Behaviorism (also called the behaviorist approach) was the primary paradigm

in psychology between 1920s to 1950.

Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as
opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Observable (i.e. external)
behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured. Internal events, such as
thinking should be explained through behavioral terms (or eliminated altogether).
Behavior is the result of stimulus response (i.e. all behavior, no
matter how complex, can be reduced to a simple stimulus response association).
Watson described the purpose of psychology as: To predict, given the stimulus,
what reaction will take place; or, given the reaction, state what the situation or
stimulus is that has caused the reaction (1930, p. 11).All behavior is learnt from the
environment. We learn new behavior through classical or operant conditioning.
Varieties of Behaviorism
Historically, the most significant distinction among versions of behaviorism is that
between Watson's original classical behaviorism, and forms of behaviorism later
inspired by his work, known collectively as neobehaviorism.
In his book, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It Watson (1913, p. 158) outlines
the principles of all behaviourists:
Psychology as the behaviourist views it is a purely objective experimental
branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of
behaviour. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific
value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to
interpretation in terms of consciousness. The behaviourist, in his efforts to get a
unitary scheme of animal response, recognizes no dividing line between man and
brute. The behaviour of man, with all of its refinement and complexity, forms only a
part of the behaviorist's total scheme of investigation.

Humanistic Approaches to Teaching

A Link to "An Overview of Humanistic Education" by Bill
Huitt
The Trouble with Behaviourism - How a humanist teacher keeps his students motivated

Humanism would concentrate upon the development of the child's self-concept. If

the child feels good about him or herself then that is a positive start. Feeling good
about oneself would involve an understanding of ones' strengths and weaknesses,

and a belief in one's ability to improve. Learning is not an end in itself; It is the
means to progress towards the pinnacle of self-development, which Maslow terms
'Self-actualisation'. A child learns because he or she is inwardly driven, and derives
his or her reward from the sense of achievement that having learned something
affords. This would differ from the behaviourist view that would expect extrinsic
rewards to be more effective. Extrinsic rewards are rewards from the outside
world, e.g. praise, money, gold stars, etc. Intrinsic rewards are rewards from within
oneself, rather like a satisfaction of a need. This accords with the humanistic
approach, where education is really about creating a need within the child, or
instilling within the child self-motivation. Behaviourism is about rewards from
others. Humanism is about rewarding yourself!

Much of a humanist teacher's effort would be put into developing a child's selfesteem. It would be important for children to feel good about themselves (high
self-esteem), and to feel that they can set and achieve appropriate goals (high selfefficacy). This form of education is known as child-centred, and is typified by the
child taking responsibility for their education and owning their learning. The

behaviourists might advocate positive reinforcement such as praise, and

punishment in the form of negative criticism. Both praise and blame are rejected by
the humanists. Children can become addicted to praise, and put much effort into
receiving praise from their teachers. Such children will often work for the praise,
and not work if their efforts go unnoticed. This is so unlike an interested adult
surfing through the internet, who derives satisfaction from learning something new,
even though nobody is around to witness this acquisition of knowledge. If
education is preparing the child for adult life, it would seem the humanist approach
is the correct one.
The humanist teacher is a facilitator, not a disseminator, of knowledge.
Participatory and discovery methods would be favoured instead of traditional
didacticism (i.e. learn parrot-fashion every thing the teacher says). As well as the
child's academic needs the humanistic teacher is concerned with the child's
affective (or emotional) needs. Feeling and thinking are very much interlinked.
Feeling positive about oneself facilitates learning.
Humanistic - The self or the individual is important. Not the similarities between
humans as much as the individuality of humans.

Rogerian Phenomenological theory

Important terms:
Client-centred therapy - clients define the problems, propose a solution and
implement it. (opposite is Directive therapy)
Phenomenology - the world as perceived by the individual rather than as it really
is.
Humanism - Literature, Philosophy, Psychology - historically - concerned with
human worth, individuality, humanity, freedom for the individual to determine
personal actions. Development of human potential is highly valued; the attainment
of material goals is de-emphasised.
Self-actualisation - the end toward which all humans strive.

Rogers versus Skinner

Skinner - perfect society described in his novel, Walden II, 1948 positive reinforcement, no aversion.
Trying to create a better society by openly controlling its inhabitants with positive
reinforcement.
Rogers believes that Skinner assumes that social control will be in the better
interests of society, but doubts that this would really happen.
Skinner - the most effective practices would survive.
Rogers - society should self-actualise.

 1) Reality is phenomenological - Each has own world, cant be really known

by anybody else.
2) Need to self actualise is the motivation behind behaviour. Dont need a
list of needs, drives or goals, just the need to self-actualise.
Problem defining self-actualisation It involves becoming whatever one can
become through activities determined by oneself (Maslow, 1970).
Self-actualisation - directional process - maturation - increased competence,
survival, reproduction etc. Other theorists would see these as goals,
but Rogers sees these as merely tendencies that characterise an overriding
process.
Self-actualisation - moves towards self-government, self-regulation and
autonomy. Moves away from heteronymous control, or control by external
forces.
Self-actualisation - need to develop in the direction of healthy, competent,
and creative functioning. If unhealthy - this can be because of bad life
experiences.
3) Behaviour is within the context of personal realities. we need to
understand anothers point of view in order to understand their behaviour.
Important to have open communication.
4) Self is constructed by the individual. We listen to others, and according to
what they say we can introject and believe this is what we are. We can also
observe the effectiveness of what we do, to inform us about ourselves.
5) We behave according to our concept of self. Whatever we believe we are
capable of we strive to do. If we are not really capable, we might fall ill, for
example, as this would provide an excuse acceptable to our concept of self.

Evaluation
Intuitively correct
Not clear about some terms especially Self-actualisation. Not based on
replicable rigorous research. But, a useful way to look at humanity.
Ambiguous, vague and woolly.
Students have fun, but are they learning what they should be learning?
Who defines what children need to learn?

 But a school does not have to become totally humanistic. Humanism can
apply to the curriculum, teaching method, or style of teacher
In reality a teacher can pick any approach that suits the particular lesson
being taught; Skinner, Piaget, Vygotsky and Rogers can all be used.
Because teachers often use a combination of approaches it is difficult to
determine which approach is most effective.

Instructional implications of humanistic theory.

Student-centred teaching.
social personal development.
De-emphasise rigorous, performance-oriented, test-dominated approaches. Provide
opportunity for success.
Discovery learning.
Respects students feelings and aspirations. Right to self-determination.
The humanistic approach is a broad term that encompasses three main approaches
(Kirschenbaum 1975):
1. Humanistic content curricula - Teaching topics that are directly relevant to
the students' lives (e.g. drugs awareness)
2. Humanistic process curricula - Focuses on the whole student and can
include teaching assertiveness training, for example.
3. Humanistic school and group structures - restructuring the whole timetable
and school environment in order to facilitate humanistic teaching or just
individual classes. The approach includes:
o On a school level - open classrooms, class meetings and finding
alternative ways of assessment.
o On a class level:
Students exercise choice and control over activities
Curriculum focuses on what the children are concerned about.
Focus on life skills - thinking skills combined with social skills
(e.g. sharing and communicating). Co-operative learning
Self-evaluation and self-monitoring

 Teacher becomes a facilitator.

Behaviour control by Rogers (Rogers & Skinner, 1956)

1 Value humanity as a self-actualising process; value creativity.
2 Use science to discover the conditions that best lead to the above.
3 Individuals or groups should be self motivated. Set their own goals.
4 Students become - self-responsible, make progress in self- actualisation,
flexible, creative. Because they have autonomy.
5 All this creates a social system - (Values, knowledge, adaptive skills,
concept of science) - all these would continually change and grow.

Humanistic Movement in Education.

Behaviourism

Freudian
Humanism - third force in Psychology
o 1) Uniqueness and importance of the individual.
o 2) Reaction against overly mechanistic and dehumanising approaches.

Principles of Humanistic education

Current and future welfare of students
worth and rights of the individuals
Openness, honesty, selflessness, altruism.
Traditional approach large numbers, regimentation, anonymity,
competition for academic success.
Little time nor energy.
Can be humanistic teacher in a traditional teacher classroom.

Common Emphasis on humanistic approaches to

education.
1 Affect - emphasis on feeling and thinking.
2 Self-Concept - positive, self-concept important Many students are
disinvited students (Borton, 1970). [look at box p250].
3 Communication - positive and honest
4 Personal Values - Importance of personal values, facilitate the
development of positive values. Must know themselves, express themselves,
self-identity, actualise themselves.
Traditional
I.

Mastery of academic content

II.

good citizenship

III.

sportsmanship.

Humanistic approaches use group processes.

Groups
Students can express their feelings more openly, discover and clarify their feelings.
Explore interpersonal relationships Articulate personal values. Games - including
role-playing.
Problems - Novice teacher will lack specific guidelines.

3 approaches
1) Open classroom
2) Learning Styles
3) Co-operative learning
Problems with traditional schools

Compelled to attend
Little choice in the content of a curriculum, the value of which may not be
apparent.
Share teachers time and other resources with other students. Classmates differ
from one another in ability and experience. Have to put up with an instructional
tempo that is often either too fast or too slow. Set of rules - not talking, moving
around, going to the toilet. [Not user-friendly!] no doubt that traditional schools
favour some.
The Open Classroom
Goals - individual growth, critical thinking, self-reliance, co- operation,
commitment to lifelong learning.
Most important person - student not teacher.
Not curriculum bound
Not age/grade locked.
Student-centred - intensive, but relaxed teacher/pupil contact.
Needs low teacher/pupil ratio.
de-emphasises schedules.
Almost no control or competition
Difficult to draw the line between chaos and order, rebelliousness and expression
of rights.
Productive and unproductive time.
Students tend to have better self-concepts and are more creative and co- operative,
but academic achievements are lacking.

The Learning Styles Approach

Allow student to use a learning style that suits them.
e.g. working on soft carpet or around a table
highly structured lessons, peer teaching, computer-assisted instruction, selflearning.
Subjects rotated, to be taught at different times of the day.
Evaluation.
Dunn and Griggs (1988) - 10 learning styles-driven schools visited, learners
performed well on a variety of measures of academic performance.
Many passed subjects, previously failed. Most loved school.
Difficult to measure (Snow and Swanson, 1992) - current list of learning styles and
instruments used to measure them are unorganised, lengthy, include a large range
of habits, personality characteristics and abilities.

Co-operative Learning

Students are often in competition with each other or have to work individually
towards achieving their personal goals.
Co-operative Learning not only combines cognitive and affective aspects of
learning, as well as emphasising participation and active engagement, But also
stresses academic achievement and clearly defined curricular goals.
Reasons for co-operative learning
Without co-operation our planet is doomed!
Bossert (1988) - cornerstone of democracy - political and economical
survival.
Decreases dependence on teachers
Decreases divisiveness and prejudice.
Improves academic performance (Johnson et al, 1984)
Eradicates feelings of alienation, isolation, purposelessness and social
unease amongst students (Johnson et al, 1984).
Promotes positive attitudes to schools (Snow and Swanson, 1992)
Students prefer co-operative approaches (Huber et al, 1992).
Teaches personal skills and life skills.
Definition
1 Requires face to face interaction - usually 4 to 6 students.
2 relationship between group members is one of positive
interdependence (co-operate in allocating resources, assigning roles and
dividing labour in order to achieve goals)
3 Assigns individual responsibility for sharing, co-operating and
learning.
4 Goals and rewards are contingent on the performance and contribution
of all group members.
5 Interpersonal skills necessary e.g. taking turns, facilitating,
collaborating, etc.
Johnson et al (1984) outlines 4 components of co-operative learning:
1. Positive interdependence - students work towards a common goal and share
materials.

2. Individual accountability - every student must contribute to the final

outcome
3. Interpersonal and small-group skill development - The goal has an inbuilt
social skill component.
4. Face to face interactions - an essential part of this leaning strategy.

Circles of Knowledge or Circles of Learning

1 learning together
4 to 6 students have a worksheet they must learn or complete together.
encouraged to help each other.
Praise for co-operating and finishing the assignment.
No competition among groups.
2 Student Teams - Achievement Division (STAD)
As above, except:
Each team has high and low ability students,
different ethnic backgrounds, children of both sexes.
New material presented in class in traditional manner. Following this groups given
material to study and worksheets to complete.
can work individually or together
Encouraged to help each other. At end of that week's material, students answer
quizzes individually.
Team scores are calculated.
team that has improved the most is given the most recognition.
Slavin (1983) 'Students see learning activities as social instead of isolated, fun
instead of boring, under their own control instead of the teacher's'
Help each other more, do not make fun of those with learning difficulties.
Teams-games-Tournaments (TGT)
Same as above, but tournaments at end.
Regrouped into individual competitors, from different groups of a similar ability.
In threes, they take turns to draw cards, and ask the question printed upon it. Can
challenge the answers. They keep the card if correct. At end, points are added up
and credited to the pupil's original (learning) group.
Jigsaw

Each member gets separate parts of the whole. Must teach what they have learned
to other members of the group.
Group Investigation
Students select topic - then divided into sub-topics, based on student's interests.
Groups are formed to investigate each sub-topic.
Each group formulates a plan and assigns responsibilities. members can work
individually or with others. At end group members meet to share information. They
then decide how to present this information to the rest of the class.
Teachers help with academic and social skills.
Reciprocal Teaching
Students taught specific procedures in questioning, clarifying, summarising and
predicting. They then have to teach some of the material to their teacher. (Palinsar
and Brown, 1984)
Advantages of co-operative learning
1 Unlike 'Learning styles' approach, requires no major restructuring of the school
day.
2 Fosters co-operation among students of different abilities, ethnic backgrounds,
ages and sexes.
How much?
Used in conjunction with traditional lessons for 60 to 90 minutes a day. Others
recommend 70% of class time to be used in this way. 20% individualistic. 10%
competitive. (Johnson and Johnson, 1975).
Disadvantage
Careful preparation of materials, worksheets, questions, resource materials, etc.

Evaluation
Johnson et al (1981) 122 studies analysed.
1 Better achievement at all grades and for all subjects, because group discussion
and co-operation promote discovery.
Develop higher-quality cognitive strategies.
Increases motivation, comprehension (by having the student teach) enrich learning
by having students of different abilities and experiences. Promotes highly positive
relationships among group members.
Israeli and Arab students not only performed better academically, but also

displayed fewer signs of ethnic tension in their language (Sharan & Shachar,
1988).
Bossert (1988) agrees but says the effect could be because lessons are more highly
structured and systematic, rather than effect due to peer interaction.
Drawback
Some students waste time talking about irrelevant matters. Some members
dominate and others are ignored.
Why it works
Slavin(1990)
1 Incentive to co-operate
2 Individual accountability
Vygotsky (1978) theory says learning is highly dependent on
1 Social interaction
2 Language.
Drawback
1 Bossert(1988) low achieving students are sometimes embarrassed by
their performances and ashamed of lowering the groups score. Motivation
and self-concepts deteriorate. To counteract this make sure you reward the
group that has shown the most improvement.
2 Bossert (1988) - One reason why the technique works is because it is a
change from normal classroom teaching. If teacher goes over to 100% cooperative learning, this advantage is lost.
3 Bossert (1988) - Also important for student to learn competitive and
individualistic skills.

Some reactions to humanistic education.

Humanistic teachers aim for good things, but these are not clearly defined. Also not
easily measured.
Humanistic approaches are highly dependent upon the capabilities of the teacher.
Overall, Open schools do not deliver academic performance, but non- graded
schools (no age/grade placement and no graded report cards), have positive effects
on achievement (Gutierrez & Slavin, 1992).
Present structured curriculum in ungraded, no fail environment.
But
Criticisms cannot be directed at learning styles-oriented schools and co-operative
learning. Many learning styles schools use group methods which involve cooperative learning.

Description of Cognitivism
BY MOHAMMED RHALMI JANUARY 17, 2011
Description of Cognitivism
Cognitivism is a learning theory that focuses on the processes involved in learning
rather than on the observed behavior. As opposed to Behaviorists, Cognitivists do
not require an outward exhibition of learning, but focus more on the internal
processes and connections that take place during learning. Cognitivism contends
that the black box of the mind should be opened and understood. The learner is
viewed as an information processor. Knowledge can be seen as schema or
symbolic mental constructions and learning is defined as change in a learners
schemata. Some important classroom principles from cognitive psychology include
meaningful learning, organization, and elaboration.
Cognitivism as a reaction against Behaviorism
Cognitivist theory developed as a reaction to Behaviorism. Cognitivists objected to
behaviorists because they felt that behaviorists thought learning was simply a
reaction to a stimulus and ignored the idea that thinking plays an important role. One
of the most famous criticisms addressed to Behaviorism was Chomskys argument
that language could not be acquired purely through conditioning, and must be at
least partly explained by the existence of some inner abilities. Behaviorism for
example falls short to explain how children can learn an infinite number of utterance
that they have never heard of.
The role of the learner
The learners according to cognitivists are active participants in the learning process.
They use various strategies to process and construct their personal understanding of
the content to which they are exposed. Students are not considered anymore as
recipients that teachers fill with knowledge, but as active participants in the learning.
Notable cognitivists

A few of the cognitivists who have contributed to developing the cognitive theory are
the following:

Piaget

Bloom

Bruner

Ausubel

Social Constructivism in the classroom

Reciprocal Teaching
Where a teacher and 2 to 4 students form a collaborative group and take turns leading
dialogues on a topic. Within the dialogues, group members apply four cognitive
strategies:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Questioning
Summarizing
Clarifying
Predicting

This creates a ZPD in which students gradually assume more responsibility for the
material, and through collaboratation, forge group expectations for high-level thinking,
and acquire skills vital for learning and success in everyday life.

Cooperative Learning
More expert peers can also spur childrens development along as long as they adjust the
help they provide to fit the less mature childs ZPD.

Situated Learning
As early as 1929 concern was raised (Whitehead) that the way students learned in
school resulted in a limited, inert form of knowledge, useful only for passing
examinations. More recently several theorists have argued that for knowledge to be
active it should be learned:

In a meaningful context
Through active learning

The general term for this type of learning activity is situated learning. Situated learning
proponents argue that knowledge cannot be taught in an abstract manner, and that to be
useful, it must be situated in a relevant or "authentic" context (Maddux, Johnson, &
Willis, 1997).

Anchored Instruction
The anchored instruction approach is an attempt to help students become more actively
engaged in learning by situating or anchoring instruction around an interesting topic. The
learning environments are designed to provoke the kinds of thoughtful engagement that
helps students develop effective thinking skills and attitudes that contribute to effective
problem solving and critical thinking.
Anchored instruction emphasizes the need to provide students with opportunities to think
about and work on problems and emphasizes group or collaborative problem solving.

Other things you can do:

Encourage team working and collaboration

Promote discussion or debates
Set up study groups for peer learning
Allocate a small proportion of grades for peer assessment and train students in
the process and criteria
Show students models of good practice in essay writing and project work
Be aware of your own role as a model of the way things are done...be explicit
about your professional values and the ethical dimensions of your subject

Assessment
Constructivists believe that assessment should be used as a tool to enhance both the
student's learning and the teacher's understanding of student's progress. It should not
be used as an accountability tool that serves to stress or demoralise students. Types of
assessment aligned to this epistemological position include reflective journals/portfolios,
case studies, group-based projects, presentations (verbal or poster), debates, role
playing etc.
Within social constructivism particularly there is greater scope for involving students in
the entire process:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Criteria
Method
Marking
Feedback

Brooks and Brooks (1993) state that rather than saying "No" when a student does not
give the exact answer being sought, the constructivist teacher attempts to understand

the student's current thinking about the topic. Through nonjudgmental questioning, the
teacher leads the student to construct new understanding and acquire new skills.

http://www.ucdoer.ie/index.php/Education_Theory/Constructivism_and_Social_Const
ructivism_in_the_Classroom