Case Study on Teaching and Learning Theories: EDU10004 Assignment

This case study, based on a kindergarten classroom scenario, examines a student's disruptive behavior and the teacher's attempts to address it. The assignment analyzes the situation through the lens of behaviorism, sociocultural theory, and psychodynamic approaches, comparing and contrasting their applicability. It focuses on a child named Sean who has trouble focusing on tasks due to an extroverted personality and a preference for engaging activities. The teacher's initial strategies, including consulting the parents, are evaluated in light of learning theories. The solution proposes a revised approach using behaviorism, incorporating rewards and engaging learning tools like crayons and clay. The study emphasizes the importance of parental involvement and a structured framework for classroom management. The reflection highlights the challenges of applying theories to real-world situations and the value of teamwork in generating a comprehensive understanding of the scenario and its potential solutions. The assignment also provides references to relevant literature supporting the analysis and conclusions.

Case study

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Scenario
In a foundation classroom, there are tables available to provide seating of six
children in a row. One of the children Sean is actively involved in other activities
which causes disruption in the environment. Understanding the situation teacher
decides to maintain the arrangement in such a way that she can sit with Jessie and
Tao who are effective in completing their set target. As Sean has interest in singing
& energetic conversation it becomes difficult for the teachers to drag her focus on
task. Different strategies were adopted by the teacher to focus attention of Sean
towards work but nothing worked. Teacher decides to address the issues to the
Sean parents and her parents replied that Sean is a cheerful child with learning
skills and has an ability to gel up with other children (Behaviorism - Learning
Theories, 2019).
Sean has an extrovert personality which makes her learning different from other
children. There are certain issues with Sean as she is unable to focus much time on
a single task and rather she gets involved in activities which involve direct
interactions. Sean’s interest is more in the activities which she enjoy doing and due
to which she hardly focuses on assigned work. As it’s about what a children likes
to do, one cannot sandwich a children between two performers and expect her to

learn. As parents claimed that kindergarten teacher report says that she is loves to
learn and socializes means that she is effective in the process but her interest are
different from other children of her age (Abidin, 2016).
Consideration of a theoretical perspective, Behaviorism
In this scenario the teacher was unable to provide a valid strategy for Sean to
involve in a way so that she can complete task. During the class Sean seemed to be
more involved in activities other than the task completion. It’s a difficult situation
for the teacher to understand the perspective from the children point of view and
tackle the same. We can understand the case with the help of behaviorism theory of
learning, as per the theory there are two different pattern i.e. classic conditioning
and behavioral conditioning. Although classic simply means response to the
stimulus but behavioral conditioning pattern can be helpful for the situation. As per
the theory each positive or correct response is followed by a reward which in
return creates understanding. Now in case Sean is a child who gets distracted very
easily so teacher is supposed to provide him a different reason to achieve the given
task. Any sort of reward which makes her feel nice about it might have been
helpful (An Overview of Behavioral Psychology, 2019).

Behaviorism accounts for external behavior when trying to understand perspective
of an individual. Behaviorism is based on the different kind of behavior exhibited
by individual, as per the behaviorism learning occurs as a change in behavior. As
different behaviors are acquired and used in the life of individual a learning
process is created. Learning bridges behaviorism and cognitive learning.
Behaviorism is further classified into classical, behavioral and observational. Both
classical and behavioral learning are part of associative learning on the other hand
observational learning is a part of learning through observing others. These
classification provide a better understanding of the situation and helps to
understand the learning process (Major theories and models of learning |
Educational Psychology, 2019).
Although Sean age is not mentioned but it reflects that he lies in the age bracket of
learning. Every children of this age has their own learning strategy and ability.
Now student don’t change their strategy easily to involve themselves with other
strategy, no matter how fruitful the results might be. In order for student to
understand or accept the new mechanism of learning they need to see the direct
and instant benefit of the strategy. In the case teacher directly address the issues to
parents which might create a negative impact over her. This might make her feel
bad which will even decrease her interest in doing the classroom activities (Mayer,
2018).

Review and Comparison
Case represents different aspects when viewed under different theories. Socio-
cultural theory depicts that it’s important for the cognitive learning to involve
cultural aspect of the children. In this case Sena has a different culture and social
interaction which are meant to understand and then learning has to start at the
social level first then on the individual level so that a proper understanding can be
created. But as the case represent social aspect will not be enough to understand
the complete process (Simmons & Watson, 2014).
Unlike other approaches psycho - dynamic approach focuses on the deep causes
for a particular set of response in learning behavior. In this case it can be seen that
the Sena was more interested in other form of learning due to her metal and
conscious mind functioning. She has might be having different set of thoughts
which allows her to think differently. But I can be stated that the psychodynamic
theory assumes the parameter of children ability to control itself. In addition, to
these things this theory is time consuming and involves certain assumptions.
At the final it can be stated that behavioral approach in the behaviorism theory is
the best for understanding the condition. It focuses on the external stimulus an
accordingly provide the best understanding for the case (The Study of Behavior
Development by Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike, and Skinner, 2019).

New Scenario
The teacher instead of separating the children from the others, he can use the
behaviorism approach to understand the issue. Teacher can award the children who
are able to complete the task. As Sean has a kind of personality who has the
tendency to over shine other and reflect his presence she will definitely try to push
herself to work on the task. Award could be appreciation or change in tone as
well. Once such a scenario is created then introduction of learning tools will be an
effectively helpful to maintain the same discipline. Tools such as crayons, clay and
toy alphabets can help the student to have interest into study environment.
By the use of behaviorism theory teacher can note the children’s reaction towards
different tools and then create a similar functional environment. Apart from
children and teacher engagement it becomes highly important for the parents to
become a part of such activities. So instead of the reporting problem teacher asks
the parents to be the part of the learning process and show the children how do
learn different forms and shape. Teacher and parents should meet and understand
the behavior of the children at home and school to understand what will be right
and step and should discuss about what tools and strategies could be helpful in
deviating the children’s focus towards the task.

Going ahead, the instructor trusts the most ideal approach to keep something
upsetting like this from reoccurring is to set up a list framework where she gives
proper show and advise subjects to understudies and guardians. These points will
by and large connect to the educational programs but at the same time are managed
by the youngsters' appearances of intrigue and interest. Kids will likewise be
required to utilize their bring home journals, which guardians are told to endorse
and recognize the show and tell things with a signature, before them being
conveyed to class (Young & Astarita, 2013).
Reflection
I am extremely happy to work on this topic. The topic was challenging because the
case reflects that how hard it could be to embark proper learning skills to the
kindergarten. The contribution of the team mates finally made it possible for me to
complete the task. Each team member put their complete understanding and went
through each and every aspect of the case. Relating the case to every theory was
also a challenging process because the outcome was different and then we
compared all the details to come to conclusion. It was a delightful to work in a
team, which finally allowed me realize that how different thinking each person has
and at some lever everyone has a valid point. The conclusion was difficult to
overcome as we were struggling for a proper feedback. I also realized that team
work together is more entertaining that working individual as every member of the

team encourages other when he or she comes with a new set of understanding. The
whole process provided me a lot of learning about the topic and how to manage
myself in a team. I had very few movements in my life so far in which I had a team
experience but I have no doubt in expressing that this is one of the most joyous
experience I ever. I appreciate how every member showed their contribution and
their hard work ultimately made it possible to reach a conclusion.

References
Abidin, K. (2016). THE CONCEPT OF LANGUAGE LEARNING IN
BEHAVIORISM PERSPECTIVE. Register Journal, 2(2), 107. doi:
10.18326/rgt.v2i2.107-120
An Overview of Behavioral Psychology. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.verywellmind.com/behavioral-psychology-4157183
Behaviorism - Learning Theories. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.learning-
theories.com/behaviorism.html
Major theories and models of learning | Educational Psychology. (2019). Retrieved
from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/educationalpsychology/chapter/major-
theories-and-models-of-learning/
Mayer, B. (2018). On the clustering of cognitive learning theories. Novosibirsk
State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 8(2), 119-134. doi: 10.15293/2226-
3365.1802.07
Simmons, B., & Watson, D. (2014). The PMLD Ambiguity. London [England]:
Karnac Books.
The Study of Behavior Development by Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike, and Skinner.
(2019). Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Cognitive-Development-in-
Children-from-Watson-to-Kohlberg
Young, R., & Astarita, A. (2013). Practice Theory in Language
Learning. Language Learning, 63, 171-189. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-
9922.2012.00743.x