Behaviorist Views of Learning
Issues
In behaviorism theory, there is the concept of operant conditioning, which dictates that learning happens through a process of reinforcing an ideal voluntary response to a stimulus in the surroundings. The problems affecting the students’ performance in reading involve how the teachers use reinforcement and punishment. The reinforcement could be either positive or negative; for example, if an individual praises a child for finishing their homework, they are giving them a positive reinforcement (Rao 23). Negative reinforcement eliminates a stimulus that an individual does not like in an attempt to encourage the desired behavior. In the two illustrations, the adult is hoping that reinforcement will increase the desired behavior of finishing homework.
It is widely known that the aim of punishment is to reduce a trait. To decrease a behavior, positive punishment is used as an added stimulus. If a child is misbehaving in class and the teacher scolds them, they are providing a positive punishment. An added stimulus in this scenario is the scolding act. Taking something away from that child by the teacher would be negative punishment (Rao 25). For instance, if the teacher says that they have to remain after recess for acting poorly in class, they are then utilizing negative punishment. The essential thing to recall concerning reinforcement, as well as punishment, is that the outcome determines if a stimulus serves as a punishment or reinforcement irrespective of the individual providing it. An educator can take a particular action with the aim of punishing a child and instead inadvertently providing reinforcement. If the child acting out desires attention, they can get it from any adult in the form of praise or scolding, which are both equally reinforcing.
Interventions
The principles of operant conditioning can be utilized by educators for overall classroom management as well as support the students with special needs through approaches such as educational technology, which employ behaviorist principles. Another tool that the teachers can use to help the students improve their reading skills is programmed instruction (Rao 27). This refers to a teaching approach that developed plus grew along with technological advances. Drill and practice software can be useful for particular content that must be grasped to a degree of automaticity, for instance, second language vocabulary. Games as well as magnification ensure utilization of operant conditioning principles and can help the students.
Cognitive views of learning
Issues
Cognitive theory on learning uses metacognition to comprehend how thought processes impact learning. It is usually compared to the behavioral theory, which focuses on the exterior surroundings’ effects on learning. By comprehending the function of thought processes during the learning process, a teacher can guide the thoughts to help with gaining knowledge more effectively. They can manipulate the internal as well as external factors that affect thinking to better the students. For instance, in the case scenario, there could be factors in the surrounding that affect the students from learning better while in class, for example, noise. At home, the students might be around parents or relatives that do not provide a conducive environment that encourages learning (Rao 29). Additionally, the problem might be from the learners themselves, whereby they are unable to learn because they are thinking about other things when they are being taught how to read. In a conventional classroom setting, an educator applies this theory by encouraging self-reflection plus explaining their reasoning.
Interventions
To intervene and help the students improve their reading capabilities, the educators can seek help from the social cognitive theory, which is a part of the cognitive theory. It focuses on stimulus as well as responses techniques based on external behaviors. Through it, a teacher can help modify learners’ surroundings to impact internal thought processes. There are certain concepts about the theory that promise the teachers’ effectiveness. For instance, reciprocal determinism claims that an individual, their surroundings, and behavior impact plus interact with one another.
Eliminating anything in the students’ surrounding that may hinder their understanding would be great. The other concept is positive as well as negative reinforcement which dictates that both positive and negative responses impact future learning behaviors. Teachers need to offer rewards to encourage students in the future to learn faster (Rao 32). Lastly is observational learning, which dictates that a learner can watch another individual act and repeat the same behavior themselves. A teacher can use the above information to encourage their learners to repeat after them when they are teaching them how to read.
Constructivist Views of Learning
Issues
The theory of constructivism dictates that instead of a learner passively consuming information, they construct knowledge. As individuals experience the universe as well as reflect upon those experiences, they build their own depictions plus incorporate new information into their pre-existing knowledge. Based on the theory, the process of learning is essentially a social process since it is rooted within a social context as a student and the teacher work in unison to create knowledge. Additionally, since knowledge cannot be imparted directly to a student, the aim of teaching is to offer an experience that facilitates the creation of knowledge (Srivastava and Vivek 19). Based on a traditional approach, the teacher focuses on delivering information to a student, whereas constructivists argue that one cannot transfer the information.
According to them, an experience is the only way to facilitate the construction of knowledge by a student. Hence, the aim of the teacher should be to develop such experiences. In the case scenario, such experiences seem to be lacking as the learners are left to consume information without having to create. While at home, guidance from parents or other adults does not allow the students the chance to create knowledge as the former only provides answers to tasks handed as homework by the teachers. The problem can also be with the learners themselves; for instance, they may be used to consuming information instead of actively attempting to create.
Intervention
There are ways that a student’s performance can be improved, for instance, through eliciting prior knowledge. Pre-existing knowledge is needed in a student to facilitate the creation of a new one. Therefore, the teachers need to offer lessons that elicit relevant prior knowledge (Srivastava and Vivek 20). There are activities that can help accomplish that, for instance, informal interviews, pre-tests, plus small group warm-up activities that need recall of previous knowledge.
Another way to help the students, according to the theory, is by creating cognitive dissonance. The teacher can assign tasks as well as activities that challenge the learners. Knowledge is created as a learner encounters new problems plus revises existing schemas as he or she works through the assignment. Apart from that, the teacher can encourage the students to assess new information and make changes to the existing one (Srivastava and Vivek 20). The activities need to allow the learner to compare the already existing schema to the new situation. Examples of the activities include small group discussions, presentations as well as quizzes. Lastly, a learner should be given more opportunities of showcasing what they learn in the class. This is one way of actively creating new knowledge, and activities such as reflexive papers can be useful.
Humanist Views of Learning
Issues
The humanist view, as well as approach to education, is based on humanistic psychology with the main concepts focusing on the ideology that students are good, and education needs to focus on reasonable ways. According to this view, a student has the power and determine how they learn, plus every of their need needs to be met so that they learn well (Yao et al. 49). For instance, students who are hungry will not have as much attention to offering to learn. Therefore, schools provide them with meals so that the need is met and their focus can be on learning.
The humanistic idea engages feelings, social skills, artistic skills as well as practical skills as part of their education. There are vital elements in this theory, including goals, self-esteem, plus full autonomy. A student in a classroom setting may fail to grasp reading because they have not established it as their goal. Additionally, when handed homework by a teacher, they may fail to perform well because they have self-esteem issues stemming from how they are perceived at home and how they view themselves as a person, and how much they trust their capabilities.
Interventions
There are certain ways, according to the humanistic theory, that the students’ readings skills can improve. For instance, it is important for the teachers to understand that the students can only show improvement if they make a choice. Humanistic learning is focused on the student, and so the teachers need to encourage them to have control over their learning. Since they can make choices that vary from everyday activities to future objectives, a teacher can empower them to focus on a particular subject area that interests them for a chosen period. The educators who use this learning approach trust that it is important for a student to find motivation as well as engagement in their education. This is highly possible to occur when the student chooses to learn concerning a particular thing, and they can choose reading.
The teachers can also promote engagement to inspire the students to become self-driven in learning. The efficacy of this approach is based on a learner feeling self-motivated and engaged so that they desire to learn (Yao et al. 50). This shows that humanistic learning depends on teachers working to engage learners, empowering them to love reading so that they can be passionate during learning and become better at it.
Lastly, the teachers can teach the students the value of self-assessment. For the majority of educators using the humanistic learning approach, grades do not really matter. To them, evaluating oneself is a more meaningful manner to assess how learning is happening. Grading a student encourages them to work to attain a certain grade rather than doing something based on their own excitement as well as the satisfaction of learning (Yao et al. 51). Regular testing, as well as memorization, do not result in meaningful learning according to theory. Allowing a learner self-evaluate themselves ensures that they are able to see how the former feels about the progress, which would be helpful in the case of reading skills.
Works Cited
Rao, Xiaofei. “Learning theories that impact english teaching and learning.” University English for Academic Purposes in China. Springer, Singapore, 2018. 21-39. Web.
Srivastava, K. N., and Vivek Mishra. “Constructivist theory of learning.” Techno Learn 11.1 (2021): 19-21. Web.
Yao, Fang, et al. “Implementing humanistic view via pass-through game style in teaching: A case study in teaching chemical engineering principles for undergraduates.” Education for Chemical Engineers 38 (2022): 48-54. Web.