Learning concepts and applications

Learning

Challenging Learning Experience in the Classroom for a Teacher

In the classroom the teacher may assume he or she will always wear the mantel of authority. The student is assumed to be the recipient of his or her superior wisdom and years. However, even a teacher or must learn how to become a perpetual student of human nature. What happens when a parent disagrees with the teacher's classroom policy and does not endorse the teacher's methods of discipline? The teacher must shift his or her learning strategies, and attempt to teach both the parent and the student of the benefits of the classroom environment.

Take, for example, an unruly student who is frequently absent and does not turn in his or her homework. This frustrates the teacher's initially positive attitude regarding the learning experience and creating a positive, rewarding classroom environment. It also encourages the other children, through the use of negative reinforcement, to become more lax in doing their own work, or more defiant, in imitation of this child's example. Even if the teacher punishes bad behavior, the lack of positive reinforcement sours the attitude of the class. Learning becomes associated, by mutual reinforcement with punishment, like Pavlov's dog associated the smell of meat with the sound of a bell. ("Classical Conditioning," 1996)

Then, the teacher makes a supposition that the parent will act as an advocate for authority and calls the student's parent in for a conference. Much to the teacher's surprise, the parent defends the child's action, stating that the teacher was giving too much homework, that the teacher is not teaching the material correctly, the parent defends taking the student out for multiple days at a time to go on vacation trips with the family.

In contrast to the teacher's assumptions, the teacher has learned that "for many parents, a fundamental part of the parenting role is to be their child's strongest advocate with the teacher and the school." (Katz, 2006) the parent sees him or herself as "the final authority on all matters relating to the child" and does not positively reinforce the teacher's discipline at home. (Katz, 2006) the teacher must put aside his or her own, conditioned response to assume his or her authority without question, perhaps an idea learned in his or her own schooling as an educator.

The classically conditioned response of assuming that teacher and parent are on the same side, because they share positions of authority, and the warm feeling that might initially ensue from beginning the parent-teacher conference is suddenly broken. The teacher may now begin to experience fear, anxiety, or ambivalence regarding the parent-teacher relationship and perhaps feel tempted act with hostility. Initially, the teacher expected that the parent would assume that the "child's teacher knows what he or she is doing "and that the child's compliance should be encouraged, not deterred. (Pruett, 2006) Instead, the teacher learns she or he is fighting over control of the child's behavior, and both authority figures are sending mixed signals about such disciplinary matters as attendance, homework, and overall behavior in class.

However, flexibility towards approaching the patent-child relationship may be necessary. The teacher must, having conditioned him or herself to assume authority without question, try a different learning technique, having met with an obstacle. Essentially, the teacher must look towards other methods of reinforcement for both the parent and child, to bring the pair back into his or her sphere of authority. One possible method is to try other ways to reinforce the child's behavior. Rather than relying upon the parent to provide discipline, the teacher can use other, positive methods of reinforcement to encourage the child to obey in class. For example, the teacher can recruit the other students to encourage the child to attend school and do work, stating that if everyone attends class all week, or does all of the assigned homework, the class will get a pizza party or a trip to the zoo.