Module: Education Psychology
Individual Assignment – Essay on:
Discuss the contribution of Behaviourist and Social Constructivist traditions in teaching and learning
Introduction
Both behaviourists and social constructivists have long provided significant contributions to the growth and development of young children, and in understanding how learning in young children occurs.
Behaviourists are proponents of theories emphasizing change that originates in the environment through learning (Charlesworth, 2004). On the other hand, constructivists are believers in the idea that children construct their own knowledge through interaction with the environment, and for social constructivists, the importance of peer and adult interactions in facilitating knowledge construction as well.
A closer examination of these two views on early childhood development will bring additional clarity on how they influence learning, and as a result, how they impact teaching.
Body Content
Theoretical Views and Their Influences on Learning and Teaching
Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner
No discussion on behaviourism is complete without addressing the works of B. F. Skinner. He was a leading behavioural psychologist who stated that learners’ actions are controlled more by the consequences of a behaviour than by the events preceding it. In his most influential paper, “A Brief Survey of Operant Behaviour”, Skinner wrote,
“It has long been known that behaviour is affected by its consequences. We rewardand punish people, for example, so that they will behave in different ways.” (B.F. Skinner Foundation Website, 2009)
Skinner developed the idea of "operant conditioning". Operant conditioning is the rewarding of a behavior or a random act that approaches the desired behavior. Operant conditioning can therefore be used to shape behavior. An example would be that if children hear language, imitate it and are rewarded for making sounds, they will learn to talk.
His theory can thus be applied in teaching young children in numerous ways. One example is that an early childhood educator worried about a very aggressive child in her class can keep a count of each time this aggressive child hurts another child, or when he breaks a toy. She also observes and notes down each incident in which the child does something that is regarded as non-aggressive. The next week, she makes it a point to give attention to the child when he does something positive, while totally ignoring his bad behaviour, unless he is hurting another child in the class, in which case, he will be told to sit separately on a “cool down” chair, to regain his own control. After 3 weeks, she counts the incidents of aggressive behaviour and positive behaviour. She then finds that the positive behaviours have increased, while those of the negative type, have decreased.
This teacher has therefore, used Skinner’s behaviourist theory to mould the behaviour of this aggressive child in her class.
Lev Vygotsky
Russia-born Lev Vygotsky is the leading theorist in social constructivism. According to Vygotsky, cognitive skills and patterns of thinking are not primarily determined by innate factors, but are the consequence of the activities practiced in the social institutions of the culture in which a young child grows up. As a result, the historical background of the society in which a child is brought up and the child's personal history are crucial determinants of the way in which that individual will think.
Vygotsky’s ideas have significantly changed the way educators think about children’s interactions with others. He demonstrated that social and cognitive development work together and build on top of each other.
One essential principle in Vygotsky's theory is the notion of the existence of what he called the "zone of proximal development", or ZPD (Mooney, 2000). Zone of proximal development is the difference between the child's capacity to solve problems on his own, and his capacity to solve them with help, either from peers or from adults. In other words, the actual developmental level refers to all the functions and activities that a child can actually do on his own, independently without the help of anyone else. On the other hand, the zone of proximal development includes all the functions and activities that a child can perform only with the assistance of someone else. The person in this scaffolding process, providing non-intrusive intervention to the child’s construction of knowledge, could be an adult (parent, teacher, language instructor) or another peer who has already mastered that specific activity or function..
Zone of proximal development has many implications for those in the educational field. One of them is the idea that human learning presupposes a specific social nature and is part of a process by which children grow into the intellectual life of those around them. According to Vygotsky, a key feature of learning is that it brings about a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is in the action of interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers.
Vygotsky's theory is also an attempt to explain consciousness as the end product of socialization. For example, in the learning of language, the first utterances with peers or adults are for the purpose of communication but once mastered they become internalized and allow "inner speech" (Social Development Theory Website, 2009)
One practical example of how Vygotsky’s theory influenced the field of early childhood education is when a teacher supports the child’s language development by reinforcing the child’s efforts at verbal expression during story-telling. The teacher can extend the experience by asking the child questions and relating the story to the child’s personal experiences. Such a method of teaching will help the child construct his knowledge further than he currently knows or understands.
Conclusion
One can see that the contributions of both the behaviourist and the social constructivist in the field of early childhood education have been substantial. While the behaviourist sets out to mould the learning of young children through shaping their behaviours with rewards and punishment, the social constructivist looks at the construction of knowledge of young children through active social interactions, through the process of scaffolding and in concert with their environment.
In truth, within the context of a typical classroom, the early childhood educator will likely by using both views of childhood development to teach her children. This would stand to reason, given the wide scope of influence these 2 traditions of teaching has on the education of our young children.
References
1. B.F. Skinner Foundation Website [Online Database]. Retrieved 11 March 2009 from
the World Wide Web: http://www.bfskinner.org/brief_survey.html
2. Charlesworth, R. (2004), Understanding Child Development, 6th Edition, p.11. Delmar
Learning, Executive Woods, 5, Maxwell Drive, Clfiton Park, NY 12065-2919
3. Mooney, C. G. (2000), Theories of Childhood, p.82 . Readleaf Press, Division of
Resources of Child Caring, 450 N, Syndicate, Suite 5 St Paul, MN 55104.
4. Social Development Theory Website [Online Database]. Retrieved March 14, 2009
from World Wide Web: http://tip.psychology.org/vygotsky.html
