3: The Child as a Behaving Organism

I.               The Child as a Behaving Organism

Given that I teach freshman, I found the title of this chapter quite humorous. Inevitably a student will interrupt instruction to ask to use the restroom, even though it is explicitly stated in my syllabus that to exhibit that particular behavior is unacceptable during instruction.  Freshman behavior is relative and the organism reacts to the conditional of the day (or the moon, as some claim).  I anticipated reading how to use psychological warfare to control those beasts—who apparently have very small bladders.  On the contrary, James further enlightened his audience with philosophical views and the application of psychology to teaching.  Under the premise of William James’ suggestions, this blog will discuss how to improve the design of instruction with the intention of training a student to exhibit certain behaviors.     

In the third chapter, James expands on his view of the stream of consciousness and discusses its functions. He asserts the stream of consciousness has two functions:  it leads to knowledge and action.  He introduces his talk by explaining the contradictory views of the mind – the mind as pure reason and the mind as a practical guide. James’ bases his premise on the latter view – the mind as practical guide where man is primarily a behaving organism.  From this he proposes to the teacher “You should regard your professional task as if it consisted chiefly and essentially in training the pupil to behavior’ (p. 13).  He defines how teachers should understand behavior, “not in the narrow sense of manners, but in the very widest possible sense, as including every possible sort of fit reaction..” (p. 13).

Please consider the following scenario:

A teacher presents a new unit to the students called ‘Functions.’  During this unit, students will be asked to define a function, describe the types of functions, perform calculations using functions, and demonstrate proficiency when using the graphing calculator.

In this case, the listed tasks would be certain behaviors that are to be performed by the student. When designing instructional materials for the unit, the teacher may want to consider how the knowledge needed to accomplish the tasks is represented.  The content to be covered is very abstract and theorectical.  While there are certain procedurals tasks to accomplish, the way functions, their graphs, and their equations relate is a very abstract concept.  And one that is 'impractical' in the eyes of the student.  Therefore, the way the information is presented should correspond with knowledge type.  For example, a graphic organizer can be used to display a procedural task or to show the relationships between objects.   Inaddition, the teacher may want to take into account the mode and media chosen to present the knowledge.    Making the form of representation integral to meaning will enable behavioral change by the student.

Later during the Functions Unit:

                    The teacher has a set of review exercises for the students. In groups, students will    rotate around the room to complete each review exercise.  The groups will visit four stations:  1.  The Smartboard  2. Student laptops 3. Group table practice with calculators 4. Teacher guided individual practice.

In this instance, the teacher is presented with a different set of desired student behaviors.  Students are asked to move around the room in such a way that is conducive to learning.  They also are asked to use various technologies to accomplish the review exercises.  It is here the teacher can apply James’ notion of the depth to which student behavior is controlled by the teacher.  James  alluded to this idea when  he suggested  to consider behavior “in the very widest possible sense, as including every possible sort of fit reaction..” (p. 13).  The teacher may want to consider a training series that addresses classroom movement and technology usage separate from the content material. 

Algebra is full of abstract concepts.  I believe it is what my students despise the most about the subject.  They desire practically and students (especially the ones I teach) have an extremely hard time understanding the theoretical message behind the procedural task.   If learning occurs when a set of behaviors is observed, as James’ claims, how can a teacher address the abstract concepts so that they become real (practical) to the student? 

William likes the pumpkins
that Isabell & Riette drew.