Aim: To overview the

influence of different
theories on learning
 To outline the theory of behaviourism
and humanism
 To explain the influence of
behaviourism and humanism on
classroom application
 To compare the influence of
behaviourism and humanism in the
classroom
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
Stage 1:
 Food  Salivation

Stage 2 (learning):
 Bell + Food Salivation

Stage 3:
 Bell  Salivation
John Watson (1920)

Little Albert
Conditioning Little Albert

Stage 1:
 Loud noise  Fear

Stage 2 (learning):
 Rabbit + Noise  Fear

Stage 3:
 Rabbit  Fear
Classical Conditioning in
the classroom
1. A supportive environment acts as a
stimulus for study
2. The association of a subject with a
particularly facilitative teacher
3. Habitual expectations about classroom
discipline or assessment
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
(1874-1949)
1. Repetition or practice will
strengthen the stimulus-response
bonds.  
2. If pleasure or satisfaction is
associated with a particular
situation it will lead to repetition.
3. Response that occurs just before a
satisfying event tends to be learnt.
4. Rewards are more effective than
punishments.
Tic, Tac, Toe
Give me a high, Give me a low
Give me a 3 in a row
Polly got shot by a UFO
Dot, dot, line, line
Spider crawling up your spine,
Tight squeeze, cool breeze
Can you feel the shiveries?
The Behavioural Approach

 Based on stimulus response theory

 Controlled by the teacher
 External reinforcement used to
motivate
 Prompting techniques are used
 Teacher centred and structured
 Objectives are clear and measurable
Humanistic Education

 developed as a reaction against

behaviourism
 behaviourism was seen as reducing
the concept of the human being.
 The person was seen as being worthy
of dignity and teachers needed to
develop qualities of worth and self-
esteem. (Maslow and Rogers)
Humanistic approach
 Learning is individual
 The teacher enables the student to learn
from their own insights, experiences,
evaluations and reflections
 The teacher does not tell the students
anything – they just ask the right questions
 Enables students to develop critical thinking
and creativity
Summerhill - 1960
 An open private school in Southern England
founded in 1921 by A. S Neill – Scottish
writer and rebel.
 He created a community in which children
could be free from adult authority –’the
function of a child is to live his own
life- not the life that his anxious
parents think he should live, nor a life
according to the purpose of the
educator who thinks he knows best’
“Imagine a school…....
 Where we have freedom to be ourselves
 Where success is not defined by academic
achievement, but by the child’s own
definition of success
 Where the whole school deals
democratically with issues
 Where you can play all day if you want to
 And there is time and space to sit and
dream”
 Summerhillschool.co.uk
Find a partner to work
with – someone who
works in the same domain
of learning as you do.

Decide which statements

reflect which of the two
learning theories.