Behaviourism
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- Date Submitted: 12/22/2014 12:24 PM
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How children learn: a critique of the current theories of teaching.
As times change, teaching methods change and different schools of thought come into favour, most teaching is derived from three main avenues; behaviorist, constructivist and social constructivist. However it must be noted that in my opinion there is no one pure theorem and rather a joint method must be used in order to teach a class in the modern age.
Behaviorism derived mainly from the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning and that students are empty vessels to be filled with knowledge and molded by the strict and controlled guidance of the adult through the instruction, pacing, assessment and reinforcing (Skinner, 1938) of the material to be taught, the student takes a passive role in the classroom. It is based upon observable behaviours, so it is easy to quantify and assess data and for the teacher to make the imparted information logical and linear before eliciting a response from the students.
Constructivism emerged from the thought that learning is through thinking and experiences, it is usually viewed as a child centered approach where a rich and varied environment creates a high level of engagement and motivation enabling the students to become autonomous learners building on their current knowledge and awareness. (Keogh & Naylor, 1999) For constructivism to be effective, teachers must have an awareness of their student’s prior knowledge so as to be able to structure the resources and to scaffold efficiently (Piaget, 1967).
Social constructivism builds upon Piaget’s theory and states that we as humans create knowledge from the interaction between one another and our experiences and that children can gain valuable and meaningful knowledge from the interaction with their peers (Barnes, 2008). The Teacher can also aid the students by carful scaffolding tailored to their individual needs, this is where a deep understanding of the student’s current and previous...
As times change, teaching methods change and different schools of thought come into favour, most teaching is derived from three main avenues; behaviorist, constructivist and social constructivist. However it must be noted that in my opinion there is no one pure theorem and rather a joint method must be used in order to teach a class in the modern age.
Behaviorism derived mainly from the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning and that students are empty vessels to be filled with knowledge and molded by the strict and controlled guidance of the adult through the instruction, pacing, assessment and reinforcing (Skinner, 1938) of the material to be taught, the student takes a passive role in the classroom. It is based upon observable behaviours, so it is easy to quantify and assess data and for the teacher to make the imparted information logical and linear before eliciting a response from the students.
Constructivism emerged from the thought that learning is through thinking and experiences, it is usually viewed as a child centered approach where a rich and varied environment creates a high level of engagement and motivation enabling the students to become autonomous learners building on their current knowledge and awareness. (Keogh & Naylor, 1999) For constructivism to be effective, teachers must have an awareness of their student’s prior knowledge so as to be able to structure the resources and to scaffold efficiently (Piaget, 1967).
Social constructivism builds upon Piaget’s theory and states that we as humans create knowledge from the interaction between one another and our experiences and that children can gain valuable and meaningful knowledge from the interaction with their peers (Barnes, 2008). The Teacher can also aid the students by carful scaffolding tailored to their individual needs, this is where a deep understanding of the student’s current and previous...