Over the years, I feel I have been guided by God to pursue Elementary Education, which narrows my focus to the kindergarten classroom. I will clearly define the most helpful theories that may be implemented throughout the kindergarten learning environment. Effective teacher characteristics will be identified and why they are imperative for this particular age group. Young children have different learning characteristics and it is important for teachers to recognize and accommodate to the needs of their students. Throughout this course, I have discovered certain characteristics about myself and I will elaborate on my unique learning styles. Within the elementary classroom, there is a copious amount of rules, guidelines and considerations a teacher must take into account. Learning theories such as social, cognitive, and behavioral learning should be implemented to provide framework and boundaries for the children. When incorporating learning theories in the classroom, it is important to have a clear understanding of how they work and how they will benefit the child and the teacher. These particular theories allows the teacher to run an efficient and effective classroom from day one. “Social learning theories focus on the effects of thought on action and action on thought” (Slavin, 2014). Social learning theories incorporates four observational phases, which are attentional phase, retention phase, reproduction and motivational phase. These four stages make up
Kindergarten children thrive when they can work independently and cooperatively with a small group of peers (Gullo, D. F., 2006). A kindergarten teacher who is teaching students to work independently and in small groups while learning about numbers must understand that the students are very diverse and have been taught in many different ways. A kindergarten teacher is a very important person in the life of the children entering elementary school. Teachers at the kindergarten level must keep in mind that
Social learning theory suggests that people learn from one another, this can be through observation, imitation, media and modelling. This theory is often known as the behaviourist theory and cognitive learning theory because it consists of using attention, memory, behaviour and motivation. “Social learning theory advocates that individuals, especially children, imitate or copy modelled behaviour from personally observing others, the environment and the mass media”. (Gray and MacBlain, 2015). This is stating that a child will look up to someone they respect and class them as models, the child may imitate their behaviour and the way they act. If a child’s behaviour is then reinforced the behaviour will occur again. This theory consists of
This theory combines elements of behavioral theory and information processing theory. Within Social Learning Theory, there are a few components that are believed to show how learning occurs when they interact. These components are a person's behaviors, their physical characteristics, along with environmental contingencies (Boyle/Scanlon Pg. 93). One of the key concepts of this theory that relates to behavioral theory is the idea of observational learning, (Boyle/Scanlon Pg.93) this is when a changes in student's behavior that happen after they see someone else who was either punished or rewarded for this behavior were looked into. What connects this theory with behavioral theory are the elements of observation of behavioral changes along with reinforcement or punishment.
Implementing developmental concepts and theories in a classroom can increase student achievement. Success within a classroom starts with the success of a teacher. According to Barbara Blake and Tambra Pope, “teacher must develop a better understanding of their students’ cognitive development, which will lead to the needs of the whole child being satisfied.” (Blake B. & Pope T., 2008). Educators must comprehend how an individual’s mind processes information from thinking to perceiving to remembering to learning. Grasping the comprehension of a student’s mental process and constructing suitable lessons, “using developmental instructional techniques, teachers have been able to increase the test scores of children in public schools.” (Blake B.
Twelve characteristics of an effective Early Childhood teachers are important to the growth and development of children. Many educators feel that effectiveness as a teacher stems from a combination of knowledge, skills and personal characteristics. Traits are distinguishing quality that typically belong to one person. A disposition is unconscious behavioral traits such as being organized. This is important to know because in early childhood, you see all the different types of traits and dispositions.
The Social Cognitive Theories suggests that learning takes place in a social setting with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the individual, environment, and behavior. It emphases social influence external and internal social reinforcement. Futhermore, the Social Cognitive Theories consider the manner in which people obtain and retain behavior, however also bearing in mind the social environment in which people carry out the behavior. It considers an individual’s previous experiences, which factor into whether behaviour will take place. These past
Social cognitive theory can be broken down to five parts, per Ormrod, J.E. (2014) “learning by observation, learning as an internal process, processes in motivation, reciprocal influences among environmental, behavioral, and personal variables, and last increasing self-regulation with age” (p. 301). Observation is by helping the students learn new behaviors by demonstration. Internal process is knowing new behaviors can take time but the students will eventually get it. Cognitive process is give encouragement to the students. Reciprocal influences are to help the students make the right choices. Last increasing self-regulation with age is to teach the students how to better their behavior so they can learn better.
Social learning theory realizes that individuals learn through a variety of means and that cognitive development continues into adulthood (Hutchison, 2015). While thoughts
Social learning plays a role in education by focusing less on reward and punishment, motivation is not enough for a student to learn a skill or gain knowledge (Kretchmar, 2017).
The Social Learning theory (modelling) is a set of principles that some psychologists have put into place to establish how each childs personality grows and develops through their individual behavioural patterns, that they have aquired through the progress of their lives. It is important that children not only learn through conditioning, but its just as important that they have equal amounts of observational learning.
Are we done with the theories now? Not until you complete the course learning at the end of the semester! We’ll constantly use these theory lenses to view and analyze classroom teaching practices, articulate our own beliefs in teaching and learning, and design a lesson based on the theory that we believe. I am glad that now we can apply the knowledge in the learning theories to further develop our understanding about learning in the educational settings! First, we are going to do some ‘analysis’ work for next week, let’s think about teacher-centered instruction Vs student-centered instruction utilizing our knowledge and beliefs in teaching and
Social Cognitive Theory’s basic premise is that humans are motivated to engage in different activities due to cognitive processes that use information resulting either from personal action or from the observed actions of others (Ponton 2000). The instructor didn’t necessarily outline this theory entirely, but some of the key points were made on the concepts of self-regulation and self-reflection. According to Nancy Rhea, self-regulation enables a person to select and manage pertinent activities in order to realize goals. This is essential throughout parenthood because having the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses, and to think before you react can assist in stopping unhelpful behavior. The other concept, self-reflection, “refers to a person 's ability to think about the consequences of past experiences, thereby shaping subsequent beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors” (Bandura 1986).
The strengths of this theory are that individuals can learn from different people. This is beneficial when dealing with older adults, because you can take someone who is within their age range and teach them how to use a new piece of technology or try a new activity. You can also introduce a younger perspective that may alter the way that the older adult looks at something with the possibility of creasing their quality of life. This also goes in reverse as well. Sometimes it is better to learn from someone with more knowledge in a subject, because you are able to obtain a different perspective. In the aspect of this project, which had plenty of older adults who were
Gaining experience as a future teacher helps in understanding the multiple challenges of education. By observing these challenges, one becomes better equipped and more prepared to enter the field. Learning theories, behavioral tendencies, and social development are all factors that affect a student’s success in education. In this paper I will analyze and explain the observations made inside and outside of the classroom at Clarkston High School.
Learning is defined as a behavior as a consequence of exposure to stimuli. There are four different learning theories namely classical conditioning , behaviorist, informative or cognitive processing and constructivist theory.