Learning Log Week 3

So, You Want to Be a Teacher?

After reading the chart below, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of behaviorism and constructivism as they relate to what a teacher might do in the classroom. If you think important points have been omitted, feel free to include them. Note: this task does not ask you to state a conclusion about which is better or more desirable. It simply asks you to determine BOTH strengths and weaknesses of each.

	A Case for Behaviorist Classrooms	A Case for Constructivist Classrooms
Definition of Learning	A measurable change in observable behavior that persists over time and is the result of consequences/contingencies (Skinner) or modeling (Bandura)	A complex process that develops through the constant adaptation of schema characterized by hypothesis generation and testing, trial and error, approximation, interaction, and transaction
Philosophical Roots	Realism – reality is objective and is composed of matter and form; it is fixed, based on natural law	Pragmatism – reality is the interaction of an individual with environment or experience; it is always changing Existentialism – reality is subjective, with existence preceding essence
Goal(s) of Education	To shape humans who act for the good of the society and evolution of culture	To develop people’s abilities to pose and seek answers to questions important to their lives
Skinner’s Argument – Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Elements of Bandura and later social learning theorists are included and identified) and Brooks’ and Brooks’ Argument – Case for Constructivist Classroom (Elements from Piaget and Vygotsky included and identified)	I. Most of major problems in our world involve human behavior II. These problems cannot be solved by addressing mental and emotional states or attitudes (ie, attitude does not change behavior; science cannot verify that a feeling is responsible for behavior) III. The environment (nature) selectively shapes and maintains the behavior of the individual through consequences IV. Thus, the “autonomous man” (free will) does not exist. The environment, not the individual, is the source of conduct and achievement. V. Because behavior (responses) and contingencies can be observed, behavior can be deliberately manipulated or shaped rather than left to chance or hope VI. Operant behavior (behavior which operates on the environment to produce consequences) can be observed to determine which contingencies will produce the desired behaviors VII. Using a technology of behavior will induce humans to act for the good of society and its evolution, rather than for the individual. This technology would be used by people (inference – by teachers, among others) in the position to act for the good of society. VIII. However, because the environment is largely of “man’s” making, a technology of behavior is really about reinforcing self-control and allowing us to find out what “man can make of man” IX. Later social learning theorists reflect essentialist beliefs about the importance of educating useful and competent people through emphasis on “skills and subjects that transmit the cultural heritage and contribute to socioeconomic efficiency” X. These skills and knowledge of subject are observable in the form of behaviors that can be shaped and measured. XI. The job of the teacher is to identify what is to be taught, teach, observe students’ behaviors, and arrange consequences and/or contingencies that produce an increase in the desired behavior (learning the designated behavior, skill, information)	I. Learning is a complex, non-linear process of making personal meaning II. It is “human nature to search for tools to help us understand our experiences” III. What students “know” consists of “internally constructed understandings of how their worlds function” IV. These understandings, or schema (blueprints for action) are constructed through experiences. Developmental levels (Piaget) and cultural context (Vygotsky) affect what a learner “understands” at any given point in the process. V. Learning experiences are mediated by “more capable peers” (Vygotsky) VI. The schema are not static; they are adapted (assimilation/accommodation) as new experiences produce disequilibration (the inability to make sense of the new experiences based on existing knowledge) - Piaget VII. Because adaptation is a dynamic process, trial and error or mistakes are essential to learning VIII. Given the above, teachers seek to find out students’ understandings of concepts, THEN structure experiences that “help students refine or revise their understandings by posing contradictions, presenting new information, asking questions, encouraging research, and engaging students in inquiries designed to challenge current understandings”