An Overview of Learning and Teaching From the Past to the Present

Abstract

Just like any other area in the world, which is quickly changing and converting in line with the scientific and technological developments, the models, approaches, and paradigms set forth as elements of learning and teaching have also undergone alterations and transformations from past to present. While the learning-teaching theories and approaches in the last century, which are based on perennialist and essentialist education philosophies and positivism paradigm, were deeming the learners as passive receivers of external stimuli and focused on the observable and measurable behaviors, the learning-teaching theories and approaches in our century, which are developed around the progressivism and re-constructionism philosophies and post-positivism paradigm, have an understanding that allocates the responsibility to the learner and adopts a lifelong learning by doing and experiencing. In this chapter, a general outlook on the learning and teaching theories and approaches will be briefly carried out.