Behaviorism

"Learning is defined as nothing  more than the acquisition of new behavior." -Yu Ching Chen

I currently work for Kids West, which is a child care provider for elementary age students in the West Des Moines school district. In the school year I am in charge of before/after school care for kindergarten through six graders. During the summer months we act as a day camp and this year I am in charge of 4th graders. In a before/afterschool setting there are certain desired behaviors and also some behaviors we try and avoid. It is always difficult working toward a system of awarding and correcting when you are working with a large group of kids with a variety of ages. As a teacher it is a challenging to always be following everyone and be at the right place/time for desired correction to occur. I think that consistency plays a huge part in bahaviorism. When you are in a classroom setting with 20 some kids and you have to be consistent and on the look out. Correcting/rewarding each child it is near impossible. Behaviorism would work with a very small group of kids and with a very strict and consistant teacher. But even in an ideal situation, kids are not going to walk into your classroom with a "blank slate" wanting to work really hard to learn.

I do find many connections to behaviorism with my current teaching style. I do use a reward system and I attempt to correct whenever I see a child sharing a poor behavior choice. when I do correct I am always very clear with my desired expectations of correct behavior as well and a reason why we have that certain rule or why he or she needs to act that particular way. I don't understand why behaviorism doesn't want to be concerned with the how or why knowledge is obtained? kids always want to know why. I would find it very hard not to get concerned with that. What would a behaviorism focused teacher say when a kid asked a why question?

Overall I agreed with some parts of behaviorism and I do see how it could be successful but in my eyes it is still vary flawed theory. It seems very strict  and basic in educational process and the way knowledge is obtained. Behaviorism focuses on classroom management, and memorization. I don't see how this theory could foster a good learning environment and a deep desire for creative life long learning.

When I was reading the articles I found myself struggling to get over the concept of punishment.

I would picture the movie Matilda and the principal Mrs.Trunchbull whenever the article mentioned punishment and Mrs. Honey whenever they mentioned positive reinforcement. If done in a very subtle way this idea could work but if the punishment or reinforcement is overdone it would lead to serious emotional scaring for some of the students. You have to be very careful when you are correcting kids if over done kids might feel defeated and not want to come to school or learn.