Upon initially reading the prompt for this writing assignment, I struggled to think of a

learning environment that demonstrated a point of intersection where a learner centered,

knowledge centered, and assessment centered environments converged. In order to gain

perspective, I believe it is necessary to pull away from what I can strictly control in my

classroom, to a more holistic view by looking at the entire school. As the figure 6.1 Perspectives

on Learning SOURCE Bransford et al. (1998) demonstrates, a child’s learning does not exist in

isolation, but rather is surrounded by the broader community. As I have just started at a new

school with a grade level I have limited experience with, this is an opportunity for me to gain

insight into what kind of learning environment my workplace is and how it operates. Additionally,

as a teacher, what I can bring to the role that assists the school to move towards a more

balanced and intersected learning environment.

A moment within my school where I witnessed all three environments intersect was

during the start of our term two with my kindergarten class. Each new term is launched with a

celebration of the theme, which in this case was “National Identity''. Students were encouraged

to wear national dress, and share their knowledge of the Emirati culture with one another. We

followed the diagnostic teaching model and started with what the student’s already knew first,

elaborated with questioning, conversation and reflections (Bransford, J. D., et al., p.134). This

moment converges into being a knowledge centered environment because as we celebrated

their culture, we also explored their initial perceptions about the UAE and how the country may

be perceived abroad or by foreigners. I agree with the reading in that the concept of children

being incapable of complex reasoning is an outdated approach to learning (Bransford, J. D., et

al., p.138). I was able to use some critical thinking with my students because they had the

knowledge required to support this line of questioning. I also found it to be a good opportunity to

try out more complex teaching strategies as I knew that all of my students would be coming to
the class with knowledge of their culture. For the past few years, the UAE National Agenda has

strived to “preserve a cohesive society proud of its identity and sense of belonging” (UAE Vision

2021, 2018). This has been accomplished through an ambitious media campaign specifically

celebrating the UAE’s achievements on an international scale with an underlying theme of unity.

Lastly, this moment intersects with an assessment centered environment because within the

classroom I am building the skill of self-assessment. As I want to encourage reflection and

independence with my students, at the end of our term, they check their understanding by the

use of age appropriate self-assessment.

I think that in order to overlap the learning environments in my school in a more

consistent way, a great deal of communication, clarity and alignment would need to happen. I

think it would be beneficial for teachers to share assessment practices with one another that fit

into culture centered and learner centered environments as this can be challenging at times,

and dependent on workload. Sharing successes and effective strategies with colleagues can

often be the most meaningful and practical professional development. Meeting consistently with

leadership to collectively define goals and success, can also lead to an improvement in learning

(Bransford, J. D., et al., p. 152). There sometimes seems to be a disconnect or distance

between management and teachers at my school which can lead to misunderstandings or

misconceptions. Making sure teachers have sufficient time and support would also be a key

factor as many events are planned at the last minute which leads to teachers feeling rushed

without sufficient time to plan and think about the lessons in a more complex fashion. Lastly, I

think there would need to be an increase of autonomy and trust in teachers. The school

provides a class structure they want teachers to follow which doesn’t allow for a great deal of

flexibility. Instead as Wilson and Peterson (2006) describe in Theories of Learning and

Teaching, it shouldn't be an “anything goes” approach, but rather teachers should be

systematically considering various factors such as individual student learning needs, the subject

matter and the most effective strategies.

perspective, draws inspiration for teaching strategies which take into account misconceptions

and conflicting viewpoints, while choosing strategies to build on existing knowledge. A

knowledge centered learning environment, on the other hand, seeks to add new information to a

student’s understanding, ideally in a fashion which is not overwhelming. An assessment

centered learning environment is one which focuses on genuine understanding, not just

memorization, and leans heavily on formative assessment to align itself with the overall learning

goals. Personally my idea of knowledge acquisition did change slightly. I thought that by using

formative assessment techniques such as self-assessment and reflections that this would be

considered a student centered environment since the student is engaging in metacognition of

their own learning . Perhaps this is because when I think of assessment base models I think of

standardized testing and large summative and more traditional forms of assessment.

Creating a balance of teaching environments is a necessity for high quality teaching and

learning. As a teacher, I should be thinking more critically about drawing on my students

previous knowledge while also considering aligning the content with appropriate assessment

throughout the unit. I also need to keep in mind that these environments do not necessarily exist

in isolation, but are still concepts and exist in a type of continuum. I would like to research more

into how the four environments can be constructed within school to help support each other. As

the IRIS Center Peabody College Vanderbilt University Nashville (2023) explains on their

websites, “creating a balanced learning environment allows learners to have more control over

their own academic experiences by vigorously assessing and improving their own learning”. The

balance of learning environments ensures that important steps are being taken to help develop

student advocacy towards their academics as well as a desire to continue to pursue learning both

inside and outside of the classroom.