Discuss how differing theoretical perspectives and our interpretation of these might influence professional practice when working with children and young people.
There are countless theories surrounding learning, for the purpose of this essay, the theories looked at will be linked to Behaviourism and Multiple Intelligences. Behaviourism is defined by Watson (1913) as proposing to explain human and animal behaviour in terms of external stimuli and both positive and negative reinforcements, with the desirable outcomes being predictability and control. The majority of early Behaviourists research, Pavlov (1902) and Skinner (1938), was laboratory based and used animals as subjects, allowing them to collect a lot of supporting empirical data. Where as Gardner’s (1987) Multiple Intelligence theory has been criticised for a lack of evidence (Brody, 2006), Hymer & Sutcliffe (2012) found that the implemented methods have a positive influence on children, without the need for negative reinforcements.This essay will investigate both theories, and how they are interpreted and implemented in professional settings.
Historically the mind was seen as being tabula rosa or a blank slate. Locke (1689) believed that there were no innate characteristics of the human mind, anything learnt was due to input and experience, and not an inevitable natural development. Locke’s work went on to form the basis of Behaviourism. Watson (1913), known as the godfather of Behaviourism, shared Locke’s view that the learner is passive whilst being molded, and does not play an active part in the process itself. Behaviourists such as Locke, Watson and Skinner (1938) were only concerned with external and observable markers of behaviour, as these could be scientifically measured. However, by ignoring internal behaviour processes like emotion and thinking, Behaviourism is believed by Gray & MacBlain (2012) & Tonneau (2007), to be an inefficient one dimensional theory, when applying it to the complex human mind. However, in the early 20th century it was pioneering work, Watson also believed that humans did not possess free will, and that there were little
Historically the mind was seen as being tabula rosa or a blank slate. Locke (1689) believed that there were no innate characteristics of the human mind, anything learnt was due to input and experience, and not an inevitable natural development. Locke’s work went on to form the basis of Behaviourism. Watson (1913), known as the godfather of Behaviourism, shared Locke’s view that the learner is passive whilst being molded, and does not play an active part in the process itself. Behaviourists such as Locke, Watson and Skinner (1938) were only concerned with external and observable markers of behaviour, as these could be scientifically measured. However, by ignoring internal behaviour processes like emotion and thinking, Behaviourism is believed by Gray & MacBlain (2012) & Tonneau (2007), to be an inefficient one dimensional theory, when applying it to the complex human mind. However, in the early 20th century it was pioneering work, Watson also believed that humans did not possess free will, and that there were little
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