Chapter 7, "Behavioral View of Learning," discusses some of the most important topics in education: learning. Anita Woolfolk describes learning as an experience that causes a change in a person’s
knowledge or behavior (p. 308). While this is a very general definition it hits a very important point in learning which is the cause. One way to cause learning is through conditioning. Chapter 7 goes into depth about classical and operant conditioning as two views to learning. Classical conditioning as in repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that causes an emotional or physiological response. Operant conditioning in regards to learning is the use of punishment and rewards as responses to student behaviors. Using both an Applied Behavioral Analysis and Operant conditioning correctly can cause considerable change in a classroom and create a positive change in a classroom. Along with conditioning Chapter 7 talks about Bandura and his views. Bandura was a firm believer in observational learning where instead of enactive learning, where you are doing and experiencing the consequences of your actions, you simply observe from the outside and learn like that.
Chapter 13 I thought was another essential skill and tool for teachers and that is classroom management. This chapter really goes into the mechanics of the challenges and goals of developing an effective classroom management philosophy. Woolfolk does a great job breaking down the difference between rules, specifics things students can/can't do, and procedures, basically housekeeping and interaction. I enjoyed reading about dealing with disciplinary issues due to the fact that many children (in my opinion) seem to suffer from them in this current era. While observing I feel like the administration at my school has taken away the ability to actually discipline a student for causing serious trouble. It was nice to see that Woolfolk also mentioned culturally diversity for classroom management as we have learned how important of a factor that can be in previous classes.
Last but not least the Jerry Seinfeld SNL skit was a nice treat after all the reading this week. It seems that times haven't changed much since the skit!
I enjoyed learning the details of the different types of conditioning. I think it is important to understand the type of impact that we can have on children when using these tools of conditioning. It is something that can have a great effect on a child. If we misuse this tool or use it improperly, it could be damaging for the child. We as their teachers need to make sure we are doing a good job of effectively utilizing these tools in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is important to be exposed to many views on learning and behavior because we obviously know it isn't an "exact" science, so having many different options in our toolbelts as educators can only be helpful. I also agree with you about the discipline issues facing students today, in my experience there are many students who simply would rather "take the zero" than do something as simple as play dodge ball for 45 minutes. While I have no answers, I look forward to attempting to find new way to motivate unmotivated students.
ReplyDelete"Using both an Applied Behavioral Analysis and Operant conditioning correctly can cause considerable change in a classroom and create a positive change in a classroom. " Great comment! I enjoyed reading this blog post Mat! Also, I agree that the Seinfeld clip was a much need laugh break lol!
ReplyDeleteRegarding discipline, I found Woolfolk's discussion in chapter 13 interesting, too. The situation at your school about lacking discipline for serious infractions sounds similar to others I've encountered. Those same schools have difficult behavior problems that are a distraction to learning ...
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