This document summarizes an educational interaction between a father and his 3-year-old daughter during a swimming lesson. The lesson was not successful, as the daughter became more scared than enthusiastic. The paper analyzes factors that contributed to the lesson's failure, including misaligned objectives between the father and daughter, the daughter's emotions of fear and anxiety, and her pre-existing habit of holding onto someone in the pool. It suggests the father could have incorporated play, understood the daughter's emotions and habits, and focused on building her self-efficacy through successful attempts to improve motivation and make future lessons more effective.

1. Running head: AXTELL LEARNING PROJECT II 1
Sarah Axtell
Axtell Learning Project II
EPSY 5463
Oklahoma State University

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Introduction
This learning project examines an educational interaction between a father and daughter.
This paper seeks to evaluate the lessons provided, and examine what actions the father could
have taken to provide a more successful educational experience for both parties. The interaction
observed was a swimming lesson provided by the father to the daughter in a back yard pool. This
interaction occurred in the afternoon between 4:15PM and 5:05PM on June 23, 2019. This was a
one-time interaction. The father (also referred to as instructor) is in his late twenties and the
daughter (also referred to as learner) is three years old. There were other people present during
the lesson. The individuals who were present were the mother, the learner’s little brother (1-year-
old male), the learner’s second cousin (2-year-old female) and the father’s first cousin and his
wife (father and mother to the learner’s second cousin). All individuals present were Caucasian
and under 30 years of age. The adults present varied in education levels with the instructor
having completed high school but no higher education.
Prior to the lesson, the learner and instructor were playing in the pool with the other
present parties. The majority of the time, prior to the lesson, the learner held on to someone or
something to stay afloat. The lesson began with the instructor letting go of the learner and then
verbally describing to her how to swim. The instructor provided support by outstretching his
arms to the learner so she would move towards him, but he would back up as she made progress.
The instructor provided verbal instruction at a loud volume through the majority of the lesson.
The lesson was not a success as the learner was more scared than enthusiastic by the end of the
lesson.
The explicit objective for this lesson was to learn to swim. As the lesson progressed, it
was important to note that the objective for the instructor was not in line with the explicit

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objective. The instructor’s objective was for the learner to be independent in floating and playing
rather than actually swimming. The learner was the only one present receiving instruction on
how to swim. She was provided floaties on each arm that were connected across the chest to
assist with floatation. The learner showed signs of enthusiasm and excitement but also presented
nervousness when not touching the instructor. The swim lessons observed were not successful
and ended with little progress towards the explicit and implicit objectives of the participants.
This paper will discuss the actions that contributed to the failing of the lesson and seeks
to provide alternative actions or approaches to the lesson that could facilitate a more successful
interaction in the future. The author will discuss instructional components including play,
teacher/learner relationships, motivation, habits, and self-efficacy.
Learning as Related to Emotions and Habits
Learning is happening every day. It is an inevitable process of being alive (Alexander,
Schallert, & Reynolds, 2009, p.178). Even in less than ideal educational scenarios, learning
occurs. Alexander et al. (2009) provides nine principles of learning. The observation of the swim
lessons relates to two of these principles: Learning Is Change and Learning Can Be Resisted.
Before examining the failure of the swim lessons, it is important to note the underlying
biological processes that could have impeded or supported learning. The positives of this
interaction is that learning occurred and that there was change. Alexander et al. (2009) says that
the change that occurs during learning can be “dramatic or almost imperceptible” (p. 178). In this
instance, the change in the learner was subtle rather than dramatic. The learner did not walk
away swimming, or even floating on her own, but she did let go of the instructor more often
during the playtime that followed the lesson than she did prior to the lesson. As presented by
Alexander et al. (2009), learning can be resisted for a multitude of reasons. Reasons for resisting

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learning include fear of the risk, or lack of perceived rewards (Alexander et al., 2009, p. 179).
The learner exhibited nervousness when entering the pool and during the lesson. Based on the
principle of resistance it can be concluded that the learner experienced a resistance to learning
due to her emotions (fear) toward the lesson. A student who is experiencing fear or anxiety
toward the learning is also experiencing difficulty processing the incoming information.
Emotions had a significant influence over the swim lessons. There were emotions for
both the instructor and the learner that hindered their ability to be successful. This section will
focus on the emotions of the learner. The emotions of the instructor will be addressed further in
the paper. The learner exhibited excitement, but also fear and anxiety over not being held by the
instructor. Instead of focusing on what the instructor was telling her, she was trying to move in
any way possible to be safe again in the instructor’s grasp. According to Immordino-Yang and
Gotlieb (2017), emotions recruit survival-related neural mechanisms that shift cognitive
processing (p. 349S). Based on the emotions experienced, the learner was in survival mode
rather than learning mode. Although the learner’s cognitive processing was shifted by her
emotions, learning still occurred. This assumption is supported by the idea of inevitability of
learning provided by Alexander et al. (2009).
Another component that influenced this learning experience is the learner’s habits.
Habits, as defined by Wood and Neal (2007), are learned dispositions to past responses (p. 843).
It is important to consider the learner’s habits when discussing this learning experience because
the learner had developed habits from previous experiences of being placed in a pool. The habit
of the learner was to hold on to the instructor because that is what she has always done when
entering a pool. In order to teach the learner how to swim, the instructor needed to understand
that he was not just teaching a new skill but he was also breaking a reinforced habit. Wood and

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Neal (2007) explain that habits are not always aligned with goals (p. 847). Bad habits or habits
that are trying to be broken are often aligned with goals other than that of which is trying to be
achieved. That is the case in the swim lessons. The habit of holding on to the instructor is cued
by the emotions of fear and anxiety, which causes the shift in cognitive processing which kick
starts the survival instinct. The changing of a goal cannot simply change a habit fueled by
emotions of survival (Wood & Neal, 2007, p. 854).
Learning to swim can be difficult. According to the Red Cross, half of all Americans
cannot swim or do not have the basic swimming skills. One way the instructor can improve upon
future swim lessons is to understand the formation of habits, how habits interact with emotions
and how that affects the learner’s cognitive abilities. If the instructor understood the emotions
involved, the instructor could have tailored his instruction to match the cognitive ability of the
learner in the situation.
Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Play
Learning a new skill or changing a habit requires motivation. Motivation affects the
process by which learning is continued (Solomon & Anderman, 2017, p. 258). The swim lesson
did not continue because there was no motivation for the student to continue. Once the swim
lesson was over, she was able to go back to the habit of hanging on the instructor or another adult
present.
Many young children have intrinsic motivation because they are curious by nature. One
way a young child can be intrinsically motivated is through self-efficacy. As cited in Learning
With Motivation by Solomon and Anderman (2017), Self-efficacy is defined by Albert Bandura
as “a person’s beliefs about his or her ability…” (p. 261). A successful attempt at something

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increases self-efficacy, which can increase the individual’s motivation to keep going (Solomon
& Anderman, 2017, p.262). Providing the learner, the opportunity to increase their self-efficacy
will result in an increase in motivation, which can lead to more successes.
Another way to increase motivation is through play. Many researchers have found that
instructors incorporating play into their lessons increases the learner’s development (Colliver &
Fleer, 2016; Lorenzo-Lasa, Ideishi, & Ideishi, 2007; Sage & Baldwin, 2012; Trawick-Smith,
Swaminathan & Liu, 2015). One study explains that learning is difficult for young children
because they cannot compare their thinking before and after the learning process to understand
what they learned (Colliver & Fleer, 2016). Playing provides social context for children to
compare their newly learned experiences. According to Lorenzo-Lasa et al. (2007), play teaches
children how to navigate their world. The observed swim lesson did not include play as part of
the lesson. Some can argue that swimming is inherently playful, but when teaching a child how
to swim, there needs to be intentional play to support the learning. According to Sage & Baldwin
(2012), play between a parent and child is engaging because both participant’s activities are
“relevant and independent” (p. 158). One suggestion for future swim lessons is to include play
the employs imagination and pretend play. Play provides practice, which allows development
(and learning) to occur (Colliver & Fleer, 2016). The best way for the instructor to integrate play
into the lesson is to observe the student’s needs and select strategies to play in complex and
independent ways (Trawick-Smith et al., 2015). Suggestions for future play in a swim lesson
context could be to play a swimming game (sharks and minnows, tag, etc.) that requires the
players to swim in order to play.
A small but notable comment on play is that it allows a secondary source of instruction
over just one mode of instruction. In the case of the swim lessons, the instruction was solely

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verbal instruction. Mayer (2017) provides the rationale for multiple modes of instruction by
explaining that learners understanding of words (or text) depends on their ability to relate the
words to visual representations. Mayer (2017) was referring to multimedia instructions, but
combining verbal and visual instructions can be related to the multimedia approach. The
instructor in the swim lessons would have had better success at teaching had he included visual
representations of what he was trying to teach. The students would have been able to relate what
he was saying with what the action looked like.
Solomon and Anderman (2017) also support watching and learning as a motivational
tool. They call it vicarious experience, which increases self-efficacy. The theory of vicarious
experience says that a learner watching a friend or peer complete the task successfully increases
their confidence in being able to do it as well. In the observed swim lessons, this was a factor in
the learner’s motivation to try. When the learner saw that her second cousin was trying to swim
with their parents, the learner tried harder to reach their instructor.
Teacher/Learner Relationships and Feedback
The relationship between the teacher and the learner can affect the way the learner
cooperates with the learning experience. Positivity, empathy and feedback are mentioned in
multiple studies as an important factor between teachers and learners (Avila, Chiviacowsky,
Wulf, & Lewthwaite, 2012; Chen & McNamee, 2011; Lemonie, Light, & Saremejane 2016; Ng
& Bull, 2018). Chen & McNamee (2011) found that teachers could support development through
comments they make during the activity. Providing feedback in a positive manner can encourage
the child to take different approaches to the content based on the feedback (Chen & McNamee,
2011). Young children are still learning how to do many basic skill sets like feeding themselves,
potty training and various other tasks. During the learning period of these fundamental skills,

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experts suggest positive reinforcement and independence. Ng and Bull (2018) observed that
positive reinforcement and encouragement motivated a student to attempt an activity they were
previously claiming they could not.
The instructor in the swim lessons provided some positive encouragement and feedback.
He often said, “You can do it!” and “Keep going!” This type of feedback can be motivating and
seemed to encourage the learner during the lesson. The learner did smile and exhibited pride
when they were finally picked up. The adults who were watching also provided positive
reinforcements through high fives and phrases such as “Way to go!” Positive reinforcement is
also supported by Avila et al.’s (2012) findings. The authors found that an individual’s belief that
they are doing better than average or better than their peers resulted in a motivational boost. In
the example of the observed swim lesson, the positive feedback from the observers did
encourage the student as proven by her enthusiasm when she heard them.
One last notable finding about teacher/learner relationships is on empathy. Researchers
Lemonie et al. (2015) found that an instructor’s empathy for their students created a “consensual
domain”. This is important because the researchers found that a consensual domain made the
student feel like the teacher was there as a partner to help, rather than someone who could not or
would not help. In the observed swim lesson, a consensual domain was created unintentionally
due to the nature of swimming lessons. The learner knew the instructor was there to help because
he always had his hands out stretched to provide guidance and always picked up the learner
before she got too deep or into any trouble.
Discussion and Comments

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The swim lessons provided in this observed period were unsuccessful. The lessons lacked
many components of a successful learning experience. This paper has touched on several
elements that foster learning and development. The instructor’s lack of knowledge in teaching
played a large part in why this was an unsuccessful attempt at teaching the skill. It is important to
note that this is not the learner’s first time in a pool, it is not her first time attempting to swim,
and she did let go of the instructor for brief periods prior to starting this swim lesson. She has
never taken formal swim lessons and the instructor has never taught any formal lessons. The
mother of the learner is a teacher but her education did not seem to cause her to act or advise in
any way on the swim lesson. This could be because she was watching her son who is the younger
brother of the learner.
There were some factors that could have affected the lesson negatively. One of the
factors were the two children who were watching and playing out of the way. The learner’s
cousin and brother were both hanging on to parents and playing while the learner was
participating in the lesson. The learner could have been distracted by their presence, which could
have made it harder to break the habit of hanging onto her parents since she was watching other
children do so. In one instance the cousin, attempting to swim motivated the learner to attempt to
swim, and in another instance, the cousin’s presence could have been a distraction causing the
learner not to stay engaged with the lesson.
As a recommendation, future swim lessons should include a more planned approach that
allows the learner to work up to being let go. Starting the lessons with letting go of the student
with no prior instruction could be equated to giving a test without providing any content lessons.
The learner is at a young age and would benefit from play. The future lessons should include
some form of play to motivate the student into attempting to swim on their own. Using the

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presence of the other children to play and encourage the student could be helpful. Incorporating
play in the lesson would be the easiest way to develop the lessons to provide a better experience
in this scenario.
Conclusion
The observed lesson was not considered successful, yet learning still took place. It is
obvious that ways in which to present successful instruction are not ingrained from one’s own
experience in school. It can be concluded, from research and observation, that no matter how
poor the instruction, learning still takes place. The success of a lesson depends on multiple
factors, and takes planning and preparation even for lessons that seem inherently playful and
easy.

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