The situation of ‘Stan’ is complex and an understanding of learning theory is important when analysing the problems presented in the scenario. Stan has been teaching for over 20 years at the same school and in that time he has seen the school transition from a “reasonably affluent Anglo community” into a largely mixed cultural and socioeconomic area. Stan has identified disruptive and antisocial behaviour throughout the school and within his classroom as significant issues. This scenario raises the questions “What will students want and need from me?” and “should we teach students or subjects?”
As Churchill states “learning is not always easily measured and a one-size-fits-all production line of learning and teaching does not adequately address the range of individual learning styles and learners in one classroom, let alone one school.”(Churchill et al., 2011,p71) This statement represents the enormity of Stan’s problems within his classroom and school. I would suggest that as the schools’ cultural and socioeconomic mix has changed, Stan has not. As he says “the students are just not what they used to be”. Instead of recognizing the complex mix of learning styles that needs to be accommodated for successful engagement and learning to occur, he instead blames the student’s inherent bad behaviour, a lack of school community and guidance from leaders.
It would appear that Stan has a behaviourist orientation to learning, as his main grievances are connected to students acting out and off task behaviour with which he must “battle”. Overall, the school and Stan’s own classroom do not sound like positive environments and as research indicates “students who do not have happy and productive learning experiences in school disengage, disrupt and drop out.” (Snowman, 2009, p236) I would assume that this is the case for some of the students. As he has been at the same school for over 20 years and can only comment on the decline of the school this could cause a lack of progressivism within Stan’s teaching sequences. Stan appears to be overly preoccupied with teaching his subject instead of identifying what his individual students need to aid their learning.
Stan has not stated any attempt to alter his lessons to accommodate students from different cultural and family backgrounds, instead he harps back to the ‘good old days’. A lack of scaffolding and situated learning could impact upon his students who may struggle to make lasting connections between the content and their own lives (Snowman, 2009, ch. 10). This also links to Bandura’s theory of Triadic Reciprocal Causation, whereby the “interaction between personal characteristics, behaviours and social environment” (Snowman, 2009, ch. 9) impact upon the individuals learning journey.
I would suggest that Stan’s students have low level self efficacy. They believe that are not capable of completing the tasks and therefore act out (Krause, 2010, p104). The students’ low self efficacy could also be caused by the lack of school community and the apparent disinterest of parents. Stan should work to turn his own classes into communities whereby students feel that they contribute positively to the classroom environment.
Therefore Stan needs to reflect upon his own teaching style in relation to the changing mix of students entering his classroom. He needs to apply real world learning to increase student engagement and use positive reinforcement techniques to improve the classroom environment and student self efficacy.
References:
Churchill et al. Teaching: Making a Difference. 2011. [John Wiley & Sons Publishing: Australia]
Krause, K.L. et al. (2010). Social, Emotional and Moral Development (Ch. 3) In Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching (3rd Ed) [Cenegage Learning] pp.98-146
Snowman J., et al. (2009). Behavioural Learning Theory: Operant Conditioning (Chapter 7). In ‘Psychology Applied to Teaching’ (1st Australian Ed.) [John Wiley & Sons: Australia] pp.223-261
Snowman J., et al. (2009). Social Cognitive Theory (Chapter 9). In ‘Psychology Applied to Teaching’ (1st Australian Ed.) [John Wiley & Sons: Australia] pp.302-333
Snowman J., et al. (2009). Constructivist Learning Theory, Problem Solving and Transfer (Chapter 10). In ‘Psychology Applied to Teaching’ (1st Australian Ed.) [John Wiley & Sons: Australia] pp.334-371
What a wonderful post Lucy!
ReplyDeleteI think that Stan's situation is best summed in the last line of the scenario -- "They just leave it to him to battle with kids who won't sit down quietly and do the work he sets for them."
As you state, this is a behaviourist point of view and it seems that Stan believes in the concept of Tabula Rasa. Like many people, he thinks that children should absorb knowledge by osmosis and have no active part in learning. Stan needs to explore some humanistic approaches to his teaching.
You have mentioned the low self-efficacy present in Stan's classroom. The humanist Maslow would include this as a lack of the fundamental psychological need for self-esteem and self-actualisation. Carl Roger's theories on self-directed learning can be used in the diverse classrooms like Stan's. Each student in this scenario would be able to bring their own world view to the conversation. This has two benefits - firstly, it gives each student ownership of their own learning. Secondly, it allows the other students to widen their knowledge and makes it more interesting and relevant.
Hopefully Stan will think of what his students need in the future, instead of merely teaching the content of his subject.
--SciKath
I enjoyed reading this post.
ReplyDeleteI think you summed up Stan and his challenges well. Stan says "students are not what they used to be" but rather than adapting to the changing student population, he spends his time stuck in the past. As the post notes, Stan is a teacher that concentrates on his subject at the expense of his students.
The post offers some good ideas on how Stan can improve his situation. Scaffolding and situated learning are two ways to help connect students with the learning. Building a classroom community would address the range of student backgrounds in the classroom.
The post mentions that the students may have low self-efficacy. I think Stan needs to work on improving the students' self-efficacy. There are various ways to do this. For example, Stan could identify what strengths each student has, and build on these strengths so that each student's self-efficacy grows. Another example is providing positive role models for students.
Thanks, Lucy, you covered so much in your post!
ReplyDeleteIt is highly pertinent that you suggest Stan should consider his own teaching style which is arguably not appropriate in the context. I would suggest Stan considers Schon’s ‘reflective practitioner’ (1983 in Churchill 2011: 71). Stan would benefit from reflecting on why his students aren’t engaging with their work, and why there are behavioural issues. As you say, it is likely because he is not adapting the work to make it relevant to the students. Stan seems so focused on the students as the problem, yet is not aware of his own influence in shaping their learning and development.
The humanistic approach to education emphasises the importance of a nurturing environment which is conducive to learning (Churchill et al. 2011: 78). Stan needs to understand the behaviour of the students in the context of the school and the community, rather than individuals in isolation. The physical nature of the school, with fences and demountables, does not create a stimulating learning environment. Moreover, as the relationship with a teacher is arguably central to learning, it is crucial that the student feels this is a positive one in order for the students to thrive.
Furthering recommendations for Stan, if he considers the provocation ‘what will the students want and need from me’, he may find that his classrooms benefit from nurturing better working relationships between teacher and student. Furthermore, the provocation ‘how will I control my students’ may lead Stan to see the benefit of a positive classroom environment which encourages ‘learner-centred education (Rogers 1969 in Churchill 2011: 78). In line with a constructivist approach and ‘inquiry-based learning’ (Churchill 2011: 80), Stan may see how students benefit from becoming ‘participants in their learning’ rather than sitting down quietly in a teacher-led style.
I think the post covers the social-cognitive aspects quite well. One point which I think is interesting is that this scenario seems to be a stark example of the teacher-as-learner (who is failing to learn). We are used to thinking of applying Piaget's theory to children, but in this case it is Stan who has faced a disequilibrium point because his good old community and school have disappeared. However, Stan did not settle into a new equilibrium where he has learned to get along with the new cultural reality in his school and community. His disengagement from teaching is probably creating an environment where the students in turn do not feel welcome, and this is partly responsible for the lower motivation of the students.
ReplyDelete