A Philosophy of Learning and Education — Focusing on the Role and Importance of Conceptual Models

The foundational idea for this philosophy of learning and education is that all humans can learn. Humans organize sets of knowledge and skills into conceptual models; the conceptual models are both explanatory and predictive. Physical, motivational, and social factors affect the rate and depth of learning, though all humans are capable of learning a wide array of knowledge and skills. Education is the formal process of learning the conceptual models for sets of knowledge and skills; if this process works well, formal education produces humans with broad and deep conceptual models for knowledge and skills.

All humans can learn.

The foundational principle in my philosophy of education is the idea that all humans can learn. Although there are social, emotional, and physical factors that affect the rate and depth of learning, all humans are capable of learning a wide array of knowledge and skills. The ability to learn — and share our learning! — is a fundamental part of being human, allowing humans to change their internal and external states individually and coordinate with other humans on a larger scale.

Humans organize sets of knowledge and skills into schema, building schema into conceptual models.

Humans organize the information for sets of knowledge and skills by constructing their own understanding of the world, creating a schema for every part of knowledge and skills they learn. A schema is defined as “the basic unit of knowledge or skill that relates to all aspects of the world;” related schemata can be combined into a conceptual model. A conceptual model can be defined as “a set of organized schemata for a concept that can be used to explain parts of the concept or predict outcomes from the concept.” Both parts of the usage for a conceptual model are important: The conceptual model explains the schemata and the relationships between the schemata; using the schemata and relationships between the schemata, the conceptual model predicts outcomes in the imagined or real world.

Learning is the process of creating, modifying, linking, and applying conceptual models.

This definition of learning flows from our definition of conceptual model: All pieces of information for sets of knowledge and skills are encoded in conceptual models; these pieces of information either create a new conceptual model, modify an existing conceptual model, link multiple conceptual models, or cause an application of a conceptual model. Humans coordinate by sharing and comparing conceptual models, testing the explanations and predictions from individual conceptual models — then create shared conceptual models that best align with the group’s understanding of the world.

To generate a need to learn the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills, humans need context and authenticity.

The motivation to learn the new conceptual models for set of knowledge and skills usually begins with a need to learn. The need comes from a specific context and authentic reason to learn — bringing purpose and meaning to the learning process. Context for the new conceptual models in a set of knowledge and skills gives purpose and helps the human connect prior conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills, allowing the human to make sense of the new knowledge and skills. Authenticity of the tasks generates meaning for the learning process, providing an impetus to learn the new conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills.

To maintain interest and provide depth when learning the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills, humans need complexity and challenge.

Maintaining motivation to continue learning the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills requires complexity and challenge: Too much complexity and challenge is overwhelming; too little complexity and challenge is boring. The proper level of both complexity and challenge becomes the zone of rapid and sustained learning, propelling the human to deeply understand the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills. Constantly monitoring the complexity and challenge of tasks maintains motivation, increasing the effectiveness of the learning process.

To build depth and breadth when learning the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills, humans need a balance between theory and application — continued over time.

By definition, conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills are both explanatory and predictive. The explanatory part is the theory embedded in the conceptual model, containing the primary and secondary ideas relevant to the knowledge and skills in the conceptual models. The predictive part is applying the knowledge and skills in the conceptual models through practice and performance, testing the parts of the conceptual models in real situations. Continually testing the theory and application of the conceptual models over time develops depth and breadth for the conceptual models, building robust individual and linked sets of conceptual models.

The rate and depth of learning the conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills is affected by social, emotional, and physical factors.

There are many factors that affect the rate and depth of learning the knowledge and skills for a set of conceptual models:

• Physical: Characteristics of the body and brain

• Physical: Emotional state

• Motivation: Context and authenticity

• Motivation: Complexity and challenge

• Sociability: Perceived harm from not learning and perceived benefit from learning, with autonomy to make choices

• Sociability: Peer influence and social status

Each of these factors contains many parts, which further complicate the rate and depth of learning. However, all humans are capable of learning a wide array of knowledge and skills.

Education is the formal process of learning the conceptual models for sets of knowledge and skills.

Learning conceptual models for sets of knowledge and skills can happen informally or formally. Education is the formal version of learning, happening when two or more humans systematically share and apply conceptual models for sets of knowledge and skills. Formal education has four parts: Standards, curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Standards are the primary and secondary ideas relevant to the knowledge and skills in the conceptual models, organized into functional groups. Curriculum is a sequence of learning tasks — for both theory and application — that create the conditions for the learner to develop deep and broad conceptual models for a set of knowledge and skills. Instruction is the methods by which the learning tasks are completed, varying with the purpose and outcome of the learning tasks. Assessment is the application of the conceptual models, ranging from low-stakes practice to high-stakes performances. These four parts combine together to create a formal educational experience; if the parts are done well, formal education produces humans with broad and deep conceptual models for knowledge and skills.

Belcher's Model for Learning

[For a much deeper discussion about the entire Model for Learning, read this essay: That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process.)