Social Theory Post 2

In the social cognitive theory, models are an extremely important element.  Without models, this theory would not work.  With this in mind, there are different qualities that make models more effective.  One is relevance--in other words, the model must be one that the individual is interested in.  If the model is someone who has nothing in common with the individual or demonstrates behaviors that the individual doesn't like, then that is not an effective model for that person.  Another quality is competence.  The model should be someone that the individual sees as a success.  For example, the individual isn't going to see someone who struggles with reading as a model for them for that class.  The model is most effective when they have high status and are the same gender as the individual.  For example, the most effective model for a female student would be a female teacher.

While the teacher is the most obvious answer for the question of who the models are in the classroom, it is not the only answer.  For most students, the higher achieving students are also models.  When they see them succeeding, they put them in the model role because they want to succeed as well.

Cultural factors play a large part in modeling behavior as well, which can be seen in the video clip.  In the classroom, cultural factors could influence my students' learning.  Since I am a female, this could impact the way that my male students model behavior.  They might not see me as an effective model since I don't have the same cultural stereotypes as they do.  Also, females, for example, see have lower self-efficacy when it comes to classes like math.  This cultural stereotype also influences and shapes the way that my students would learn in the classroom.

In my personal classroom, respect will be a large component.  The main classroom rule that will be implemented is that everyone must treat each other with respect, no matter what type of student they are, what gender they are, and what race they are.  With this rule in mind, my students might have more self-efficacy and might see me as the most effective model because no matter what they will be seeing everyone respecting everyone else.  When there are many models in the classroom and everyone is treating everyone as equal, then it will be a more effective learning environment, and I think that I will see that in the way that my students perform.