EDT 630 Post #1

Learning reflection.

In this portion of the course, I have learned some of the tenets of the behaviorist theory. Pavlov was the forerunner of this school of thought. He trained dogs to salivate when a bell was run. His theories said that operant conditioning was the proper way to teach students. When students do something right, they are rewarded. When they do not, they receive no reward. Behaviorist teachers use a system of rewards to give to their students as motivation for them to succeed. They may give candy, stickers, or other rewards.

I do not agree with this school of thought because it relies solely on extrinsic motivation directly contradicting modern ways of thinking that suggest intrinsic motivation is far more significant. For learning to be relevant, students need to see a purpose in their learning and they must want to succeed because of their success’s ties to their desire to reach their goals. If students are motivated by candy, stickers, etc, they are highly likely to be less successful in situations where those external motivators are not present.

In my research, I have found that the behaviorist approach can be useful when teaching younger children whose mental capacities are not developed enough to be able to have that intrinsic motivation. That does not mean that rewards should not be in place for older students, but a rewards system should not be the only means of motivating students. They should be shown relevance in regard to the course content to help bring their learning full circle, so that they see the reason they need the content and become intrinsically motivated to succeed in the course because of its relevance to their lives.