Thinking about my growth through this course, it has become obvious to me the difference between how people learn and how we can adapt teaching to influence how which people learn. It was evident in my first presentation of a personal learning theory that I was reflecting on and applying our readings and discussions as a teacher, not as a student. The intent of this project is to illustrate how my experiences, personal and professional, along with what I have learned during this course, have shaped my personal theory of learning. The structure of my theory embraces the following components: • the social nature of learning • the importance of scaffolding • relevant content The social nature of learning Learning is a social phenomenon. There is the relational aspect of this phenomenon, since positive relationships between students, or between student and tutor, improve the learning process. Students feel more comfortable taking risks when they are in a positive relationship, and risks are necessary for growth to occur. Once relationships are established in a learning environment, two key aspects of learning described by Salomon and Perkins (1998) are salient features of my personal learning theory: an individual's learning is facilitated by others and through interactions social interactions, meaning can be constructed. Dewey also emphasized the importance of learning through social interactions. “Purposeful activity in social contexts [is] the key to authentic learning…” (Phillips & Soltis, p. 56). Furthermore, according to Dewey, a teacher (and not just a teacher in a school situation) helps a student build new cognitive structures based on cognitive structure... , and unfortunately students are not able to learn. It is through intense exploration of learning theorists, both through the texts provided in the course and others I have discovered, that help me develop my own unique theory of learning. I have used my draft theory as a reference point for my work with teachers and students over the past few weeks to assess whether its three key principles applied to how teachers and students were learning, and I believe they do. Learning is a social phenomenon in which new content is appropriately structured. Within the social context of learning, supportive environments enhance learning, whether it is a community of practice or a traditional student-teacher relationship. Finally, relevant content allows the student to make connections with existing schema to develop new and more complex understandings.