Teachers and students: Reflections on social control and future performance
The Behavior Analyst
|April 6, 2012
Summary
Effective instruction requires teachers to shift control from direct management to fostering student interaction with the subject matter. This transition, though challenging due to social reinforcement, is crucial for long-term learning and independent engagement with educational content.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Learning Sciences
- Instructional Design
Background:
- Instruction involves managing the interplay between teachers, students, and subject matter.
- Initial control in learning environments typically originates from the teacher due to underdeveloped subject-matter controls.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the process of transferring instructional control from teacher mediation to natural subject-matter interaction.
- To identify challenges in this transfer, particularly those related to social reinforcement.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of instructional control dynamics.
- Examination of the role of social reinforcement in maintaining teacher-mediated control.
- Theoretical framework for transitioning control to student-subject matter interaction.
Main Results:
- Teachers initially exert direct control, mandating student behavior.
- Social reinforcement for both teachers and students can impede the transfer of control.
- Successful instruction necessitates the student's ability to interact with subject matter independently.
Conclusions:
- The ultimate goal of instruction is to enable students to engage with subject matter autonomously.
- Overcoming social reinforcement barriers is key to facilitating independent learning.
- Effective pedagogical strategies must guide students toward self-directed interaction with content for sustained knowledge acquisition.
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