Education Psychology: Classical and Operant Conditioning Deep Questions

Responses
Beejal Parekh
October 17, 2015

1. How can a teacher effectively use operant and classical conditioning in

a classroom for each individual student?
By developing personalized relationships with students and understanding
where each student is coming from teachers are able to establish whether or
not students are in need of operant and or classical conditioning. Some
students may not need to be conditioned for the classroom as they have the
appropriate behaviors. Certain students may require more conditioning than
others and these needs further attention from the teacher for development.
Effective conditioning entails a desirable response by the students without
disturbing the overall classroom climate. The needs of the student still must
be be met and the expectations from the Program of Studies are fulfilled but
students need to be taught appropriate classroom manners. Teachers can
grow to expect a certain pool of responses by students thus not needing to
constantly change the format of the conditioning project. Students may
response to reinforcement techniques through positive encouragement by
the means of operant conditioning. While classical conditioning for students
may result in a slower process as students need to connect the
unconditioned response with a neutral stimulus with or without being
explicitly instructed to do so. By setting expectations early on that is, at the

start of the school year students are able to hold themselves accountable for
their own actions and the actions of their peers further conditioning the
classroom. Each individual student will hold slightly different responses
towards the conditioning process especially through negative punishment ie:
the removal of something pleasing for the student. Some types of
conditioning such as positive punishment (the addition of something
undesirable) would be considered unethical and not acceptable in the
classroom. Students need specific attention for the introduction and the
duration of the conditioning process while teachers still meet the
expectations for the Program of Students from the Board of Education. The
connection to the KSAs from a teaching perspective include: 2) e) students
learn in different ways and will be motivated by different reinforcements. Not
all conditioning will work with every student. A teacher needs to know their
students and what reinforcements will work in the desired conditioning
process.

2. How can we be mindful of the classical conditioning that can happen in

the classroom and avoid negative student experiences?
By creating a classroom climate and environment that is safe and inclusive
for all students teachers are able to assist children and hopefully avoid
negative student experiences. Negative student experiences may stem from

students feeling as though they are being trained into behaving in a

certain fashion. They also may develop negative feelings of isolation if the
conditioning process becomes viewed negatively by other students and
obvious that a certain student is being treated differently As a teacher, you
would need to monitor the holistically within the classroom being mindful of
the classroom climate and environment. A safe space with specific
boundaries and protocols for students as well as teacher to follow need to
put into practice thus hopefully avoiding the creation of negative
experiences for students. Students who are included in their learning
environment are more likely to have a positive outlook within the classroom
thus contributing a healthier space for students and teachers. The classical
conditioning as well as operant conditioning needs to remain ethical and
within the boundaries of Board of Education for students and teachers to
remain respectful and mindful of each other and themselves. Through
positive reinforcements and the connection to the KSAs -2) g) conditioning
requires consistency and perseverance, students need effective classroom
routines. Just like conditioning, classroom management must be consistent
otherwise the conditioned stimulus will not produce the desired conditioned
response. This is similar to classroom management because routines must
be consistent as well.