This document presents the author's teaching philosophy, which is influenced by various learning theories. The author believes that: 1) Behaviorism can be used to establish classroom behaviors but a more student-centered approach is needed. Social cognitive theory and constructivism should be the dominant approaches as students' skills progress. 2) Constructivism and social learning theories emphasize that students learn best when they can explore topics autonomously and collaboratively construct knowledge, with teachers as guides. 3) Situated cognition moves students toward mastery by anchoring concepts through practice, modeling, and social interaction with experts, continuing the emphasis on learning as a social activity.

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Personal Technology Essay
Jason Pufahl
University of Connecticut

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"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires."
– William Arthur Ward–
I am an educator and teacher, however my classroom is an office and my students are
working professionals. As an educator it is my responsibility to generate the enthusiasm to learn
and to encourage achievement beyond perceived expectations. As an educator it is my
responsibility to motivate, to engage, to scaffold. As a teacher it is my goal to inspire.
I was drawn to Ward’s quote because it succinctly describes the transition from the
traditional idea of a teacher centered classroom to the more progressive concept of a student
centered experience. Modern students have the ability to access information whenever they need
it, and have developed learning ideas that support their desire to learn on-demand. Teachers
must create and manage a flexible classroom that responds to student needs, allow the students to
explore content outside of a prescribed format and be willing to learn alongside a student.
The idea that we are all participants in the learning and teaching process forms the
foundation of my teaching philosophy. I am not a teacher by trade or training, but I teach and
learn alongside my co-workers every day. Learning is a lifelong endeavor and as a leader of
working professionals it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone is achieving everything they
can. I believe learning is a shared, social and cooperative responsibility.
Aspiring educators have the luxury of developing their teaching philosophy from
research related to behaviorism, constructivism and situational cognition, ideas related to learner
capabilities through research by Piaget and Vygotsky and learning styles from Willingham. A
modern educator can develop a teaching style that blends the appropriate aspects theory,
capability and style to create a framework that provides outcomes based on student capabilities.

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Teachers should consider, for example, sociocultural, socioeconomic and technology factors and
develop curriculum to accommodate these external influences.
Teachers must also recognize that they are competing against extracurricular activities,
social pressures and social media and teachers must find ways to capture and maintain student
attention. A successful teacher must find ways to ensure learning is authentic, can occur in
conjunction with existing external distractions and is relevant to life outside of the classroom.
I believe there are three learning theories that are complementary and hierarchical to each
other, that will provide teachers with the tools they need to successfully teach students and
should be leveraged in the classroom: Behaviorism, social cognitive theory and situational
cognition. Each theory has unique benefits at progressive stages of learning development.
Behaviorism can be leveraged to provide motivation and access to some foundational content,
cognitive theory provides more opportunity for authentic learning and situated cognition
transitions a student through to domain mastery.
“Give me a child and I’ll shape him into anything.”
– B.F. Skinner–
B.F. Skinner’s research in behaviorism, notably the idea of classical conditioning can be
leveraged to establish appropriate and acceptable in class behaviors and to encourage students to
remain on task and focused. I don’t believe that behaviorism is a particularly good teaching tool,
as it is considerably teacher centered, however I do believe there are benefits to using it to
provide some access to core, building block style, information such as basic math and spelling
skills.
Operant conditioning assumes that “virtually any behavior…can be learned or modified”
(Ormrod, 2012, p. 51) and it is critically important that any reinforcement follow desired

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behaviors as immediately as possible. ClassDojo, which increases personal and external
accountability, is an excellent example of a modern implementation of this traditional theory.
Edward Thorndike says, simply, that “responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction
are strengthened” (Ormrod, 2012, p. 49) supporting my belief that positive reinforcement,
primarily social re-enforcers, should be frequently utilized. As an individual of authority a
simple smile or positive response from a teacher to a desirable behavior can produce a continued
display of that behavior. Also, especially in young children, activities such as additional story
time or free play, are very desirable and should be used as tools to encourage desired behaviors.
Teachers can utilize behaviorist theory and associated tools to help create a distraction free
classroom that increases student’s opportunity to learn.
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.”
– Socrates–
I think it’s important now that I’ve discussed the limited, but important role, behaviorism
plays to introduce the idea that people are social and that we need to leverage learning that takes
advantage of natural social interactions. I believe a classroom should be as student centered as
practical and suggested using behaviorism simply as a tool to encourage desired behaviors. As
student’s skills and thinking capabilities progress, social cognitive theory and the concept of
constructivism should become the dominant learning tools. Lev Vygotsky’s research in this area
has informed my thinking related to the criticality of social influences, core capabilities and
scaffolding. He pioneered the idea that forms the basis of my teaching philosophy: that students
should be allowed the freedom to explore interests and make discoveries for themselves with the
guidance of a teacher. Vygotsky establishes the idea that learners have certain abilities at certain
ages, the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Ormrod, 2012, p. 317), and that it is the teachers

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responsibility to establish learning goals that are sufficiently challenging but within cognitive
reach of the students. Piaget, similarly referred to the concept of stretching oneself as entering
into a state of disequilibrium(Ormrod, 2012, p. 309). The complimentary idea of ZPD and
disequilibrium are important as they assert that students have a desire to reach to obtain greater
knowledge. My role as a teacher is to provide suitable prompts and direction and establish
challenging learning goals that will encourage the students to stretch themselves. Teachers that
recognize the age apparent capabilities of students will better position them to succeed and
increase their sense of self efficacy.
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
– John Dewey–
The constructivist perspective, more specifically social constructivism which I believe
strongly in, posits that “people work together to make sense of their world” (Ormrod, 2012, p.
154). Given my focus on authentic, student centered and practical education I find
constructivism appealing because it most closely mimics authentic learning and positions
students to be successful outside the classroom. Constructivism allows learners to
collaboratively construct their own knowledge; to engage in Communities of Practice (Barab &
Duffy, 2000). A student’s education must be predicated on authentic learning and students must
be allowed and encouraged to define and develop their own “Truths” related to the curriculum.
Students must be given “Ownership of the inquiry” (Barab & Duffy, 2000, p. 32), and be
permitted to explore on their own. This exploration needs to occur with guidance and alongside
the teacher and it is my responsibility to ensure that the students learning is relevant, to assist
with structuring the learning process and helping to identify learning outcomes. Constructivism
recognizes that learning is authentic, social and occurs naturally. Teachers must recognize that

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students have a variety of external social outlets and that the social communities, due the
emergence of the Internet, social networks and online gaming, has evolved and expanded
significantly. Teachers must take time to understand a student’s community and seek to
incorporate these broader external influences.
The non-prescriptive nature of constructivism provides real opportunity for teachers to
leverage project based learning in the classroom. It is imperative that teachers engage the
students in developing learning outcomes, provide guided authentic challenges to students and
allow the students to develop their understanding. I do believe that directed instruction still has a
place in establishing an academic foundation but PBL is a tool that can be used to shepherd a
student towards understanding. As a teacher I have to allow students to explore the curriculum
in ways they are comfortable with, even if this is outside my comfort zone and I need to be able
to learn with the students.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I may remember. Involve me and I learn.”
– Benjamin Franklin–
Situated cognition (SitCog) is the culmination of the three theories and moves the learner
towards mastery through practice. Situated Cognition considers “that every human thought is
adapted to the environment” and “what people perceive, how they conceive of their activity, and
what they physically do develop together” (Driscoll, 2005, p. 157). SitCog anchors the concepts
developed through constructivist learning, where the learner developed their own “Truths”,
through practice. SitCog develops the concept of cognitive apprenticeship and provides
opportunities for students to practice alongside an expert and is a natural element of my core
teaching philosophy as it continues to reinforce the idea that learning is a social activity and
knowledge transfer occurs largely though social interaction. This transfer of knowledge into

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practice occurs through communities of practice as well as through active participation in real
life scenarios and can be strengthened through apprenticeship. SitCog, through Legitimate
Peripheral Participation (LPP) (Driscoll, 2005, p. 165) enables a learner to gain expertise through
practice, contribute to their knowledge domain as their skills develop and eventually progress
from student to teacher.
“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.”
– Gail Goldwin–
It is essential to recognize that educating is not simply about aligning with and teaching
to a theory and that instructional design and instructional preparation is key to any successful
curriculum. A teacher must take the time necessary to develop and refine curriculum, leveraging
an instructional design model like ADDIE, to ensure the successful implementation of learning
goals. However, while instructional designers focus only on the instruction itself I think it is
imperative that teacher develop instruction that is sufficiently agile enough to ensure the success
of each individual. Lessons can be improved over time, but not at the expense of the students.
“Once you have learned to ask questions, relevant and appropriate and substantial questions,
you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want or
need to know.”
– Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner–
The theories and supporting concepts exist that can enable a teacher to build a knowledge
foundation, create a desire to learn and help students reach beyond their perceived capabilities. I
believe the role of a teacher is inspire students become lifelong learners; I hope to become that
teacher.

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References
Artino, A. R. (2013). It’s Not All in Your Head: Viewing Graduate Medical Education Through
the Lens of Situated Cognition. Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(2), 177–179.
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Barab, S., & Duffy, T. M. (2000). From practice fields to communities of practice. Theoretical
Foundations of Learning Environments 1.1, 25–55.
Brown, J. S. (2000). Growing Up: Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the
Ways People Learn. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 32(2), 11–20.
doi:10.1080/00091380009601719
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The 50 Most Inspirational Quotes for Teachers - Curated Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14,
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