Prompt: Based on your reading, would you consider your current instruction style more behavioralist, cognitivist, or constructivist? Elaborate with your specific mindset and examples.

While reading the article on behaviourism, cognitivism and constructivism, I started thinking about my own learning and teaching style. Coming from a teacher-centered (lecture and/or coach style) educational background, I had to learn about and through student-centered activities while completing my upgrade which was a new experience for me. I saw how both teaching styles, individually or blended together could be effective in teaching students; however, it also highly depends on the type of learners. 

I love learning languages and since in high school I was taught Latin with a coach style, I was sure that I will teach my students the same way one day since that worked for me. When I started my career as a Spanish teacher, I was torn by the different teaching styles not only because of my bias about how I learned but also because of the diverse needs of my students. I was taught mostly from a textbook; therefore I thought that that’s the most efficient way. When it came to assessment, it seemed that the strategies I used were efficient for some of the students (not many) but not for the rest so little learning was happening. I came across a language teaching method called TPRS and I decided to give it a try with my students, after I heard about the success other teachers had with it. While it was a rough start, like with every new thing you do, my student had immediate success and it also took away the pressure of focusing on covering the most content. This was especially true with my beginner Spanish classes where the focus is on high repetition and high frequency words which will prepare students for higher level, authentic resources. I agree with the article where “Jonassen agrees that introductory knowledge acquisition is better supported by more objectivistic approaches (behavioral and/or cognitive)”;however, advanced classes will benefit from the constructive learning environment where teaching in context and with authentic resources happen. 

As a result of reflecting on my teaching and learning experiences, I think teachers should think about teaching as art and be able to use teaching styles and strategies that are most efficient for the diverse learning styles of their students.

Ertmer, P. A., & Newby, T. J. (2013). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26(2), 43-71.