Introduction
The foundation of my future personal teaching philosophy is the assumption that repeated behavior is key to ensuring successful learning. The specific theory that has the most influence on my understanding of classroom practice is behaviorism. The article by Kaplan (2018) provides a comprehensive explanation of the behaviorist theory as well as its practical applications for teachers. Behaviorism-driven teaching practice will focus on eliciting learning behaviors via using corresponding stimuli.
Theory Description
The behaviorist theory views learning as a result of the brain’s response to reinforced stimuli. The more exposure a learner has to new information, the easier it will be for them to memorize it. Appropriate stimuli are essential to trigger a learning behavior (Kaplan, 2018). Therefore, my primary goal as a teacher will be to identify a trigger point that elicits a learning response from my students.
Examples of Theory in Practice
Two examples of the practical application of behaviorism are positive reinforcement and exposure to instructional content. The most effective way to increase students’ motivation is by providing positive feedback, as confirmed by research (Kaplan, 2018). In practice, before beginning a lesson, I would accentuate one’s previous academic achievements, thus providing positive reinforcement. Subsequently, the student will enter a motivated state of mind, which will facilitate their learning.
Another example is consistent exposure to instructional content, which has been shown to improve students’ academic performance (Burroughs et al., 2019). In practice, I would set aside at least five minutes for instructional time to ensure that all students understood the task and the behaviour I aimed to elicit. In both cases, specific stimuli (positive feedback and instructional content) lead to students adopting a learning behavior.
Conclusion
Overall, triggering behavioral responses is the cornerstone of my teaching philosophy. The specific behavior that I target with the use of stimuli is motivated learning. Positive reinforcement of previous successes and exposure to instructional content are examples of strategies that elicit learning behaviors in students. Ultimately, I believe that any educational objective can be accomplished provided that the correct stimuli for the subsequent behavioral response are selected.
References
Burroughs, N., Gardner, J., Lee, Y., Guo, S., Touitou, I., Jansen, K., & Schmidt, W. (2019). A review of the literature on teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. Teaching for Excellence and Equity, 7-17. Web.
Kaplan, D. E. (2018). Behaviorism in online teacher training. Psychology, 9(04), 570-577. Web.