Assignment:
Identify at least 1 strength and 1 weakness in their application of the Behaviorist theory Reply with at least 300 words to other classmates' threads. Answer must follow current APA format, including in-text citations and 2 references.
As an educator there is one real-life teaching/classroom scenario that always makes me think what I could have done different to help the student improve his behavior. At the time of this scenario I was a middle school teacher teaching language art's and reading. I had one student who would like to come to class late, turn in homework late, and speak out of turn or get out of his seat during instructional time. His behavior would disrupt the whole class and often other students would get off task and had to be redirected.
Further, the student would always have an excuse on why he turned in his homework late and promised to bring the next day. While I was teaching the class, he would often start talking about things irrelevant to the topic at hand. Although, I reached out to his parents about his behavior I would notice that he would improve for a day or so but then he be right back to disrupting the class. Many times, I felt he was misbehaving for attention and I would take time and speak to him about how his behavior is interrupting the class. We would also discuss the importance of following classroom rules and there are consequences for his behavior.
As I reflect on chapter reading I found that the one of behaviorism concepts "contingency contract" could have made a difference in this student's behavior and helped him make better choices. Schunk (2016) states "a contingency contract is an agreement between teacher and student specifying what work the student will accomplish and the expected outcome for successful performance" (p. 111). I find that this student could have made a huge turnaround and stayed on task in class if there would have been a contingency contract that he helped create that including specific goals and consequences for his behavior.
Some of the key concepts in this week's reading on behaviorism was operant conditioning which is how consequences influence behavior, classical conditioning which is the pairing of stimulus and association that results between the two and shaping which is to learn through practice with corrective feedback (Khan Academy, 2018). Behaviorism is mainly concerned with observable behavior.
This week's reading on behaviorism reminds me of just how important it is to set classroom expectations and maintain throughout the school year. As educators we must not lose hope when students misbehave as we must use it as an opportunity for nurture and spiritual growth for students and ourselves (Van Brummelen, 2009). Learning about the different concepts of behaviorism reminds me just how important our role is as an educator in guiding and mentoring our students. In Romans 12:2 we are reminded that "Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (New International Version).
References:
Khan Academy (2018). Behavior learning.
Schunk, D.H. (2016). Learning theories: An educational perspective - With access (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the classroom: Christian approaches to teaching and learning (3rd ed.). Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications.