Reflection 2

For some scholars, simply stating expectations is enough to encourage the desired behavior. However, others may have been conditioned over time to develop necessary skills. The ultimate goal is for these behaviors to be generalized across different settings to foster long-term success. To achieve this, Teachers must identify what motivates each scholar, as their motivation serves as a reinforcer for learning and behavioral growth. Most of my scholars respond to and need extrinsic motivators, some scholars develop intrinsic motivation over time.

How they are motivated determines what strategies I use in my classroom.  IF/THEN cards, behavior contracts, and badge collection systems to help students self-regulate, however, it has to be for the right type of reinforcer. Allowing them to earn rewards in exchange for completing difficult or undesirable tasks encourages perseverance.

The concepts related to aggression stood out to me, particularly after this school year. I had a scholar in my classroom for three years. This past school year his behaviors became aggressive, and we struggled to redirect him.  Eventually, this led to a situation where I was injured, and the placement for the scholar was changed. Despite our team’s efforts and all the data that we collected and analyzed, we couldn't determine whether the behavior stemmed from something new or was related to autism.

This experience made me question current behavioral research. Given the prevalence of social media and digital exposure including video games, are traditional theories on behavior still accurate? Does watching behaviors on a screen influence real-world actions in the same way that observing them in person does? I wonder if aggression is more of a "loaded gun theory"—meaning it depends heavily on the individual, rather than being a simple learned response. I wonder about my scholars with autism, as their behaviors can shift suddenly—from expressing affection to exhibiting aggression within moments sometimes in the same encounter. I don't believe aggression stems from observing violent behavior for these scholars but rather from neurological or sensory processing differences. However, this raises an important question: How does Autism and other developmental disorders interact with Social Learning Theory? Since modeling is widely used in the autism community, we encourage scholars to imitate desired behaviors and integrate them into their skill sets. However, modeling does not work for every scholar—some struggle to grasp the "why" behind the behaviors they are expected to imitate. In such cases, conditioning becomes even more valuable. By reinforcing behaviors through verbal praise, tangible rewards, or other reinforcers, we can motivate scholars to continue developing their skills.

A table in our textbook on Consequences in Behavioral Learning gave me a deeper insight into how behavior manifests in the classroom. A key aspect of behavioral learning is identifying the function of behavior—which may be obvious or rooted in an underlying issue.

One concept I would like to explore further is self-regulation. Helping scholars develop the ability to self-advocate requires them to be aware of their surroundings and control their reactions. I am curious about ways to support this process effectively—would learning more about reinforcers and punishers help?

As mentioned above, I feel like there were a lot of questions spurred.  Many of them are ones that I have been trying to learn to become a more intentional teacher in my classroom. As an Academic Autism teacher, does autism impact aggression, and how should we model wanted behaviors? Is there a wrong and right way to “condition” individuals? Is there an ethical question when we are using reinforcers? I am still trying to learn how to use rewards, reinforcers, and other motivators in my classroom efficiently and these readings gave me a reason to continue to learn the different methods. 

References: 

Slavin, Robert E.. Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (p. 106). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition. 

Slavin, Robert E.. Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice (p. 104). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition. 

Bandura and Social Learning Theory. YouTube. (n.d.). https://youtu.be/NjTxQy_U3ac 

AI was not used in this response.