Theorising About Learning And Knowing

Abstract

Continuous change within the Higher Education sector places new demands on the academic practitioner as educator and teacher. To better enable faculty to hone their teaching skill this chapter visits the key theoretical approaches to learning as a nativist, behaviourist and constructivist endeavour. Recognising the complexities of the practices found within business schools, the importance of context is reinforced with a focus on the impact of students needing to demonstrate that they are knowledgeable. The challenge of learning to learn is not an easy one, and institutional practices are often difficult to permeate. We must, therefore, ensure that curricula are developed in such a way to facilitate student engagement in learning and knowledge development; Bloom’s taxonomy can be useful in the creation of structure in curriculum but we caution that its reductionist nature means it should not be overused, but perhaps used in conjunction with other approaches.