2: Behavior of children (Slavin, 2018, Ch. 5)

Description:

Understanding the ways that students learn and adopt behaviors will help teachers make choices about how they manage their classrooms that can lead to more successful learning for all students. Chapter 5 of Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (12th edition) outlines social and behavioral learning theories and how they operate in the classroom (Slavin, 2018). Learning takes place  in a variety of ways, but it is related to the connection between a stimulus and a response. Ivan Pavlov famously studied what takes place when a conditioned stimulus causes an unconditioned response and how that process can be manipulated, or what is now called “classical conditioning” (Slavin, 2018). B. F. Skinner continued this work by exploring “the use of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to change behavior”, referred to as “operant conditioning” (Slavin, 2018, p.99). Albert Bandura explored what children learn through social experiences and modeling and how it changes behavior (Slavin, 2018). Chapter 5 goes on to consider other contributing factors and implications of these theories in the classroom, such as reinforcers, punishers, and antecedents (Slavin, 2018). 

Analysis:

There are behaviors that will facilitate a successful learning environment and those that will disrupt it or even make it impossible. When teachers understand more about why students act the way they do, and how they can encourage the behaviors they want to see, it is easier for them to help students learn. Teachers can apply the theories of Skinner to reinforce acceptable behaviors and punish undesirable behaviors, although behavioral learning theorists make it clear that reinforcement methods are preferred and should be used to promote positive behaviors before resorting to punishments. In addition, the consequence “should take the mildest possible form, and that punishment should always be used as part of a careful plan, never inconsistently or out of frustration” (Slavin, 2018, p.105). This is why it is so important for teachers to plan ahead for how they will handle situations that arise, and they must also make every effort to get to know each individual student and what type of reinforcement will encourage positive behaviors. Being caught off guard by disruptive or inappropriate behaviors that interrupt your lesson can cause tremendous frustration and anxiety. Many schools are adopting the PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) model. According to NEA (2014), PBIS provides “an alternative to aversive interventions”.  Additionally, PBIS practices are believed to “improve the social culture and the behavioral climate of classrooms and schools which ultimately lead to enhanced academic performance” (NEA, 2014).

Teachers cannot ignore the factors that shape behavior that are out of their control. Bandura showed the impact of modeling on children’s behavior when his study showed that children would imitate the behavior of an adult, even violent and aggressive behavior, especially if they observed that the adult’s behavior was rewarded, or reinforced (Slavin, 2018). This theory harkins back to Bronfenbrenner’s theories about development, and reinforces the impact of a student’s family, culture, and environment on his behavior and therefore academic success (Slavin, 2018). 

There are principles that can provide guidance to a teacher who seeks to successfully manage behavior in his classroom. They involve setting clear expectations about appropriate behaviors in the classroom, reinforcing the desirable behaviors, and using punishments as a last resort.  These teachers will acknowledge and reward progress toward a goal, and reinforce it often as a new skill is being learned, and less often when the behavior becomes routine. They will also involve students in the process of setting standards and then help them become self-regulated learners (Slavin, 2018, p.117). 

Understanding and managing student behavior is a complicated but necessary skill that teachers must learn in order to maximize the effectiveness of the learning in their classrooms. It is also a concept that must be reflected on and reestablished often since our students and the things that influence them are constantly changing. 

Reflection:

I found the scientific and analytical approach to this topic challenging. While I believe the theories of behavioral and social learning in this chapter to be accurate, it is hard for me to apply them to the individual student experiences I have had. Even Slavin acknowledges that “we cannot assume that a particular consequence is a reinforcer until we have evidence that it strengthens behavior for a particular individual”, and “as with reinforcers, the effectiveness of a punisher cannot be assumed but must be demonstrated” (Slavin, 2018, p. 101, 105). This just confirms what I have said in almost every post and response I have made: building relationships is one of  the most important aspects of teaching. A teacher must get to know her students in order to determine what is causing a particular behavior and how to change it. I look forward to upcoming chapters that may take a closer look at cognitive learning because “concept formation, learning from text, problem solving, and thinking” also impact, and further complicate the topic of behavior (Slavin, 2018, p. 116). Once again, these cognitive factors are unique to the individual child.

I wonder how Slavin would interpret the overwhelming evidence of disproportionality in the discipline of black children compared to their white schoolmates (Blad and Mitchell, 2018).  Which aspect of behavioral and social learning theories need to be revisited by teachers in classrooms today to explain that “black boys made up 25 percent of all students suspended out of school at least once in 2015-2016, and black girls accounted for another 14 percent, even though they each only accounted for 8 percent of all students” (Blad and Mitchell, 2018) and how do we address that problem?

My school is one of many that are implementing restorative justice practices, which involve intense work around community and relationship building and “focus on repairing the harm caused” (Payne and Welch, 2016) rather than simply applying a punishment without any follow up. My experience is that those types of punishments, taken from a school district code of conduct, rarely weaken behavior as Slavin describes it (2018). I am not convinced that restorative justice is the answer to all of our behavior problems, and the logistics of implementing it in a large high school are challenging, but I am eager to keep trying it and documenting the results.

References

Blad, E. & Mitchell, C. (May, 2018). Black Students Bear Uneven Brunt of Discipline, Data 

Show. Education Week. 

Payne, A.A. & Welch, Kelly (2016). Restorative Justice in Schools: The Influence of Race on 

Restorative Discipline. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Villanova 

University.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: A Multi-tiered Framework that Works for 

Every Student. (2014).  National Education Association. 

Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (12th ed.). Pearson 

Education.