After listening to Dr. Bonk's video lecture on behaviorism, something he said got me thinking about the behaviors of many researchers. It seems as though if you're a behaviorist, you are not open to constructivism, enough so that two behaviorists didn't even want Dr. Bonk working at their university. That seems outrageous! Reading through Mayer's (2004) article, he was very against pure discovery learning as a method under constructivist teaching/learning. I do understand as a researcher you want to be passionate about your field and your focus, but does that mean you need to be completely against other theories? Can we find some balance? Or does it need to be one OR the other? Dr. Bonk ended the video discussing the importance of knowing the history, understanding the foundations, and potentially having room for different views. I liked that-but I don't often find that same flexibility when reading published articles/chapters.
Something I found --let's say, amusing- many teachers I know do not associate their ideologies with behaviorism, however behaviorism is the main framework found in public education. Why is this? The reward systems, the negative consequences, the orderly behaviors--definitely does not fit with so much of what I've learned and witnessed about early learning, child development, etc., yet behaviorism is in full gear in most public schools. That is one of the reasons I choose to homeschool; as I hold sociocultural and constructivist frameworks close to my heart, I did not see these types of learnings coming through in schools.
But looking across these frameworks, I think there is a place for mixing and a place of balance depending on the child and situation. As long as we can excite our learners, give them a purpose, and keep them actively engaged, the best learning as Mayer (2004) suggests is "learning by thinking" (p. 17), so let's get our children thinking!
Mayer, R. E. (2004). Should there be a three-strikes rule against pure discovery learning? American Psychologist, 59(1), 14-19.
Hi Rebecca,
I am definitely 100% with you that there should be a balance between what practices are used and when. I believe that this is called theoretical eclecticism. Although I am certainly firmly in the constructivist and sociocultural camps, I acknowledge that there is a time and place for behaviorism, especially when we look to positive reinforcement. Now, I don't believe that this always means tangible things like stickers and Class Dojo points, but could be as simple as saying out loud to the class, "Wow! I love the way that Rashid got into the line and is standing so quietly." I believe that there has to be structure and boundaries in the classroom - students need to fe…
Hi Rebecca,
I am not sure whether I misunderstood your reflection, so if I did, please feel free to let me know. You mentioned that Dr. Mayer completely against other theories, say, against pure discovery learning as a method of constructivist teaching/learning. I read his article, and I think what he really meant is that pure discovery learning is so exclusive that it is kind of like ideology worship, which ignores the opposite proofs from the prior experiments. Based on the experiment results, he suggested that it would be more effective instructions if using guided discovery learning that involves teachers to assist students with their learning. Therefore, I think the people Dr. Mayer is against are those who view thei…
I believe that there should be a balance across all three learning theories. Each can be used differently depending on the situation and the learner. It seems that the U.S. school system acknowledges this thought, yet it does not appear in the classroom. When thinking about why behaviorism is so prevalent, I looked at the business world. I think behaviorism dominated the business world. We reward those who do their job with a paycheck, bonuses, promotions, etc. Those who don’t do what they are supposed to do, get fired. Even in the military, we get people to do their job through positive reinforcement. I wonder if behaviorism is so prevalent in the school system because of its dominance in the…
My twins attended the Indianapolis Public School Pre-K program when they were 4 and we were so lucky to have gotten them into a school and with a Pre-K teacher who was not a behaviorist. Yes, school/district rules had to be followed, but she had full leeway in her classroom to do what she thought best, and for her, they played outside EVERY DAY, rain, shine or snow. You should have seen the mud I was cleaning off of their boots every day. They had to have rain boots and raincoats and literally, they were outside. My boys loved it! Learning by play was what she did, and she had SOOOO much control in the classroom. I visited…