Defining the basics of learning

MY daughter Pei Joo has asked me to spend time with her son Jaden to teach him some general knowledge. I told her that I could not teach knowledge; I could only teach learning skills. I said, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

My thoughts on theories of learning have brought me back to 1971 when I was studying for my Diploma in Education at the Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya. Among my lecturers at that time were Professor Chai Hon Chan, dean of the faculty; Dr Sim Wong Kwee who is renowned for his model in curriculum development; and Chiam Heng Keng who later became a reputable professor of social psychology.

The influence of the proponents of criterion-referenced instruction like Mager, Gronlund and Blooms was very strong then. My lesson plans during the teaching practice had to be written with statements in behavioural terms on what the student would be able to do at the end of the lesson under certain set conditions.

Learning is defined as “a change of behaviour” and must be observable. My science and engineering background had made the writing of behavioural objectives an easy task for me.

When I worked at the Technical and Vocational Education Division of the Education Ministry from 1976 to 1987, I found that my knowledge in competency-based education was useful for leading the curriculum teams in curriculum and instructional materials development for vocational schools.

The division had good linkage with the Colombo Plan Staff College which was based in Singapore (now relocated to Manila) which focused on competency-based education for technicians.

My background in pedagogy had helped me in my study for masters’ degree in education at University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1987. There, I was exposed to a broader and more philosophical approach in education. I did a paper on social thoughts of American educators, and was introduced to the views of John Dewey and Thomas Jefferson on what education should be.

I started my career as a classroom teacher at Penang Technical Institute in 1972 and moved on to become an education administrator. I retired as director of Politeknik Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, Jitra in 2005.

After my retirement, I was happy to be back in the classroom, first as a contract lecturer at Ungku Omar Polytechnic and later as parttime tutor at Open University Malaysia in Ipoh until 2015.

I never forgot my theories of learning and every time I had a new class, I would start with the end in mind and define with the students the expected learning outcomes at the end of the course.

I defined “learning” as “being able to do what you could not do before the lesson”, and there must be an observable change in behaviour, skills or attitude for learning to have taken place.

Learning is not always the outcome of teaching, and some teachers do not know how to make learning happen!

IR GAN CHEE KUAN Ipoh