Week 2, behaviorism

What is learning and how does a teacher do it? I'm enjoying the build up of the idea of learning and how to accomplish it. These latest readings bring together an interesting combination of what kids grew up with, were trained to do by their parents and surroundings, and then what they had reinforced by positive or negative outside sources. In my lesson plan the reinforcement was as simple as a candy bar for bringing a book on time. In religious education the most powerful negative reinforcement we have is a look or conversation with parents. Usually this is sufficient. So as far as behaviorism goes, our strategy is to teach in such a way that each individual student receives positive reinforcement in two ways. First, we want them to learn new things because learning feels good. Second, we want them to feel new things. This is impossible to measure because even the effects can be faked, but the idea is to feel a spiritual something that makes them want to come back for more and try harder to achieve that "more." Therefore an effective teacher would know the material he or she is to teach and then believe in it to the extent that the students can begin their belief process by watching the teacher and imitating him or her. The reinforcement comes first when they see in the teacher something that they desire, a happiness or situation, and then they make the connection between what is being taught and what they can achieve. If I am happy, the student will want to be happy. The student then looks for the reasons I am happy and tries to imitate them. If what I am teaching is real, the student should be able to follow those teachings and become happy themselves. The process takes more time than receiving and eating a candy bar both come from the same idea. In essence, I must "practice what I preach."

How can learning be best effectuated by a teacher/trainer

For a teacher/trainer to be most effective, he/she must know what things are necessary for a person to be a positive contributor to the society in which they live. The teacher needs to know what will be important for the student to understand and then modify the curriculum to meet those needs. A text book must be looked at as a general rule, not a specific set of instructions for each individual. The teacher must be willing to ignore some previously learned ideas and adopt new ones. Each teacher needs to know where they live and teach and must be willing to adapt the learning for the specific needs of each student and location.

M

What is learning

What is learning? From the readings, combined with my experience, I would say that learning is a way to teach skills that will allow a person to contribute positively to whatever society they live in. For example, to contribute positively to the society of Montpelier, ID, one must be able to obey laws and understand why, work effectively enough to be able to support themselves and their families, and then not be a menace to those around them. To contribute positively to a different society one may need to know how to farm or hunt or gather or etc. So learning is based on what would make one a positive contributing member of the society of which they are, or will someday be, a part of.

M

New nerded

I'm brand new at the blog thing and I feel like I've just released my inner nerd -- refreshing!