After reading the article Behaviourism, Cognitivism, and Constructivism (Ertmer & Newby, 2013), I was able to expand my previous understanding of different approaches to learning. I think as educators its important for us to be able to recognize the different styles of learning and which one best fits a students needs, in regards to the context and problem they are facing, For this blog post, I wanted to look at Behaviourism in particular because after reading the article I felt like this particular approach to learning was very “old fashioned”, in the sense that a majority of my learning in school focused on more of a cognitive approach. Moreover, a lot of the teaching that I remembered emphasized being able to understand why you were taking the steps you were to solve a particular problem. Therefore, I wanted to be able to look back on and understand how some aspects of my learning was shaped through a behaviouralist approach.

Behaviourism:

Behaviourism identifies learning as being characterized as reactive to conditions that are provided by the environment surrounding the learner (Ertmer & Newby, 2013). Therefore, this form of learning is made up of the stimulus and the response and how the two correlate with one another (Ertmer & Newby). Thus, it is based on observable performance that is either positively or negatively reinforced.

Looking at this concept through my own educational experiences I can connect behaviourism with praise charts that were introduced in my grade 3 classroom. The teacher outlined guidelines for students to follow and at the end of the day, students were either rewarded with a green card, which symbolized good behaviour or a red card, which meant that the students did not follow the appropriate behaviour that was outlined for them. In this case the stimulus would be the rules that were set out for the students and the response would be whether we got a green or red card at the end of the day. This approach to behaviour in a classroom emphasizes how proper behaviour can be taught through praising children with rewards or creating consequences when inappropriate behaviour is shown. I found that this approach allowed us to be able to understand how we reacted to what was expected of us in a visual way. It encouraged me to follow appropriate behaviour in the classroom as I wanted to take part in the rewards that were offered to us, and didn’t want to feel embarrassed by having a red card next to my name.

However, there are limitations to this approach, which include the fact that this approach does not acknowledge the differences that exist between children. For instance, behaviour management is extremely different across different groups of children and therefore, students can not be treated through a uniform approach, such as this one. Learning should be about embracing differences among children so that we can learn from one another and thus, our education system should reflect a more inclusive approach

References:

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.