Role of Operant Conditioning in Teacher Education

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Theory of Teacher Education Behavioral Perspective
(Operant Conditioning)
Task 6
MARINA ILYAS
Dr/2015-F-01
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN EDUCATION
INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
UNIVERSITY OF THE PUNJAB
LAHORE

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List of Contents
1: Teacher Education according to Behavioral Theories 3
2: Prospective Teacher 5
2.1: Training of Pre-service Teachers 5
2.2: Objectives for Pre-service Teacher Training Program 6
2.3: Content for Prospective Teacher Training 10
2.4:Teaching Activities for prospective teachers training 11
2.5: Overview of Prospective Teacher training under Behavioral Theory 12
3: Teacher Educator role in Implications of Operant Conditioning 13
Principles in Classroom
4: Conclusion 14
References 16

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1: Teacher Education and Behavioral Theories
Teacher Education scenario today is a cause for serious concern. The main
purpose of the Teacher Training Institute is to equip teachers to meet the needs of schools
throughout the world. Today s teachers are expected to play a variety of roles in the
classroom: educators, motivators, guide, counselors, coaches and disciplinarians. In
addition, teachers must continually educate themselves, learning about new innovations
in education, new technologies and new ways to encourage their students to reach their
full potential. Teachers must be trained to face diverse students in the classroom.
Teaching-learning strategies must be adopted by keeping in view the learners
requirements. Hence, teachers must possess knowledge of multiple teaching-learning
approaches and their applications according to the content in hand (Nezhad, Vahedi,
2011).
Over the years, educational psychology has been a part of teacher preparation.
Education and psychology are interdependent. Psychology effect education in every field
of teaching learning process. For years, teacher educators have written about the
purposes, aims, and goals of educational psychology and have stressed the relevance of
the field for the practice of teaching and learning. Today, psychological theories are used
make reforms in teaching and learning. Current standards for teacher certifications and
licensure and suggestions for reform in teacher education assume that the prospective
teachers will have a deep and generative understanding of learning, development,
motivation and individual differences (Nezhad, Vahedi, 2011).
Many Learning Theories have been developed over a long period, though a majority of
those now in use have arisen in the last century or so. These theories apply to many different

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levels of educational learning by the teachers. Learning theories are conceptual frameworks
describing how information is absorbed, processed and retained during learning.
Cognitive, emotional and environmental influences, as well as prior experience, all play a
part in how understanding, or a world view is acquired or changed and knowledge and
skills retained. Behaviorists look at learning as an aspect of conditioning and will
advocate a system of rewards and targets in education. Educators who embrace cognitive
theory believe that the definition of learning as a change in behavior is too narrow and
prefer to study the learner rather than their environment and in particular the complexities
of human memory (Seifert & Sutton , 2009).
According to the learning theories propounded by the behaviorists learning is a
mechanical process of associating the stimulus with response, which produces a new
behavior. Such behavior is strengthened by the reinforcement. The main proponents of
this theory are Watson and Skinner (1938). Who wanted to prove that behavior can be
predicted and controlled and that learning is affected by changes in the environment.
Watson(1878-1958) based his work on the findings of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) who
experimented on a dog. Skinner, on the other hand, did further studies on the findings of
Thorndike who observed the behavior of a cat by putting in a box (Weegar & Pacis,
2012).
The major models of the behavior theory of learning are classical conditioning
and operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is also called instrumental conditioning.
Operant conditioning main architects B.F Skinner whose views built on the connection of
views of E.L. Thorndike (1906). The principle of Operant conditioning have been used
for training the teachers at various stages.

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The role of the behaviorist teacher educator is providing stimulus material and
prompting the correct response, while the learner's role is to be the receiver of the
information response until the behavioral change is permanent. Teachers with a
behaviorist leaning, view errors as not enough conditioning. Without repetition and
proper conditioning, students will make mistakes.
2: Prospective Teachers
To provide professional education for teachers, colleges of education have been
established almost all over the world. Pre-service teacher education programmes play a
vital role in producing effective teachers who possess theoretical as well as practical
knowledge of classroom practices. If prospective teachers are properly educated through
application of learner centered methods of content delivery, they are more likely to apply
similar methods in their practical teaching career. Teacher education programmes are
responsible to develop the concepts of prospective teachers about various aspects of
teaching and learning on today s changing perspectives rather than traditional
perspectives (Asif, 2013).
2.1: Development /Training of Pre-Service Teachers
College and university programs cannot provide the extensive range of learning
experiences necessary for prospective teachers to become effective public school
educators. Once students graduate, meet their state s certification requirements, and are
employed, they learn through experience. As in all professions, new teachers and
principals take years to gain the skills they need to be effective in their roles. Mizell
(2010) quoted the research of Ingersoll (2003) which shows that the complexity of
teaching is so great that one-third of teachers leave the profession within three years and

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50% leave within five years. Even experienced teachers confront great challenges each
year, including changes in subject content, new instructional methods, advances in
technology, changed laws and procedures, and student learning needs. Educators who do
not experience effective professional development do not improve their skills, and
student learning suffers. So. in this scenario there is dire need for the training of
prospective teachers on the bases of sound objectives (Mizell,2010).
2.2: Objectives for Pre-service Teacher Education Program
The pre-service programme of teacher education has to realize the objectives
mentioned below:
ÿ Imparting an adequate knowledge of the subject- matter
ÿ Equipping the prospective teachers with necessary pedagogic skills
ÿ Enabling the Prospective Teachers to acquire understanding of child psychology
ÿ Developing proper attitudes towards teaching
ÿ Developing self-confidence in the teachers
ÿ Enabling teachers to make proper use of instructional facilities
a: Imparting an adequate knowledge of the Subject- matter
First and foremost, objective of teacher education is to develop a good command
of the subject matter and to promote the mastery on content. According to Behavioral
view the teacher role is to transmit knowledge to the students. So the main focus in
training is put on the teacher mastery of content in relevant subjects.
This view of teaching relates to transmission. It is the role of the teacher educator
to transmit knowledge to the teacher education student. It is basically a transfer of
knowledge from the teacher to the student and the purpose is to get the student to do

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something; either a set of skills, or being able to answer a knowledge test with some
accuracy.
b: Equipping the Prospective Teachers with necessary Pedagogic Skills
The purpose of teacher education is to train the teacher in certain pedagogical
behaviors that have been proven, through research, to be effective. The main objective of
teacher education is to develop a skill to stimulate experience in the taught, under an
artificially created environment, less with material resources and more by the creation of
an emotional atmosphere.
Under the Thorndike' law of exercise, prospective teacher will enforce a lot of
practice in line with Thorndike s laws of learning. This is because the behaviorist Trainer
believes the saying that practice makes perfect and learning is by doing . Prospective
teachers will be given a lot of exercises to practice in and out of the classroom.
The teacher educator emphasis on exercise may overshadow other classroom
activities such as discussion, discovery learning and asking questions. The teacher
educator focus on the prospective teachers ability to answer questions correctly and not
necessarily the ability to understand or explain the concepts taught. Many teachers
educators use the behaviorist approach in this regard since they emphasize learning by
doing.
To add to this point, the prospective teacher will be encourage rote learning
through drills and recitation. The behaviorist used repetition as a tool for teacher
education. This is because of the view that that if task is not repeated the extinction will
be occur.

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For example, in the basic schools, the teachers educators use recitation to teach
the multiplication tables. Many students just memorize the tables without even
understanding the concept of multiplication (Seifert & Sutton 2009).
Another implication of the behaviorist theory for training the prospective
teachers is to prepared them mentally and emotionally for learning. In this regard, the
trainer always try to assess the mental or emotional state of the pre-service teachers and
respond to it.
Teacher Educator apply this law into Mathematics subject, students who are
exhausted will find it difficult to concentrate in the classroom. Perhaps, it is for this
reason that many teachers educators advocate for the subject to be taught as the first
lesson in the morning, when students are well rested from the previous night.
The next implication of Thorndike's law of effect on prospective teachers states
that the feelings of the pre-service teacher during the learning process are very important
and that positive reinforcement encourages them to repeat a particular behavior.
Motivation both intrinsic and extrinsic are important for learning to take place.
Under this law, one of the implications in the classroom is that the teacher
educator will use positive reinforcement to encourage good behavior. Undesirable
behaviors will be ignored or discouraged. Students who answer questions correctly in the
classroom, for example will be highly praised or given gifts to encourage others to do so
Since the role of behaviorist teacher educator is result oriented, he or she will
create an atmosphere for healthy competition to encourage learning in the classroom.
This is an implication under the law of effect. For example, the scores of students in an

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examination will be ranked and published on the notice board. This will create the
ambition in students to do better than their peers.
This view operates at both the pre-service and in-service levels. Neither the pre-
service teachers nor in-service teachers as students are considered experts. In fact, it is
assumed that the pre-service student teacher really knows very little about teaching and
that the in-service teacher is probably not using the particular skill, curriculum or
teaching model being taught.
c: Enabling the Prospective Teachers to acquire understanding of child psychology
The objective is to understand the child psychology so that the teacher is able to
appreciate the difficulties experienced by children. Psychological perspective has been
remain very important in teacher education. The prior role of teacher educator should be
to understand the child psychology and consider the individual difference.
By using the schedules of reinforcement (Skinner, 1969) the behavior of prospective
teachers can be shape in a desired manner. Schedules of reinforcement are rules that control the
delivery of reinforcement. The rules specify either the time that reinforcement is to be made
available, or the number of responses to be made, or both.
∑ Fixed interval schedule: Reinforcement of a desired behavior occurs only after a
specific amount of time has elapsed.
∑ Variable interval schedule: Reinforcement of a desired behavior occurs only after
variable intervals of time have elapsed
∑ Fixed ratio schedule: Reinforcement of a desired behavior occurs only after a specific
number of those responses are made.

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∑ Variable ratio schedule: Reinforcement of a desired behavior occurs only after
variable numbers of responses are made
∑ Continuous reinforcement: Reinforcement occurs after each response.
Developing Attitudes of Prospective Teachers towards Teaching
One of the major objectives of teacher education is to develop proper attitudes
towards teaching as a result of which he will be able to maximize the achievements from
both the material and human resources. There is also development of a proper perception
of the problems of universal enrolment, regular attendance, year-to-year promotion.
d: Developing self-confidence in the Prospective Teachers
The objectives of teacher education are development of the ability to take care of
himself in terms of adjustment with the physical conditions, healthy adjustment with the
social environment and adjustment with himself to derive emotional satisfaction with his
life.
e: Enabling Teachers to make proper use of Instructional facilities
The objective of teacher education is to develop the capacity to extend the
resources of the school by means of managing the instructional facilities.
2.3: Content for Prospective Teacher Training
The content for pre-service teacher training under behavioral paradigm is fixed,
emphasized on philosophy and religion. The trainer play a key role in transmitting the
knowledge to the prospective teachers. The content for the training of the prospective
teachers consist on such as training process and environment is designed as to create
maximum satisfaction in prospective teachers.

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2.4: Teaching Activities for Teacher Education
The activities shall be such that they have the potential to help prospective
teachers to learn and develop appropriate language and communication skills, self-
expression, social skills and besides promoting manipulative motor skills and eye-hand
coordination.
The curriculum matter has to be in terms of child centered, activity-based, play-
way and joyful approaches besides oral instruction and demonstrations. Role-play,
puppetry, storytelling, simulation exercises, dramatization and creative thinking strategies
have to be suitably used for prospective teachers. But behavioral paradigm do not focus
on such type of curriculum and strategies.
Finally, the behavior theory of learning makes the learner passive. As a result of
this, the teacher educators always be well prepared for the lesson. In the classroom, the
role of teacher educator is to give the information to the students who receive it without
questioning or contributing. The teacher will hardly ask students to research on a given
topic and present their findings.
The prospective teachers are trained in a rigid and discipline focused
environment. The skinner principles of Operant conditioning i.e. Positive Reinforcement,
Negative Reinforcement and punishment play a key role in training the prospective
teachers.
In positive reinforcement the frequency of responses increases because it is
followed by a rewarding stimulus. For example the teacher educators positive comment
increased the student's writing behavior. Similarly, complementing parents on being at a
parent-teacher conference might encourage them to come back again (Santrock, 2008).

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Conversely, in negative reinforcement the frequency of responses increases
because it is followed by the removal of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus. Punishment is
anything designed to weaken or eliminate a response rather than increase it (Mangal, 2002).
In a school setting, teachers educators use positive and negative reinforcements to
either reward or punish a student s behavior. The operant conditioning is also called
instrumental conditioning because it relies on extrinsic motivators such as grades, prizes,
and privileges, as well as recognitions and praises, as a means to ensure the replication of
the learned activity or behavior. Teachers who followed the behaviorist learning theory
would present lesson objectives in a linear fashion. In doing so, the teacher would
provide hints or cues to guide students to a desired behavior and then use consequences
to reinforce the desired behavior.
2.5: Overview of Prospective Teacher Training under Behavioral Paradigm
o Prospective teachers trained in passive environment
o Prospective teachers must learn the correct response.
o Knowledge is a matter of remembering information for prospective
teachers and teachers educators.
o Understanding is a matter of seeing existing patterns.
o Teachers educators must direct the learning process.
o Teacher training is residential
o Content is fixed emphasized on philosophy and religion
o Lecture method, Drill, Demonstration and Discussion method are used for
training the prospective teachers

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o Evaluation is based on Subjective essays, logical reasoning and
communication abilities will be addressed while training.
o Learning requires external reward. Positive reinforcement, negative
Reinforcement and punishment is used to obtained the desires behavior
and to eliminate the undesired behavior of prospective teachers.
o Observable behavior of Prospective teachers is mainly addressed by
teacher educators under Behaviorism
4: Teacher Educator Role in Implications of Operant Conditioning Principles
The techniques of reinforcement and punishment have been employed by the
teachers educators in the classrooms to promote desirable behavior and discourage
unwanted prospective teachers behavior.
∑ Operant conditioning is a vehicle for teachers educators to achieve behavior
modification in order to improve classroom management and facilitate learning.
∑ Discipline is important for a prospective teachers success and development most
teacher's teaching promise for that. It is easy to think that discipline is always a
form of punishment, but in truth, this does not have to be the case.
∑ Teacher educators integrate the testing and assessment into the learning sequence
to check the prospective teacher's achievement level and to provide appropriate
feedback.
∑ Teacher educator sequenced materials appropriately to promote learning. The
sequencing could take the form of simple to complex, known to unknown, and
knowledge to application.
∑ It is very relevant to shaping skill performance.

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∑ Rewards may be used occasionally for a similar effect, but should not be
overused, as it is important to prevent the child from developing a dependency. So
the main role of teacher educator is to shape the leaner behavior in a desired and
consistent way.
∑ By building operant conditioning techniques into lesson plans, it is easily possible
to teach children useful skills as well as good behaviors. By using symbols like
smiley faces, 'Good Work' stamps, stickers, and even simple ticks when a child
does something correctly.
Psychologists have observed that every action has a consequence, and if this is
good, the person is more likely to do it again in the future. However, if the consequence
isn't so great, it is likely the individual will avoid doing it in a similar situation next time
round. It is through this process that we develop our behaviors and begin to understand
what is appropriate and useful, and what is not.
5: Conclusion
During the last decade, research on teaching and teacher education shifted
dramatically from a focus on behaviors to an interest in cognition. This shift has been
aided by many strong criticisms of the behaviorist tradition in education that ranges from
concerns about the conduct and use of process-product research (Doyle, 1990) to the
philosophical notion that human beings 'act' behave with intentions they don't just
behave.
In teacher Training Institute every teacher must be trained and made aware of all
the developed learning theories so that they can take right decision to adopt a learning
approach considering the three important factors, i.e. learner, content and environment.

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For this purpose, a teacher must be well equipped with all the approaches of learning
keeping in mind the different factors responsible for the purpose and need to adopt most
appropriate approach according to demand of the situation.
To conclude, the behavior theory of learning has many implications good and bad
in the classroom. Some of them have a positive impact on learning while others may be
detrimental to the learning process. It is the responsibility of the teacher educator to be
aware of the implications his or her learning theories have in the classroom.

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