From 1986 to 1990, I attended high school in a small town called Vanderhoof, where I still work today.  It’s strange to think about how much time has passed since then.  It feels like only yesterday that hair metal bands were all the rage, pop culture had big hair and bright-coloured clothing, and Much Music was all the rage.  Teaching strategies were much different then than they are today.  Much of my teaching instinct originally came from how I was taught.  It is easy to continue teaching the same way one was taught, even if some practices are not the best methods.  I recall social studies being a continuous string of memorized dates, places, and names. My English course consisted of memorization of literary terms, Shakespeare, some less-than-stellar books for grade 12 boys, and the occasional riveting novel.  Math was essentially a blur from grade 10 onward; I remember very little of algebra and trigonometry and the methods they were taught.  It could be that I was too young to understand the larger picture, most likely in fact.  It was such a long time ago it’s difficult to remember exactly how I was taught and what strategies may have been used to teach the classes.  I also had an adolescent boy’s brain that was distracted and was more interested in chasing girls, spending time with friends, and listening to music than the methods that my instructors used to teach their classes. I now am inquiring as I write if teachers during the 80s were thinking or applying different learning theories, such as Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Social Learning, and Connectivism; I am also questioning my teaching methods and how I taught in the past and now in the present is effective as could be.  What learning theories am I using?

 Now, and for the last couple of decades, I have been curiously investigating the best way learning takes place, how to teach more effectively, and, more recently, which theory best describes it. Examining my teaching methods during my high school shop teacher days, I believe a lot of behaviourist learning theory was involved at the beginning of the classes. Memorizing safety practices and engine parts at the beginning of the class suggests this.  I can distinctly remember a fastener test where students needed to memorize 55 different types of fasteners.  It was a painful task that students and teachers alike, dreaded.

A level of cognitivism was prevalent at this time as well.  Students most definitely use problem-solving and decision-making skills while working with automobiles, small engines, and metal.  Students had to process information, problem-solve, and think creatively while troubleshooting automotive problems or creating something from metal. 

Looking at the learning theory of Constructivism, I can see where this theory lends itself well to the shop environment.  Constructivism suggests that learners build their own understanding and knowledge based on their own experiences and reflections.  Hands-on activities like building or fixing things will add to the student’s knowledge.  The students achieve a more extensive knowledge base as they construct their own knowledge and practice skills.  “Constructivists believe that knowledge is essentially subjective in nature, constructed from our perceptions and mutually agreed upon conventions. According to this view, we construct new knowledge rather than simply acquire it via memorization or through transmission from those who know to those who don’t know.” Bates and Bates, “2.5 Constructivism.”

Social learning theory emphasizes social interactions during the learning process.   The theory suggests that people learn from observing others and from the feedback that they receive from others. This could involve group work or other collaborative activities. Students work in pairs in some of my classes, such as small engine mechanics. In the senior automotive class, students often work together or at least help each other when more than one person is needed for a particular job. There is a degree of social learning involved with these classes. Students learn from their teachers and learn from each other as they help each other.  A great example is when students pull a motor from a vehicle.

Connectivism is a newer theory that makes connections between different sources of information. It discusses the importance of technology and networking within learning. It also suggests that learning occurs when people share and access information across computer networks. Often with the aid of technology and the internet, Bates states in his book, “ the Internet changes the essential nature of knowledge. ‘The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe”. Bates and Bates, “2.5 Constructivism.”   Particularly in automotive class, students access how to do a procedure on the Internet, among many other things. Often, the rebuilding procedures for an engine require a student to look up all the steps, such as assembly and reassembly, measurement specs, clearance specs, and torque specifications when working on an engine. The emphasis is not on storing this information in the brain but instead on the student’s ability to look up the information when it is needed.

In retrospect, I know that many of my teaching methods were done by instinct. I didn’t really know why a teaching method worked, only that it did work.  Learning about the various learning theories has set my mind at ease; it appears my teaching, even though it’s based on instinct, is based on some solid data and the theories that others have come up with.

Bates, A. W. (Tony), and A. W. Bates. “2.5 Constructivism,” April 5, 2015. https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/section-3-4-constructivism/.