Behavioral Approach Instruction Criticism Essay

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Behavioral Approach Instruction Criticism

There are different benefits and strengths of instruction and classroom management that is done on the basis of behavioral theory. For starters, human beings learn by acting on the environment that they are in. This is in the sense that individuals act on the world, and transform it, and are in turn transformed by the implication of their actions. In particular, individuals effectively learn in a responsive environment. Having instruction and classroom management that is based on behavior provides such a setting. Teachers that use praise and also rewards with respect to the behavior and performance of the students facilitate the creation of such a learning setting. Another key advantage of this approach is the maintenance of inherent motivation. Through the use of tangible rewards dependent on the performance of a certain task or are rendered unexpectedly, fundamental motivation is maintained. According to Eisenberg et al. (1999), reward procedures that necessitate certain high task performance express the personal or social importance of a task, which in turn increases inherent motivation. This approach also augments the confidence of the students. In particular, rewards offer students with the information regarding their improving mastery and understanding of a topic. Rewards also strengthen confidence and make the task more fascinating to the students. This becomes beneficial to the teacher in enhancing the performance of students, particularly those that lack the capability or interest in certain subjects or topics from the outset (Woolfolk, 2016).
Despite the fact that instruction and classroom management that's done on the basis of behavioral theory has its perks and upsides, there are risks that are involved. One of the risks takes into account the mismanagement or manipulation of behavioral learning approaches, which is an unethical action. As pointed out by Woolfolk (2016), punishments can have detrimental consequences. This is in the sense that it can act as a model for aggressive reactions and it can embolden and give rise to undesirable emotional responses. There is also the risk that reinforcement could lead to a decline of interest in learning, owing to an over emphasis of reward and therefore for could have an adverse impact on other students. A good example is that a number of teachers make arrangements for students to get rewards at home in the form of presents or special activities when they perform well at school. However, the downside to this is that if the student has been severely punished at home in the past, owing to poor performance at school then a reinforcement program that is home-based can have adverse impacts on the student. This is because reports of poor progress or advancement at school could give rise to more abuse at home (Woolfolk and Hoy, 2016).

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