Teaching as Decision Making

teaching , teaching approach , teaching method , teaching control, teaching style , teaching class
The aim of research in educational psychology is to test the various theories that guide the actions of teachers and others involved in education. Here is another example of how a teacher might use educational psychology. Mr. Harris teaches an eighth-grade social studies class. He has a problem with Tom, who frequently misbehaves. Today, Tom makes a paper airplane and flies it across the room when Mr. Harris turns his back, to the delight of the entire class. What should Mr. Harris do?

As an intentional teacher, Mr. Harris considers a range of options for solving this problem, each of which comes from a theory about why Tom is misbehaving and what will motivate him to behave more appropriately. Some actions Mr. Harris might take, and the theories on which they are based, are as follows:

Action
  1. Reprimand Tom.
  2. Ignore Tom.
  3. Send Tom to the office.
  4. Tell the class that it is everyone's responsibility to maintain a good learning environment and that if any student misbehaves, 5 minutes will be subtracted from recess. 
  5. Explain to the class that Tom's behavior is interfering with lessons that all students need to know and that his behavior goes against the rules the class set for itself at the beginning of the year.
Theory
  1. A reprimand is a form of punishment. Tom will behave to avoid punishment.
  2. Attention may be rewarding to Tom. Ignoring him would deprive him of this reward.
  3. Being sent to the office is punishing. It also deprives Tom of the (apparent) support of his classmates.
  4. Tom is misbehaving to get his classmates' attention. If the whole class loses out when he misbehaves, the class will keep him in line.
  5. The class holds standards of behavior that conflict with both Tom's behavior
  6. in class and the class's reaction to it. By reminding the class of its own needs (to learn the lesson) and its own rules set at the beginning of the year, the teacher might make Tom see that the class does not really support his behavior.
Each of these actions is a common response to misbehavior. But which theory (and therefore which action) is correct? The key might be in the fact that his classmates laugh when Tom misbehaves. Ths response is a clue that Tom is seelung their attention. If Mr. Harris scolds Tom, this might increase Tom's status in the eyes of his peers and may reward his behavior. Ignoring misbehavior might be a good idea if a student were acting up to get the teacher's attention, but in this case it is apparently the class's attention that Tom is seeking. Sending Tom to the office does deprive him of his classmates' attention and therefore may be effective. But what if Tom is looking for a way to get out of class to avoid worlc? What if he struts out to confront the powers that be, to the obvious approval of his classmates? Malung the entire class responsible for each student's behavior is likely to deprive Tom of his classmates' support and to improve his behavior; but some students may think that it is unfair to punish them for another student's misbehavior. 

Finally, reminding the class (and Tom) of its own interest in learning and its usual standards of behavior might worlc if the class does, in fact, value academic achevement and good behavior. Research in education and psychology bears directly on the decision Mr. Harris must make. Developmental research indicates that as students enter adolescence, the peer group becomes all-important to them, and they try to establish their independence from adult control, often by flouting or ignoring rules. 

Basic research on behavioral learning theories shows that when a behavior is repeated many times, some reward must be encouraging the behavior, and that if the behavior is to be eliminated, the reward must first be identified and removed. This research would also suggest that Mr. Harris consider problems with the use of punishment (such as scolding) to stop undesirable behavior. Research on specific classroom management strategies has identified effective methods to use both to prevent a student lilce Tom from misbehaving in the fist place and to deal with his misbehavior when it does occur. 

Finally, research on rule setting and classroom standards indicates that student participation in setting rules can help convince each student that the class as a whole values academic achievement and appropriate behavior, and that this belief can help keep individual students in line. Armed with this information, Mr. Harris can choose a response to Tom's behavior that is based on an understandng of why Tom is doing what he is doing and what strategies are available to deal with the situation. He may or may not make the right choice; but because he lznows several theories that could explain Tom's behavior, he will be able to observe the outcomes of his strategy and, if it is ineffective, to learn from that and try something else that will work.

Research does not give Mr. Harris a specific solution; that requires his own experience and judgment. But research does give Mr. Harris basic concepts of human behavior to help him understand Tom's motivations and an array of proven methods that might solve the problem. And using research to help him make teaching decisions is one way Mr. Harris can achieve a sense of his own efficacy as a teacher.