Effective Application of the Theory of Education in Teaching - Case Study Example

? Applied Learning Theory Degree program: Semester Year: Introduction The three case studies in this report are reviewed as examples of applied learning theory in education. As Patricia P. Willems and Alyssa R. Gonzalez-DeHass describe in “Educational Psychology Casebook,” the classroom environment is a complex combination of psychological and social forces where discipline and education cannot be separated from effective classroom management by teachers. The need to address behavioral problems can be seen in Erikson’s Personality Development theory and its application in understanding student behavior. Similarly, Observational Learning Theory assists the teacher in comprehending the broader range of social forces that compose the learning process. In Kounin’s ‘Teacher With-it-ness theory’, the teacher must balance all of these aspects of childhood personality development and social learning methods in order to be able to control and transform the tensions that appear in the classroom and school. In this manner, a combined approach that takes the best of these theories and applies them to education and classroom management as Patricia P. Willems and Alyssa R. Gonzalez-DeHass do in “Educational Psychology Casebook” can lead to a more efficient learning process for both the teacher and students in public education or private schools. Development - Case 19: Erikson’s Personality Development Statement of Problem: “To Belong or Not to Belong” Mr. Turner is a 10th grade teacher is a three-year high school with both male and female students. The students have no dress code or uniforms, and come from a wide variety of diverse social backgrounds. Mr. Turner has a “Goth” student in class who he identifies with in her inter-personal relationship struggles with other cliques in the school. Mr. Turner is not certain how to motivate the full range of his students or why they are not all preparing their assignments or completing the readings. He has a reputation of taking on large problems at the school and in teaching deep themes in English literature. Mr. Turner discusses the problems with the cliques with another teacher who advises him to take a more influential role in the character development of the students and to become more involved in building outreach to the community. Mr. Turner does not see the problem involving a wider solution outside of the classroom. Analysis: In Erik Erikson’s theory of human development, the girls are in the adolescent stage representative of Erikson’s 5th stage of personality development representing ‘Identity’ and ‘Identity Conflicts’.1 The Gothic dress and clique activity are characteristic of the search for or expression of individual and group identity. According to Erikson, the individual’s personality at this age is expected to be conditioned by the positive and negative experiences of previous life experience which is being expressed in the adaptive patterning in healthy or unhealthy ways. Mr. Turner needs to understand how 15 to 16 years of life experience have influenced the formation of the students’ personalities and further relate to their self-definition of: Trust vs. Mistrust Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt Initiative vs. Guilt Industry vs. Inferiority In Erikson’s theory of human development, these characteristics are all conditioned in the students prior to the adolescent age,2 and thus Gina, Lila, and Sharon are all complex individuals working to integrate these factors from the earlier stages of development into an identity pattern that is consistent both individually and in groups. For Erikson, how the girls solve the existential issues of their personal and social lives at this stage will be further expressed in the sixth stage of development relating to ‘Intimacy vs. Isolation’ and further self-development.3 Suggestions: Mr. Turner should recognize the unique aspects of this stage of adolescent development and the ways that ‘Identity’ and ‘Identity Conflicts’ determine social relationships. Students need to be free to experiment with social roles individually and in groups and in doing so they build the emotional response patterns that will define them in personality. Tolerance and equality for all student behavior is required unless there is evidence of some abuse. The teacher should protect the weak students from harm and prevent students from being bullied in class, but should not single students out for attention particularly in a way that is indicative of favoritism. Mr. Turner may view the extreme “gothic” dress and rebellious attitude of Gina as a “cry for help,” an expression of need for attention, a sign of individuality and creativity, or part of a normal process of identity creation that all adolescents must go through in order to become adult. As there may be no way to judge this independently from the classroom without a broader knowledge of the student, Mr. Turner should leave the counseling to other professionals and maintain a classroom environment free of partiality. In recognizing consistent bullying behavior in Lila as she and others in her clique use “group power” over isolated, marginalized, and alienated students in the classroom like Gina and Sharon, Mr. Turner must recognize a greater distance and tolerance for the students to freely interact on their own dynamic, even if it may sometimes be painful to share insults or isolation that the students must feel. Application of Erikson’s theory of human development to the students’ behavior will give Mr. Turner an interpretive framework to understand the issues they are going through and to guide them to a higher resolution in the academic community while avoiding personalizing the issues or engaging in taking sides in the arguments. Learning - Case 19: Observational Learning Theory Statement of Problem: “To Belong or Not to Belong” Mr. Turner carefully records the behavior of students in his classroom. He notes how Gina, a student in his 10th Grade English Literature class, dresses all in black and he laughs when he sees her wear a “t-shirt” with “I see stupid people” on the design. Mr. Turner notices that one group led by Lila criticizes Gina’s out of class behavior in class, accusing her of smoking, drinking, partying, etc. Lila also laughs at Sharon for her “boy obsession” with another student. Gina returns the attacks of other students initially by challenging their courage to experiment and try new ideas. Mr. Turner discusses this with Ned who implies he is out of touch with other teachers and the community. Ned jokes at Mr. Turner’s belief that he can change the students’ belief systems and points to the broader context of the community. Mr. Turner is but one voice in a much larger social dialog in which the students will choose views and build their personalities. Analysis: In observational learning theory, human learning is "a continuous reciprocal interaction of cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors."4 Much of the student behavior, as Bandura (1977) and others have shown, relates to the acquisition and repetition of social roles, styles, trends, and fashion from television, popular music, and the web. Gina is acquiring values and knowledge through social experimentation, and forced to defend this aspect of her social life by the assertive group identity of the girl clique led by Lila. Lila’s group seems to champion a kind of conservative morality that is in turn likely conditioned from family and security factors. The girls need for security in groups is combined with conditioning factors from society that come from the family, mass-media, and the education environment itself. When the girls individually or in groups ‘try on’ and experiment with social roles and identity patterns, they will inevitably repeat the same words, phrases, and behaviors that they learn from TV, the family, or other students in the school. Suggestions: Mr. Turner needs to be an example to the students through his own behavior and teaching, inspiring them in the classroom without being involved in their personal issues. Mr. Turner has little real ability to compete with mass-media influences such as television and music or the family for a position as the primary influence in the students’ lives. In teaching English Literature at a formative period in the development of adolescent personalities, Mr. Turner can teach the students how to think critically, how to interpret literary texts, how to develop advanced themes from readings, etc. and through that to become better individuals on their own self-definitions and understandings. But he cannot hope to control every argument and student behavioral problem or he will risk favoring one group over the other. Mr. Turner wants to protect the weaker students but he is not addressing the root insecurity in the clique behavior that makes it seek to assert dominance over weaker or marginalized students. Mr. Turner needs to teach not only to the most intelligent in class, but also cause students in the clique groups to see the inspiration he himself sees in his own position. Mr. Turner cannot let his own social identifications and personality lead him to a limited view of the student behavior, but respect the full diversity of views in the classroom while advancing his own perspective and interpretation. Mr. Turner’s attempt to mediate or moderate in student behavior should be informed by observational learning theory in understanding that the TV, music, and web cultures will conflict with family identities in the construction of the students’ self-identities and base his teaching so that they can view the wider context of literary themes to popular culture. Rather than targeting students or groups particularly, Mr. Turner should address behavior within a larger framework of tolerance that is based in the diversity of views and try to teach mutual respect on this foundation to the students. Motivation and Classroom Management - Case 17: Kounin’s Teacher With-it-ness Statement of Problem: “Backfired” Mr. Little has instituted a “no-homework” policy for any student in the class who scores an ‘A’ on the multiple choice exam. This leads to his class studying in advance for the test, and competing heavily for the grade. Mr. Little is happy with the incentive program, but believes he must make it more limited overall. He institutes a new policy that only the students that score a perfect ‘100%’ on the test will receive a “no-homework” pass. The students protest, and he ignores them. Mr. Little then notices that the participation of many declines, test scores decrease, and he even has to schedule conferences with irate parents to discuss the issue. In asking advice of fellow teachers, Mr. Little implies “I was just following the book”. Analysis: Mr. Little had a successful system working which increased student participation in a multiple choice exam, but he applied his “theory of teaching” too strictly in the classroom. Mr. Little was operating on a strategy of “bait and switch” where the students actually expected a consistent and fair application of rules in the system. Mr. Little is an example of one of Kounin’s “Teachers Without-it-ness” because he first implements the theory of teaching over the direct results of the classroom, and secondly consults other teachers about the solution to the problem rather than resolving it directly through classroom dynamics. 5 If Mr. Little had originally understood the feedback of his students and respected their views when making the decision, he would have been an example of Kounin’s “Teachers With-it-ness”. Through this he could have trusted his own experience in the classroom to make the decision that was best for the students. 6 Suggestions: Mr. Little attempts to “raise the bar” on the students so as to limit the number who can attain the no-homework pass. However, the students are also reacting to the perception of injustice in changing the rule arbitrarily and seeking to eliminate the best efforts of some from consideration. Mr. Little hopes this limitation will inspire students, but instead it inspires them to give up. Mr. Little needed to build upon the social understanding formed in the discussion of the rule change, and lead the students in a decision that would establish consensus in the classroom, even if it meant changing his own plan for the new rule. While it may seem as if Mr. Little is losing authority or will be driven by the whims of his students and lose discipline in the class, and application of Kounin’s “Teachers With-it-ness” theory would be to build upon the energy that the students displayed in the spontaneous discussion because he had touched upon the center of their motivation. At that moment, the students were truly participants in the class and negotiating their own sense of idealism within the learning environment. In listening to the students’ feedback on how he could make his teaching and policies fairer, Mr. Little could cultivate Kounin’s “With-it-ness” by listening to student needs and concerns. When Mr. Little understands how to continue to inspire the spontaneous participation of the students in the greater learning process, the students should display a greater over-all comprehension of the subject that can be verified through standardized testing and classroom exams. References Argosy University (2011). Erik Erikson: Theory of Personality Development. Helping Psychology. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://helpingpsychology.com/theory-of-personality-development-erik-erikson-model. Leonard, David C. (2002). Learning Theories, A to Z. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=nNcoAO5Za9YC. Sharkey, Wendy (1997). Erik Erikson (1902 - 1994). Muskingum University. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/erikson.htm. Tauber, Robert T. (2007). Classroom Management: Sound Theory and Effective Practice. Greenwood Publishing Group. Retrieved May 3, 2011, from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=XiQFyR41kysC. Read More