BEHAVIORISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

BEHAVIORISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

PAVLOV AND SKINNER

DEFINITION:

Behaviorism as a Philosophy of Education Behaviorism is a branch of

psychology that, when applied to a classroom setting, focuses on conditioning
student behavior with various types of behavior reinforcements and
consequences called operant conditioning. The principles of behaviorism and
the techniques of behavioral engineering go back at least to PAVLOV, WATSON,
and SKINNER . But skinner pioneered their implementation in many fields of
contemporary life. . Into politics, economics, and other social organization.

AIMS OF EDUCATION

Although many people disapprove of the concepts of behavioral engineering. It

has increasingly become part of the educational process.

• Teacher have conditioned to sit up straight and to be quite through looks,

grades and physical punishment.

• When students are emotionally disturbed, conditioning is one way to develop

a step-by-step program through rewards (or punishment.)

WATSON

• Believed that psychology could become a science when it became possible to

predict responses from stimuli;

• psychology should be objective &

• Experimental.

PAVLOV

■Famous for his behavioral with dogs.

• Taught dogs to salivate when he rang a bell. • Provide a stimulus of food and
achieved his desire reflex which was the dog salivating. • Pavlov was most
known for his use of classical conditioning to train dogs.

SKINNER.
Skinner also advocate of education, although many critics argue that what he
meant by education is not education but training. Behaviorist consider the
child to be an organism who already a highly programmed before coming to
school.

This programming is accomplished by among other influences by Parents,

Peers, Sibling, and Television. ● Some programming might have been bad, but
the child has been receptive to it and has absorbed a lot of it.

● SKINNER believes that one reason why people have trouble making moral
decisions is that they received contradictory.

● And skinner also believed that people should try to create a world of Peace
and justice, and if conditioning can help, then it should be used.

EFFECTS OF REWARDS:

Praise, if used correctly, can increase intrinsic motivation by being

informational • Give unexpected rewards • Avoid tangible rewards for
something the student already finds interesting • Rewards may decrease
intrinsic motivation when given for simply engaging in an activity. Rewards
should be contingent upon meeting a standard or advanced level of
performance. Effects of Rewards

METHODS AND CURRICULUM

According to the behaviorist, teachers have many rewards or reinforcement at

their disposal, including praise, a smile, a touch , stars, or candies. Many
people have questioned the use of intrinsic rewards but behaviorist claim that
they are only to be in place of intrinsic one that should be encouraged later.
Studies indicate that rewards need to be given every time.

The Outcomes:

1. specify the desire outcomes, what needs to be changed, and how it will
evaluated.

2. establish a favorable environment by removing unfavorable stimuli that

might complicate learning

3. choose the proper inforcers for desired behavioral manifestation.

4. begin shaping desired behavior by using immediate reinforces for desired

behavior.
5. Once a pattern of desired behaviors has begun, slacken the numbers of
times reinforcers are given.

6. evaluates results and reassess for future development.

THE COGNITIVE THEORY.

• many destructive and upsetting emotions and behaviors are caused by what
people believe about themselves.

• A mentally healthy person is one who has an accurate perceptions of things

and who can act intelligently on the basis of such perceptions.

 ROLE OF THE TEACHER.

• All teachers use behavioral techniques of one kind of another in their

classrooms. Teacher condition students through grades, their attitudes toward
them, gestures, and in a thousand other ways.

• Also, teacher may fail to reward an appropriate behavior in a timely manner.

This often happens in a school were one teacher might reward a particular
behavior but another teacher might not.

● Skinner and other behaviorist would like to see some consensus among
educators as to the kinds of behavior they would like to see reinforced and then
use proven methods of conditioning to achieve such behaviors.

• One of the most important things a teacher can do is learn the theory and the
techniques of the conditioning process.

• Teachers must not learn the techniques of conditioning but also use them
effectively.

CONCLUSION:

BEHAVIORISM AND EDUCATION

As a learning theory Behaviorism focuses on the observable behavior which

they claim must be the subject of a scientific study. The behaviorist theory of
instruction and learning is based solely on a change in behavior. Behaviorists
do not measure understanding because they do not feel that mental capacity
can be measured. They agree that behavior can be learned through a series of
stimuli and responses. The Classical Conditioning Theorists lean towards a
stimulus first, followed by a response. This pattern is repeated as often as
necessary to achieve the desired behavior change. The Operant Conditioning
Theorists believe that a desired behavior can be achieved by a use of
reinforcers. There are different types of reinforcers and schedules of
reinforcement, which can affect a change in behavior.

I believe that the Operant Conditioning theory is more plausible from an

instructional standpoint. The Classical Conditioning theory is, in my opinion,
too basic. It can be easily shown how a program of reinforcers can, in fact,
change behavior. Parents will often use these techniques in teaching their
children how to behave. We can also observe the reinforcing motivation of
classroom rewards and grades.

Behaviorism is key for educators because it impacts how students react and
behave in the classroom and suggests that teachers can directly influence how
their students behave.

References:
Kendra Cherry. September 24, 2019. History and Key Concepts of
Behavioral Psychology. Retrieved last November 2020 from:
https://www.verywellmind.com/behavioral-psychology-
4157183#:~:text=Behaviorism%2C%20also%20known%20as
%20behavioral,environmental%20stimuli%20shape%20our%20actions.

Saul McLeod. 2020. Behaviorist Approach. Retrieved last November 2020

from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
Marxism

 Developed by Karl Marx in the 19th century

 Marx and Engels wrote the famous “Communist Manifesto” in 1846

 Marx developed the political system known as Communism

 When considering Marxist theory it is useful to remember the 3 Cs;

 Class

 Conflict

 Capitalism

 These provide a “baseline” to Marxist theory

 Marxists see capitalist society as being ruled by the economy.

 The minority, the ruling class or bourgeoisie rule the majority, namely
the workers or proletariat.

 The bourgeoisie have the wealth and the power to rule.

 The proletariat are exploited because they are not treated fairly. This is
the basis of class inequality.

What can Marxists tell us about education?

Writers in the Marxist tradition of sociology claim that the education
system is a conspiracy which exists to deny the children of the working
class access to an understanding of their true class position.

Marxism summarised
 Education reproduces the inequalities and social relations of
production of Capitalist Society.

 Education serves to legitimate these inequalities under the guise of

Meritocracy.

 For Marxists, the role of education is considered in terms of the idea

that there is always a basic “conflict of interest” in Capitalist
society. The most-fundamental
  conflict is between Capital (the owners of the means of production)
and Labour

 (people who sell their labour power in exchange for money).

Marxists try to relate

 all other forms of conflict (gender, age, racial, etc.) to the economic
sphere.

 Marxists are mainly concerned with analysing the way education

involves the

 transmission of ideas and beliefs about the nature of the social

world. The reason

 for this is that education is a process that enables a ruling class to

reproduce its

 domination of other social classes. It does this by trying to socialise

children with

 ideas that legitimise the nature of society “as it is”; that is, a
society in which there

 are fundamental inequalities of wealth, income, power and status.

Louis Althusser
 Althusser believed that education socialises working class children
into accepting their subordinate status to the middle class.

 Education conveys the ideology of the ruling class.

 Education prepares individuals for the world of work, in order to

accept their position in a capitalist society.

Bowles and Gintis

 Bowles and Gintis (1976), say the main function of education in
capitalist countries is to create workers.

 Correspondence theory suggests that educational inequality mirrors

the inequality of wider society.
  If capitalism is to succeed it must have an industrious and obedient
workforce that is too divided to challenge the authority of the
rulers.

 The education system succeeds in fulfilling this aim by means of the

hidden curriculum

Ivan Illich (1973)

 Schools kill creativity, insist on conformity, and offer
indoctrination into capitalistic society.

 Children learn to accept authority in an unthinking fashion and this

leads them to accept government dictats in the same way.

Paul Willis (1977)

 Did an ethnography of twelve anti-school boys ‘the lads’

 These boys rejected school and other children within it, presenting
themselves as superior

 Willis claims that working class children choose to fail in school as a

rejection of capitalism

 Their rejection of school is an act of resistance

Two Marxist viewpoints

 Traditional Marxist

Louis Althusser

Schools pass on messages that people accept without question. They are
socialised into accepting capitalism

 Neo- Marxism

Paul Willis

Children can see through the ideology, but it doesn’t matter. The reality
is low pay work, poverty and oppression regardless.
Summary

/
Conclusion
 Marxism is a political philosophy – your views are your own and not
required in sociology.

 Marxism is an understanding of the nature of social relationships

which you are expected to evaluate. Recognise that it has strengths
and weakness as a tool of understanding of our culture.

References:
Augustyn, A. Et.Al. October 02, 2019. Marxism. Retrieved last November
2020 from: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marxism