Read chapter one of
Classroom Instruction That Works. What do you need to understand
about both the science and the art of teaching to be an effective teacher?
Teachers need to understand that teaching is both an art and
a science. You need to know the science behind teaching to be an effective
teacher. This not only includes knowing current instructional strategies but
also keeping up to date on new strategies. You need to keep up to date on
educational studies and how children are impacted. As a teacher you should be giving
high consideration for those strategies that have been proven effective amongst
students. It’s also important to know that there are factors that you will have
no control over such as “the students natural ability or aptitude, the
socioeconomic status of the student, and the student’s home environment.” (Marzano,
Pickering and Pollock, 2001, p 2). These things must be taken into
consideration while deciding on which instructional strategies should be used
in your classroom.
Teaching is also an art. Every child is different and must
be treated as such. Teachers need to be flexible and be able to change the
teaching methods to better suit the students at hand. In a study done by James
Coleman and Christopher Jencks, presented in Classroom Instruction That Works
(Marzano et al., 2001), it was found that “an individual teacher can have a
powerful effect on her students even if
the school doesn’t” (p 2). I think this is very important for teachers to
know and understand. You can do all the research and plan all the lessons, but
if you can’t connect with the students and adapt to them you aren’t making as
big of a difference in their education.
Reflect on and
summarize two of the learning theories discussed in the above links. As a
teacher with experience and knowledge, you will develop your own personal
theory of learning that will complement your own personal philosophy of
teaching.
I think teaching is a blending of
different learning theories and it’s important for teachers to learn about the
different theories and incorporate them into the classroom. Behaviorism and Cognitivism
are just two of several teaching theories out there.
Behaviorism “assumes a learner is
essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli” (“Behaviorism,”
n.d.). The teacher will use positive and negative reinforcement to mold the
student’s behavior (“Behaviorism,”
n.d). For example if a student completes a set of problems correctly they are
rewarded (positive reinforcement) with an A or an extra five minutes at recess.
If a student completes a set of problems incorrectly, or not at all, the
student will be “rewarded” with an F or perhaps they will have to stay inside
during recess.
According
to Mike Smith (1999a) there are three key assumptions to behaviorist learning:
The focus of study is the observable behavior, not the thought process, the
environment determines what the student learns, and the reinforcement and time
between events are key to the learning process (Smith, 1999a). To get the best out of positive and negative
reinforcement the reinforcement should occur close to the event, the further
away from the event you give the reinforcement (positive or negative) the less
impact it has. Take a student who misbehaves in class. If you wait until the
end of the day to discuss the issue of misbehavior they might not understand
specifically what they were doing wrong and/or may feel that because you didn’t
address the issue until well after it happened that it must not be the
important him/her to correct their behavior. However if you call the student on
his misbehavior at the time of the occurrence and give reinforcement they will
associate that “punishment” with their bad behavior.
I
think behaviorism is an important theory to consider when teaching, but it
would work best in combination with other theories. I think for establishing
classroom rules and behaviors behaviorism theory can play an important role. I
also think it’s important to use reward methods to motivate students and keep
them informed about their progress. The problem that I see with using a
behaviorism only theory is that is doesn’t take into consideration individual
students or the thought process by which students come to their conclusions. Each
student is unique and a reward that might work for one student may not work for
another. When I was in high school getting an A on a test or project or report
card was enough motivation for me to do well. My brother however was not
motivated be the possibility of getting an A, he was motivated by the ability
to participate in sports. The same reward method would not work for the both of
us, because we are two different people.
The
other issue is that behaviorism works with cut and dry answers. Everything is
black and white, however there is a lot of grey in education. Behaviorism
focuses on the answer to the question, not in how you got there. The thought
process for getting an answer to a question or writing a paper or whatever you
are doing in class is just as important as getting the correct answer. If you
are taking a multiple choice test and you get a 90% that doesn’t mean that you
actually knew 90% of the answers, you could have guessed correctly on a couple
of questions. As a teacher, if I don’t delve into the thought process of how
the student got the answer then I’m not doing my job as a teacher.
As
defined by learning-theories.com “Cognitivism focuses on the inner mental
activities – opening the “black box” of the human mind is valuable and
necessary for understanding how people learn. Mental processes such as
thinking, memory, knowing and problem-solving need to be explored.” (“Cognitivism,”
n.d.) As a contrast to behaviorism, cognitivism is about the process as much as
it is about the answer. Cognitivisim was developed because many psychologists
believed that behaviorism focused too much on single events and results (Smith,
1999b). “Where behaviourists looked to the environment, those drawing on
Gestalt turned to the individual’s mental processes. In other words, they were
concerned with cognition – the act of process of knowing.” (Smith 199b). There
are several implications to cognitive theory. Learning is influenced by
cognitive processes (Cunia, n.d.). Children become capable of increasingly more
advanced thought as they get older (Cunia, n.d.). When students can associate
something new with the knowledge they already have it’s easier to learn (Cunia,
n.d.).
I like that cognitivism is focused not just on the end
result but the why and how as well. It’s so easy for students to learn,
memorize and regurgitate information for a test. Breaking down lessons and
having students become active participants in the learning process will create
long lasting lessons for the students. I think this leads to great class
discussions as well as an increase of peer to peer learning. I also like that
it builds on information that has been previously learned. This helps students
to make the material “easier” and it also helps to reinforce what they have
previously learned.
I think cognitivism is a more realistic theory for today’s
world that behaviorism, but I still feel that a blending of instructional
theories will be beneficial for the students and the teacher. Every student is
unique and different methods of instruction must be explored to find the one
that works for the students and the teacher.
Based on research
and reading to this point what is your personal learning style and why?
Like most people I think a blended
style would be my personal learning style. Different subjects require a
different way of learning, however if I were to just select one learning style
that is most like me I would say behaviorism. In today’s world I’m sure that’s
not a common choice but when I think back to high school and college the
classes that I’ve always done well in are the classes that are very structured,
with clear cut answers, and grades are my reward or my downfall (both from
teachers and from my parents when I was in high school). I like a system that
has positive and negative reinforcement because I always know what to
expect.
Works Cited
Behaviorism. (n.d.). Learning theories.
Retrieved January 17, 2013, from http://www.learning-theories.com/behaviorism.html
Cognitivism. (n.d.). Learning theories.
Retrieved January 18, 2013, from
http://www.learning-theories.com/cognitivism.html
Cunia, E. (n.d.). Cognitive learning
theory - web quest. Erin C. Barrett Cunia, Instructional Web Designer.
Retrieved January 18, 2013, from
http://erincunia.com/portfolio/MSportfolio/ide621/ide621f03production/cognitive.htm
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D.,
& Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based
strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria, Va.: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Smith, M. K. (1999a.). The
behaviourist orientation to learning. The encyclopedia of informal education.
Retrieved January 18, 2013, from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm
Smith, M. K. (1999b). The
cognitive orientation to learning. The encyclopedia of informal education.
Retrieved January 18, 2013, from
http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-cognitive.htm
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