Introduction: For this page of my Multimodal Portfolio I will be discussing and analyzing two learning theories that can be applied to both the drama and dance strands located in The Arts curriculum. These theories are Bloom's Taxonomy and Dwyer's Learners Theory. I will address each of these theories in their respective order.
Bloom's Taxonomy: Benjamin Bloom was an American educational psychologist who developed the cognitive learning theory known as "Bloom's Taxonomy." Bloom's taxonomy organizes learning into graduated stages of higher order thinking. According to Bloom, the lowest order of thinking consists of knowledge, as a person might, for example, memorize a fact but fail to understand its meaning or be able to apply it in a meaningful way. At the top of Bloom's hierarchy of higher order thinking is evaluation. Evaluation is regarded by Bloom as the pinnacle of higher order thinking because it requires a lucid grasp of other notions of the higher order thinking hierarchy that proceed it. Therefore, according to Bloom, to partake in successful evaluation an agent must also be cognizant of knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, and synthesis. To help put this in perspective, it is reasonable to suppose that an agent is unable to comprehend (comprehension) a fact (knowledge) before they know what that fact is. Similarly, it is reasonable to assume that an agent can not use (application) a fact (knowledge) unless they know what that fact is and are able to understand (comprehension) its meaning. This latter logic can be applied to all of the notions in Bloom's Taxonomy, establishing a hierarchy of higher order thinking where each cognitive notion is dependent on its proceeding counterpart for its successful engagement.
Bloom's Taxonomy is an important educational theory for instructors as it identifies the necessary building blocks students require to achieve a full understanding of a particular issue or notion. Furthermore, Bloom's Taxonomy provides a framework for student scaffolding at it indicates the necessary requirements of learning about a particular topic and lays out the avenue of learning to reach the graduated ends of higher order thinking. Therefore, when an instructor is teaching students it is important that they keep Bloom's Taxonomy in mind, as this will help them focus their lessons in a graduated way. This process will help to build on the foundations of higher order thinking of student learning with the aim of reaching lucid cognizance of a particular topic or issue.
Dwyer's Learners Theory: Dwyer's theory argues that the best way to achieve understanding is to actively participate in learning as oppose to being a passive recipient of knowledge. What this means is that students are better able to learn about a topic if they actually get personally involved with it. According to Dwyer, this latter end can be achieved through actions such as teaching or 'doing.' Further, the less a student is involved personally with their learning engagement, the less, Dwyer argues, they are able to fully retain what they have learned. In this latter case, passive student learning, such as, listening and observing a teacher's lecture, would be the kind of learning where students generally retain less information. If Dwyer's theory is sound then it would seem that instructors should develop classroom learning opportunities with student engagement as the primary goal. Notably, this is a radical shift from traditional classroom practices where instructors often lead the discussion while students are perceived as empty vessels requiring to be filled by the information they hear and see.
In the case of the dance and drama strand in The Arts curriculum, the application of Dwyer's theory finds itself in an opportune position. Arguably, the dance and drama strands offer the greatest opportunity for students to engage actively with learning when compared to the typical learning styles of other curriculum applications. By their natures, drama and dance requires students to 'get out of their seats' and to be an active participate of learning by actually 'doing' a particular activity. For this reason it is important that instructors consider the value of dance and drama will considering its cross-curriculum applications for enhancing student learning. Incorporating dance and drama activities to help teach curriculum requirements in subjects such as mathematics, science, social studies, language, etc., should buttress student learning and offer an engaging way to differentiate instruction. In short, Dwyer's Learners Theory offers instructors a novel approach to Twenty-First Century learning, where the role of the instructor is focused less on delivering information and more so on facilitating student engagement.
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