Plato's Theory of Learning

Socrates says, "There is no such thing as teaching, only recollection."" (Plato, 1956, p. 130). .
             In the article "Learning: From Speculation to Science"," the authors describe learning as a process where people with prior knowledge and skills construct new knowledge based on what they already know. Knowledge and beliefs often correspond with people's past experiences. For example, in the article the author talks about the book "Fish Is Fish," by Leo Lionni (1970) where a fish befriends a tadpole that becomes a frog. The frog goes out on the land and reports back to the fish his findings and observations. The book depicts the fishes' view of the objects, each being a slightly adapted fish-like form. This story illustrates the imaginative and dangerous possibilities when people construct new knowledge based on prior knowledge. .
             The article also emphasizes the need to recognize when students understand a concept and when they need more information. Bransford (2000) suggest that students often develop misconceptions about a precept and it is the teacher's job to redirect their knowledge. The article states, "Children begin in preschool years to develop sophisticated understandings (whether accurate or not) of the phenomenon around them (Bransford et al., 2000, p. 15). Even though the teachers may direct a student's pre-existing knowledge, it is up to the student to take control of his or her own learning. The authors describe this process as a meta-cognitive approach to learning where "ultimately, students are able to prompt themselves and monitor their own comprehension."(Bransford et al., 2000, p. 19). .
             Both Plato and Bransford value the concept that knowledge comes from within the learner. We are born with knowledge that we continue to build on by questioning concepts and discovering the answers for ourselves. Bransford (2000) discusses a meta-cognitive approach to learning stating, "Meta-cognition refers to people's abilities to predict their performances on various tasks and to monitor their current levels of mastery and understanding "(p.