EDUC 504
Learning Theory Essay
Liberty University
EDUC 504
We have a student named Keven who is in the sixth grade right. He is a good student who
earns Bs and Cs in all of his subjects in school besides his math class. He struggles in his math
class with understanding the concepts and staying on task at times. He seems to be unmotivated
when his teacher is trying to help him understand the material. His teacher right now has tried
talking to his father about her concerns about him not passing the state standard test this year and
the father did not see any motivation to want to help get his son up to speed in math. We need a
teacher who is willing to find a way to motivate Keven and get him to pass that state standard
math test in a couple of months. This teacher needs to have a philosophy that is going to work for
motivating Keven with his math and striving for new things to show him and get him interested
in math again.
When we are thinking of a teacher for Keven it needs to be someone who can look at
learning theories that have been used in the past and to bring them all together and make a new
learning theory that will work for Keven. Not every student is the same and that is okay. We all
know we have our own challenges and we can learn from them to make bridges to get over the
challenges and find the brighter side once we can cross that bridge. Keven needs someone who is
going to help him with his character development, engage with him in a positive way, build up
his self-efficacy, and someone who will develop a positive relationship with him.
Starting with Keven’s character development, the teacher can look at Piaget’s theory and
see where Keven is in the 4 stages that Piaget says we all go through in our lives as we learn.
Currently Keven is in his concrete optional stage but will end the year in his formal operational
stage. This means that Keven is in the stages of learning what is right and wrong and looking at
, rules and what they mean to him. He doesn’t understand the rules and why they are the way they
are yet. But he is heading in that direction. This is important to know as his teacher because
Keven is stilling learning about what is right and what is wrong so he might act out a little bit
differently right now. If his mentality is caught up to his age then he is about to switch to another
stage in Piaget’s learning theory, but if Keven is not mentally at the same age that he should be
and is a little behind then he might be at a different stage than what his age is saying. The teacher
has to realize that and be prepare to guide him in the best way that she can.
Looking at a teacher who can encourage Keven who has a diverse learning need, can be
difficult at times. We have to pay attention to Keven’s moral reasoning in this part. The best way
to get guidance about Keven’s moral reasoning is by looking at Kohlberg’s learning theory. In
his theory he says, “Students behave to earn rewards” (White-Spunner, M., 2013, June 27). This
is an important thing to remember because students only do something we ask them to do
because they know they are going to get something out of it. Helping Keven understand that if he
does his math problems then he can earn something. The previous teacher said he lost interests in
earning things but we have to remember about what his interests are. He likes to skateboard,
karate, and playing computer games. If we can make it where he can earn a toy skateboard,
watch karate clips on the computer or for him to play a few minutes on a computer game that is
educational then he might be a little more motivated to do what we ask him to do. This is helping
him with his moral reasoning.
Building up Keven’s self-efficacy is going to be a little difficult, but if we look at what
Vygosky and Bandura say in they're learning theories then we can form something that can
work for Keven. Vygotsky says, “A child might be shown pennies to represent each sound in a
word (e.g., three pennies for the three sounds in “man”)” (Classroom applications of vygotsky's
the- ory., n.d.). This is a great thing to remember because Keven might be struggling in math but
we can use his math skills that he struggles in and combine it with his reading skills that he
Learning Theory Essay
Liberty University
EDUC 504
We have a student named Keven who is in the sixth grade right. He is a good student who
earns Bs and Cs in all of his subjects in school besides his math class. He struggles in his math
class with understanding the concepts and staying on task at times. He seems to be unmotivated
when his teacher is trying to help him understand the material. His teacher right now has tried
talking to his father about her concerns about him not passing the state standard test this year and
the father did not see any motivation to want to help get his son up to speed in math. We need a
teacher who is willing to find a way to motivate Keven and get him to pass that state standard
math test in a couple of months. This teacher needs to have a philosophy that is going to work for
motivating Keven with his math and striving for new things to show him and get him interested
in math again.
When we are thinking of a teacher for Keven it needs to be someone who can look at
learning theories that have been used in the past and to bring them all together and make a new
learning theory that will work for Keven. Not every student is the same and that is okay. We all
know we have our own challenges and we can learn from them to make bridges to get over the
challenges and find the brighter side once we can cross that bridge. Keven needs someone who is
going to help him with his character development, engage with him in a positive way, build up
his self-efficacy, and someone who will develop a positive relationship with him.
Starting with Keven’s character development, the teacher can look at Piaget’s theory and
see where Keven is in the 4 stages that Piaget says we all go through in our lives as we learn.
Currently Keven is in his concrete optional stage but will end the year in his formal operational
stage. This means that Keven is in the stages of learning what is right and wrong and looking at
, rules and what they mean to him. He doesn’t understand the rules and why they are the way they
are yet. But he is heading in that direction. This is important to know as his teacher because
Keven is stilling learning about what is right and what is wrong so he might act out a little bit
differently right now. If his mentality is caught up to his age then he is about to switch to another
stage in Piaget’s learning theory, but if Keven is not mentally at the same age that he should be
and is a little behind then he might be at a different stage than what his age is saying. The teacher
has to realize that and be prepare to guide him in the best way that she can.
Looking at a teacher who can encourage Keven who has a diverse learning need, can be
difficult at times. We have to pay attention to Keven’s moral reasoning in this part. The best way
to get guidance about Keven’s moral reasoning is by looking at Kohlberg’s learning theory. In
his theory he says, “Students behave to earn rewards” (White-Spunner, M., 2013, June 27). This
is an important thing to remember because students only do something we ask them to do
because they know they are going to get something out of it. Helping Keven understand that if he
does his math problems then he can earn something. The previous teacher said he lost interests in
earning things but we have to remember about what his interests are. He likes to skateboard,
karate, and playing computer games. If we can make it where he can earn a toy skateboard,
watch karate clips on the computer or for him to play a few minutes on a computer game that is
educational then he might be a little more motivated to do what we ask him to do. This is helping
him with his moral reasoning.
Building up Keven’s self-efficacy is going to be a little difficult, but if we look at what
Vygosky and Bandura say in they're learning theories then we can form something that can
work for Keven. Vygotsky says, “A child might be shown pennies to represent each sound in a
word (e.g., three pennies for the three sounds in “man”)” (Classroom applications of vygotsky's
the- ory., n.d.). This is a great thing to remember because Keven might be struggling in math but
we can use his math skills that he struggles in and combine it with his reading skills that he
