As a teacher candidate in the Bachelor of Elementary Education, I have heard the terms behaviourism, cognitivism, and constructivism quite a lot of the past two years. However I was only recently able to explore them and find out what works for me. As of right now I would say that I am the most comfortable with implanting the behaviourism theory into my practice. I have broken up the three theories into smaller categories based on different activities or ideas that best suit them.
A teacher that is implementing the behaviourism theory might include some the following in their lessons or daily plans:
- Drills- Teachers will often do this as it allows students to see the repetition and the reinforcement that is used with this learning style.
- Positive reinforcement- Teachers with this learning theory will often provided students with positive reinforcement. This can be implanted in various ways such as reward systems, verbal praise, added privileges (more time for centers)
- Guided practice- This will allow teachers to directly help the students will providing them with the proper reinforcement
A teacher that is implementing the cognitivism theory might include some of the following in their lessons or daily plans:
- Teachers should display instructions in an organized and sequenced manner allowing the learners to understand the content
- Having students participate in small group of whole class decisions will also students to reflect on their learning
A teacher that is implementing the constructivism theory might include some of the following in their lessons or daily plans:
- Having the teacher create groups that consist of a small amount of students
- Creating a safe environment were the authority is shared between both the teacher and the students
- Stations/ Centers- creating various stations where students are able to learn through different activities. There can be different stations such as a math related one, or a technology one.
I have just recently finished my first practicum and I believe that I implemented the behaviourism theory with my students. In the classroom, the behavioural learning theory helps teachers develop a better understanding of how to help and motivate their students. Teachers often use the behaviourism learning theory to explain to students how they should react and respond to in certain situations. For this theory to work, the actions that the teacher is presenting must be done in a repetitive manner, thus regularly reminding students what is expected of them. Positive reinforcement is a key component in the behavioural learning theory. For example, if students are used to receiving a small prize or sticker after working hard on an assignment or test, and then the teacher stops rewarding the students with the positive reinforcement, it is likely that less students will receive high grades, as the behaviour is no longer connected to a reward for them. The students that I taught in my practicum seemed to work well with this theory, as they were younger they would engage really well with verbal praise and privileges. I am excited to keep teaching and implement the cognitivism and the constructivism theories into my practice and explore which one I enjoy the most.
Photo used was taken by Kyra Catana