William Cope
Pinakini Shah
Nadia Ayub
Miquel Colobran.png "Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi")
Samuel Chukwuemeka Obasi
Sara RichterLearning, Knowledge and Human Development MOOC’s Updates
What is the role of the teacher in the behaviorist scheme?
I believe it is important for teachers to clarify their educational philosophy. To me, a great teacher loves learning, and a great teacher can spread the significance of lifelong learning attitude to their learners. Creating a healthy and sustainable learning environment is the fundamental role of teachers. In that environment, the teacher plays a role as a motivator that conducts learning activities that stimulate curiosity and active problem-solving and critical thinkers. Individuals learn in different ways and it is the teacher's role to identify, understanding and cultivate their learners' unique ways of learning. To accomplish that, the teacher is expected to acquire the ability to promote collaboration, communication, choices, critical thinking, creativity, and caring in learning environment for the learners.
@Giang Le, You have stated that Individuals learn in different ways and it is the teacher's role to identify. I 100% agree with this statement. Teachers are not here just to pass on their knowledge to us. They are supposed to connect with each student so they could form the best learning environment and to include everyone in lessons.
A teacher's role can be crucial in appropriate reinforcement. As the Skinner article stated, Education has never taught the self management of motivation very effectively. A good educator will adapt this concept to fit the needs of individual students and the group as a whole.
I agree with the view of behavioralism concerning human nature. This is through the Behavioral Approach. Human behavior is learned, thus all behavior can be unlearned and new behaviors learned in its place. Behaviorism is concerned primarily with the observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. Therefore when behaviors become unacceptable, they can be unlearned.
There are countless pros and cons of behaviorism. Below are the major ones:
Pro: behaviorism can be a very effective teaching strategy - behaviorism is effective for teachers because it gives very clear, unambiguous rules and can help teachers set high expectations. Students are shown exactly what the rules are and know exactly what is expected of them. They are also usually really aware of the rewards and punishments that flow from their behaviors.
This is why behaviorism is still used in school these days. You can identify behaviorism on classroom rules charts everywhere: “do this, don’t do that!” concept is one.
Pro: behaviorism has been a very effective method of psychotherapy - similarly, it remains a common method used for psychotherapy. Psychotherapists use the concepts of Pavlov and Watson to teach people to manage anxieties, fears, and phobias. Joseph Wolpe (1915-1997) developed relaxation strategies for people who are exposed to their phobias. He would encourage people to follow meditation and muscle relaxant techniques. Through controlled exposure to phobias, people can learn to overcome their fears.
Con: some aspects of behaviorism can be considered immoral - the most extreme elements of behaviorism are widely condemned these days. Schools in the 1920s and 30s would have had very strong behaviorist orientations. Teachers would provide praise and punishment for children who were expected to repeat tasks day in, day out. Nowadays, we recognize that people need to be treated with great care. We believe using corporal punishment in schools is a violation of children’s rights. We also believe children need to be able to get up, let off steam, learn through experimentation, and learn through play.
Con: behaviorism often doesn’t get to the core of behavioral issues - if you punish someone for misbehavior, you might be teaching them the behavior is wrong. But, you might not be getting to the core of the issue.
For example, if a child is misbehaving in class, you can punish them but you might not be recognizing that their misbehavior is because they’re hungry or tired, or sick. Or, often, a child misbehaves because they don’t understand what you’re teaching them. Therefore, we do need to dig deep to the bottom of behavioral issues before issuing punishments. Sometimes it’s more effective to ensure students’ emotional and cognitive needs are met than to just give out punishments like candy.