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The Application of Behaviourism in the Classroom in Primary and Secondary

Schools

Article · November 2012

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Vannak Hour
BELTEI International University
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THE APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOURISM IN THE CLASSROOM IN

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Hour Vannak
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………1

2.0 Punishment…………………………………………………………………1

3.0 Reinforcement………………………………………………...……………3

3.1 Positive Reinforcement…………………………………...…………3

3.1.1 Goal-Directed Behavior…………………………...………4

3.1.2 Self Regulation of behavior…………………………..……5

3.2 Negative Reinforcement……………………………………..………6

4.0 Conclusion ……………………………………………………..……………7

5.0 References ………………………………………………………………...…8

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 APPLYING BEHAVIORISM IN THE CLASSROOM

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Even we all belong to the same species known as “human beings,” we are
quite different distinctively in shape, height, size, appearance, speed of reaction, and
many other aspects of personalities which make up our behaviors. Some people are
small while some are big. Some respond to a course harshly while some others slowly.
Some learn and adapt the environment fast, while some others take some times. We all
possess different behaviors. But what is behavior? “Behavior” is an observable activity
in a human or animal (World English Dictionary, 2012). In other words, behavior is
revealed through one’s actions and which are observable. Knowing different behaviors
of individuals helps teachers teach their students more effectively, thus emerging the
school of thought known as “behaviorism”. According to Klein (1996), behaviorism is a
school of thought that emphasizes the role of experience in governing behavior both the
drives that initiate behavior and the specific behaviors motivated by these drives are
learned through our interaction with the environment (p. 23). But how can behaviorism
be applied to enhance learning in the classroom? The rest of this article attempts to
answer this question.

2.0 PUNISHMENT
Punishment is anything that decreases the behavior it follows. In this
procedure, the strength or probability of a response is decreased. Punishment involves
the appearance or the increase in intensity of a stimulus following the operant (Hamilton
& Ghatala, 1994, p. 41-43). Punishment happens when the person punished receives the
action in the purpose of preventing or reducing probability of certain behaviors. For
example, a classroom teacher scolds a student for not turning off his or her cellphone
during the lecture. The teacher’s aim is to encourage the student to turn off the phone
when coming to class. The person scolded may feel embarrassed in front of his fellow
classmates, thus he will try to avoid doing the same thing in order to avoid receiving the
same treatment. In addition, it is also a message for other students to be aware of a
particular activity which violates the classroom or else they will face similar outcomes.

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Therefore, this approach can be applied in the classroom in order to enhance learning
and which is widely practiced by many schools around the globe. I believe that all
schools, more or less, have similar problems of students breaking the school rules,
especially during class period. A teacher may scold a group of students talking while he
or she is teaching. The purpose is to stop them from talking because, first, they won’t be
able to learn the lesson for themselves and, second, they will take away other students’
attention. In a worse scenario, he or she may ask them to get out of the classroom if they
continue to perform that kind of behavior. This is not to mention spanking which is
widely practiced by many traditional schools, especially in less developed countries
where extreme teacher-centre approach remains a strong hold.
Whether it is mild or serious punishment, the teacher must keep in mind that
it will be only effective if it is applied to the right person with certain particular
behaviors and at the right time and place. I remember a friend of mine in primary 6. He
was a very shy boy. He was too shy that he would not walk through the school corridor
to the playground when there were usually several girls mingling around. He would
usually choose the alternative path to get away from people’s attentions. He told me he
didn’t feel comfortable when any girl looked at him and he would try to avoid getting
close to all girls. One day, he got scolded by our classroom teacher during class hour.
He was humiliated in front of everyone for dropping his pencil twice onto the floor in 2
minutes and was asked to stand up for 20 minutes at his table. He was so quiet and his
face turned red looking as if he had been so embarrassed; indeed he was. After that day
on, I’ve never seen him again. He never turned up at school. One week later, there was a
rumor that he refused to come to class no matter what his parents did. So they decided
to transfer him to another school. Therefore, I think it would be best that the classroom
teacher identifies students’ behaviors and applies an appropriate punishment at a degree
that a particular student can tolerate. A record book will be helpful. To deal with a
student like my primary-6 friend, the teacher should have picked a private place to
reprimand him, probably in the office.

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3.0 REINFORCEMENT
Reinforcement is used to help increase the probability that a specific behavior
will occur with the delivery of a stimulus immediately after a behavior is exhibited. The
use of reinforcement procedures have been used with both typical and atypical
developing children, teenagers, elderly persons, animals, and different psychological
disorders (Sadowski, 2009, para. 1).

3.1 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

According to Sadowski (2009), positive reinforcement is a very powerful and
effective tool to help shape and change behavior. Positive reinforcement works by
presenting a motivating item to the person after the desired behavior is exhibited,
making the behavior more likely to happen in the future (para 3). To put this in simple
words, the teacher may apply positive reinforcement in the classroom to strengthen
desirable behaviors of students and which is usually and widely used by many schools
to enhance students’ learning. A “motivating item” may refer to a reward used to
encourage and motivate students in maintaining or increasing desirable behaviors, thus
the term extrinsic motivation. According to Bainbridge (2012), extrinsic motivation
refers to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are
external, or outside, rewards such as money or grades. These rewards provide
satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide (para. 1). Besides physical
items, positive reinforcement also can be done verbally. For example, the teacher may
praise a particular student for answering a question.
In addition, the teacher may use incentive motivation through which
something is given away to students who have performed certain behaviors desired by
the school. For example, in order to encourage students to study hard, the teacher
informs them that a letter of appreciation will be given to each of those who achieves 90
marks and above on the monthly test. The students, off course, will feel excited about it
as they may wish to show it to their parents for other incentives or to earn dignity
among other students. However, in my opinion, an incentive helps to motivate students
for just a short term. Instead, certificate is the ultimate incentive which will be given to
those who complete the school programmes such as primary, secondary, and university.

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 One needs to remember that getting a certificate is a long process; thus it
usually is not attractive to students. Instead, they prefer to see immediate rewards and
responses towards certain actions. Therefore, teachers should remind students from time
to time, especially in the beginning and at the end of the school year that certificate is a
ticket to where they want to be in the future and is the reason they come to school. In
the mean time, rewards need to be given upon a small success as well. In my opinion,
short term incentive is very important because students will be more motivated to press
on to reach their long term goal only when they see small wins under their belts. Klein
(1996) indicated that a human or another animal would be more motivated after
receiving a large reward rather than a small one (p 36). Therefore, short term incentives
can be big or small depending on the degree of students’ success and the affordability of
the department or school.
Beside extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is also widely and more
frequently used by schools. According to Bainbridge (2012), intrinsic motivation refers
to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or
outside rewards, such as money or grades (para 1). I believe that in order to motivate
students intrinsically in their learning, teachers have to instill in students a sense of
responsibility and vision of their future. Once students have responsibility for their
learning, their study will become better in a way that they will put more effort in it.
They will seek help when facing academic problems, and other possible ways to
improve their present learning condition. In short they are responsible for constructing
their own knowledge. Besides, vision provides students with imagining pictures of their
future. The bigger the vision is, the better is their study. Once having a vision for their
future with necessary guidance from affective person, I believe students will manage to
find a life purpose which they will try their best to achieve.

3.1.1 Goal-Directed Behavior

Behaviorism can be applied in enhancing learning in the classroom when
teachers encourage their students to set goals for their learning. Ormrod (1995) has
mentioned people set goals for themselves and direct their behaviors toward the
attainment of those goals (p. 273). This is absolutely true in the real world. Nobody

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lives without a goal in life. Some may have a big and long term goal while some others
a small and short one, let say, getting enough food for the family. Besides, students
might set a variety of goals they hope to achieve, perhaps a high grade-point-average, a
college scholarship, popularity among classmates, athletic prowess, or a reputation as a
class clown. Those who set their goals to achieve a high grade-point-average or a
college scholarship usually pay more attention in the classroom, study hard, and so on.
You can notice that these students are very active in the class as well. Besides, those
who set the goal to obtain athletic prowess seem to spend most of their time and effort
practicing the sport, most probably more than they do on their study. Regardless of
different goals students might have, in my opinion, the teacher is the key person in
encouraging them to develop one common goal on top of their priorities – getting a high
grade-point-average – so that it will be easier for them to obtain their preferred career in
the future. When the goal is set, they will plan and take actions toward reaching it.
These actions are seen as their behaviors and which will bring them about some
particular outcomes. Steiner (1999), said goal has the greatest effect when it directs the
students’ attention toward the positive consequences of some action (p. 90).

3.1.2 Self-Regulation of Behavior

Social cognitive theorists believe that people eventually begin to regulate
their own learning and behavior (Ormrod, 1995, p. 273). To me, this is absolutely true. I
remember when I was in primary two, there was one lesson that taught us how to write
handwriting letters. It was hard to learn and even imitating a teacher’s letters written on
the board was also painstaking. However, I tried to write those letters by looking
carefully at the examples the teacher wrote on the chalkboard. I tried to copy them as
closely possible as the teacher’s. The result was terrible. However, some of my friends
did quite well that they started to be praised by other classmates as well as the teacher
whereas mine was far less comparable. Learning from that lesson, I promised myslef to
write as well as the teacher could, I practiced handwriting for a few days both at school
and at home. My purpose was to have my letters as beautiful as those of my teacher.
What I see here is that my teacher has set a behavior standard for what is acceptable and
unacceptable. What I had to do at the time was to try my best to be accepted. The point

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is the teacher may help students to regulate their own behaviors by setting up a learning
standard for each particular subject. The standard will serve as a goal for students to
strive for by honing their knowledge, abilities, and skills through practicing and as a
way to bring about a productive behavior.

3.2 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

Negative reinforcement involves a removal or a decrease in intensity of a
stimulus (Hamilton & Ghatala, 1994, p. 43). In other words, it involves taking away a
person’s stuff, activities, and hobbies when he or she performs an undesirable behavior.
For example, a mother bans her son from watching his favourite TV channels when he
failed to finish his homework on due date. So, how can negative reinforcement be
applied in the classroom in order to enhance learning? One of the common negative
reinforcements used in the classroom is to take away the student’s recess. This can be
done when the student fails to complete his or her homework, thus late submission.
Therefore, the teacher may ask him or her to do the homework during the recess. The
teacher understands that recess is very important to students, especially those in primary
school. It is the time for them to play, to talk, and to have snacks. Recess is an exciting
time. Therefore, taking it away breaks their hearts. Eventually, students learn that if they
do not finish their homework, they will not be allowed to do their favourite activities.
Therefore, they have to finish the assigned tasks.
However, I think that this negative reinforcement (taking away recess) is not
always effective to every student. To some, recess is not important. Therefore, taking it
away doesn’t reinforce a change in behavior. When the teacher bans the students from
doing what he does not like in the hope they will stop or reduce some undesirable
behaviors, it will not affect them in any sense. Those students will continue to perform
those behaviors. To solve this problem, the teacher must know his students well,
knowing what they like and what they don’t. Only when the teacher can do so, can he
effectively administer negative reinforcement. Also the teacher has to keep in mind that
what a student likes today, he may not like tomorrow. Therefore, the teacher must keep
the students’ information up to date by keep a record book listing down the change in
their behaviors. Even it is a bit of a tedious work, the result can be immense. In short,

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negative reinforcement can be very effective if carried out on the right person, at the
right time and place.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Behaviorism is an effective tool used to enhance learning in the classroom.

Understanding its definition and procedures gives an unfair advantage to the teacher in
both, controlling his students’ behaviors more effectively, and helping them improve
their learning up to another degree. Applying behaviorism in the classroom involves
simple strategies such as punishment, positive and negative reinforcement. Yet all of
which are extremely effective if applied to the right person, at the right time and place.
Therefore, the teacher should know his students well enough before deciding which
method to implement considering whether it is punishment, positive reinforcement or
negative reinforcement. I strongly suggest that behaviorism should always be practiced
in every school, especially those in primary and secondary schools.

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 REFERENCES

Bainbridge, C. (2012). Extrinsic motivation. From

http://giftedkids.about.com/od/glossary/g/extrinsic.htm

Ghatala, E.& Hamilton, R. (1994). Learning and Instruction. The United States of
America: McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Klein, S.B. (1996). Learning: Principles and Applications. The United States of America:
McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Ormrod, J.E. (1995). Educational Psychology: Principles and Applications. Jew Jersey:
Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Sadowski, K. (2009). The difference between positive and negative reinforcement. From
http://nspt4kids.com/parenting/the-difference-between-positive-and-negative-
reinforcement/

Steiner, G. (1999). Learning: Nineteen Scenarios from Everday Life. United Kingdom:
University of Cambridge

World English Dictionary. (2012). Behavior. From

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/behavior?s=t

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