Communication Sources of Education Essay

The objective of education should be to encourage the search for answers, since it is the only way to advance. Within the aim of advancement in knowledge, various facets incorporated within the teaching portfolio ensure the success of professional educators. To achieve success, educators have to lean on certain ideals to enable them better perform their duties as required. One of the main inclinations that would be crucial to the success of an educator would be showing concern about students. Apart from just teaching them, educators must show interest on aspects such as social, physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being (Capuzzi, 2012). Being alert to these facets not only help the educator teach effectively, but also enables the learning process to be smooth for students. In addition, students can better their current knowledge in given subjects, especially with support from their individual educators. Moreover, the practice accords the educators the opportunity to look in to, in an explorative manner, and challenge the existing educational policies. Literature Review A number of learning theories offer information, which can be quite instrumental in understanding the ability of students to learn within a classroom setting. Social cognitive theory by Albert Bandura was developed purposely with the aim of comprehending how students learn (Murphy, 2010). He felt that initial belief of rewards and behaviorism could not provide an understanding of the full process of human comprehension. His feelings were that people could learn through observation of actions of the others in certain situations. It was realized that his beliefs affect the modern classroom. The modern classroom is full of many factors, which affects students learning. The social cognitive learning theory by Bandura states that a student’s personality is modeled by the environment, thought and behavior. Educators should attempt to identify themes that emerge from teaching and make a decision on whether these themes a coherent pattern. Evidently, at the outset, that by way of example than percept, educators impart more (Capuzzi, 2012). Students are extremely perceptive in recognizing when the instructor does not put into practice what he preaches. Both in actions and in words, educators should always teach several values students. These include; importance of preparation, organization, and homework; respect for people’s view; and the value of effective and clear exchange of information both in written and  oral  form. To cater for more than just teaching the students, educators should come up with strategies to incorporate other aspects of life into the class. Students may become defensive if they feel that the teacher is prying on their privacy. In this, an educator should approach this subject with care, otherwise he or she may risk losing the trust altogether. The theme of inclusiveness ensures diversity is taken into account in all teaching. According to (Gould, 2010), educators should attempt to create a positive atmosphere. When students are called upon to answer questions, mistakes should be treated as opportunities in exploring misconceptions, rather than a reflection of the abilities of the students. Educators should create a fair playing field to teach students that, in their current world, there is no easy way out. With a class of almost many students, it is hardly easy to know each student by their names, let alone know about their emotional, physical, or cognitive experiences. To coun ter this, Capuzzi (2012) suggests that educators work with the policy of an openness, where they are available for consultation and assistance at working hours. There exists a gap between students and educators needs to be bridged if the educators are to effectively teach and guide their students. Koshy & Koshy (2010) realized that a modified approach that teachers use in teaching from question-answer to answer-question approach provides a bridge between teachers and learners, and fosters self-evaluation and self-efficacy. Self-evaluation and self-efficacy provide the perfect opportunity for the educator to get to know his or her student on a personal note. In this, the educator is now able to evaluate the student’s emotional, physical, and cognitive aspects of life. Bandura, a renowned theorist, attained fame after his social-cognitive learning theory. The theory is based on individual self-efficacy and modeling. Despite having a number of ideas on learning, Bandura chose social cognitive learning theory. Through the process of modeling, students were required to account for diverse forms of learning. It was Bandura’s belief that through modeling, students are capable of making significant gains in self-motivation, action, and thought. Psychologists, until that time, had exclusively focused on learning through the consequences of actions. Bandura demonstrated that through the hazardous and tedious process of trial and error learning could be a short cut through modeling of competencies and knowledge exhibited by a variety of model (Murphy, 2010). Bandura’s belief was that students’ learn through experiences of watching others, which lead to self-efficacy or self-motivation. The theorist is credited for developing the social cognitive learning theory. While applying this theory, educators should guide their students by being role models, and by observing their behavior as Bandura suggest. Murphy (2010) observes that at that point in time, educators are able to mentor, advice and teach their students more effectively. Knowing the students’ is emotional, cognitive, and physical situation can be very instrumental in understanding the problems facing them or better still, the methods one can use as an educator to teach them effectively. The important part of advising, mentoring, and teaching student, is caring. Being attached to students begins by caring for them and what they are to become in the future. They have strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, wants and needs, hopes and dreams. Educators should be party to these dreams and hopes, since they facilitate the learning process that they have factored into their futures (Zunker & Osborn, 2012). What becomes on them and the leap-of-faith on their part should increase interest regarding their futures. Conclusion In conclusion, having better and more knowledge of students than just their classroom performance make educators better mentors, better teachers, and better persons. Educators should share reality with students to ensure they feel they are relating to a genuine person, who is willing expose his/her values, feelings, and distinctive perception about the world and the society. It is imperative to increase skills and knowledge in the application of instructional techniques to teaching philosophy by aiming at professional development in the subject matter. Additionally, educators should enhance their knowledge on how problem-solving strategies are related to student assessment. They should voluntarily sit in on their school training meetings to compare results with those of other educators. Educators should target increasing the abilities of students in all aspects of life, since it is an important part of the national, local, and state dialogue on educational achievement. References Capuzzi, D. (2012). Career counseling foundations, perspectives, and applications (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge. Gould, J. (2010). Learning Theory and Classroom Practice in the Lifelong Learning Sector. Exeter: Learning Matters. Koshy, V., & Koshy, V. (2010). Action research for improving educational practice: A step-by-step guide (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE. Murphy, M. (2010). Habermas, critical theory and education. New York: Routledge. Zunker, V., & Osborn, D. (2012). Using assessment results for career development: Career counseling: A holistic approach (8th ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning. Source document