Description:
This
week we read chapter 5 in our textbook, Behavioral Theories of Learning. In it
we read how several theorist view discipline in the overall growth and
development of children. We discussed a video of Peppermint Patty misbehaving
in class in our discussion groups as well as the pros and cons of sending
students to the office. Lastly, we watched a video where Bandura discussed his
social learning theory.
Analyze:
Children are constantly learning and this is a wonderful
thing, except when they have picked up on a negative behavior. Mayer
defines learning as “long-lasting change in the learner’s knowledge as a result
of the learner’s experiences” (Slavin, 2015, pg. 98). Several
theorist believe that learning is conditioning from observation and modeling.
Pavlov believed that
learning took place when a subject was presented with a stimulus. His
famous salivating dog experiment is where he drew his conclusions. He believed
that he could take an unconditioned response, a dog salivating at the site of
meat and a neutral response, a ringing bell that the dog does not react to and
train the dog to salivate by simply introducing the bell every time he
presented the dog with meat. Conditioned response is when the desired
result was reached (Slavin, 2015, pg. 99).
Skinner believed that given a situation, you could change behavior based on pleasant and unpleasant consequences. He trained rats that if they pushed a lever they could receive food. The rats would repeat this behavior over and over even when not constantly rewarded. This led him to his operant conditioning theory. The believed you could strengthen desired behaviors through pleasurable consequences (Slavin, 2015, pg. 99)
Skinner believed that given a situation, you could change behavior based on pleasant and unpleasant consequences. He trained rats that if they pushed a lever they could receive food. The rats would repeat this behavior over and over even when not constantly rewarded. This led him to his operant conditioning theory. The believed you could strengthen desired behaviors through pleasurable consequences (Slavin, 2015, pg. 99)
Another
way to condition children is through the use of intrinsic and extrinsic
reinforcers. An example of an intrinsic reinforcers was seen in the Peppermint
Patty video. Peppermint Patty loved art and needed no reward or encouragement
to complete the task ("Peppermint Patty In School YouTube", 2015).
Extrinsic reinforcers are when students need to be motivated to comply with the
desired task (Slavin, 2015, pg. 103).
When
the situation calls for it, a punishment may need to be considered. This could
be removal where the student is completely removed from the situation,
situation cost where the student must pay with a time out, or sit-and-watch
where the student stays, but does not participate (Slavin, 2015, pg. 105).
While studies show that sit-and-watch corrected more behaviors, I think it is
important to find the right punishment for the student and the situation.
Reflection:
Classroom
behavior is learned whether it was learned in your classroom or before they
came to you. It is your role to create an environment conducive to learning and
this may mean addressing and limiting undesirable behaviors.
According
to Bandura, children learn through observation and modeling ("Bandura and
Social Learning Theory", 2013). In the video we watched this week, a model
was aggressive with a blowup clown while children watched. When left alone with
the same blowup, they behaved as aggressive, if not more aggressive. This seems
to support Bandura’s theory; by watching how to interact with the toy, they
modelled what they had been shown.
If
there is not consistency in the classroom, classroom management can quickly get
out of hand. Students will watch and learn from your reactions, and those of
their classmates. If child A is allowed to talk while the teacher is talking,
then child B may decide it is okay to talk based on what he/she have observed.
Once the classroom is out of control, the teacher calls for help or sends the
student out in an effort to gain control. In my opinion, this too has taught
the students something…The teacher isn’t the one in charge.
Rather
than allowing a negative reaction to occur, I feel that the better approach
would be a positive reinforcer. First, there should be consistency. If it is
not okay to get up and move about the room during a teaching moment, then this
should be the rule 100% of the time. If a rule is broken, reward the others and
ignore the small infraction. There are many things that happen in a classroom
full of children each day that are small things. Skinner too believed that
pleasurable consequences reinforced doing the right thing (Slavin, 2016, pg.
101).
I
was also surprised to find that the way I handled a student moved to my
classroom late in the year based on his behavior in another room was an
accepted practice called the Premack Principal (Slavin, 2015, pg. 102). I took
a negative and turned it to a positive. He had repeatedly been sent to the
office for misbehaving and I would not allow him to go to the office unless he
did behave.
This
week’s reading was quite interesting. It helped me realize that I am on the
right track in my classroom and it has given me ideas on how to tweak a few
things.
Resources
Peppermint Patty In School YouTube. (2015, June 21). Retrieved
May 23, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTKJ4crsNlY
Slavin, R. E. (2015). Educational Psychology: Theory
and practice (12th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson
Therealmarcsmith. (2013, August 30). Bandura and Social
Learning Theory. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=NjTxQy_U3ac
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