Environmental factors and their role in learning

¶ … Environment Plays a role in Learning

As we proceed in our quest to find new ways of doing things we have done before, and improving on the issues on hand by incorporating new philosophies, and new ways to resolve the issues, we need to be focused on the education we provide to our students. Is it possible that we can pin-point environmental issues and relate them to the students learning capabilities? It is said that the environment will play a major role in the learning abilities of the students. Whether we are looking at the differences in culture, social status, educational level, living location and arrangements, quality of teachers, the learning location, job responsibilities, and family affairs, we need to understand two major aspects to this question, the internal and the external aspects. Let us look at three different environments, social, economic, and educational to see what impact they have on students.

To describe the social environment and the role in the learning process we need to understand the situation and the environment first. For example, we might be pursuing a new career and based on our capabilities we may want to study at home. The challenges here are multitude in respect to our living arrangement. We need to know whether the space we occupy during our learning will be exclusively dedicated to us during that time or do we have to share it. Family, as important as it is to someone's personal life, may be an obstacle during time of learning. Family members may interrupt us, or require some participation in other family activities. It is important for each family member to understand that during learning hours there can be no disturbance. This can work to some degree in many families, yet in families of lower social status it will not be feasible since family members will not understand the student's urgency and need for the time to learn. In other words the students needs for an environment that encourages intellectual freedom and encourages experimentation and creativity (Billington, NDI). Also, certain cultures may not emphasize the same amount of interest to a certain development of their inhabitants as other cultures may do. In other words, it was found that some tribes in Indochina do not have written account of their language, and are therefore very restricted in their capability to teach their language properly to their children (Kelly, 2010). While in other cultures, in some African tribes, a boy becomes a man at the age of 12 years, the emphasis here is not on their education, yet more on the way they will have to carry on their tribe's tradition. In more developed cultures, such as our own, we see that the children are in a better position compared to undeveloped cultures because of the ample opportunities they have to gather information (Internet, TV, Radio, etc.) and to process the information they are exposed to.

When looking at the economic environment we must understand the differences between private and employment life. For example, if a student is working to provide for his/her living expenses, it is imperative that these arrangements are considered. Employers should allow their employees in these cases to have ample time after hours to perform their learning objectives and have high chances of success. For online studies for example we must look for self-directed learning, where students take responsibility for their own learning. They work with faculty to design individual learning programs which address what each person needs and wants to learn in order to function optimally in their profession (Billington, NDI). The differences can be significant between learning at school or at home. While at school the student is more likely to be focused on his/her learning objectives, while at home some distraction or work related issues may be present. The continuous pressure to perform at a high level at work and to perform in his/her educational environment can be very stressful to the student and will have significant impact on the learning outcome. Also, the fact that other economic factors need consideration cannot be overlooked. We have to consider the financial aspects where the student is pre-occupied with his/her situation instead of focused on the learning outcome.

At the educational level we need to understand that if a student has chosen to get back to school and to improve his/her knowledge to better his/her career, an already educated student will have lesser problems as a student who goes back to school after a long time without prior education. Discipline is a major factor, and in most cases easier handled by educated students, when it comes to online learning. At this level we need to understand that not everyone is the same. Many studies have been done on this subject and have proven different ways and outcomes, yet at the overall perspective we can see that the educational level of the student has a significant influence on the learning outcome.

Certain environments have proven to negatively or positively impact the learning process of students. The most dangerous distraction of all is the student's family. If the student resides in a negative environment, then chances are that this will trickle down to their learning (Kelly, 2010). On the other hand, families may be a source of positive motivation within the student's life, and encourage the him/her to believe in itself and to have confidence to meet new challenges in their surroundings, whether school, home, or other interaction that facilitates learning (Kelly, 2010).