Chapter 5
Description
Chapter 5 focuses on the behavioral and social theories in education. Ivan Pavlov's theory of Classical Conditioning and B.F. Skinner's theory of Operant Conditioning are the primary behavioral theories discussed. Albert Bandura's work and the work of Donald Meichenbaum are used to discuss social theories in education.
Analysis
Ivan Pavlov's work involved classical conditioning (Slavin, 2012). In Pavlov's research, he discovered that if he rang a bell every time a dog ate, the dog would begin to associate the sound of the bell with food and begin to salivate upon hearing the bell (Slavin, 2012). Therefore, Pavlov discovered that conditioning could affect what were once believed to be involuntary reflexes (Slavin, 2012).
B.F. Skinner proposed another type of conditioning known as operant conditioning (Slavin, 2012). Operant conditioning focuses on the relationship between a behavior and its consequence (Slavin, 2012). For example, if a student is rewarded for raising his/her hand to speak, he/she will continue that behavior. B.F. Skinner is credited with the idea of immediate consequences (positive or negative) for various behaviors (Slavin, 2012). Various reinforcers and punishers can be used to obtain desired behaviors from students.
Albert Bandura argued that Skinner's approach completely ignored the concept of modeling (Slavin, 2012).
"He felt that much of human learning is not shaped by its consequences but is more efficiently learned directly from a model (Slavin, 2012, p 112)."Bandura's theory of observational learning contains four stages: attentional, retention, reproduction, and motivation (Slavin, 2012). The attentional phase involves the student paying attention to the model, the retention phase gives the student a chance to practice what is being modeled, the reproduction phase involves the student trying to match the model, and the motivation phase involves students wanting to imitate the model (Slavin, 2012). Another aspect of Bandura's theory is self-regulation.
"Bandura hypothesized that people observe their own behavior, judge it against their own standards, and reinforce or punish themselves (Slavin, 2012, p 114)."Donald Meichenbaum's theory of cognitive behavior modification suggests that students can be taught to monitor their own behavior (Slavin, 2012). Meichenbaum's method involved getting students to think about their own thinking.
Reflection
When I began reading this chapter, I thought that Pavlov's approach was very animalistic. I had a hard time relating this theory to the classroom because it seemed a bit demeaning to the subjects. I don't necessarily want to "train" my students. I want to teach them through the use of consequences and modeling.
I related more to the ideas of Skinner. In my school, we use the PBIS system. This system focuses on positive consequences for positive behaviors. That's not to say that there are no negative consequences for negative behaviors, but there is are consequences for student behavior. Since the implementation of PBIS, our amount of office discipline referrals have decreased dramatically.
I also enjoyed reading about Bandura's approach. Bandura suggests that students will behave according to what is modeled for them. We see this a lot in the classroom. We see that students behave a certain way because that's the way their parents behave. Therefore, I try to model for my students the behavior I expect of them. I try to stay calm in stressful situations, I try not to raise my voice, I show them respect, etc... I always try to remember to practice what I preach, especially in front of my students.
Meichenbaum's theory was also interesting to me. I think it is important for young students to learn how to self-monitor. We need to help foster their self-monitoring skills. I think these skills are very developmental, and we need to begin teaching students how to self-monitor at an early age.
When I began reading this chapter, I thought that Pavlov's approach was very animalistic. I had a hard time relating this theory to the classroom because it seemed a bit demeaning to the subjects. I don't necessarily want to "train" my students. I want to teach them through the use of consequences and modeling.
I related more to the ideas of Skinner. In my school, we use the PBIS system. This system focuses on positive consequences for positive behaviors. That's not to say that there are no negative consequences for negative behaviors, but there is are consequences for student behavior. Since the implementation of PBIS, our amount of office discipline referrals have decreased dramatically.
I also enjoyed reading about Bandura's approach. Bandura suggests that students will behave according to what is modeled for them. We see this a lot in the classroom. We see that students behave a certain way because that's the way their parents behave. Therefore, I try to model for my students the behavior I expect of them. I try to stay calm in stressful situations, I try not to raise my voice, I show them respect, etc... I always try to remember to practice what I preach, especially in front of my students.
Meichenbaum's theory was also interesting to me. I think it is important for young students to learn how to self-monitor. We need to help foster their self-monitoring skills. I think these skills are very developmental, and we need to begin teaching students how to self-monitor at an early age.
Reference
Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
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