Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Appendix
Assessment 2: Case Study: Theory into practice scaffolding rubric – approximately 800 words
Choose ONLY between 3 and 5 concepts to observe per theory
Year Level observed: Years 6/7 School:
Theory Key Concepts of the theory
Piaget’s Constructivist learning,
Cognitive developing schemas,
Development (assimilation/accommodation
/adaptation)
Theory
Equilibrium/Disequilibrium
Stages of dev –
Sensorimotor – N/A
Pre-operational: socio-
dramatic play, combination of
schemas, animism,
representations of reality,
categorising, egocentrism,
centration, non-transformation,
irreversibility
Concrete-operational :
concrete operations (materials),
inductive and deductive
reasoning, conservation,
compensation, reversibility,
compensation, seriation, logical
and spatial reasoning
formal operational: abstract
reasoning, hypothetical
thinking, idealism, egocentrism,
criticism, personal fable,
imaginary audience
Vygotsky Social mediated learning, More
knowledgeable others,
Scaffolding
ZPD, Cultural values of
learning, Cultural tools, socio-
dramatic play, Language (social,
private, inner speech),
Evidence – what have you observed?
Literacy circles are conducted every
morning prior to recess, where students are
separated into small groups and discuss the
previously read chapters of the class novel.
Students record and report any words or
phrases they do not understand, where as a
class, the supervising teacher will clarify
their meaning.
A year 1 drama class saw the supervising
teacher read the book Three Billy Goats
Gruff to students whilst also playing a
YouTube video on the screen so students
could follow along. The drama room was
set up with props and other recourses such
as costumes, where students were then
encouraged to play as the character and
either recreate or create their own version
of the story.
The supervising teacher groups students in
small tables to create a more intimate
learning environment. These tables are
formed based on academic levels, having a
mixed group of academic levels per tables.
Furthermore, the pairs at each individual
desk are also strategically placed, mostly
having year 6 students paired with year 7
students.
How does this inform your
teaching? E.g classroom set-up,
concrete materials, time allocation,
practices
As students read through the text and
they come across a word and/or phrase
that they do not understand, the greater
meaning of the sentence also loses the
ability to convey its message. Students
at this point are experiencing a state of
disequilibrium. Rather than students
disregarding this new information that
does not make sense, the supervising
teachers uses this to facilitate learning
and prompts students to record these
words so they can then later be
clarified.
The process of clarification sees the
supervising teacher ultimately guide
students through the process of
accommodation where they alter an
existing schema or create a new one in
order to accommodate this new
information.
Ultimately once this clarification has
occurred, the supervising teacher has
moved students back to a state of
equilibrium one’s mind is in a state of
constancy and things make sense.
The drama lesson saw two theory
concepts implemented by the
supervising teacher. Firstly, socio
dramatic play was facilitated by the
rich classroom recourses but also by
the overall arrangement of the room.
The three key points of the book Three
Billy Goats Gruff where set up as
stations and this allowed students
to successfully develop more complex
combinations of schemas and create
and develop their own scrips for play.
The concept of socio dramatic play
also sees animism occur where
students treat toys and other intimate
objects as if they are real and have
feeling. By using the props and
resources provided by the supervising
teacher, students freely displayed this
notion as part of Piaget’s Concrete-
Operational stage of development.
By mixing an even number of year six
students with year seven students and
various academic levels per table,
allows for Scaffolding to occur through
More Knowledgeable Others. The
students of a higher academic level are
able to assist by giving those at a lower
level more help, clues or further
guidance in order to move them
through their ZPD.
 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Behaviourism Classical and operant
conditioning, Positive and
negative reinforcement
(schedules of reinforcement),
Punishment
Reciprocal determinism
Bandura’s Social Observational learning,
Cognitive
Role-modelling,
Theory 
Attention, retention,
reproduction, motivation, triadic
reciprocal causation (personal,
social, behavioural factors), self-
efficacy, self-regulation
The supervising teacher regularly
implements the use of cultural tools and
intergrades them into classroom
learning/teaching. Students have, at
minimum, two computing lessons per day
whilst also regularly engaging with the
classroom interactive white board. In
particular, math lessons are firstly taught
using the interactive whiteboard where
videos and interactive games are view by
students. A program called Mathletics is
then used by students, which tracks and
keeps records of the student’s progress,
allowing for teachers and parents to follow
student’s development.
The supervising has a “class law” which
states there is to be no silent work during
collaborative tasks and that discussions are
an important part of a learning
environment. The supervising teacher also
permits self-talk, especially during tests
and reading activities and these notions are
displayed on poster throughout the
classroom which read “Silent work isn’t
always productive work” and “Our learning
community is a talkative community”.
“Sacky Dollars” are given to students who
have been paying attention/behaving well
throughout the day, sitting quietly or
displaying desirable behavior. Sacky
dollars can be used to purchase fun items in
the Sacky shop, such as erasers for 2 Sacky
dollars, all the way up to 200 Sacky dollars
for a pair of Dre Beat headphones and
assorted items in-between worth various
amounts of money. Sacky dollars are given
out to students more frequently during
disruptive times such as after PE or when
there are many students off task, however,
occurs randomly throughout the day.
Students can have Sacky dollars taken
away for extreme situations of poor
behaviors, however, students are able to
earn “get out of jail free cards” where
Sacky dollars cannot be taken from
students for a whole day of extremely good
behavior is show by the entire class for a
long period of time.
During PE, the supervising teacher engaged
the class in a game of soccer. The lesson
began by the supervising teacher breaking
down the entire process into small
fragments of movements. The class stood
in a circle so all students could observe the
demonstration. Words were associated with
particular movements to aid students in
remembering the process of kicking the
ball correctly to another participant of the
Students are seating at grouped tables
which all are directed towards the
interactive whiteboard. If the
supervising teacher is unable to explain
a concept thoroughly enough for
students to understand, the cultural tool
of the smartboard is implemented
where a video or google definition is
displayed. The overall purpose of
cultural tools is to enable people to
communicate, learn and solve
problems.
The social and private speech which is
promoted, even encouraged by the
supervising teacher, allows students to
Scaffold one another and also aid in
recalling information.
Giving Sacky dollars to well behaved
students, enabling them to purchase
from the Sacky shop, is a form on
Positive Reinforcement and increases
the likelihood of the behavior
reoccurring.
By using a variable interval schedule
of reinforcement, the students are
reinforced after an unpredictable
interval of time and as a result, learn to
respond at a steady rate. Variable
interval schedules of reinforcement are
of greater benefit than other schedules
as they encourage self-motivation.
Examples of negative reinforcement
and punishment can also be seen in the
provided observation. Punishment can
occur through the removal of
something that is desired. The
supervising teacher removed Sacky
dollars from students who were
behaving poorly in class or disrupting
other students.
However, during get out of jail free
day, negative reinforcement is used
where the supervising teacher removes
the potential threat of Sacky dollars
being taken away from students under
the circumstances that the entire class
shows exquisite behaviors over the
course of an entire day.
Both observational learning and role
modeling occurred during the observed
PE lesson. The supervising teacher
enabled students to acquire the correct
skills of kicking a soccer ball through
behaviors that was role modeled. The
supervising teacher took the role of the
role model who displays the desired
behaviors. The students, however, took
 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Vicarious Learning
Attachment Relationships
Theory
Security
Sense of belonging
Class climate
Erikson Initiative vs Guilt (3-6) – make
believe play, ambition,
responsibility, free exploration
Industry vs Inferiority (6-11) –
cooperation, goal directed
learning, opportunity to achieve
team. For example, “bend” was called out
when the leg was drawn right back and also
“side” when the teacher wanted to remind
the class to kick with the inside of the foot.
After the demonstration was complete,
students paired up to practice their
techniques while the supervising teacher
gave positive feedback and reinforcement
to those producing the correct movements.
Students wo were not paying attention were
asked to redirect their attention back to the
lesson
At highly disruptive times, the supervising
teacher rewards students with Sacky dollars
for being on task, well behaved and/or
answering questions correctly. Sacky
dollars are only given to the students who
are displaying the desired behavior,
relevant to the task or classroom setting.
For example, after lunch when students are
more likely to be off task and take more
time to settle, Sacky dollars will be given to
the few students who are quiet and on task.
The supervising teacher has the classroom
set out with small groups of tables,
allowing up to six students per table and
some being four students per table.
Students are able to communicate and learn
in these small communities and interact
amongst students of the class.
A year 1 drama lesson saw the recreation of
the book Three Billy Goats Gruff, where
the supervising teacher encouraged
students to participate in make believe play.
Students where provided props and the
freedom of the performing arts room to act
out scenes depicted in the book or create
the role of the observational learners,
where their skills and strategies were
learnt through observing others.
In order for the observational learning
to be successful, the four psychological
processes which underlie observational
learning (attention, retention,
reproduction, and motivation (and
reinforcement)) needed to be met.
Students acquired the knowledge of
kicking a soccer ball by paying
attention to the modeled behavior.
Students who were not paying the
attention needed to retain the
information had their focus directed
back to the task. The supervising
teacher assisted by highlighting the
important features of kicking a ball and
encoded the knowledge with particular
words in order for students to easily
retain the information. Reproduction
occurred when students were asked to
pair up with a partner and practice
kicking a ball to one another and direct
incentives were used by the
supervising teacher to reinforce the
behavior.
Vicarious learning occurs through
students who observe other students
being praised and/or rewarded and in
turn display the same behaviors. When
the disruptive/off task students realize
Sacky dollars are being given out to
students, they will begin to show the
same behaviors being demonstrated by
those receiving the reward. The
strategy helps gain quick control of the
class and the supervising teachers
classroom arrangement also facilitates
vicarious learning. All tables are set
out so they face the front of the
classroom, where the “Sacky Shop” is
also situated. If a student is rewarded a
Sacky dollar and proceeds to the shop,
all other students can see this taking
place and will, therefore, display the
same behavior in order to reap the
same reward.
Sitting at these same tables for long
periods of time allows students to
become familiar and comfortable with
other students in their learning
community and get to know
classmates. This buddy system creates
a sense of bonding with group
members and allows students to feel a
sense of belonging and security with
their peers. These groups also help
students confirm their group identity
establishing a place through positive
emotional experiences and acceptance
of other members.
Allowing students to participate in
make believe play meant the
supervising teacher provided the
opportunity for students to take
initiative in their learning as they were
ultimately in charge of making
decisions based on the story they
 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
success
Identity vs Role Confusion (12-
adolescents) – self-exploration
and experimentation of social,
moral and political beliefs,
dreams, career and how they
want to be seen by the world
Bronfenbrenner' Nested environments
s Bio-ecological
School context
Systems Theory
Parent/teacher relations
Child/teacher relations
Cultural values of learning
(curriculum)
Government initiatives and laws
their own interpretations.
The supervising teachers begins each
lesson by discussing the learning intentions
of the lesson and also the success criteria.
Learning intentions are ultimately the goal
of the lesson and depict the knowledge and
understand the class intends to gain by the
end of the lesson. Success criteria outline
the measures needed to be taken in order to
meet the intentions. During the lesson
introduction, the supervising teacher writes
on the board the learning intentions and
three success criteria so all students are
aware of the goal of the lesson. The time
allocation of the lesson is also placed in
brackets to give students a time in which
the learning intentions must be met.
During a science lesson, the supervising
teacher organized a class debate on
Renewable energy were all students had the
opportunity to pick either for or against and
prepare a debate to the class. Each student
was provided with the opportunity to make
their point and the presentation was given
to the entire class. To reinforce each
student’s ideas and position in the debate,
the supervising teacher recorder the class
list on the board and further noted the
students stand on renewable energy along
with their points of reasoning.
Each student of the placement class has a
designated progress folder which holds
various samples of work, achievement
records, copies of the class newsletter and
also a communication section for parents
and teachers to communicate. At any point
throughout the day, before or after school,
parents are welcomed to come in and
browse through their child’s folder and
discuss any contents with the supervising
teacher.
Learning intentions are created prior to
each lesson which outline the overall goal
for the students learning. The supervising
teacher creates a focus on the success
criteria for students, however, also ensure
the learning intentions are linked to the
wished to create. Students were given
free exploration of the text and
experimented with role play and
explored new directions. The
supervising teacher aided students to
develop initiative and responsibility by
supporting their sense of exploration
and purpose.
A combination of the learning
intentions and also success criteria, aid
the supervising teacher in creating goal
directed learning in the classroom. All
students are made aware of the desired
outcome for the lesson and have the
opportunity to achieve success through
the notion of the success criteria.
Therefore, the supervising teacher has
provided students not only with goal
directed learning but also the
opportunity to achieve success through
the detailing of the success criteria.
The time allocation lastly motivates
students to implement the success
criteria to meet the learning intentions
within the time restraint. This infers
lessons must not be too long, otherwise
students will lose focus of their goal.
By learning to work cooperatively with
others and apply goal directed
learning, students felt supported by the
supervising teacher and developed a
sense of industry.
The supervising teacher facilitated in
the development of Identity through
allowing students to self-explore and
experimentation of both moral and
political beliefs. By presenting to the
rest of the class and having their points
of view displayed on the board for
everyone to see, students are being
viewed in the persona they wish to be
seen, further reinforcing their sense of
identity.
The student folder aids in developing a
strong parent teacher relationship by
having frequent communication of
each child’s progress. As the
supervising teacher welcomes parents
into the classroom to discuss the
progress of the students, the parents are
reassured and feel included into the
school environment. Parents are part of
the mesosystem which focuses on the
way the microsystems interact and the
impact of these relations on the child.
As the supervising teacher ensures
parents and included in their child’s
learning, the child in turn experiences a
sense of trust and unity between the
parent’s beliefs and expectations about
education and his/her school
experience.
Cultural values of learning are
 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory
Information Short term memory: sensory
Processing register, attention
Theory
Working memory: focus,
processing, rehearsal, cognitive
load
Long term memory: transfer,
storing and recalling
information, reconstruction,
meaning
Memory deficits (special needs)
curriculum. (links to curriculum
During discussions with the school
Principal, it was revealed that in an attempt
to deal with student’s who experience
difficult home lives, the principal works to
understand the interests of his students. By
doing this, he is able to further relate and
create conversation, further building this
relationship. A particular student felt very
strongly about the Port Adelaide football
team and, therefore, the principal
proceeded to watch every game and take
note of the team’s progress.
Each week, the supervising teacher assigns
a spelling list for all students to practise
and learn over the course of the week.
Students are then tested on their knowledge
Friday morning, however, are given
opportunities to practice throughout the
week with activities such as Look, Cover,
Write, Check.
implemented by the supervising
teacher through the means of learning
intentions. Cultural values in relation
to education, are in the means of the
national Curriculum which outlines the
levels and achievements of students in
accordance to their age/year level. This
is, therefore, governed by laws,
practices and also educators
themselves, and reflect the overall
attitude of the wider community.
Educators are, therefore, responsible
for providing the required level of
support for their students to ensure
these needs are met.   
This observation sees the student
taking an active role of the model and
can be influence by their environment.
As the principal took the initiative to
relate to the student in relation to their
hobbies and interest, this positively
impacts on their immediate
environment and, therefore, the student
also has the ability to influence their
own environment.
The process of look, cover, write,
check sees students enable their
sensory memory, along with their
working memory. “Look” refers to the
visual stimulus, where student then
actively decide to retain this
information, which is then passes to
the working memory.
Once the information has been
attended to, or paid attention, the
working memory processes the
information from sensory memory,
maintains new information, and
retrieves relevant information from
long-term memory. With frequent
rehearsal and continuous exposure to
these words, the supervising teacher is
aiding in the retaining of the new
information through the rehearsal
process and it is through rehearsal that
the knowledge is then transferred to
long term memory.
The “cover” and “write” aspect refer to
the storing and retrieval of information
in terms of conscious recall.