Social Cognitivism Case Study

1) I think that Mr. Corbet's teaching style goes along with Vygotsky's sociocultural learning theory. Vygotsky believed "social interaction to be the key mechanism for acquiring the language and culture of a community". In Mr. Corbet's classroom, the children watch and learn the culture and expectations of the classroom by watching and learning from each other. When the little boy raises his hand and Mr. Corbet gives positive feedback the other students see that and realize that is a culturally acceptable behavior in that classroom.

Mr. Corbet's teaching style also goes along with Erikson's stages of development. The kindergartner's is his class are most likely in Erikson's Industry vs. Inferiority stage. In this stage, children learn to "assert themselves in ways that are considered socially acceptable and learn to take initiative in their dealings with people and tasks". Mindy follows the examples of the other students by walking quietly and by raising her hand, thus showing that she is learning to assert herself in a socially acceptable way. The girl who was crying and demanding the the teachers attention to know where her mother was will most likely learn throughout the school year as she watches other students how to respond to situations in a less dramatic way. Mindy shows that she is learning to take initiative when raises her hand to call the teacher over when her friend is pushed off the swing.

2) One example of vicarious reinforcement is when the boy raises his hand. The teacher comes over to answer his question, thus teaching the students that raising your hand is the correct action to take when you have a question. Mindy repeats this behavior when she is on the playground and wants to get the teachers attention.

3) An example in the case study of vicarious punishment when the teacher uses the whistle on the playground. When the students are doing something they are not supposed to he blows the whistle and then has a talk with the student about their behavior. Mindy does not the teacher to blow the whistle at her or to be lectured about her behavior so she tries very hard to be good.

4) I think that Mindy has low Kindergarten self-efficacy. She does not know what is expected of her. For example, when she breaks the crayon she looks to see if anyone saw. If no one had seen, she probably would have hid the crayon so no one knew what had happened. But since a boy had seen her, she went to apologize to the teacher. However, I think that as Mindy goes throughout the school day, her self-efficacy begins to grow. As she observes the students line up for recess and the teacher comments on the students that walk slowly, she tries very hard to walk and not run. She is growing in her belief about how capable she is to do what is expected. Also, when she raises her hand on the playground, she is confident that the teacher will come to listen to her. She is learning that raising her hand is something that gets positive attention and she felt confident to perform that task when she needed to.