Файл: Учебник по английскому языку.doc

One of my LD students often has trouble finding her way around the school. For example, I have to show her how to find the resource room nearly every day. What can I do?

Pair the student with a classmate who does not have directional diffi­culty. Or point out landmarks be­tween your classroom and the resource room—such as the green door, the drinking fountain, and the stairs—that the child can use to help her find her way on her own. If the student is a visual learner, have her draw a map of how to get there.

Sometimes I feel angry or frustrated with my LD students. How can I overcome these feelings?

Your feelings are important diagnos­tic tools because they may reflect students' feelings. When a student is angry, his or her feelings may be contagious. If you realize you're frus­trated because the child is, you'll be better able to diffuse a situation and work patiently with a student. So it's important for you to be solidly in touch with your feelings, recognize and acknowledge them, and use them as a barometer to clue you in to what's happening with a student.

I've noticed that humor works well with my LD students. Why?

Nothing dispels tension faster than laughter, because if students can see the funny side of difficult or uncom­fortable situations, usually they can find a way out of them. Because LD children tend to feel that others are laughing at them, it's important for these students to see laughter as a relief and means of togetherness— not as a form of punishment.

Teachers who laugh at themselves in an easy accepting way are impor­tant models for children who tend to see themselves with despair or as a source of worry to others. And humor and the absurd can be an effective tool for anything from disci­plining to testing.

Is it true that LD students need ad­ditional structure?

Yes. Structure means predictability, and predictability helps make LD children feel more comfortable. Al­though it takes extra work on your part, give your LD students a list of the topics for the day. The list will help them focus and better prepare them to learn.

THE COGNITIVE APPROACH TO LEARNING

The fundamental difference between behavioral and cognitive approaches to learn­ing is the role that thinking plays. Thinking plays no role whatsoever in behavioral theories. In cognitive theories, however, thinking plays the central role.

Cognition is a term used to describe all of our mental processes, such as per­ception, memory, and judgment. The most important mental process is thinking, and cognitivists focus most of their attention on studying how people think. There are two major approaches to the study of thinking: the cognitive-developmental model and the information-processing model. A brief overview of these two ap­proaches should help you grasp more clearly the theoretical contrast between cogni­tive and behavioral approaches to the study of learning.

The Cognitive-Developmental Model

The cognitive-developmental model focuses on changes that occur in how people think as they progress from infancy though childhood and adolescence and ulti­mately into adulthood. The best-known cognitive-developmental psychologist is Jean Piaget, who revolutionized our understanding of how children think and con­struct knowledge.

Piaget viewed children as active learners who behave like "little scientists" who develop their own "theories" about how the world works and set out to con­firm these hunches. Such a view of the fundamental nature of children contrasts markedly with the view of behaviorists, who see the child as a passive learner who merely reacts to environmental stimuli.

Piaget's primary concern was to discover how people acquire knowledge, which is often called the "epistemological question." Piaget considered himself less a psychologist than a "genetic epistemologist," studying the source, or genesis, of knowledge. His studies have shown that throughout the lifespan, people go through a sequence of four qualitatively different stages of thinking.

Briefly, infants acquire knowledge based on the sensory experiences of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. Preschoolers progress to the stage of acquiring knowledge of the world though their perceptions of their own experiences in the world. Older children begin to apply the rules of logic to understand how the world works. And, finally, adolescents and adults progress to the stage where they can apply logic to hypothetical as well as to real situations.

Piaget believed that people are constantly trying to make sense of the world by comparing their internal understanding of how the world works with external evi­dence. Learning occurs when people periodically alter their internal understanding of the world as they encounter evidence that conflicts with their previous under­standing. According to Piaget, even young students constantly create their own knowledge of the world by comparing external evidence with internal understand­ings. Given Piaget's theory, it seems clear that an important role of a teacher is to provide students with experiences that will help them develop a more accurate un­derstanding of how the world works.

The Information-Processing Model

The information-processing model uses the way a computer works as a way of un­derstanding how the human mind works. Just as a computer takes in input, pro­cesses it, and produces output, the human mind takes in information (sensory experience), processes it (thinks), and produces output (behavior).

Information-processing theorists are concerned with the nature of the cogni­tive processes rather than with the developmental stages through which thinking evolves. These theorists agree with Piaget, however, that people are active learners and that a person's prior knowledge is a critical component of new learning. Ac­cording to information-processing theory, students learn most effectively when they can relate new knowledge to what they already know. Information-processing the­ory has made its greatest contribution in explaining how human memory works, that is, how we take in information (encoding), organize it in our minds (storage), and gain access to it when needed (retrieval).

THE SOCIAL LEARNING APPROACH

Social learning theory, which is also called observational learning, focuses on how we learn by observing the behavior of others. Conceptu­ally, social learning theory provides a link between the behavioral and cognitive ap­proaches. To understand the linkage, however, it is first necessary to distinguish the concepts of learning and performance.

Learning and Performance

People can learn to do many things without actually doing them. Perhaps you have been on an airplane and learned how to put on a life jacket by observing the flight attendant's demonstration. You didn't have to put on the jacket to learn how to do so. The only way to verify that you have learned how to put on a life jacket would be to have you perform the behavior.

According to social learning theory, people may learn simply by observing a model. Consider the following illustration. Students in a keyboarding class may learn how to type capital letters by observing how the teacher strikes a letter key while simultaneously holding down the shift key. It is not necessary for students themselves to type capital letters to learn how to do so. In all likelihood, of course, the teacher would have students type capital letters to demonstrate by their perfor­mance that they have learned correctly.

The important point is that learning may take place without any observable response and without any reinforcement. In other words, even though the students may not do any typing at all or receive any form of reinforcement or reward from the teacher, they still may learn. The fact that people may learn without making an observable response and without being reinforced is a dominant principle in social learning theory.

Note that this principle is completely contrary to the view of behaviorists, who claim that a response can be learned only if it is observable and reinforced. On the other hand, note that this principle is consistent with the cognitive approach to learning. Cognitivists could easily account for students having learned to type capi­tal letters without actually typing. They would argue that changes occurred in the students' mental images and thinking about typing as a result of having observed the teacher type. The cognitive approach and social learning theory both account for learning in terms of cognitive changes.

The Role of Reinforcement in Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory, however, is related to the behavioral approach in that both approaches take reinforcement into account, although in different ways. Behavioral theory claims that behavior must be reinforced if learning is to oc­cur. Social learning theory claims that although reinforcement is not necessary for learning to occur, the use of reinforcement increases the likelihood that what has been learned will actually be performed.

In social learning theory, reinforcement serves a motivational role. A person is more likely to perform a newly learned response if the response has been reinforced than if it has not been. Furthermore, if the person modeling a particular kind of behavior is reinforced, chances are increased that the observer will also perform the behavior. This kind of reinforcement is called vicarious reinforcement. People are more likely to perform the behavior carried out by the model if they see the model being reinforced. Reinforcing the model serves the same function as reinforcing the learner in terms of increasing the probability that the learner will perform the ob­served behavior.

Just as reinforcing the model increases the chances that the learner will engage in the observed behavior, punishing the model decreases the chances. The conse­quences following a response determine whether the response is likely to occur in the future or not.

Effective Models

Effective models may be real people, such as teachers, classmates, entertainment ce­lebrities, political leaders, or great athletes, but they don't have to be. Fictional characters appearing in television shows, stories, novels, or cartoons can also be effective models. As a matter of fact, much of the pioneering research on observational learning investigated the effects of the behavior of cartoon charac­ters on the behavior of children. Individuals tend to imitate models who are perceived as competent, powerful, and attractive, as well as those whose behavior is relevant to the observer. Models with whom learners identify can be particularly effective, but to a large extent, a model's effectiveness depends on the degree to which the learner is motivated to learn.

Teachers as Models

Students learn much in the classroom by observing how their teachers behave, and students whose teachers have been trained in modeling techniques perform better academically than students whose teachers have not received such training. By observing teachers, students learn not only academic skills, such as how to solve algebraic equations or how to pronounce words in a foreign language, but also many important nonacademic behaviors. Students may learn interpersonal skills by observing how teachers interact with students and with other teachers. They may also adopt teachers' attitudes toward a variety of topics, ranging from those related to education and schooling to those extending well be­yond the classroom. Students may even imitate mannerisms their teachers exhibit.

Good teachers are not only effective models; they also constantly keep in mind that their behavior, both intentional and unintentional, can profoundly affect what students learn. Above all, good teachers know how to motivate students to learn. A teacher's responsibility goes beyond just presenting lessons; the teacher is a model for students and can have a profound effect on students' attitudes, beliefs, and behavior.

The Phases of Social Learning

According to social learning theory, learning by observation occurs in four sequen­tial phases: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Learners must first pay attention to the model's behavior, remember the behavior, practice it, and be motivated to perform. A breakdown in any one of the phases prevents the learner from performing the behavior.

Attention Phase

Obviously, learners cannot learn from a model unless they pay attention to what the model is doing. The attention phase consists of two parts: getting the learner's attention and maintaining it.

In most classrooms students may be attending to many different stimuli at any given moment. They may be attending to things they are doing at their desks, to distracting noises in the hall, to what they plan to do after school, or to other stu­dents. To get students' attention, provide a stimulus that is more noticeable than the other stimuli in the classroom.

There is no simple definition of an attention-getting stimulus. Various stimuli may signal to pay attention, depending on the circumstances. If you are teaching a class in which students engage in lots of individual or group activities, such as a science laboratory, a kindergarten, or a gym class, you should establish prearranged signals for paying attention, such as flicking the overhead lights, playing a chord on a piano, or ringing a bell. On the other hand, if you are instructing an entire class of students, you can get their attention simply by saying, "Now I'm going to show you how to . . . ."

One effective way to get students' attention is to use vicarious reinforcement. By praising students who are paying attention, other students who are not attending may be motivated to do so. Although this technique works particularly well with younger students, it may not work with older ones. Older students may regard teacher praise for paying attention as childish and taunt students who pay attention for being "teachers' pets."

To maintain students' attention, you need to provide them with sufficient in­centive to attend. There is no simple way to describe what constitutes a sufficient incentive. Different students are motivated by different incentives. Ideally, students should be motivated to learn for the sake of learning, and for some students this is the case. Other students, however, require other incentives, such as being told that the next examination will cover the material about to be presented.

Retention Phase

During the retention phase, learners encode the observed behavior in memory using verbal cues, mental images, or a combination of both. People can improve their memories by intentionally trying to encode the newly observed behavior, rehearsing the behavior mentally, or actually acting out the behavior.

You will help students learn better if you emphasize important aspects of the behavior you are demonstrating. In the keyboarding class example described earlier, the teacher should highlight the important steps in typing capital letters. It is easier to highlight behaviors comprised primarily of motor skills, such as typing capital letters, than behaviors comprised primarily of cognitive skills, such as solving a long division problem. When demonstrating behaviors consisting of cognitive skills, it is especially important to highlight the critical components. For example, in teaching students to divide 75 into 1,436, solve the problem on the chalkboard and talk through the steps involved. Your verbalization of the steps provides students with a model they can later imitate.

Reproduction Phase

During the reproduction phase, learners actually attempt to perform the behavior. If the behavior is relatively complex, the reproduction phase may last for some time, as learners attempt to produce more and more refined performances. Help students during the reproduction phase by providing corrective feedback. Draw students' at­tention to components of the behavior they are performing incorrectly and demon­strate the correct performance.

Suppose a student who is learning to type capital letters has difficulty in find­ing the "home" keys (a-s-d-f on the left hand, and j-k-1 on the right hand) after pressing the shift key. The keyboarding teacher should provide corrective feedback by pointing out that when pressing the shift key, only the little finger should be removed from its home key. All of the other fingers should remain on their respec­tive home keys.

Give corrective feedback as early as possible to reduce the chances that stu­dents will learn incorrect behaviors. Assume that a student who is attempting to divide 1,436 by 75 correctly decides that 75 goes into 143 once, but then writes 75 under 36 instead of under 43. The student's answer will be incorrect. An effective teacher would not only point out that the student's answer is incorrect, but more importantly, strive to find out how the student arrived at the wrong answer and demonstrate the correct procedure for solving the problem.

Motivation Phase

The motivation phase is the final phase in observational learning. During this phase learners decide whether or not to perform the behavior they have learned. Of the four phases, the motivation phase is the most important one for you to take into account, because the only way you can determine if your students have learned is to have them perform. If students are unwilling to perform, you simply have no way of knowing whether or not they have learned. Furthermore, unless students have suffi­cient motivation to perform, trying to lead them through the preceding three phases is likely to be an exercise in futility.

Reinforcement is the key to motivation in social learning theory. Students are more apt to perform if their performance leads to a reward, such as a good grade, a favorable comment by you, or free time in the classroom. Reinforcing some stu­dents for performing is also likely to cause others to perform as a result of vicarious reinforcement.

Students may also perform if they are given opportunities to reward them­selves for their behavior (Bandura, 1978). Help students establish realistic goals in terms of the quantity and quality of their performance. Allowing students to reward themselves for attaining goals they have set encourages them to become indepen­dent learners. Students who learn how to reward themselves for behaving in desir­able ways are likely to generalize the process to situations other than the classroom and improve their performance in many areas.

Self-reward positively affects students' behavior in numerous circumstances. Think for a moment about the many students who would like to play a musical instrument, but who resist practicing. Such students are more likely to practice if they reward themselves by looking at a favorite TV program or phoning a friend after practicing for a given amount of time. Students can learn to reward themselves for helping with chores around the house, keeping their rooms neat, or reading books during their leisure time, to give but a few examples.

The Humanist Approach to Learning

All of the approaches to learning discussed so far in this chapter have dealt with how people acquire various skills and knowledge. The humanist approach to learning dif­fers from the others in that it focuses on the affective or emotional components of learning (Kohn, 1991). The goals of the humanist approach are to enable students to express themselves creatively, to understand and cope with their feelings, and to be­come independent learners (Scotti, 1993). From a humanist perspective, teachers should be less concerned with what students learn than that they learn how to learn and develop positive attitudes toward learning and self-esteem.

Critics have frequently attacked schools for the rigid way in which instruction often takes place. They argue that teachers typically control all learning that takes place in the class­room and prevent students from expressing themselves in creative ways. As a result, many students form negative attitudes toward learning and fail to learn very much. More importantly, the critics claim, many students never really learn how to learn, so that after they leave school, they are ill equipped to cope with new situations.

The principal educational goals of the humanist approach to learning are that students become independent learners and develop into emotionally healthy individu­als. Humanists believe teachers should help students achieve "self-actualization" and "congruence". According to hu­manists, people are constantly seeking to fulfill their potential; the role of teachers is to remove obstacles that prevent students from reaching their potential and to help students feel a sense of self-determination.

The most radical aspect of the humanist approach is the central role students play in deciding for themselves what they will learn, which is often called student-centered teaching. The teacher's role shifts from that of instructor to that of facilitator. Teachers suggest various activities that students might want to engage in and provide assorted materials for them to use. The student, however, not the teacher, makes the final choice. Self-regulation of learning has a powerful effect on students' motivation to learn.

Open Education

The humanist approach to learning formed the basis for the open education move­ment, which was especially popular in the 1960s. (You may have noticed that most of the publications cited above about humanism were from the 1960s, the heyday of this approach.) Open education is a term that is somewhat loosely applied to educational settings in which students largely take charge of their own learning and where creativity and emotional growth are emphasized.

The best-known example of open education occurred at Summerhill, an En­glish school established by A. S. Neill (1960). At Summerhill, teachers and students enjoyed equal rights. Summerhill constituted a nonthreatening environment in which students were never forced to learn or study. Creativity of expression was stressed, and there were no report cards or grades. As with most attempts at open education, there is no solid research evidence concerning the effects of Summerhill on its students.