Three Theories Used in After-School Programs

Educators today utilize a variety of learning theories and strategies to facilitate learning in the classroom. This essay will critique three theories of learning and how they may be applied to facilitate student learning in an after-school program. The three theories of learning and cognition are Skinner's Behavioral theory, Bandura's Social Learning theory, and Vygotsky's Social Cognition theory. The setting is a school-based; after-school program. The target population is K-6th grade. In addition, research is included.

Most after-school programs involve children 5 to 12, and the focus of this essay will be on this age group. After-school programs seek to help children make creative use of their time. The classes provide opportunities for children to develop and increase skills, academics, talents, and hobbies. There are extended school-based academic programs that are located inside of school buildings that provide academic, recreational, and cultural programs (Fashola, 1998.) Many after-school programs may also exist in community centers, clubs, or on school grounds. Hall (2003) says when after-school programs utilize a youth development approach, they help to eliminate barriers to learning faced by many students. Chawla (2007) give an overview of childhood experiences reported by educators, and environmental activists. Hall (2003) says effective after-school programs provide learning environments, such as, intrinsic motivation, flexibility, and multiple learning arrangements. In addition, Hall 2003 says when after-school programs utilize a youth development approach, they support non-academic competencies and characteristics that ultimately support students academic learning.

For example, the social and critical thinking skills that young people learn in a group project can be utilized to enhance their academics during the regular school day to ensure academic success. Hall (2003) says when after-school programs promote the youth development approach, they can help to eliminate barriers faced by many students. After-school programs can offer engagement and support to youth who have in the past exhibited disruptive behavior, or had poor interest, and a poor sense of self. Larner (1999) says presidential candidates now include after-school programs in their campaign speeches. In addition, bills have been passed by congress for after-school programs. Our nation is becoming concerned about what children do with their time after-school because most parents work, and many children are left to fend for themselves. School shootings has increased, and many students are finding and engaging in after-school activities, such as, drugs, alcohol, vandalism, gang membership, and sexual activity. Effective after-school programs can provide a safe haven for students.

Literature Review

The experts have found that attending formal after-school programs has a more positive effect on academics and social adjustment. Aubespin (2003) says that after-school programs are believed to help prevent some of the problems faced by youth, such as lack of home supervision, lack of positive adult role models.

The adage by Peter Witt states, " you can deal with the problem now or deal with more serious issues later." Failure to create opportunities during after school for children can lead to the need to deal with issues of delinquency and youth crime later (Baker & Witt, 1996).

After school programs expose children to positive role models, such as, teachers, parents, community leaders to reduce problem behaviors, such as, substance abuse, unprotected sex and crimes. Also, after-school programs enable youth to interact with peers and others in a positive and appropriate manner, and to make learning fun to prevent juvenile delinquency. The target population will be youths ages 9 to 14 and their parents.

Recreation should be an important part of the after-school program. In many inner-cities, recreational activities and parks are limited to children because they are unsafe to play in (sometimes unsavory people go to parks). After-school programs should have outdoor space for sports, such as softball, basketball. and baseball. Teamwork, coping, strategies, problem solving, and good sportsmanship should be incorporated in these activities.

Some disadvantage of self-care (latchkey children) is latchkey children have increased loneliness, and are more susceptible to peer pressure. These children usually have more problem behaviors. These children engage in crime, get poor grades, abuse drugs and alcohol, are victims of sexual abuse, and engage in unprotected sex than children who attend after-school programs.
Schlattier, Schahrer & Pogue(2003), concedes after-school programs have improved children's behavior and increased the rate of homework completion. Schlatter, Schahrer & Pague (2002) says afterschool programs provide children with a safe and stimulating environment, enhances learning and reduces stress for parents.
The three theories I chose to critique are Bandura's Social Learning theory, Skinners Behavioral theory, and Vygotsky's Social Cognitive theory.

Bandura's Social Learning Theory

Bandura (1977) believe most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling. Bandura says when we observe others and we form ideas of how new behaviors are formed. We code our observations and use this information later as a guide. Observational learning consist of attention, retention, motor reproduction, moderation, and observer characteristics, such, as sensory, arousal, perception, and past reinforcement. Patsula (1999) says this can be achieved by organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior. Educators, parents, and staff can serve as models. In after-school programs, children may observe and model their instructors by using certain words, labels, or images that they have retained through their observation. According to Patsula (1999) students and individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if the model is similar to the observer, the model has an admired status, and the behavior has functional value. An example would be a student in an after-school program who has an aptitude for math, and the student likes math. The student may observe and model behavior similar to his or her teacher because the teacher is well liked and respected by others, and exhibit prosperity and financial success. Some strategies that can be used with social learning theories included for children are mentoring. Children in an after-school program who love basketball may observe and have aspirations to be like Koby Bryant, and female students may observe and model the actions of Serena and Venus Williams. In the above example Bandura's social learning theory would be very effective. However, in my opinion, Bandura's learning theory can have a negative effect. For example a student who wants to be slim and look like Paris Hilton or Tyra Banks who are slim, sophisticated, etc. The child watches a television commercial who says if you drink this "supplement" you will lose up to 30 pounds in one month. That is unhealthy and may cause fatal consequences. In this situation ,watching Tyra Banks and Paris Hilton on Television drinking the supplement" is a negative consequence; very negative. In my opinion Bandura's learned theory has both positive and negative aspects. A positive aspect is to teach students how to model cognitive processes, as well as behavior modeling. Cognitive modeling emphasize the reason "why a student should perform an activity" For example, learning to read fluently so that you may communicate better with others, become a teacher/lecturer, etc.

B. F. Skinner's Behavioral Theory

B.F. Skinner based his system on operant conditioning, which means operating on the environment. Skinner's theory is that the organism operates on the environment, and during the operating phase, the organism encounters a stimulus, which has the effect to increase the operant. In other words, a behavior followed by a reinforcing stimulus result in an increased probability of the behavior occurring in the future. Many appropriate and productive behaviors, such as, learning to play the guitar, or bullying a fellow classmate are acquired. In operant conditioning the response comes first, followed by a reinforcing consequence. Operant conditioning strategy would be beneficial in an after-school program because it can be used to reinforce positive behavior.

Educators must be careful when using reinforcers to address an individual child's behavior because other children in the classroom may view the disruptive child as being rewarded for bad behavior. (An example would be in the way of more attention) Many children exhibit good behavior in the classroom, and feel they are overlooked by the constant disruptive behavior of some individuals. They feel there is some injustice that they do not receive anything for their constant; good behavior, and the disruptive child/children is constantly receiving attention and/or rewards. In addition, disruptive children also hinder learning of their fellow classmates.

Behavior therapy, according to Abbeduto (2006) are behaviors acquired by young children from their environment. Abbdeuto (2006) stress the fact that praise has a positive effect. I believe reinforcement has both positive and negative effects. For example, if a disruptive child receives tangible rewards, and at one point the tangible rewards are not given, and the child returns to her or his negative behavior, the reinforcement is negative. However, if the positive reinforcement can be gradually withdrawn from the child, and the child continue to exhibit positive behavior, then the reinforcement is positive. "I am going to pay or reward you for being good" should never be the end result. It is up to the teacher/educator to know the child/children, know what is best for the child/children, and to choose the most effective reinforcers.

According to reinforcement theory, individuals learn that certain behaviors lead to certain consequences. An example of a rewarding consequence is receiving a sticker for completing homework. An example of a punishment consequence is going to the detention room for lunch period. Meyers (2005) says there is a reinforcer called a fixed-ratio schedule where behavior is partial reinforcement schedules, in which, responses are sometimes reinforced, and sometimes they are not. (Meyers, 2005 give) An example of intermittent reinforcement is a child having a temper tantrum. According to what it is that the child wants, the parent may or may not give into the child's demands.

Vygotsky's Social Cognitive Theory

Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet developmental psychologist who was a cognitivist. Kozulin (1990) says Vygotsky argued that all cognitive functions originate inward, and that learning was not just the assimilation and accommodation of new knowledge by learners. According to Ormrod (2006) Vygotsky says children learn primarily by attempting to model someone who is more competent than themselves. Therefore, it is the challenge of life, not easy successes that promote cognitive development. One of Vygotsky's examples of cognitive development is a child under three wanting to ride a horse, but cannot. Therefore, the child may cry or become angry. The child at the age of three begins to form an imagination, and the child still wants to ride a horse. The child picks up a stick to use as a horse. At that point, the stick becomes the meaning for a real horse. This is good example of cognitive development because as a child I had the same learning experience. As a child, I was fascinated by the role of the visiting nurse who came to our house when my sister was sick. I aspired to become a nurse, and began to play nurse with my dolls, later with my younger siblings, and eventually some years later, I became a nurse.

I applaud the work of Vygotsky because life is a challenge. Vygotsky's theory of thought would be effective in an after-school program because it teaches children that we must strive for what we want and sometimes it is necessary to overcome many challenges, however, the end result is well worth it. Scaffolding is a teaching strategy used by educators and adults to provide guidance and structure to help students perform tasks in their zone of proximal development. Scaffolding may be used in an after-school program to encourage children to do their best. An example of scaffolding is the teacher writing good or bad on the blackboard, discussing with the children what good and bad means, show pictures, and ask children do they think this is good or bad. In addition, to further enhance learning the teacher may have children cut pictures from old magazines, ask them to find four good things and four bad things about the pictures.
I agree with Vygotsky that languages and culture is important in cognitive development. Vygotsky stressed the point that language and culture play essential roles in human intellectual development, and that language and culture are the framework through which humans have experiences, communicate, and understand reality. Language starts as a child with self-talk, and then progress to speaking.

Research

Schlatter, Schahrer & Pogue (2003) says after-school programs have improved children's behavior and increased the rate of homework completion Schlatter, Schahrer & Pogue (2003) says afterschool programs provide children with safe and stimulating environments, enhance learning and reduces stress for parents.

Vinluan (2005) says according to the Census Bureau, at least ten million latch key children return to an empty house many afternoons because their community do not offer affordable after-school programs. Children left unsupervised are at most risk between the hours of 3 p. m.and 6 p.m.
Pierce, & Vandell (1996) says attendance is an important factor in evaluating after-school programs, and that some researchers (Pettit, et.al, 1997) found that children who participate in some activities after school were rated by their teachers as having better social skills and fewer negative behavior problems. Also, Pierce & Vandell (1999) found that children who attended after-school programs frequently developed better work habits, increased their academic performance, and utilized strategies to resolve conflict with their peers. Shernoff & Vandell (2007) did a study on the experience of middle school students in after-school programs. A total of 1,596 were a randomly sample of students who attended after-school programs in three Midwestern states. The Experience Sampling Method was used for one week in the fall, and one week in the spring of 2002. Students reported high levels of engagement in sports and art activities. The students also reported being more engaged in activities with both adults and peers.

Ferguson (2006) reports a study done by Bandura (1989) and Dedi and Ryan ( 1995) who investigated the influence of positive mastery experiences on affective domains (self-efficacy and perceived domains). Both studies found that positive or successful physical activities experiences were associated with improvements in psychological; affective states. Hall, Yohalem, Talman & Wilson (2003) report after-school programs promote positive youth development, and the learning environment should engage, motivate, and inspire youth towards personal and academics goals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, all three theories have both positive and negative aspects. Educators and mental health workers may utilize one or a combination of theories to utilize with their students or clients. In addition, it is good to have so many thoughts of learning available because individuals learn differently, and what may work for one does not necessarily work for others. There is a lot of research that still needs to be done in the field of Educational Psychology.

References

Bandura, A. (1997) Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Chawla, L. & Cushing, D. F. (2007) Education for strategic environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 13, (4) 437- 452
Fashola, O.S. (1998) Review of extended day and after-school programs and their effectiveness. John Hopkins University, 24.
Fergusen, K. (2006) Self-esteem assessment of adolescents involved in horsemanship activities. University of Florida, Gainesville.
Hall, G., Yohalen, N., Tolman, J, & Wilson, A. (2003) How after-school programs can most effectively promote positive youth development as a support to academic achievement. National Institute on Out of School Time.
Kozulin, A. (1990) Vygotsky's psychology: A biography of ideas. Cambridge, MA: Howard University Press.
Larner, M. B., Zippiroi, L. & Behrman, R. E. (1999) When school is out: Analysis and recommendations. The future of Children 9, (2) 647-656
Ormrod, J. (2006) Educational psychology: Development learners (5th ed) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Patsula, P.J. (1999) Applying learning theories to online instructional design. Soakmying Women's University.
Pierce, K.M & Vandell, D.L (1999) Safe haven program evaluation. Madison: University of Wisconsin for Educational Research
Schlalter, B.M., Schahrer, S & Pogue, D. (2003) After-School recreation. Journal of Physical Education, 74(4)24.
Shernoff, D. J. & Vandell, D. L (2007) Engagement in after-school program activities: Quality of experience from the perspective of participants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36, (7) 891-903.
Vinluan, M.H. (2005) After-school programs alter lives of at risk youth. Parks and Recreation, 40, (8) 12-15.
Witt, P.A. & Baker, D.A. (1997) Developing after-school programs for youth in high risks environments. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, 68 (9) 18-20