Samantha Blake

Dr. Haley

EDU 220

17 September 2019

Essential Question #2

It is very important to understand each child, build relationships with them, and

understand how each child learns. Learning theory contains three branches which are cognitive,

behavioral, and humanistic. One of the main issues with schools today is that the focus is too

much on behavioral rather than humanistic, but cognitive is very important as well.

Behavioral learning is when the teacher is shaping the behavior of the student.

“Behaviorists, as the name implies, help us understand why we behave the way we do”

(Cruickshank, 76). This is where classical and operant conditioning apply. Classical conditioning

is when a behavior is natural with stimuli A, and stimuli B is applied at the same time. Then later

the behavior will happen with stimuli B even if stimuli A is missing. This would be Pavlov’s

Dog experiment, where his dog salivated over meat with a bell ringing, and then would later

salivate when the bell rang without meat. In a classroom this can be seen when the bell rings

meaning kids can leave school and they naturally get excited. Then later if the bell goes off kids

will automatically get excited and start packing up even if class is not over. A more common

form of reinforcement seen in schools is operant conditioning which is when a behavior is

learned through reinforcement. This would be the episode from Big Bang Theory where Sheldon

encourages good behavior from Penny by giving her chocolate everytime she showed that

behavior. Eventually she would just do that behavior without the chocolate. This can be seen
often in classrooms. One example would include cards, when a student’s behavior is not what a

teacher wants they move their card into the red zone, which would be punishment as a

reinforcement. An example with positive reinforcement would be kids who receive extra recess

for correctly completed homework, they then do the homework everytime just in case they will

get that extra recess. Negative reinforcement is when it’s still positive but something is taken

away not given for example, in the Wink Case Study 1, students who got 90% accuracy on their

assignment would not have to do homework that night. Overall Behavioral learning theory is

seen in the classroom as its a quick effective way for them to “control” their kids, which can be

hard in large classrooms, and can be used, but should not be the primary way in a classroom like

it is today.

Humanistic learning is when teachers focus on “...the personal and social learning and

development of students” (Cruickshank, 73). This is what most teachers would prefer to have

been the most common in their classroom. While this type acknowledges that learning is

important, it's more important to have your student be healthy individuals. A student who has a

lot of knowledge but does not feel confident in expressing their thoughts and doubts themselves,

is not always better than one who has limited knowledge, but is able to healthily communicate it

and have good self esteem. Also the child with better self esteem is more likely to ask questions,

get involved, make mistakes and be able to learn from them, which are all essential to learning.

Some schools do this by focusing on what students feel about a certain topic, for example when

learning about Christopher Columbus they could do a four corners exercise to show whether they

feel happy, sad, mad, or surprised by a statement. This makes students be active, involved, and

acknowledging their feelings all while still learning history. This theory also concerns moral
development, so something like talking about why a behavior is right or wrong, and discussing

other options, rather than simply punishing or reinforcing. If a child knows the reason behind

their actions and understands it, they are more likely to do that behavior later as they know why

it's appropriate compared to a different action.

Cognitive learning is how students think and learn. This includes information processing

which is how someone “...mentally take in and store information and then retrieve it when

needed” (Cruickshank, pg. 66). This is important for children to understand because if one child

stores information better with visuals, the teacher can put pictures and diagrams, up or on

worksheets. Or if they learn by watching an example the teacher can make sure to do an example

in class, so that everyone is able to learn the way that will help them retain the information and

be able to use it later. Meaningful learning is another big part of cognitive learning and this is

how information should be taught so that it can be easily and correctly used later. This is also

important in the classroom especially for teachers who are not just teaching to the test. Kids

should be able to apply the information they learn whenever they need too not just recite it for a

test. They need to retain it, so all learning should be purposeful and meaningful.

In conclusion there are three main branches of learning. Think of it like a layered cake

where some bites have only one theory, and other bites have a combination of them all.

Behavioral is the most common one seen is schools as a means of control, but teachers should be

changing to focus more on Humanistic to help create healthy individuals. However, school is not

a school without Cognitive as this focuses on how topics should be taught so that the kids can

use the information later in life when they need to. Overall each theory is important in its own

way, and should be seen in classrooms at, at least one point.

 Works Cited

Cruickshank, Donald R., et al. ​The Act of Teaching​. 6th ed., McGraw Hill, 2012.