my bias, allows me to enter in the world of other worldviews and listen without judgement. It creates a moment of human-to-human appreciation of their experiences that creates curiosity, empathy and compassion within me.

?