Behaviorism Applied

Consider your CSEL intervention case study.  Are there tools from a behaviorist view for either encouraging productive behaviors or discouraging undesirable behaviors that you could apply to the case?  What are they?

In my CSEL intervention case study, there are tools from a behaviorist view that can be applied to the case. In order to encourage productive behaviors, the educator could model good behavior for Lisa or have the other students serve as models for Lisa to imitate. This way, Lisa is introduced to alternative behaviors that can help her group stay on task and complete their assignments. The teacher could also reinforce Lisa’s behavior with praise, but also give praise to the whole group. Another way to encourage productive behavior would be to sit down with Lisa and help her come up with her own goals for the cooperative group activities. Setting her own goals may help Lisa because she then becomes personally invested in her behavior. Hopefully, this can motivate her to stop being a catalyst for the problems that arise in her cooperative learning group.

Now, compare the interventions that you have identified above with what you think might work from a cognitive or constructivist viewpoint (you may need to Google for ideas but it's okay to just speculate based on your prior knowledge).  How do they compare to behaviorist tools?  What are the benefits of each theory, and what are the deficits? Which theory might play a larger role in how you determine classroom management?

From a cognitive viewpoint, I think that it may be beneficial to make the cooperative learning activities more meaningful to Lisa and to the class as a whole. If Lisa can relate more to the activities and understands that her group is dependent on her to succeed, her behavior might improve. Also, with more meaningfulness, the group will be more likely to hold each other accountable in order to accomplish their assignments and tasks.

From a constructivist viewpoint, it may be beneficial to allow the students in the cooperative learning group to come up with their own solution to solve the issues they are having working together with Lisa. The students could explore various options, such as assigning specific tasks to group members or checking each other’s work. This intervention would be more student-centered with less teacher involvement.

In comparison to the behaviorist tools, I think that all of these interventions involve some type of action from the student. There is no way that a teacher can fix this issue, the students all have to be willing to cooperate in order to achieve their goals. I think that the benefits of behaviorism, cognitive learning, and constructivism are that the strategies are all motivating for the student in some form or fashion. The deficits are that one theory may work best for some students but not so well for others so the teacher might have difficulty finding a common ground or trying to pick the best technique for the situation.

Personally, I think that behaviorism will play a larger role in how I determine classroom management. I have seen behaviorism in action and the results were always positive. I also can see myself using more behaviorist techniques than any other learning theory.