How Children Learn Through "The Four Lenses of Learning"

There are four aspects of learning, which all work together as a whole to allow a child to learn effectively, but also hold much importance individually as well. These are called the lenses of learning and are "meaning centered," "language based," "human," and "social."

The lens "Meaning Centered" means that things that a child is attempting to learn should be based on real life situations, and educators should explain to students the reason why they are learning about different topics and concepts. They need to relate new concepts to what they already know. Under the category of meaning centered is the concept of metacognition. This involves people being aware of what they know, what they do not know, and being aware of what steps to take if they do not know something. Basically, it involves reflecting upon and understanding how people think about what they know and say. In order for students to better understand how they think, they can learn from reciprocal teaching. These are strategies for better comprehension and include predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. This specific lens plays a significant role in a student's learning.

The next lens, "Language Based" includes skills such as writing, listening, speaking, reading, and thinking. These things should not be taught separately because they each build upon each other. People write when they read and read when they write. This lens of learning is important because language development is based on building upon all new aspects of language that one learns.

Another lens of learning is the "Human" lens. This simply deals with the ability to understand that everyone learns differently. It plays a very significant role in a student's learning because there are different aspects of learning, and some individuals may feel more comfortable with some aspects than others. For example, some people learn best visually, while others learn best aurally. It also deals with how we learn through interaction with others, such as when a baby learns that humanness will help him or her interact with others. As human beings, people are always communicating with each other even if it is just through a simple smile.

Lastly, learning is social. This involves cooperative learning, scaffolding, and viewing the classroom as a community of learners. Making the students realize they are a community allows them to be comfortable and prevents their fear of speaking up as well as taking risks in the classroom. Ultimately, this positive comfortable environment leads to a better grasp of concepts. The students are not worrying about other things and therefore are able to learn more. The students learn the importance of pragmatics, which helps them learn how to appropriately interact with others in different social situations.

It is essential that parents, educators, and others working with children understand that learning is composed of these various lenses and do not neglect certain ones while focusing on others. While it is important for all children to master each of these aspects individually, the most effective learning will occur when all four of these lenses are combined and taught naturally through modeling, observation, and experience.