Relationship between Theory and Practice - Essay Example

Critical Review and Learning Outcomes: Teaching Assessment Introduction This paper is based on an assessment of the teaching methodology and learning outcomes employed during a lecture on acute pain. This lecture was a microteaching class conducted by the author of this paper over a period of 20 minutes. This paper deals with the basic criticism of the two following premises: Worthwhile Learning beyond the lecture through presentation of the scope to learn outside the classroom. Creating a connection between theory and practice through the lecture as regards professional education. I had based the assessment on two articles relating to we based learning and the tutor's feedback included the fact that there needs to be a greater synthesis of material to show that I have developed a knowledge base while working on these articles. My assessment did not really critique the articles and there was little depth in the analysis. Accordingly, I have carried out the following assessment of the teaching methodology I used. As per my tutor, there needs to be a greater knowledge base which would have the strong support of evidence throughout the assessment. I have done so by making use of theories that have been supported by various scholars so as to support each of the arguments I have put forth in the process of discussing and assessing the learning approach I have use. These include theory and practice relationship within teaching methodology as well as the learning outcomes of the learning approach used by me. These have been summed up as the evaluation in the conclusion. These elements of assessment have been used an integral part of the assignment rather than separate features, as pointed out by my tutor. To begin with, there has been a substantial amount of learning that I have managed to garner from the classes. Yet, the classes showed me that there is a lot to be desired in terms of definition of areas that signify real worthwhile learning. There also seems to be a confusion of thoughts with a plethora of concepts like globalization flying around. This has shown that there has been a steady merging of lines throughout the world with the convergence of theory and practice. Yet, in the arena of teach, theory and practice are two divergent concepts regardless of the steady increase of phenomena like globalization. With an increase in the phenomenon known as globalization and the wide use of technology as a complementary feature, human society has changed and the needs have increased manifold. This has been used in the teachings regarding acute pain during this class. In the case of healthcare teaching, changes in the political, economical and cultural arena have challenged and effected alterations within various professions. The autonomy of professions has been under challenge because the market has tried to decrease it so to reduce their power and status. Finally, all these changes have affected and put under challenge professional education. This is further evident in the following lines as mentioned by Robert B. Reich, when he says, "In this mercantilist game, one sovereign's advance (was) necessarily at the expense of another, because the whole point of the exercise (was) to gain more power than a potential opponent." (Reich, 1991, p.14). As assessed above, there has been a convergence of theory and practice, yet there are many gaps owing to the basic fact that there is yet to be a clear cut definition of how globalization affects the meeting of theory and practice. (Reich, 1991, p.14). This will create the real platform upon which worthwhile learning may be measured. Worthwhile learning is also getting increasingly difficult to measure and there needs to be better models that can support phenomenon like knowledge management so as to support complementary phenomena like globalization. Many scholars believe that theory and practice are characterized by a clear difference because each one offers a different, not opposite, knowledge field. According to Durkheim, theory refers to the knowledge that we know ("word") and practice relates to the knowledge that we need to know ("world"). In other words the first is the knowledge that we acquire in formal education (higher education) while the latter is gained in vocational training and experience (Young, 2008). Furthermore, these two concepts are not opposite but they are moving in parallel lines in order to create a professional with spherical knowledge. The new conditions have created the need for a new knowledge base that will be produced by the professionals and will enable them to survive in the contemporary society without losing their identity, autonomy and professional ethics. In this way, they will succeed to establish their power, status and respect and be able to perform without feeling threatened by the market. This has been followed in the lecture on acute pain. Yet, since this lecture exists in the sphere of professional education, it may be seen that is a lot of progress yet to be made in terms of creating a positive working relationship between theory and practice. There are numerous gaps in terms of experience between theory and practice. These have been discussed as follows. Critique of Assessment Feedback: Relationship between theory and practice Theory To begin with, it is imperative to create the base upon which analysis will take place. This base consists of clear definitions of the various concepts of the statement of this paper. The first term that needs to be defined in this context is theory. Theory may be defined as the amalgamation of knowledge for use and application in the professional sphere. Theory has come to be ruled by the diktats of globalization. It has been alleged that theory and practice need to be married in a better way for relevance in real life professional situations. Various scholars have understood theory as the amalgamation of ideas and the very knowledge base that contributes to the understanding of the practical sphere of the profession. In acting as the knowledge field within which practice takes place, theory has difficulties to act as a medium through which proper professional decisions may be taken. This is basically due to the fact that there are wide disparities between what is taught and what is practiced, as the world outside theory is a rapidly changing one with dynamic qualities. It has been found in this regard that theory has not managed to keep up with the changes leading to irrelevance in teaching practices and practical leanings of professions. Practice Practice can be defined as the actual application of theory to real life professional situations, for effective operations. This activity provides the basis for profitable application of theory. While globalization has led to a more or less similar standard of practice in various professions, there is still a lot that theory needs to do in order to catch up with practice so as to lead to relevant and effective professional education. As far as the existing mismatch between theory and practice are concerned, one should start out by stressing on the importance of linking the two. This can be understood better through the following line as explained by Michael Eraut, when he says, "Proponents of both the ideology and its counterpart regard expertise as the prime source of professional power and influence, but hold different views about how it is and should be controlled." (Eraut, 1994, p.2). According to the above statement, ideology translates to theory. Most scholars believe that expertise or experience is the third angle that helps link theory and practice. Practice has been found to deviate from theory as it springs from the more dynamic environment of reality within which professions actually thrive and function. Relevant decision-making thus needs to spring from theory that is matched with expertise so as to serve the dimensions of the practical sphere of professions. It may be mentioned here that ideology needs to be a part of theory in the practical sense. The author has tried to pitch expertise and ideology against each other. The relevant question that needs to be addressed here is, whether or not these two elements need to be pitched against each other, or do they need to be used in a complementary way so as to strike a balance in the theory practice relationship. Yet, it is not clear as to how this relationship between theory and practice can work on ethics alone. The play of expertise needs to be emphasized in the lectures so as to cater to the students in a more balanced and realistic manner. Another question that helps decide whether or not professional education is effective adheres to whether or not there is a set of characteristics as regards socially accepted performance levels that match both in theory and practice (Evetts, 2003). This is a factor that creates a scope for further research in terms of furthering the body of knowledge. If there is a mismatch between the performance criteria and the theoretical aspect of a profession, then professional education needs to be redefined. This is where the dichotomy between the theory and practical aspects of professional education is activated, thus making professional education face the perennial challenge of making theory and practice match. Examples of Learning: Elements of Worthwhile Learning Outcomes The outcomes of worthwhile learning outside an educational institution or system followed in this lecture were as follows: Experience Identity Exposure Aptitude Knowledge and Skills Communication Patterns Cultural Affiliation (Byram & Morgan, 1994). It can be mentioned that the development of communication skills is the ends for which teaching and learning programs and methodologies are simply the means. This helps define the learning process along quantitative and qualitative parameters besides shaping someone's experiences (Freire, 1972). These are not the only parameters that support worthwhile learning, yet these elements help in defining the elements that can be the building blocks for forming a relationship between theory and practice. Yet, these elements must be further worked upon so as to find details where the relationship can find a balance in professional lives. The parameters with which someone judges life scenarios gives rise to value judgments as far as the application of various theories that have been learnt within the educational institutions, is concerned (Ferdinand de Saussure, 2000). These parameters that will be analyzed are the following: The general competencies for worthwhile learning in the case of various individuals consist in particular of their knowledge, skills and existential competence as well as their ability to learn. These factors operate at various levels according to the ability to grasp and apply theories into real life situations in the case of treating and understanding acute pain. This in turn, creates a relevant context for literacy in this sphere which proceeds from the communities where the flow of the same happens at various stages of learning. The learning thus becomes worthwhile, once the theory has been successfully applied to experience, or when a new theory has been learnt or formulated through a negative experience ( Crook, 2002). These competencies help a person listen and understand what is happening around him or her. Based on what the person hears, there is a certain sense of judgment regarding certain feelings and sentiments shaping up in the mind. These judgments go on to shape a person's relationships and experiences from the same within the professional, personal and social sphere as explained above ( Ferdinand de Saussure, 2000). These shapes in the form of feelings and sentiments are used as benchmarks that are subsequently used to show what a person has an aptitude for. In this sense, the general competency level is the most basic form in which worthwhile learning structures a person's experiences and development, and comes from the same too (Freire, 1972). Knowledge could be defined as knowledge that follows experience to take the form of empirical knowledge. As far as the level of reception on a student's part goes, someone needs to search deeper and ask questions regarding his or her multilevel background knowledge, perspectives, and various skills or skill sets. This is where the role of worthwhile learning in the sphere of actual experiences comes into play. The various spheres in which an individual operates bring in a variety of reactions to what is being taught in terms of reception. This accommodates the aim of effective management of decisions and production within teams, with strong communication approach orientations. This sets the stage for an appeal created by a certain teaching in context of the values and experiences that one has been exposed to in the professional, personal and social sphere (Crook, 2002). Through shared experiences in these spheres, the teacher identifies those factors that influence how a student receives or understands a certain teaching. This creates scope for correction and building a model where through shared experiences from outside the educational institution, the student and teacher can help each other. This also gives an impetus to other students to help each other learn and thus forges new relationships where they may indulge in worthwhile learning through shared experiences (Freire, 1972). The shared experiences conducted in pairs in the case of this class revolved around the following activities: Researching a method of assessment Designing an A 4 poster that summarized the features, advantages and disadvantages of the methods used. Lists of references that were considered key to the assessment. The existence of knowledge is important to any field of study. By acquiring knowledge, a person starts to respond to certain sounds, words and finally an entire skill set or subject. This in turn, helps him or her form an opinion about certain things. These things define a person's experiences in general. The knowledge at this level may be very culture specific but it has strong implications in the sense that there is a certain benchmark by which he or she measures future interactions and experiences that take place outside this knowledge base or cultural base in order to acquire worthwhile learning through application of the teaching outside the educational institutions (Crook, 2002). This was the basic premise followed in the critical assessment of the teaching method employed. Skills and know-how relates to the ability to carry out procedures than on knowledge, through various forms of existential competence which facilitate knowledge recall even at a relaxed level. This largely depends on repetition and experience for the acquisition of certain facts. This is a method for creating intrinsic motivation in the affective filter hypothesis where recall of information depends on the processing of the same. Therefore, it has been believed that cognitive development is a matter of this synthesis that helps a person create worthwhile learning experiences through the teachings that take place within an educational institution. This is in turn, dominated by the motivation, which has to come through communication. In this regard, the learning of a new subject was facilitated especially where the use of shared experiences for a communicative approach is concerned during the class on acute pain. This is owing to the fact that the hypothesis facilitates the exercise of drawing parallels with certain aspects of the teachings for learning through the exposure of the learner to some amount of illustrative material in the learning process (Fuhrer, 1996). Through the existence of various subjects, a person learns certain basic skills and first hand knowledge about how certain things works. This in turn, helps build confidence within the person when he or she is in a circumstance where these skills are needed. The medium of worthwhile learning through external experiences is a strong one, especially for the listener, who grows to know and implement certain skills. Along with the subject and its basic theories, these skills and application of the same become second nature (Freire, 1972). Existential competence could be defined as the summation of a variety of individual characteristics, personality traits and attitudes. These characteristics, creates a willingness to engage with other people in social interaction in order to attain a certain level of self identity. This type of competence goes beyond personality characteristics to include culture related interface, which can be sensitive in nature as far as inter cultural perceptions and relations are concerned (Crook, 2002). Existential competence comes from variations in the scope a student identifies when learning a new knowledge base or subject - especially when he or she is ready to take the risk of cultural misunderstanding to gain further insight into communicative competency in real life experiences where he or she applies the newly learnt theories. This relates to the affective filter hypothesis due to the fact that the learner has reached a stage where such variations are considered as learning curves in concepts like 'learning styles' or 'learner profiles'. This also creates the scope to study and understand someone's pedagogical factors that come into play when learning something new - whether in the classroom, or outside it (Freire, 1972). Ability to learn: through a mobilization of existential competence as well as knowledge and skills, the ability to learn is conceived as a tool of creating awareness in terms of practical use of the theories in experiences outside the educational institutions so as to acquire worthwhile learning. (Crook, 2002). Conclusion: Evaluation of Teaching Approach This paper came to the conclusion that worthwhile learning was achieved in the class and there was definite link created between theory and practice as well. What learning is 'worthwhile learning' This is decided by the cognitive development of a person in terms of his or her general competencies as demonstrated within and outside the educational institution. Any learning that contributes to the overall shaping of a person's cognitive development for positive interactions within his various spheres of operation are the determinants of what learning is 'worthwhile learning'. Also, it is decided from his or her social position which affects the criteria of people of what is worthwhile due to the different needs and potentialities that exist in each social class. This fact raises some social issues about the inequality between people to get privileged education (e.g. the notion of 'elite' universities) that will not be analysed in this essay. So, the definition of worthwhile learning is a subjective view as according to Johnson: "One person's useful knowledge was another's useless ignorance" (Johnson, 1988, p.23). The lectures showed various gaps in the theory practice relationship. These gaps basically came from the lack of proper measurement and evaluation tools for worthwhile learning. In professions, it may be seen that there is now a renewed need to focus on ethics as well as balance between experience and expertise so as to create a positive working relationship between theory and practice. 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(Eds.), International handbook of lifelong learning, Dordrecht; London: Kluwer, (pp. 405-446). Read More