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Journal #2

 Chapter 5 

Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice 


Journal #2 


Chapter five focused on the behavior and social theories of learning. Throughout this journal entry I will be discussing and responding to the following questions. 

  • How did you feel about the concept?
  • How is this concept significant concerning the context of your classroom?
  • How might you use what you learned to become a better teacher?
  • If this event sparked additional questions, what are they and what actions will you take to address them?
  • After researching your additional questions, what information knowledge and or skills did you gain?


The concept of behavioral and social learning theories is necessary in the classroom. It could be the difference between a successful school year and a non-successful school year. It could be the difference between having a positive learning environment or a negative learning environment. My biggest take away is that anything can be learned.  Therefore, having an expected behavioral & social goal in mind is very important. The example that was used in the beginning of the chapter registered with me. The teacher wanted the class to raise their hands so that they are called on to prevent them from blurting out. The class understood what she was saying but their action showed otherwise. The teacher went over her rules and expectation with the class. However, the teacher was not consistent and let a student raise her hand and blurt out at the same time. This one action of the teacher sent the message of don’t do as I say but do as I allow you to.  According to the text, learning is a change in an individual cause by experience (Slavin, 2021). One way to support students during the learning process is to model the expectation.  I believe in going over rules and routines early in the school year and being consistent. After breaks such as Thanksgiving, teacher workdays, etc. I think it is very import to review the expectations of behavior to avoid un-pleasurable consequences.


I think that the concepts of behavioral and social learning theories have great benefits in a learning environment. Behavioral theories focus on behavioral and the influence of consequences that lead to changed behavior.  Social theories focus on how the way that someone processes something through thought is connected to their actions and vice versa.  Skinner focused on the relationship of behavior and consequences. Operant conditional is my favorite concept to use in the classroom and Skinner did a wonderful job explaining it. A reinforcer is a consequence that strengthens behavior (Slavin, 2021). One way that I reinforce behavior expectations is through intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Another type of reinforce is a negative reinforcer. Negative reinforcers are a way to reward someone by taking away an unpleasant situation. For, example, a teacher taking away homework for the day. Most students do not enjoy doing homework, so taking away the homework is a reward for the child, and it also reminds reinforcers good behavior.  information learned from this chapter will support me as a teacher in many ways. The most helpful piece of information for me is related behavioral expectations. Behavior expectation is typically set of pleasurable and un-pleasurable consequences to obtain wanted behavior (Slavin, 2021 Page). Before I can practice consequences, I first should provide my students with the expectations. If I fail to give and explain my expectations, I will reap the negative consequences of my action. Two, avoid that possibility I can do two things. One, I need to articulate and show (model) my expectations. Two, I must give appropriate consequences for the action of my students.  If the student is following my expectations a minimum of verbal praise should be applied. If my student is not meeting expectations a simple reprimand of a reminder is the bare minimum.  


Throughout this journal I have mentioned several ways to apply the information gained from this chapter as an educator. I have also pointed out sever insights that I have gained from reading and really taking in this information. I think social learning needs more attention than it is receiving. Bandura’s four stages are necessary. These stages made me ponder a bit because I teach two students with an Autism exceptionality. This self-regulated learning can be achieved even with children who have exceptionalities. I have personally completed these stages with my students. Retaining the model behavior is the biggest hurtle to cross but it is doable. This leads to students observing their own behaviors, judge it against their own standards, then reinforce or punish themselves to correct it (Slavin, 2021). Sometimes this means creating a behavior chart daily conferencing with the student, etc. Consistency leads to the achievement of these stages.

I had a couple of questions after finishing the chapter. They are the following. How do I find out what my students have unintentionally learned? How does that influence their interest in the classroom? After researching my additional questions, I learned that there is a difference between unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response versus conditioned stimulus. Pavlow classic conditioning proves that learning can be involuntary and voluntary yet present the same results. Pavlow took something that was natural (meat) and paired it with something unfamiliar (doorbell) to connect the dogs through process between the two. When the dog was presented with the meat alone, he salivates without being taught this but when the bell was added by the human the dog continued to salivate because he was connecting the doorbell with eating. As a teacher this is an action that I can put in place to better connect with my students and attempt to yield the same results. I noticed that my students love songs and have memorized a lot of them, so I connected the songs to my poetry unit. They favorite type is lyrical of course but I was able to make that connection. It’s like I’m adding to something that they already know. It’s essentially building on something that they learn unintentionally so it’s easier to connect the new information. 


Slavin, R. E. (2021). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (13th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.



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