Infographic on SL Learning Theory
Infographic on SL Instructional Design Theory
Learning Scenario
Observation Checklist
Reflection on SL Theory
Right off the bat, I felt like social learning theory made sense to me, maybe because I’m familiar with the concept that humans are inherently social creatures. I immediately thought about human language development and other social skills that we develop as a result of our interactions with others. Even though social learning theory felt more familiar, I was surprised to find that my observational checklist was not as easy to complete this time around. I had less examples of social learning theory language than I did for behaviorism or cognitivism, which made it hard to label my learning scenario as well. However, after we did the group activity in class (where my group looked at the poetry scenario), I felt more confident in the words I chose for my KB. Hearing what other people had to say in this class activity reassured me that I was on the right track.
It’s very frustrating for me to think about the “standard” classroom, where the instructor stands at the front of the room and gives a lecture, while students sit in silence and take notes, only asking a question every so often. This “traditional” situation supports a power dynamic that somehow the teacher is “above” their students for having knowledge that they have yet to obtain. I realize now that this type of classroom is contrary to the social learning perspective and probably hinders learning for some students. I think that incorporating more social learning into the seminar setting I just described would result in an increase in student engagement and more knowledge acquisition, and probably better grades overall. For students who are stimulated by social engagement and collaboration, a “traditional” lecture is not the most effective learning environment.
Learning about social learning theory proves important for me personally because it’s not as prominent in my classroom as I’d like it to be. I think, for the very reason I mentioned above, my students have gotten very quiet in the last few weeks of lecture-based units. Going forward, I hope to center my lessons around more collaborative assignments, allow students to teach the class what they’ve learned (reciprocal teaching) and allow for more self-regulation by providing time for more freeform/relaxed discussions that are driven by the students’ thoughts and interests rather than my prompts/questions. I do think I’ll continue giving handouts to students, as these “symbolic models” help them see what behaviors are expected and subsequently replicate those behaviors. I also think, after seeing how social learning played such an important role in our discussions in this class, I will think about the ways I can emulate this sort of student interaction in my own class. Perhaps I will ask students to respond to more of one another’s written work with comments, then have small group discussions to go over those comments. I found this method effective for me personally throughout this course, so I hope my students will feel the same way.
As a student, I often think about the consequences of my behaviors and learn from the consequences of others’ behaviors. For example, as I progress through my poetry MFA program, I’ve been paying attention to my instructors and to the poets I admire who are doing the things that I hope to accomplish: getting published, giving readings, or teaching creative writing full-time. Without consciously thinking about it until now, I see my own instructors and admired poets as models who demonstrate behaviors that I’m slowly working toward being able to do myself. The joy I see in these models as they partake in the activities I mentioned is reinforcement for me. I want to find that same pleasure in making writing and teaching my full-time career.