In this sub-section, we will look briefly at early work done by the Russian, Pavlov, who noticed interesting occurrences when he was working on some studies with dogs. He noticed that he could teach dogs to salivate (produce saliva) at the sound of a bell. The way he did this was to sound a bell when a piece of meat was presented. The dog would salivate at the sight and smell of the meat. After a while, just the ringing of a bell would lead to the dog salivating, even though there was no meat presented. The dog had made an association between the sound of the bell and the presenting of meat. The learning of associations made in this way is called conditioning. This type of learning is called classical conditioning because the principles are based on the first studies in the field.

You might then say, how is this of value to me in the classroom? Well, we all make associations between certain stimuli (environmental occurrences) and these associations influence our responses. For example, an educator decides that she will read an exciting book to her class for the last ten minutes of each school day. Her learners thus link her reading of the book aloud with the pleasant experience of the end of the school day. Eventually just taking out the book makes the class feel excited. Thus, even if she takes out the book at another time during the day, they associate the book with a pleasant event and it impacts on their feelings. In contrast to this, many learners experience test anxiety. This occurs after a learner has written a test in which he has done badly. He then associates the feeling of not being adequate with the writing of tests, and this might become generalized to other subjects, so that every time he writes a test he feels shaky.

1.4.2 Operant conditioning

The second group of important theoretical principles in behaviourism began with work by Skinner in the USA, prior to World War II. Skinner noticed that both humans and animals are active or operant in their environments. In other words we do various things during each day. We are likely to do something more often when we receive praise (a reinforcement) for that action. For example, if you have worn some new clothing, and a number of people have commented on how good you look in that outfit, you are more likely to wear that clothing more often. Thus, the reinforcement you received for that behaviour increases the likelihood that you will repeat the behaviour. On the other hand, when you were a learner, did you do something that earned you verbal criticism or even a beating? For example, you might have arrived at school late, and then been told be your teacher that as a result you were to stay for half an hour after school as punishment. This experience would then have encouraged you to be on time for school to avoid punishment. In this approach, we look at the behaviour which occurs and the consequences of the behaviour. In operant conditioning therefore, our behaviour is conditioned by its results – do we get reinforcement (for example praise or a prize) or do we get punished in some way? Behaviour for which there is positive reinforcement is then more likely to be repeated, and that which is punished is likely not to be repeated.

1.4.3 Strategies for changing learner behaviour

Now that you have a better understanding of the behavioural perspective of learning, we can examine how you can develop strategies for changing learner behaviour.

One of the module writers notes:

On a school visit to observe a student educator on teaching practice, I observed learners display quite unruly behaviour and ignore the student educator’s attempts at maintaining order in the classroom. During our discussion after the lesson, the student educator drew my attention to the problems she was experiencing with managing her class. She believed her task was made more difficult because she was young and inexperienced. Also the fact that she was a student educator did not earn her the respect teachers in the school enjoyed. Much of this was true, but she later discovered that even the more experienced educators experienced difficulties with some learners. In attempting to assist her, I refocused her attention on some of the things she had learnt from the behavioural approach to learning. We realized that she was not praising those learners who were displaying cooperative behaviour, and that she had not developed any rules with the class about the consequences of unruly behaviour (in other words what the punishment would be). Once she learnt about reinforcement and appropriate punishment, things began to improve.

In research where educators' behaviour in classrooms has been observed, it has been noted that many educators are quick to punish but are slow to praise. However, where educators are more positive, and look for behaviour to praise and encourage, there is a much more creative and respectful climate in the classroom. Learners are more keen to come to school, and they feel less anxious and fearful. Where learners have a very negative attitude to school, it may be due to many years of only receiving negative messages about their performance and behaviour, with little positive reinforcement of what they can do well.

How can we use reinforcement effectively?

There are a number of suggestions we can make, to assist educators in managing learner behaviour more effectively.

Provide learners with a clear description of desired behaviours: Think back to the Zinzi case study at the beginning of 1.4. Mrs Ngubane reminded her learners what the appropriate behaviour was when she asked a question in class. When learners are behaving appropriately or in ways we desire, then we should immediately reinforce such behaviour with the intention of providing learners with a reason to behave in ways which we as educators desire. As an educator, what would you consider to desirable behaviours in a learner? When asked, educators often mention the following, which are only some examples:

• Completing classroom tasks on time
• Working independently when required to do so
• Interacting in a sociable and agreeable manner with others
• Completing and handing in assigned work on the due date

Reinforcements are usually more effective when they follow actual examples of such behaviours.

Stimuli and responses: When you walk into a classroom as a new educator, the learners will respond to you and what you have planned for them. They will respond to the lesson you present, the test you administer, the rules you establish, the questions you pose or the instructions you provide. A constant concern is how they will respond. Will they respond to your instructions, follow your rules, answer your questions or pay attention when you demonstrate an experiment? Much of the answer depends on the clear and consistent relationships which you establish with learners.

Choose an appropriate reinforcer: Different reinforcers will be effective for different learners. You may find that praising a learner’s good behaviour reinforces that behaviour in one learner but not in another. The common approach is to observe learners’ behaviour and be alert for consequences that learners prefer and appreciate. The following are some examples of reinforcers that are effective:

• Praise and encouragement
• A special privilege or a preferred activity
• Positive feedback on achieving success

Make response-consequence links explicit: A reinforcement is more likely to be effective when learners know what behaviours are expected of them and what consequences will follow these behaviours. A learner is more likely to complete a class task if he knows that he will be allowed some free time to work on a favourite activity.

Administer reinforcement consistently: Responses will increase if they are reinforced every time they occur. We refer to this as continuous reinforcement. A teacher is likely to see improvements in a learner’s behaviour if he/she reinforces that desired response whenever it is observed.

Monitor learners’ progress: Behavioural theorists advocate that educators attempt to determine, as objectively as possible, the effectiveness of reinforcement on learners’ behaviour. It is also important to assess the frequency of a desired behaviour before and during one’s attempts to increase it. The frequency of the behaviour before we apply reinforcement is referred to as the baseline level of that behaviour. We can determine the effectiveness of reinforcement by comparing the baseline frequency with the frequency of the behaviour after we begin to reinforce it. If there are no significant changes then the reinforcer is ineffective and needs to be changed

Alternatives to corporal punishment

Corporal punishment was abolished in our schools a number of years ago, yet we are aware that there are still schools who break the law by continuing to use it. Behavioural approaches offer other alternatives to corporal punishment, because using corporal punishment increases the cycle of violence in our society.