Recently, the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts published a new book by author Prof. Sami Behnam al-Malih, titled: “Learning from a Broader Perspective,” within the Syriac Library’s Syriac Culture Series.
The book conveys the writer’s personal experience in education and learning, as well as the difference between them. The book is of particular importance to researchers in the field of social sciences and closely related academic branches within the human sciences, especially sociology and psychology.
It is divided into six chapters:-
The first chapter is about what learning is, its nature and the interconnectedness of its processes. Its multiple scientific definitions are presented, explained, and evaluated from varying philosophical and methodological standpoints.
The second chapter deals with the historical perspective, and the foundations or factors for the development of the outlook on learning. It also discusses the philosophies, studies, theories, and trends that emerged and influenced the development of understanding learning processes, and then the organisation of education, schools, and teaching for many centuries, starting with the Mesopotamian civilisations and reaching the Age of Enlightenment.
The third chapter deals with traditional classical learning theories, starting with pre-behavioral theories and moving on to behavioral, cognitive, and sociocultural theories. It also introduces these theories and their impact on understanding learning processes, and then compares and identifies strengths and weaknesses, from a contemporary learning perspective.
While the fourth chapter is devoted to presenting contemporary theoretical and applied trends that have a continuing impact on learning, building schools, developing educational methods, and helping children and learners of all ages.
The fifth chapter focuses on the main goal of the book, which is good and effective learning, and the most important factors, foundations and requirements for good and effective learning for all children.
The sixth and final chapter deals with a topic that is unfamiliar in our societies, and was not at the required level in the table of educational concerns, which is the topic of learning difficulties. Children who suffer from learning problems and difficulties need help from specialists in cooperation with their families.
The book comes in 207 medium-sized pages and bears the number 72 within the series.