-
Jan 1, 1000
Mental Disciple Theory
The Mental Discipline Theory was the first major historical theory to provide a foundation for the field of education (Tracey & Morrow, 2012).
The Mental Discipline Theory supported instructional practices that were grounded in drill and rote memorization. The curriculum consisted of a series of skills that were sequentially organized from the easiest to the most complex (Coker & White, 1993, in Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p.19). -
Jan 1, 1000
Associationism
"Associationism is a theory of psychology and education that is devoted to the study of how learning occurs" (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). According to Sternberg (1996), "Associationism examines how events or ideas can become associated with one another in the mind, to result in a form of learning" (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p.20).
Aristotle -
Jan 1, 1000
Unfoldment Theory
Unfoldment Theory - Rousseau
Children's learning would evolve naturally as a result of their innate curiosity.
Educators should follow children's leads regarding what and when they wanted to learn. -
Jan 1, 1000
Structuralism and Early scientific Foundations of Reading
Structuralism was thought to be the first major school in psychology. This theory sought to explain the structure of the mind through the study of perception. Print perception is a critical component of the reading process. -
Period: Jan 1, 1000 to Jan 1, 1300
Early Literacy Theories
-
Period: to
Behaviorism
-
Classical Conditioning Theory
Theorist: Pavlov
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "Classical Conditioning Theoru exemplifies Behaviorism because it focuses on observable changes in behavior and responses to stimuli as demonstrative of learning. -
Inquiry Learning
John Dewey's idea of learning was based on the Unfoldment Theory. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), John Dewey emphasized the growth of the individual, the importance of the environment, and the role of the teacher in students' learning. Inquiry Learning emphasized a problem-based learning approach to education, central to which was motivating learner's interest (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Behaviorism
Theorist - Watson
Behaviorism focuses on observable changes in behavior. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), :"Behaviorism changed the depiction of reading from one of perceptual processing to one of reading as a behavior composed of isolated skills, each of which could be reinforced to increase student achievement."
Three Major Behaviorist Theories:
Classical Conditioning
Connectionism
Operant Conditioning Theory -
Period: to
Constructivism 1920s - Present
-
Transactional/Reader Response Theory
Louise Rosenblatt (1978) extended the application of Schema Theory to the field of reading. According to Pearson (2011), "The notion that all readers have indivivualized reading experiences bacause each reader has unique background schemata forms the cornerstone of Rosenblatt's Transactional/Reader Response Theory (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Rosenblatt suggested that the reader makes meaning between the text and self. -
Theory of Cognitive Development
Thoerist: Piaget
Piaget is classified as a constructivist and a developmental theorist.
Penn (2008) states, ""Consistent with a constructivist viewpoint, Piaget stressed the importance of the child as an active organism as he or she progressed in cognitive development" (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Jean Piaget developed the Theoris of Cognitive Development, which describes how children's thinking changes over time in stages. -
Maturation Theory
1930s - 1950s
This theory supports reading instruction beginning at the age of 6 1/2 years of age with recommendations that the parents not teach reading at home. Morphett and Washburne (1931) advocated for the postponement of reading instruction until a child was developmentally old enough to be successful with the tasks of early reading (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Schema Theory
The Schema Theory is a constructivist theory that describes how knowledge is created and used by learners. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), people oraganize everything they know into schemata or knowledge structures. Everyone's schemata are individualized.
Bartlet (1932) has been credited with the creation of the term "schema" as we use it today in education, and the initial, general application of the term to the field of education (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
Theories of Literacy Development
-
Why Johnny Can't Read
Rudolph Flesch's (1955) publication, Why Johnny Can't Read, brought the spotlight onto phonics. A debate continued about the best approach on phonics instruction became an issue (Vogt & Shearer, 2011). -
Information Processing Model
Theorists: Atkinson and Shiffrin
According to Slavin (2003), "Information processing theory is the cognitive theory of learning that describes the processing, storage, and retrieval of knowledge from the mind (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). This theory suggests that information moves through different stages as it is processed, reflected upon, learned, saved, and retrieved (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Period: to
Social Learning Perspectives
-
Emergent Literacy Theory
The Emergent Literacy Theory is consistent with Whole Language Theory. Developed by Marie Clay, the Emergent Literacy Theory supports that children's developemnt in teh areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening are all interrelated (Morrow, 2012 as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). A child's literacy development begins at birth and is continuous and ongoing. -
Psycholinguistic Theory
Psycholinguistic Theorist: Goodman
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), the core of the psycholinguistic perspective on reading is the assumption that reading is primarily a language process. Further, the readers rely on language cueing systems that readers use. The cueing systems incluse syntactic cues, semantic cues, and graphophonic cues. -
Metacognitive Theory
Theorist: Flavell
Metacognition refers to thinking about your reading, or thinking about your own thinking. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), the goal of metacognitive instruction is to help readers become more aware of their own thinking during the reading process which ultimately, should lead to increased text comprehension. -
Engagement Theory
According to Guthrie, Guthrie, and Wigfield (2004, 2000) the Engagement Theory seeks to articulate the differences between "engaged" and "disengaged" readers, and to provide direction to educators on how to help students become more engaged. This theory suggests engaged readers are motivated intrinsically and read often. -
Social Learning Theory
Theorist: Bandura
Social Learning Theory is a combination of Behaviorism and Social Learning. Bandura suggested that people learn from observing others. He further emphasized that much cognition is used during observational learning (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Whole Language Theory
The Whole Language Theory is an extention of the Psycholinguistic Theory and builds upon the Unfoldment Theory. According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), the Whole Language Theory suggests that reading is a natural process that children will acquire if immersed in high -quality literacy environments and exposed to meaningful, authentic literacy experiences and high-quality literacture. The theory further explains that listening, speaking, reading, and writing are all interconnected. -
Sociolinguistics
Theorist: Bernstein
According to Boom and Greenm 1984, "Sociolinguistics is rooted in the fields of anthropology, linguistics, and literary analysis (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The "Sociolinguistic theorists who study reading believe that oral language is the foundation upon which children's reading and writing achievement is built" (Tracey & Morrow, 2012) -
Socio-Cultural Theory
Theorist: Bronfenbrenner
Social, cultural, and historical factors in the human experience are emphasized in the Socio-Cultural Theory (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). This theory is closely tied to Sociolinguistics, however Socio-Cultural Theory focuses on the broadre concept of culture (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Social Constructivism
Vygotsky, a Social Constructivist Theorist, believed that children learn as a result of their social interactions with others (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Vygotsky offered that the zone of proximal development is the level at which a child can be successful with the appropriate support. He further suggested that the idea of scaffolding assists with the zone of proximal development (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Critical Literacy Theory
Theorist: Freire
Morris, 2011 states, "Critical Literacy Theory considers the political aspects of literacy education such as the ways in which schooling reinforces persistent inequalities in contemporary society, and the opportunities that exhist within education to empower individuals to overcome such social oppression (as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Gough's Model
Gough's model of reading is known as "bottom-up" information-processing model because the cognitive processing of information is moving from lower order to higher order stages (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Theory of Literacy Development
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), "Learning to read is viewed as a natural developmental occurance." Literacy begins in the home when children see their parents read and when they have stories read to them. -
Family Literacy Theory
Theorist: Taylor
The Family Literacy Theory overlaps with the Emergent Literacy Theory. The Family Literacy Theory emphasizes parental involvement along with positive parent and teacher interactions (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Phonological-Core Variable
Theorist: Stanovich
Stanovich believed the primary difference between normal and dyslexic individuals was determined by deficits in the phonological realm of cognitive functioning (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). He argued that looking into phonological deficits as the primary issue would help to intervene with at-risk readers (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Stage Models of Reading
Beginning on the 1980s, the Stage Models of Reading developed as a way to understand the stages readers move through toward reading proficiency (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). The theorists for the Stage Models of Reading include Ehri, Chall, Gough, and Frith. -
Parallel Distributed Processing Model
Theorist: Seidenberg & McClelland
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), two features of the Parallel Distributed Processing Model are that all cognitive information is stored as a series of connections between units and that these connections between units become stronger and faster with repeated pairings. This theory is a Connectionist theory of reading. -
Third Space Theory
Theorist: Lefebvre
According to Third Space Theory, the concept of "space" can be viewed not only as a physical concept but also as a space and how it is understood in human interaction and social situations (Cobb, 2011, as cited in Tracey & Morrow, 2012). First Space refers to the inidvidual's life in terms of home, family, and peer influences. Second Space refers to the indiviual's school, work, and church. Third Space is the result of the intersections of first and second spaces. -
Dual-Route Cascaded Model
Theorists: Colheart & Rastle
The Dual-Route Cascaded Model is a computer-based model that will encode text and output sound (Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p.170). -
Double-Deficit Hypothesis
According to Tracey & Morrow (2012), "Wolf and Bowers (1999) proposed this hypothesis to explain the cause of reading disabilities. According to the Double-Deficit Hypothesis, many reading-disabled children suffer from a deficit in rapid naming as well as having a phonological deficit (Tracey & Morrow, 2012, p.173). -
Connectionism
Theorist: Thorndike
According to Slavin, "Thordike extended the study of Behviorism by showing that "stimuli that occured after a behavior also had an infulence on future behaviors" (as cited in Tracey and Morrow, 2012).
Thorndike propsed four Laws of Connectionism:
Law of Effect
Law of Readiness
Law of Identical Elements
Law of Exercise Like Pavlov and Watson, Thordike also associated learning with observable changes in behavior, which is why he is considered a behavior theorist. -
Operant Conditioning Theory
Theorist: B.F. Skinner
According to Tracey and Morrow (2012), Skinner called his classroom application of Operant Conditioning Theory "programmed learning" also known as "programmed instruction."
The instruction is broken down into small, successive steps that are carefully designed to maximize the likelihood of students' success, and to minimize the likelihood of students' frustration and failure (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). -
Constructivism
As cited in Tracey & Morrow, "Constructivism is a theory of learning that emphasizes the active sonstruction of knowledge by individuals" (Gunning, 2010).
Individuals integrate new knowledge with exhisiting knowledge. This occurs only when the learner is actively angaged in the learning process.
