Social Theories Blog Post 2

The bobo doll experiment relates to classroom instruction when thinking about modeling and the social cognitive theory because teachers and classroom instructors model behavior to their students, in which they want their students to demonstrate as well and imitate. This behavior that is demonstrated would be positive behavior and confidence so that the imitation of their students is positive and confident in their learning. However, if teachers choose to act aggressively or demonstrate behaviors that are not appropriate in the classroom, then students will act this same way thinking that it is okay because their teachers are acting in that way. Modeling is an important part of learning and if teachers want their students to act in a certain way, then teachers should model that behavior. A model is most effective when the behavior they are demonstrating is continued and repeated. If the model is controversial with the behavior and represents certain behaviors that contradict other behaviors, then the model is not effective and will not be imitated by others. There are multiple people that can be models in the classroom, obviously including the teacher. However, if a student is showing a specific behavior that the teacher thinks is a good model, then the teacher should give positive reinforcement or a reward to that student. This student is now a model for his/her peers since the behavior he/she represented was something that the teacher wants other students to perform as well.

Society and culture influence learning because according to the social cognitive theory, learning occurs through observation. If we are constantly observing our surrounding environments, then society plays an important role in the way we learn. Also, culture influences learning because different cultures have different ways of living their lives and if people are a part of a specific culture that has traditions and values, then that person or group of people will mimic those traditions and values in their behavior or personality characteristics to represent they are a part of that culture. Culture plays an important factor in the way that people act, especially if it is a large scale cultural factors like society portrays men as more physically aggressive than women, therefore the boys were aggressive towards the bobo doll. Large scale cultural factors may influence my students' learning because students often want to conform to what society wants, making them act in a way that is inappropriate even though that is the way society wants them to act this way or this is the way society feels. For example, African Americans are often perceived as lower class and not as intelligent as white people. This may create tension in a classroom and the African American students could disobey what the teacher's rules are.

In my designed classroom for the future, I have expectations for my students that they would act appropriately throughout daily activities even if it is more of a fun activity. I believe that all students have a voice, including the teacher as well. However, everyone's voice and opinion must be respected no matter who the student is or whoever the authority figure may be in a particular situation. Also, in my designed classroom, I would want all students regardless of culture to work as a team and as a whole in some areas and individuals in other areas. I would want to show this in daily activities by having students work with different peers each day so that everyone has a chance to work with each other and learn to respect each other.