Teaching can be a very challenging career, and even more so if you’re teaching children in elementary school. This is because in the elementary school level, the students are in their fastest developing stage. It’s at this age which they have the most change physically, mentally and emotionally.
This is why it’s crucial to learn about the behavioral development of your students. Knowing the behavioral development of students will not only help you understand them but also allow you to provide the best learning environment for them. There are many behavioral theories out there but to make sure you score on your Praxis II elementary education test, there are some theories that you definitely must concentrate more on.
Three Behavioral Theories You Must Know To Pass Praxis II
Behavioral theories are certainly helpful for those who deal with people and as an aspiring teacher, you’ll not only stand a greater chance at passing your Praxis II elementary education test but also gain a lot by learning these behavioral theories and understanding them.
Here are three very important theories you must master which are the behavioral theories:
1. by John Watson
2. by Frank Skinner
3. by Pavlov
If you’re not familiar with these three names yet, it’s time that you know them and study the theories that they have come up with.
John Watson started a behavioral development study in the early 1900s. This study was done to observe the conditioned responses in children. What he proposed was that a child could be taught to give a response towards a stimulus that usually would not cause any response from the child. His work has helped other vital studies to understand children’s behavioral development. One of his experiments was done by trying to make a child, who was not afraid eventually become scared of white rats. This experiment is very well known and you should learn more about it as it’s very likely to come up in your Praxis II elementary education test.
Frank Skinner applied behavioral science theories in the classroom to a group of students. He did this in the 1950s and therefore was among the first to do so. This was a big contribution to child education around the world because teachers still use behavioral theories. He believed that giving positive reinforcements for good behavior will help students learn more.
Pavlov is a well known Russian psychologist. He experimented with dogs and the results showed that classical conditioning worked on dogs and also how did it work. He demonstrated that a dog could be taught to salivate at a certain stimulus. In his experiment he used the ringing of a bell as the stimulus.
These three theories are among the many behavioral theories which you must know as a teacher. So make sure you learn about behavioral theories to pass your Praxis test and become a great and responsible teacher.
