Is Learning Observable?

“Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you.”~ Illusions

Learning is a deeply personal endeavor and is as diverse as are the students and teachers entering our classrooms. Learning can be defined as the“act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill”. Within a society that emphasizes “evidence based practice” and quantifiable and objective measures, we are often required to assess “learning” through standardized measures. Although such measures are often limited, assessing a specific component of learning, we often utilize these measures to determine whether or not learning has taken place. In essence, these measures help to make learning more “observable” or, at the very least, quantifiable.

Unfortunately, learning is not so easily quantified. Applicable to this class (classroom management), educators have often assumed that stereotypically “attentive” students are learning. These students can be observed “listening” with their eyes, their ears, and their bodies. They have no difficulty sitting still and appear to be engaged with the information being presented to them. In contrast, teachers often assume that those students whom have difficulty sitting still, whom are “disruptive” and “distracting”, are not learning. Thankfully, educators are becoming more and more aware of learning differences within the classroom. For example, some students may have difficulty learning auditory material and may in fact learn better when their body’s engaged. In contrast, some students may “appear” to be listening to the material being presented, but are not actively engaged with the material.

A myriad of factors may influence how a student learns. Students enter our classrooms from different social, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds. Further, students present with different individual cognitive abilities, processing strengths/weaknesses, and personality traits. Educators must keep these factors in mind when “observing” learning in the classroom.

Teachers must utilize both formative (assessment for learning, assessment as learning) and summative (assessment of learning) within the classroom to determine student progress. Assessment should be student centered such that it is helpful and informative to the learner’s progress. Finally, I believe it critical for educators to understand that learning is contextual, it is an intricate dance that occurs between ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’. Both students and teachers are engaged in a learning process. Perhaps, as educators, an imperative question is…is learning “observable” in the teacher?