Theories and Principles of Learning for Inclusive Practice

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Explain ways in which theories and principles of learning and communication can be applied to promote inclusive practice. It is important to understand that learning takes place all the time and people can learn new things everyday regardless of age, culture or background. “Learning is the lifelong process of transforming information and experience into knowledge, skills, behaviours, and attitudes.” (Jeff Cobb www.missiontolearn.com 2013) “Educational theory has, at its base, psychology, sociology, and the study of behaviour. As teachers, it is argued, we need to know how people behave under certain circumstances so that we can optimise their learning through the provision of conditions that make it as easy a process as possible. For instance, how do we help our students to memorise the material in our subject, how do we make them understand the concepts and principles, does their attitude to both learning and the subject have a bearing on how they learn, and so on?” (Reece I & Walker S, 2007, p53). There are many theories and principles of learning including Behaviorist, the school of thought people respond to things around them responding to environmental stimuli. Behaviour is shaped through positive or negative reinforcement and both increase the probability that the antecedent behaviour will happen again. Military units use negative reinforcement particularly when students attitude and behaviours are less than expected. In contrast punishment decreases the likelihood that the antecedent behaviour will happen again. Positive indicates the application of the stimulus, negative indicates the withholding of the stimulus. Learning is therefore defined as a change in behaviour in the learner. Lots of early work was done with animals (most famously Pavlov’s dog) and generalized for humans. (http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html 2013).
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