THE LEARNER AS AN EMBODIED SPIRIT

The Learner is an embodied spirit.

He/she is a union of a sentient body and a rational soul. His/her body experiences sensations
and feel pressure and pain. His/her soul is the principle of spiritual acts, the source of
intellectual abstraction, self-reflection and free rational volition. Body and soul exist in mutual
dependence (Kelly 1965)

What is a Learner?
Learner refers to the person who serves as a key participant in learning processes, as a learner
you are “curious” over things you need to know, “open-minded” for the new ideas that might
include to your prior knowledge and ready to activate your cognitive abilities to build a new
abstract wherein you can put your new insights into your life.

The Fundamental Equipment of the Learner

There are certain fundamental qualities of a learner that can be considered as the learner’s
equipment in order for him or for her to absorb knowledge in learning. These fundamental
equipments are the learners cognitive as well as the learner’s appetitive faculties. These
faculties will naturally help or guide the learner as he dealt with the learning process

Cognitive Faculties
With what faculties or powers is the learner equipped so he/she can learn? He/She is equipped
with cognitive as well as appetitive faculties. His/her cognitive faculties include the following: 1)
five senses, 2) instinct, 3) imagination, 3) memory, and 4) intellect. By his/her senses, the
learner is able to see, hear, feel, taste and smell whatever is to be learned. By the power of
imagination, the learner is able to form representations of material objects which are not
actually present to the senses. By his/her power of memory he is able to retain, recall and
recognize past mental acts. By his/her intellect, s/he can form concepts or ideas, make
judgment, and reason out.
1. Five senses. The five (5) senses are part of the learner's sentient body. For effective and
efficient learning, it is important that his/her senses function normally. It is said that"thereis
nothing in the mind which was not first in some manner in the senses."
Through the learner’s five senses, the learners can be able to see, feel, hear, taste and smell. He
or she can be able to grasp different information from his or her surrounding environment
using these natural senses.
The more senses that are involved in learning, the more and better the learning. Although all of
these senses are very helpful, we learn more with what we see than what we simply hear.
Because according to a research we take in more information visually than through any other
senses. The most effective is the combination of three or more senses, and it is called “multi-
sensory aids”
2. Instincts. The learner is also equipped with instincts. The word instinct comes from the Latin
word “instinctus” which means impulse. This means that the learner has a natural or inherent
capacity or tendency to respond to environmental stimuli such as danger signs for survival or
self-preservation. This is manifested in his/her immediate tendency to flee in case of danger or
to fight when attacked or to rationalize to defend himself/herself when his/ her ego is hurt.
For the learner to learn and develop into a human person, the teacher must teach the learner
to put his/her instincts under control. If not, the learner will not be different from any brute
that is bound by its instinct and will be far from becoming the human person who is capable of
understanding, reasoning, choice and self-control that he/she is meant to become.
Instinct also is the ability of every person to respond to environmental stimuli such as danger
signs for survival, sometimes when you are about to use your instincts it doesn’t requires a lot
of what you learn in order to apply into a particular surroundings, instinct is more about on
what you feel deep into your mind will result into a response of what will you do.
3. Imagination. This is another cognitive faculty of the learner. It is the ability to form a mental
image of something that is not perceived through the senses. It is the ability of the mind to
build mental scenes, objects or events that do not exist, are not present or have happened in
the past.
There are many instances in the teaching-learning process that call for the learner's power of
imagination. His/her imaginative power is challenged in role playing, simulation, short story
writing, drawing, dress designing, visualizing a situation and in inventing creative ways of
reporting or presenting. The teaching-learning process will be bare and dry without the use of
imagination. The learner's creative powers cannot be unleashed without the use of
imagination.
The teacher must, therefore, help the learner develop his/her power of imagination by
encouraging them to "think outside the box", to be creative, to form new ideas and explore old
ideas.
Another thing why imagination is really important is that because it changes; it is organic, and it
grows as our knowledge grows. Knowledge feeds the imagination which spurs us on to new
knowledge. Ultimately, this is the cycle of discovery and of learning we strive for in education.
An imaginative student, for example, would be free to take risks and be a leader, and to state
opinions rather than just correct answers. In the same way, an imaginative teacher can also
take risks, be a leader, and be adaptable to the changing needs of their students.
With the learner’s imagination, he or she can be able to form pictorial representation of
material objects in his or her mind. This ability is an important factor in the learning process of a
student.
4. Memory. This is the cognitive faculty of retaining and recalling past experience. As the
teaching-learning process goes on, you will have a lot to commit to memory-formula in finding
the area of a circle, the stages of mitosis, striking passages from a literary piece, presidents of
the Philippines, grammar rules and the like. Memory work is basic in learning but, of course, we
do not encourage memorizing without understanding. The learner must, therefore, be helped
to commit things to memory. How? One way is by making him/her repeat the information
mentally again and again such as repeating the cell phone number you want him/her to commit
to memory. Another way is by associating the information you want him/her to remember with
something he/she already knows. The learner remembers Rizal's birthday, June 19 because it
also his/her birthday.
A teacher will do the learner a favor when he/she does not bombard the learners with too
much information too rapidly and when he/she allocates time for rehearsal / verbal repetition
of lessons during classroom lessons. When he/she pauses once in a while to ask learners
whether they have any questions, he/she gives the learners a few moments to think over and
mentally rehearse what they have just learned.
Memory also has a fundamental role in life, reflecting the past as the past, and offering the
possibility of reusing all past and present experiences, as well as helping to ensure continuity
between what was and what was going to be.
Memory is really essential to learning, but it also depends because the information stored in
one’s memory creates the basis for linking new knowledge by association. It is a symbiotic
relationship which continues to evolve throughout our lives. So as a teacher we should really
careful with what we teach and what we put in our student’s memories.
5. Intellect. This is another cognitive faculty of the learner. By his/her intellect, the learner can
engage in cognitive processes such as forming ideas or concepts, reasoning out and making
judgment. A child and his/her mother see a black dog. The mother tells him/ her"this is a dog"
and so the child forms a concept of a dog. It has four legs, two eyes, black, covered with hair.
The next day, they go to a neighbor's house and see another breed of dog. The mother tells the
child, "this is another dog." The child's concept of dog expands. Dogs come in different colors
and sizes. This process of concept formation is possible because of the child's intellect. Early
concepts get modified and expanded as the child grows and develops. There is so much concept
formation that takes in every teaching-learning process.
The same intellect enables the learner to reason out and judge. The use of syllogism in logic
illustrates the three cognitive processes of conception or concept formation, reasoning and
judging. Here is an example: All men are rational.
Pedro is a man.
Therefore, Pedro is rational.
There are two concepts introduced, "man/men" and "rational". Relating the concepts and
seeing the consistency of the relation of the concepts to each other are the essence of logical
reasoning. This reasoning leads to judgment, the conclusion, "Therefore, Pedro is rational."
Reasoning includes analyzing. Judging is evaluating. Notice that analyzing and evaluating are in
Bloom's cognitive taxonomy of objectives. Other cognitive processes are classifying, inferring,
drawing generalizations, synthesizing. You add to the list when you think of 21st century skills.
Another example:
One of the example is that when, a baby drinks milk. As the baby grows older, the baby drinks
water as well. The concept of ‘liquids that can be drunk’ expands as the child drinks different
liquids.
Later, the concept that some things can be drunk but others cannot... adds to the concept of
liquids. This also shows how concept development supports reasoning skills.
Everyday interactions and planned experiences can be opportunities for the learners to learn
about different concepts. So with this, Educators can benefit their students or learners by
focusing on learning practices, or simply their student’s intellectual development.

Appetitive Faculties
The learner's appetitive faculties are 1) his/her feelings and emotions and 2) rational will.

Feelings and emotions. Emotion is the on / off switch for learning. Positive feelings and
emotions make the teaching-learning process an exciting and a joyful, fruitful affair. Negative
feelings and emotions make the same process a burden. The lessons that we learn and
remember most are those that have struck us in one way or another.
Negative emotions adversely affect the cognitive processes of recalling, imagining, analyzing,
reasoning, judging, evaluating synthesizing. Faced with frustration, despair, worry, sadness, or
shame, learners lose access to their own memory, reasoning, and the capacity to make
connections. .
The mere thought of being asked to read aloud in class is enough to freeze some learners.
Having to take a written test or oral exam, which require memory, reasoning, classifying,
synthesizing can lock some learners' gears. The sight of a math word problem knocks down
some learners. You scare learners and they perform poorly and don't learn new information
well. Anxiety is the enemy of memory. Unfortunately, in many of today's classrooms, we see
learners whose intellectual energies and capacities are drained by negative emotional states.
Will. The learner's will serves as guiding force and the main integrating force in his/her
character. By his/her will, the learner wills what his/her intellect presents as good and
desirable. It is this will that makes the learner free to choose or not to choose to do the good as
presented by his/her intellect. It is this free will that will not allow the learner to be totally
determined by his/her environment. This means that the degree to which the learner is
influenced by his/her environment depends ultimately on the strength of his/her will. The
learner whose will is weak will easily succumb to the bad influence of his/her peer group even if
his/her intellect tellshim/her not. But the learner with a strong will shall resist the temptation
to be influenced by bad peer group. Therefore, the focus of values education should be the
strengthening of the will.

Factors that contribute to the differences among learners.

All learners are equipped with the cognitive and appetitive faculties. They differ however in the
degree to which they are utilized and expressed on account of the learners' abilities, aptitudes,
interests, values and attitudes and home background. Let us take a look once more at the
learner from the point of view of these five distinguishing elements.
1. Ability
The learners' native ability dictates the prospects of success in any purposeful activity. Hence,
the learners' proficiency in memorization, imagination concept formation, reasoning, judging
and other cognitive skills are contingent on their endowed potential to learn. Ability determines
the learners' capacity to understand and assimilate information for their own use and
application. As learners, they differ in the way they observe and interpret happenings in their
surroundings. Some are more perceptive and discerning while others are less inquisitive. With
such typical reactions and facility to learn, they may be classified generally into fast, average
and slow learners. Others are labeled high, moderate and slow achievers. As to their mental
ability, students can be categorized into superior, above average, average and below average. A
wide range in their intelligence is a factor to consider in planning instruction.
2. Aptitude
Aptitude refers to the learners' innate talent or gift. It indicates a natural capacity to learn
certain skills. The powers of memory, imagination, concept formation, reasoning and judgment
on matters related to the arts function best for those who exhibit special inclination for the arts
such as painting and designing crafts, propensity for music and flair for dramatics. Likewise, the
same cognitive powers are at their peak for mathematics for those with aptitude in math.
An early recognition of said natural adeptness among learners is indeed compelling so as not to
waste such aptitude. Provisions of a formative environment will be of great help in enabling
them to flourish and grow.
3. Interests
Learners' interest in learning makes learning no longer a task but a pleasure. The learners'
cognitive faculties of sensorial experience, memory, imagination, concept formation, reasoning
and judgment are at their height when learners' interests are also at their peak.
Learners have varied interests A physically robust student would go for athletics, while an
artistic and stylish student would pursue hobbies that are fascinating. Girls are strongly
attracted to flowering plants and greeneries and their preoccupations revolve around them.
Boys go for hiking and mountain climbing. Of course, there will always be exceptions.
Interests are not inherited. They are developed. A classroom set-up could offer centers of
interest to give learners an opportunity to develop interests in many things. Interest clubs
organized by different disciplines may serve as outlet of special interests shared by the
members.

4. Family and cultural background

Students who come from different socioeconomic background manifest a wide range of
behavior due to differences in upbringing practices. Some families allow their members to
express their preferences regarding self-discipline while others are left to passively follow home
regulations. Their participation in classroom activities are influenced by their home training and
experiences. Either they become attuned and confident in their ways or inactive and apathetic.
Today, we speak of multi-cultural, diverse, pluralistic classrooms.
Beneficial relationships of learners with their mentors and with one another affirm the kind of
bond they enjoy at home. Cooperation, coupled with a willingness to share, is instilled and is
carried over to all associations they join. The tendency to readily affiliate with a group is most
welcomed in a classroom setting where teamwork achieves desired lesson objectives.
5. Attitudes and values
A positive attitude will enhance the maximum and optimum use of the learner's cognitive and
affective faculties for learning. A negative attitude towards learning robs them of many
opportunities for learning.
Learners with a positive attitude will demonstrate the value of persistence in their studies.
Persistent students sustain interest in a learning activity not mindful of the extra time and effort
being spent. They pursue the task to completion and never give up when confronted with
problems. They develop the attitude of trying alternative procedures until they obtain
satisfactory results. They are driven by a never-ending search for more knowledge and
information.
We will always find time for things we consider to be of value. If we value learning, we will give
it a priority. If we don't value it, we will always find a ready excuse for not engaging in it.
When we have positive learning beliefs and attitudes, we can relax, remember, focus and
absorb information as we learn.

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https://francisjohnhorca.wordpress.com/2016/07/23/the-fundamental-equipment-of-the-
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