Foundational Psychology and Psychiatry

Question: Discuss about the Foundational Psychology and Psychiatry. Answer: Introduction The learning process in children differs on the basis of their age and development at that age. Child development is the process of emotional, physical, intellectual and social development as they grow up. The early years of a childs life are most critical to shape their intellectual development and thought pattern (Campbell et al., 2014). Learning at this stage has a direct impact on the minds of children and it is important for primary teachers to plan teaching strategies based on developmental needs of children at different stage of life (Charlesworth, 2013). With this context, the main purpose of this report is to analyze the case scenario of Jane, a primary school teacher in Singapore who is facing problem in managing children between 10-12 years in class and she wants to modify their behavior in class so that they engage in their class lessons and homework. The report analyzes the scenario by means of operant conditioning and proposes possible intervention to bring behavioral c hange in children. The thesis statement for the report is research on children between 10-12 years in Singapore and determining the suitability of the Operant Conditioning as an approach to behavioral change in this classroom. Evaluation of the scenario The report is on the case scenario of Jane, a primary school teacher teaching Primary 5 students. Since she had started teaching, she has observed that the children do not participate in class discussion and often stare blankly at her when she asks them questions. In this situation she is facing challenges in managing the class. The children are inattentive in class and they do not complete their assignment and home work very often. Jane is concerned that this form of lack of participation may defeat the purpose of teaching and therefore she wants to change and modify their behavior. To modify the behavior of this children between 10-12 years of age, it is necessary to analyze the behavior of this children and their typical class room behavior in Singapore. Considering the situation of primary education in Singapore, it can be said that primary schooling in Singapore begins at the age of six. The curriculum for primary education is classified into two stages- The foundation stage- for children in Primary 1 to Primary 4 The orientation stage- for children in primary 5 to 6 In the foundation stage, teachers in Singapore focus on basic learning skill of children such as English and Mathematics. In the orientation stage, the curriculum is decided basis of academic and language ability of children (Leeds.ac.uk 2016).To facilitate better learning and development in children, it is necessary for teachers to understand the class behavior typical of children between 10-12 years. The research on class room behavior of primary school children in Singapore reveals that teachers often face problem in class as children engage in disruptive conversation and its affects their learning in class. Many teachers also revealed that they found disrespecting teachers as the most unacceptable behavior of children. Children in primary class might engage in such behavior in class because they might be finding the lesson boring or their might mind be distracted by some ideas which they share with their classmates in the middle of class (Sun Shek, 2012). However, arguing back w ith teachers refers to the family and cultural values of this children. Teachers also reported observation of behaviors like non-attentiveness, failure in completing assignment and passive engagement in class in this age group. Some children engage in physical or verbal aggression in class, while some display non-verbal communication and eating/drinking in class (Peer Fraser, 2015). Another research tried to find the reason for takes-avoidant behavior and poor academic performance in primary school children. It gave the implication that such behaviorare influenced by developmental dynamics of school children in early years of life (Metspelto et al., 2015). Jane need to identify teaching strategy based on the development and learning needs of a child at this stage. The management of classroom behavior can be done by the use of operant conditioning theory which is based on the idea that a behavior can be modified by means of reward or punishment and it can be controlled by discriminatory stimuli (Henton Iversen, 2012).. In the case scenario of Jane, the lessons in class is the discriminatory stimuli and the behavior of children that needs to be changes is the problem of inattentive behavior and class room engagement in children between 10-12 years. To modify childrens behavior according to positive and negative enforcement, it is necessary to understand the social and cognitive development of children at this stage. Children between 10-12 years of age are at the stage of early adolescence when they are just beginning to cope with hormonal changes and getting influenced by the values and belief of their parents and friends (Edelstein, Keller, Schrder, 2014). According to Piagets theory of child development, the development of children between 10-12 years comes under concrete operational stage. According to Piaget, children in this stage start solving problem on the basis of concrete events. They can engage in inductive reasoning but they struggle in deductive reasoning (Modgil, Modgil, Brown, 2013).Therefore, in case of scenario of Jane, her children in class might be attentive because they may not be able to figure out the logic behind any lesson. Hence, to modify their behavior, Jane can apply operant conditioning technique to encourage positive learning behavior in children. By this approach, Jane can make children attentive in class by positive enforcement like rewards or giving lesson according to the mind set up of children at that stage. Jane can use the following techniques of operant conditioning in the classroom to engage children in class lessons and make them attentive: Use of positive enforcement to modify behavior of children- Children may bored by monotony is the class and their behavior of inattentiveness can be modified by Jane by bringing fun in class by ways of strategies like giving candies to children on right response to answer and appreciation or clap for those students who solves class lesson faster than others. This form of tactics will influence all children and they will automatically pay attention to class to get the rewards and benefits from their teachers. Hence, by means of positive enforcement, the children will repeat good behavior of they are rewarded (Ayers, Gray, 2013). Praising children in class can also act as a means of modifying students behavior and it will encourage other children to continuously improve their learning too. Praise can be given in class by means of clapping or cheering for the children in whole class. While asking any question to children, Jane can encourage children by means of expression like great answer or great effort and then explaining the right answer. By this technique, one child will be influenced by other classmates and they will also try their best to impress their teacher in next class or lesson (Evertson Weinstein, 2013). Use of this positive approach by Jane will helps her to nurture her students in class and facilitate learning development in them. In case of giving rewards, it is also necessary to keep in mind that any rewards should not be repeated. Children in early adolescence get bored from same attractions very soon and teachers should always try to bring some new mode of rewards to sustain the good behavior in children. The type of reward can be changes from time to time such as giving extra play time, stickers, special game tickets, certificate and position of responsibility to children. The frequency and level of awards can be modified by on the basis of severity of behavior in children (Collins Cook, 2016). Use of negative enforcement to eliminate bad behaviors in classroom- Jane can modify the habit of keeping quiet and staring in classroom by issuing sanctions or punishment for such behavior. In that case, children are less likely to repeat such behavior. A consistency between awards and punishment is necessary to sustain change and enable effective learning in children (Vancraeyveldt et al., 2015). However, in case of negative behavior, Jane must ensure that she does not spoil the relationship with children by heating or raising voice on children. The humanistic approach to teaching primary school children is to keep them motivate in class by showing empathy to children and delivering classroom lessons in enthusiastic and fun manner (Shokouhi, Limberg, Armstrong, 2014). In case of children who are still and stare at teacher, Jane can positively bring their attention back to lessons by supportive strategies like standing next to the child while giving instruction or telling the child directly to do any task in front of them. Such children may panic by this approach, however use of friendly attitude and empathetic expression can help the child overcome his or her shyness or anxiety in responding to lessons (Rapport, Kofler, Alderson, 2016). Evaluation of operant conditioning theory From the analysis of teaching strategy recommended for modifying classroom behavior of children between 10-12 years, it can be said that the principle of operant conditioning theory will help Jane to bring behavioral change in the primary 5 students. The use of positive enforcers like rewards, tokens and appreciation will enable effective learning in class by means of participation and engagement of children. There are four context of operant conditioning theory such as the positive and negative reinforcement, positive and negative punishment. Positive enforcement is used to bring positive behavior and all other are used to prevent negative behavior in individual. With this approach, children will easily get attracted to lessons and take part in class discussions too. On comparison of all learning and development theories, it can be said that Skinners operant conditioning is based on behaviorism approach while the Piaget and Vygotskys cognitive development theory is based on constructivism approach. The advantage of operant conditioning theory is that use of positive enforcement acts as source to motivate children to adopt good behavior. This theory will be useful in controlling certain behavior in children and promoting their interest in learning (Gazzaniga Heatherton, 2015).On the contrary, Piaget theory believes that development in children does not occur by means of positive and negative reinforcement, but also it is achieved through observation (Scholnick, 2013).Vygotsky explains cognitive development and learning in children is achieved through interaction with knowledgeable and intellectual member in the society (Lantolf et al., 2015). Hence, this concept of operational conditioning theory is different from other theories and it has the ma ximum possibility of modifying change in behavior of children. Kohlbergs theory was an extension of Piagets moral development theory which revealed that moral development in children can occur either negatively or positively through different stages in their life span. This is similar to operant conditioning theory as this theory also deals with behavior on the basis of good or behavior. However, one disadvantage of operant conditioning theory is that this theory is not always good because a child cannot be engaged in positive behavior continuously by means of reward. The reward may extinct after some time and childs good behavior should not always be dependent on rewards. Despite this weakness, operant conditioning technique is beneficial for the case scenario of Jane, because is Jane is willing to modify behavior of those children who have low level of thinking and learning. Use of operant conditioning approach will help such children to move from level of low learning to high thinking pattern and learning. Conclusion The detailed report based on analysis of case scenario of Jane, a primary school teacher summarizes the typical classroom behavior observed in children between 10-12 years and how operant conditioning approach can be a useful approach to modify the behavior in classroom. The explanation of techniques that can be used by Jane to encourage participation of children in class revealed that this can be achieved by modifying the teaching style and providing positive enforcers to students (Kaplan Patrick, 2016). The suitability of this theory in relation to the case scenario was accurately discussed by comparison with other development theory. Reference Ayers, H., Gray, F. (2013).Classroom management: a practical approach for primary and secondary teachers. Routledge. Campbell, F., Conti, G., Heckman, J. J., Moon, S. 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