Some aspects of work experience in learning

Media

Part of The Philippine Educator

Title
Some aspects of work experience in learning
Creator
Saddul, Jose C.
Language
English
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
if.~ SOME ASPECTS OF WORK EXPERIENCE IN LEARNING -rr:tsJ JOSE C. SADDUL ~ Supcri11tend!'nt On Detail, Burea1t of Public Schools INTRODUCTION During the eighteenth century, a certain intellectual named J. J. Rousseau, proposed a revolutionary theory that human nature is inherently good, but that individuals deteriorate when they get in contact with the artificial environment into which they are born. He advocated a type of education wherein the individual should be removed from the urban· society and transferred to a rural environment where his instincts and capacities may unfold and develop through natural habits of activity. These views of Rousseau on education influenced ~~~~alf~~~~u~~!?ba~~~ a~J"~~~~b~l~ three prominent educators of the nineteenth century. These three men made further investigations of Rousseau's doctrine. The psychological developments that followed gave rise to the so-called "activity movement", which recognizes the part played by sensory, manual, or work experiences in the educative process. Thus, ·work experience is not a new idea, although its role in the promotion of effective learning has often been ignored by teachers. There is a likelihood that teachers do not simply ignore the principle; some are totally ignorf::ch~~g~ts T~?~~~~~ii:1 tb~ie t~~ child becomes confused and disin1 H .. J R. Doufillas a1>d Hubert H. Mills, &oro.ald p,... Compan,, li48l, p. an. terested with school work and, schooling is made theoretical and meaningless rather than practical and significant to the life of the child. John Dewey1 bemoaned the relative disappearance of work experience from the home, industry, and business, where less and less ~f[y0~~~tt~f i~hiid~~~b~enl0;o~fu~ To compensate for this loss he called attention to the increasing need for society to provide more work experience in school and elsewhere. This warning was given almost half-century ago. The succeeding years seemed to have made the situation worse; a mania for white-collar jobs is still the vogue. In view of enough evidence to show that work experience does not only have psychological aspects but also social significance in the child's learning, the warning is certainly worthy of our attention today. <l~t ~~ t~~e~~~fo!e ~fs:~:si~~i~~ some of the aspects of work experience in the learning process; and (2) to examine the purposes for which work experience is provided in the school curriculum. WORK EXPERIENCE IN LEARNING Work experience has been deI fined as "a means and method in the program of the school by T~aclli1111 ;,. Higll Scltool (New York: The 12 THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR which the learner actually produces useful goods or renders useful services through participation in socially desirable work activities in the community under real conditions."2 Conceived in this definition are many possibilities: that ·work experience is likely to be educative; that it is first.. hand experience; that it involves work or service; that it is concerned with socially desirable activity; that it is exploratory; that it is real. It is the first possibility, more than the others, that should interest the teacher. O~:)j~l~:l~~e t/om1110~k ;:I:~~i~~:j point of view, the most interesting question is how work experience influences the learning process. The leaders of the experience movement are strong in their condemnation of the old practices of the traditional school wherein the mind is at work, it should not be disturbed or distracted by physical activity of any kind. Even the early Greek and Roman educators recognized the effect of activity on physical devel~fsti~~t. to~~~~ at~!tu~~ ii~J~~ia~!i to be properly educated must have a "strong mind in a strong body." Besides producing physical development, activity serves in some ;!~t.to ;;~b~1l~t?n:set~~lth~etv~lhfJ: dren will develoJ? most favorably when they participate actively and b~eath~~b~w~ r~:!;~~i:. ~~;:~:i~~ and desires. It is also conceded that such an activity, be it work under the guidance of a teacher wherein useful goods or services 2 currord E. Erid•.on, 11. Bute Tur l<ff' Inc.., UUI, p. U5. 3 I. N. Thu! and J. Rqmoad Gerberieb, (N,.. York: McC .. w-HUI Boot Co<ap&llJ', h1o.., ( lbid.,p.274. are produced, is important in helping the learner acquire ideals that should later help him solve problems on social and moral issues. Hobbes and Locke• introduced the view "that physical activity can determine, in part at least, the nature of that which the individual should think and believe." They also concluded "that man can have no knowledge except that which has come to him through his physical senses, or is based on such sensory experiences." This implies that the learner must reach out into the world to gain knowledge. The more active participation he takes in the course of learning, the more knowledge he will acquire. This is a cue for schools to provide more participatory experiences, ·work experiences if you please, in order to est.:'l.blish better learning-teaching situations. It is notewo1·thy that psychologists of today attach much importance to theory that the pupil learns only as he active~ro~e~~:iciftaf:sthi~ vi~!r :~autc~~~= rise to the definition that learning is doing, and teaching is guiding of pupil experiences. th~~~hr·f~ci~~~ 0~o~::~f~C:: pir~~ graph may be summed up in this too familiar statement: "one learns by doing." There is great danger that teachers may misunderstand the implication of the t~ter~::d~s p:h~alfh~~~di~e 0~~a~~ tically renounced the law of exercise in some of his writings. He simply wanted to safeguard agamst misuse of the principle. The principle of practice which F-...t .. ~on.. •I lle!.AN I•• Sec.U•'11 S~ 1969), p, 21S. THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 13 ~Pf:o:t~~!~gmfs8tsfa~~~ed al1ol: lows: "What is learned is what is practised; continued practice or use is WN«lUy necessary for retentUm of the learning.''s It does seem that practice plays an im~ portant role in learning. However, practice which is a mere repetition of the act is not desirable because it does not produce learning. Practice does not always improve the quality of performance. In fact, when the error is practised, repetition tends to prennt the correction of the error. It is necessary that the teacher keeps the learner practise the better way, on the assumption that the learner learns what he does. Hammonds,6 in expressing the necessity of practice of the right sort in the teaching of vocational agriculture said, "Not until agricultural teachers come to believe in the necessity for practice by the learners can they make their teaching vital ... Participation in farming is an essential in learning to farm." Then he elaborated on his discussion with the following: "One learns by practice what he practises. This is not a silly statement; it is an important truth. To practise an error is to learn the error. To use a poor formance, may be expected to ~~~rs ir;;rr~v::::!~~~s ~~~y s;ah~ practice needs to be supervised by a teacher in order to -produce the most desirable learmngs. Undoubtedly, it is this implication that gave birth to the supervised farming programs in vocational agriculture. The implication of wm·k experience in learning. Work exper~ ience as embodied in the curricu~~~itf:s0f~dre~:::ti~:ei~aim~~~o:; learning implies a change in be~ havior, this change is made possible while performing an activity, or in the course of practice. The learner's attitudes, appreciations, values, interests, and motives, are partly and largely dependent upon experience or activIty. It follows, therefore, that the school should provide a wide variety of situations in which the learners are given a greater degree of participation. Such par~\~f~a~~~us!xP.:h!~n~i~e ~~~Ii~1~ learning, motivate pupils to learn, and result in more effective maturation." CONCLUSIONS fe~~~i11jnp~~:m~~ffct~~e ~ ~e~dl~~ provement in a function may be expected only when one performs 1. the function better. The wrong r~~l~~- teS'!rftle:S~t a~~~e:ro:c: The following significant points may easily be isolated from ,.the foregoing discussions: Work experience, activity, or practice mfluences the learnmg process. It stimulates both physical and mental development. tivity is not effective in securing desirable learning. Motivated practice of the correct procedure, on the other hand, with the student desiring to improve his per2. Experience or practice that does not improve the quality (Continued on page 17) le:O)~:Iis. H...,.""'"dl, T•Acllt.op A.pn....lt .... (JS'•"' Yo<t: lllc(kaw-Hill Boot ~. tu.. t JWI .• II· 1-.3.