Q: You are a high school music teacher.

Your students often goof off during

class, playing their instruments when they should be quiet, and few of them
show up to the assigned after school practices. Examine how you as a teacher
would be able to use operant conditioning in correcting behaviour in your
classroom and increasing the attendance of after school practices.

B.F. Skinner was an American psychologist credited with the theory of operant
conditioning. Operant conditioning can either strengthen or weaken a behaviour based
on reinforcement or punishment. Positive or negative reinforcement adds or removes a
stimulus to increase a desired behaviour. Positive or negative punishment does the
same to decreases an undesired behaviour. Skinners model was originally applied to
animal learning but can be transferred to classroom learning.
The teacher in the above scenario could apply Skinners theory of operant
conditioning to correct the bad behaviour in her music class. Based on the insights from
the video there are a few steps this teacher could take. Firstly, the teacher should
develop a cue or prompt for appropriate behaviour. An example of this was given in the
video for an elementary school setting in which the teacher turns off the lights as a
prompt to stop talking and start listening. The first time the teacher did this, it was
paired with that expectation and acts as a cue for that behaviour from that point forward.
A similar approach could be implemented in this class, such as the teacher having a
musical cue the students could hear, just like the gong used in our class. If this cue
works, the teacher should follow up with positive reinforcement or praise for the good
behaviour by saying, thank you class. If the cue is not responded to with good
behaviour, the teacher should instead follow up with a penalty or punishment, such as
being sent to the hall or staying late. The music teacher could also apply this theory to
help increase after-school attendance.

The teacher of this class should first make sure it is clear that they are required to
attend after school and that she wants them there. The teacher could also have an end
goal in mind for the students, such as an end of the year recital to give them motivation
to practice because they will be performing in front of the school. This teacher could
also apply operant conditioning by offering a reward for a certain number of attendances
to positively reinforce good behaviour. This way students will be motivated by
something other than improvement. A token economy could be implemented in which
each student receives a token for every class attended and once every student has
reached the number of tokens expected the teacher could reward the class with a pizza
party or some form of incentive. This motivates the students, but also holds them
accountable because the class as a whole is counting on them. This may also cause
students to motivate each other to reach the common goal. Attempting to reward the
good behaviour prior to penalizing bad behaviour will help to keep a positive classroom
climate. Penalizing bad attendance may also work in opposition to further discourage
attendance because of negative feelings toward the class or teacher.
By applying operant conditioning to encourage or discourage behaviour KSA A is
being met. KSA A states that contextual variables affect teaching and learning. They
[the teacher] know how to analyse many variables at one time, and how to respond by
making reasoned decisions. By analyzing student behaviour, possible reactions, and
possible outcomes the teacher is analyzing many variables and responding with a
reasoned decision that will enhance student behaviour and learning. This KSA is the
most applicable, however, KSA E, G, I, and N could also be demonstrated through
application of this theory.

References:

Bandura & Maslow. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2015, from

http://ashleymalcomsoned.weebly.com

Q: A student who typically excels in class and is quick to teach others is

suddenly frustrated with a lesson and has an outburst, shutting down. You find
out later that this childs parents are getting a divorce.
Apply Maslows hierarchy of needs and Banduras theory of social learning to
develop strategies that could assist the child in preventing frustrations. Think
about how solving this childs issues may help with classroom management
overall.

Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs in which there are 2 main categories: basic and
being. Basic needs include things necessary for survival and safety, such as food, water, shelter,
etc. Being needs include learning and self-improvement. According to Maslow, an individual
must meet the basic needs before they are able to move to the next level in the hierarchy. With
this in mind, the knowledge of Maslows hierarchy of needs can be applied to this situation in
which the boy is having difficulties and outbursts due to problems at home.
Knowing that basic needs must be met before moving on to being needs, and knowing
that the little boys parents are going through a divorce indicates that his basic needs of
safety/security and belonging are not being met; therefore his learning and self-improvement
needs cannot be worked on. He is likely unsure of what is going on at home and what is going to
happen. Change is scary. Although this is a factor outside of school, there are things the teacher
can do to help him through it and help his learning. Primarily the teacher needs to understand
what is going on and that it is not his fault, and secondly provide resources. Providing resources

like books on the topic of divorce or family changes could help to make things a little more
understandable and less of an unknown. It can also help him to know he is not alone. Books can
be an easier platform to learn and talk about difficult situations. The teacher can also provide
support and listen, either herself, or connect him with a school counsellor. To help him have a
sense of belonging the teacher can also emphasize that he is a part of the classroom community
or get him involved in a club or extracurricular program. The teacher doing what she can to help
meet his basic needs will help to improve progress in his being needs.
Bandura is credited with the theory of social learning. Banduras Bobo doll experiment
displayed how children can learn from modelling through observational learning by watching the
actions of others and the consequence without experiencing it themselves. An example given in
the video explains that a little boy who observes an older brother swearing and the consequence
learns that behaviour and the potential outcomes. The little boy may have had an outburst in
class because he is distracted by what is going on at home, or because his parents have been
fighting and he has observed an outburst as a way to react to something that is difficult or
frustrating. Just as the little boy may be learning from observing his parents actions, his
classmates are observing his behavior; therefore it is important to deal with the situation so that
the outbursts are not viewed as acceptable behaviour. The little boy may also believe that he did
something wrong to cause his parents divorce which would negatively affect his self-efficacy.
Negative self-efficacy means that he will have negative beliefs about his own capabilities which
is correlated with motivation and volition. By not believing in himself, he will therefore not try as
hard, and will likely quit or lash out. Taking Banduras theory into consideration, the teacher
should focus on progress rather than the product to help motivate the boy. She should also give
feedback and encourage self-regulation by doing things such as using the posters shown in the
video, which can build confidence in learning and in turn increase self-efficacy.
This situation relates very closely to many of the KSAs. KSA A, E, G, H, L, M, and N are all
applicable, however, I will expand upon the two most significant. KSA G expresses the
importance of the students needs for physical, social, cultural, and psychological security. This
directly relates to Maslows hierarchy of needs because if these basic needs are not being met

higher things on the hierarchy, such as learning, cannot be focused on. Relating to Banduras
social learning theory, KSA L states the importance of engaging parents, purposefully and
meaningfully, in all aspects of teaching and learning. Parents act as models and it is therefore
important to include parents in the learning process and also communicate with them to
understand what outside factors may be affecting learning.
Both Bandura and Maslows theories can be applied to this situation to address different
aspects of the issue. It is important for teachers to understand these theories and their
application so they have insight into what factors may affect situations such as these and how to
address them.

References:
Bandura & Maslow. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2015, from
http://ashleymalcomsoned.weebly.com