Behaviorism in the classroom.

Is it ok to use behaviorism in the classroom? First lets look at what behaviorism is, and what it was originally used for.

BF Skinnner was the first one to implement operand conditioning into what he called Programmed instruction. This is where the student begins working on a concept, is then assessed on the concept and based on the answer being correct or incorrect they are directed one of two ways. If they are correct they are reinforced and told that they are correct and here is why. If they are incorrect they are told so and then the concept is reexplained in a different way.

According to Orey this programed instruction has evolved and turned into what we call the tutorial. It is based in a similar format:
1. present a small amount of information
2. Ask a series of questions that gets a learner to have a behavior, make a decision about what the right answer is.
3. then based on the response the student either works towards building the behavior or moves onto a new behavior.

Dr. Orey says that behaviorism is really Operant conditioning which is founded on two major tenants; Reinforcement and punishment. Behaviorism is incredibly good at classroom management. This helps to specify what are undesired behaviors and punish them while also specifying what are good behaviors and rewarding them. The key to this use of behaviorism to to ensure that the later is being done. Very often teachers forget the most important and as Orey states "more powerful of the two mechanisms" is the positive rewards. Keeping things positive and reinforcing desired behaviors, not simply expecting them, is all to often forgotten or slips away in the classroom.

For things like Tutorials and Classroom management behaviorism is an appropriate technique to use. These are both based on the understanding that the behavior needs to be an "Observable behavior rather than internal thought process" (Smith 1999). In order for behaviorism to work in these instances the behavior needs to be observable. In the case of the tutorial the behavior can be demonstrating a skill on the computer or software. In the case of classroom management the behavior can be correctly following the classroom proceedures and being rewarded with 5 min of free time at the end of class. Either way the behaviors need to be clearly defined in order for this approach to work.

Behaviorism falters in the case of content knowledge where observable behaviors are harder to track and determine. The demonstration of knowledge is hard to judge in terms of behaviors. Although this can be clarified as Smith (1999) states that "learning is helped when objectives are clear". Clarifying objectives and framing the content into activities where the learner needs to demonstrate their knowledge in some sort of way.

In conclusion, I feel that behaviorism has a place in the classroom. I very clearly defined and limited place. In terms of student behavior in the classroom and how that relates to classroom management, there is a clear connection. Reinforce the positive behaviors and punish or ignore the negative ones. In terms of content knowledge and though processes the connection becomes a little bit more harder to negotiate. However, by designing objectives and lesson plans to illicit students to demonstrate their knowledge through a behavior or activity a teacher can then implement the behaviorist approach. This approach is best used in a one-on-one basis. As all too often a whole class is punished for the behavior of a few. This is the oposite of what behaviorism suggests.



Dr. Michael Orey, “Behaviorist Learning Theory”


Smith, K. (1999). The behaviourist orientation to learning. In The encyclopedia of informal education. Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/biblio/learning-behavourist.htm