Resources for unit 2

4.3. Meaning of Learning

The word "learning" has its roots in Old English verb "leornian", meaning "to learn “, "to   study or get knowledge “. It comes from the Proto-Germanic root "lizn-" or "leizn-", which also meant "to learn" or "to acquire knowledge. “

The verb "leornian" evolved into the noun "learning", which referred to the process of acquiring knowledge or understanding. By the 14th century, "learning" referred not only to the act of acquiring knowledge but also to the body of knowledge itself. The concept of "learning" as the process of acquiring and understanding knowledge has remained central to its meaning through its linguistic history.

Learning is a personal activity that consists of integrating new knowledge into the existing one. It is the process through which individuals acquire or modify knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, or behaviors through experience, study, practice, or instruction. It involves internalizing new information and applying it in meaningful ways, often leading to changes in understanding, thinking, or performance. Learning can be:

a.      Cognitive (developing intellectual abilities like reasoning, problem- solving, and memory)

b.     Affective (shaping attitudes, emotions, values, and motivation)

c.      Psychomotor (acquiring and refining physical or motor skills)

In essence, learning is at the heart of personal development and education, it is how we grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically across our lifespan.

Psychologists often define learning as a relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of experience or practice. This definition has three important terms:

§  Change in behavior: learning involves a change for better or worse

i.e. learning can involve both beneficial and negative behaviors. Sometimes people learn things that help them become more knowledgeable and lead better lives. In other instances, people can learn things that are detrimental to their overall health and well-being.

§  Change takes place through experience or practice; changes due to growth or maturation are not learning.

§  Before it can be called learning, the changes must be relatively permanent. What one learns is relatively permanent because it can be changed by future experience.

The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and machines. There is also evidence for some kind of learning in some plants. Learning is perhaps the most important human capacity.  It is an ongoing process that takes place throughout all of life. Human learning begins before birth and continues until death as a consequence of ongoing interactions between person and environment.

Both concepts teaching and learning go together and we usually say: Teaching- learning process.