Behaviorism Key Terms
Behaviorism Beliefs
Behaviorism
Pros and Cons of Behaviorism
Behaviorism in the Classroom
- Developed by B.F. Skinner
- Believed best way to understand behavior is to look at the cause of an action and its consequences
- this is called operant conditioning.
- Theory of operant conditioning was based on Edward Thorndike's Law of Effect
- Skinner introduced term Reinforcement to Thorndike's theory
- People are more likely to learn and exhibit behaviors that elicit desirable consequences
- People's behaviors are largely the result of their experiences with environmental stimuli
- Learning can be described in terms of associations among stimuli and responses
- Operant Conditioning: Roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response
- Stimulus: Specific object or event that influences an individual's learning or behavior
- Response: Specific behavior that an individual exhibits
- Reinforcement: Consequence of a response that leads to increased frequency of the response
Five Learning
Theories
A teacher can change a student's behavior for the good when they give stickers for completing a homework assignment. The reward, a sticker, will typically cause the student to complete their homework more frequently.
Bad behavior can also be snuffed out by placing a child in timeout for behaving badly.
The stimulus being the stickers or timeout and responses being complete homework or the disappearance of bad behavior.
Pros
- Provides opportunity to reinforce behavior in a desirable way
- Changes are observable, you know if it is working or not
- It is possible to actually "write" or "create" the desired behavior it takes to learn
Cons
- Does not account for human emotion or thought processes
- More about controlling the classroom and behavior there and less about the actual subject
- Assumes you must be rewarded or punished in order to learn
Montessori School Philosophy
Educators and the Humanistic Approach
Principles Reggio Emilia Approach
Humanism
Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs
- Children have some control over their learning
- Children learn through experiences - touching, moving and observing
- Children have relationships with other children and materials that allow them to explore
- Children must have endless opportunities to express themselves
- Loris Malaguzzi - Developed the Reggio Emilia approach
- Originated in town of Reggio Emilia, Italy
- Approach based on the belief that children are powerful people, full of the desire and ability to grow up and construct their own knowledge
- Developed out of a movement towards progressive and cooperative early childhood education
- Child-centered educational approach based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood
- Focused on activities that would benefit children on a daily basis - personal care, gardening for example
- Approach that values the human spirit and the development of the whole child (physical, social, emotional, cognitive)
- Multi-age grouping fosters peer learning - the older children teach the younger ones while reinforcing their learning by teaching the concepts they have already mastered
- Maria Montessori - One of Italy's first female physicians
- Medical practice focused on psychiatry and developed an interest in education and educational theory
- Took time to observe which teaching methods worked best
- Opened childcare center focused on the child and how they absorbed knowledge from their surroundings
- Based on needs of the child, where the goal is self-actualization
- These needs may only be met by external sources meaning a child cannot learn if one of these is compromised
- Developed by Abraham Maslow with influence from Carl Rogers
- Maslow developed a hierarchial theory of human motivation as foundation for his theory - Hierarchy of Needs
- Emphasizes the study of the whole person
- Looks at human behavior through eyes of observer and eyes of person doing the behaving
Cognitive
Pros and Cons of Humanism
Stages of Development
Pros and Cons of Cognitive
Adaptation Processes
3 Basic Components of the Cognitive Theory
Cons
- Student must be self-motivated
- Ignores biology with the belief that a human is a blank slate to be written
- Cognitive development is about a child developing or constructing a mental model of the world (4 universal stages)
Pros
- Fairly stress free approach to learning
- Results are measurable leading to more accurate information about the theory
- Allows for student interaction which can lead to better communicators
Pros
- Endorses play through hands on experiences
- Focuses on the process of learning not just the end result
- Can perform certain tasks so the student's development can be measured
1. Schema: Basic building block of intelligent behavior; a form of organizing information that a person uses to interpret the things he or she sees, hears, smells and touches
2. Adaptation processes: equilibrium, assimilation and accomodation
3. Stages of Development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational
Cons
- Solely focuses on childhood development and doesn't take into account that knowledge builds through adulthood
- Does not take into account the environment the student lives in
- Assimilation: Process of taking in new information and fitting it into a preconceived notion about objects or the world
- Accommodation: When existing schema does not work the process of adjusting to new experiences or objects by revising the old plan to fit new information
- Equilibrium: The balance between the processes of assimilation and accommodation; this force moves development along
- Disequilibrium: State of confusion, dissonance or discomfort when new information does not integrate within existing structures. This confusion motivates us to overcome the new challenge and restore balance
- Developed by Jean Piaget
- Became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers to questions that require logical thinking
- Focuses on mental processes - perceiving, remembering, believing and reasoning
- Believed cognitive development is cumulative - understanding a new experience comes out of a previous learning experience
Humanism in the Classroom
Cognitive in the Classroom
Social Cognitive
One of the greatest examples of humanism in the classroom can be seen in a Montessori school. Students there are allowed each day to choose what they want to learn and then can reflect on what they achieved during the day. Classrooms in Montessori schools are also multi-age so that older students can teach the younger students each subject. By teaching the younger students, the older students typically develop a much better understanding themselves of the subject.
Social Cognitive in the Classroom
Conditions for Effective Modeling
Pros and Cons of Social Cognitive
I find the easiest way to explain the cognitive learning theory is with the use of mathematics. In math you continually build on the knowledge you have already learned. First, you begin by simply learning numbers and how to count. Next, you learn how to add and subtract the numbers followed by multiplication and division. Each time the student is faced with a new problem they can't solve, they look to the things they have already learned and think critically on how to use those to solve the new problem. Once solved, the new problem then gets "filed" into their memory to use in future problem solving.
Since the social cognitive learning theory focuses so strongly on the use of a model to help with teaching, the best example is the use of a model. If you have a student in class that is acting out, punish them and others in the class will discourage others from also acting out. Hands on type tasks are also taught very well using this theory; sewing and cooking for example.
Cons
- Does not follow developmental stages throughout a lifetime
- No account for personality changes
- Cannot always quantify what has been learned
Pros
- Can change the environment to better facilitate learning
- Gives more depth to the idea of learning - part environment, part personality
- Developed by Albert Bandura
- Proposed that learning can occur by simply observing the actions of others in addition to associations formed by direct conditioning, reinforcement and punishment
- Model: Person who demonstrates a behavior for someone else
- Modeling: Demonstrating a behavior for another or observing and imitating another's behavior
- Attention: The learner must pay attention to the model, particularly the critical aspects of the modeled behavior
- Retention: The learner must remember what the model does
- Modeling something in different ways (verbally and physically) allows for better retention
- Reproduction: The learner must by physically capable of reproducing the modeled bahavior
- Motivation: The learner must be motivated to demonstrate the modeled bahavior
Social Constructivism
Key Terms of Social Constructivism
Learning Theories Similarities/Differences
Pros and Cons of Social Constructivism
Learning Theories Similarities/Differences
Social Constructivism in the Classroom
Learning Theories Similarities/Differences
- Developed by Lev Vygotsky
- Believed the most effective learning happens when the new skills and concepts being taught are just on the edge of emergence
- Groups construct knowledge for one another collaboratively creating a small culture of shared artifacts with shared meanings
- Culture plays a large role in cognitive development
- Focuses on fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition
Pros
- Takes an interactive, hands-on approach to learning
- Teacher is the guide and allows students to think critically
- Learning is organized (scaffolded)
The Cognitive theory is very similar to the Social Constructivism theory. Both theories tend to build upon previous knowledge; either of a situation or tool. Once a tool is mastered in the Social Constructivism theory, it can be used in the future to tackle new obstacles, this is called scaffolding. Just like in the Cognitive theory, where once a subject is mastered that knowledge can be used to then solve future problems.
The social constructivism theory also focuses very strongly on building and using tools to construct new knowledge in the mind. This is different from the social cognitive theory that tends to focus development on retention and reproduction.
I feel that social constructivism is best explained with the example of a trade. If a person wishes to become a plumber or an electrician they attend class. But, once they have graduated the course they become an apprentice for a few years before they begin to work professionally on their own. During the apprenticeship the student starts at the bottom and learns each day from their more experienced teacher.
Cons
- Constant feedback and assessment is necessary from the student to confirm they are learning
- Could require a lot of planning on the teacher's part to produce a lesson that is properly equipped to lead the student in the appropriate direction
- Cultural tools: tools that our mind uses to solve problems and to come up with solutions to these problems
- Cultural mediation: the thoughts, behaviors and way communities interact with each other are all factors that contribute to a child's environment
- Scaffold: a more knowing other teaches the child at a level the child understands
- The person with more knowledge demonstrates a task and with the help of the more knowing other the child performs the task as the MKO fades away letting the child master the task on their own
- Zone of proximal development: the place where child and adult meet
- The teacher or adult guides and intervenes when the child reaches a point of frustration
- Allows the child to perform beyond their current abilities
The Humanism learning theory and Social Cognitive learning theory each share the use of a model or peer to peer teaching. When using a humanistic approach many teachers will use multi-age groupings so that the older students can teach younger students while also becoming more confident in a subject that they are teaching. A social cognitive approach to teaching makes use of models to demonstrate a behavior or lesson to others.
Humanism is very largely based on the idea that environment plays a major role in the development of a child. This can be seen in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs. The cognitive approach is very unlike this in that it does not account for the environment. This approach just accounts for the technical aspect of learning and knowledge building.
Behaviorism is similar to Humanism because they both take into account the environment the student lives in. For example, Humanism believes a student cannot learn if they have an unstable home life; Behaviorism believes the unstable home life simply affects how and what the student learns. The home life/environment being the stimuli and the meeting or not meeting of the needs in Maslow's heirarchy.
Where behaviorism uses stimuli to elicit a specific behavior from a student, social constructivism is unlike this. According to the social constructivism theory the student eventually no longer relies on surroundings or stimuli to control their physical and mental behavior. Behaviorism is also strongly driven by the idea a child is born a blank slate ready to be written any way you direct. Social constructivism claims infants are born with the basic ability for intellectual development.