Ch. 10 Case Study - Elementary
Instructions: Read the following case study and then answer the questions that follow it on your blog. Your response should demonstrate critical thinking and thorough understanding of the subject matter, using proper terminology.
Case:
Today is Mindy's first day in Mr. Corbet's kindergarten class. Never before has she been in a room with so many other children her own age. She gets to sit at a blue table with two other girls and two boys. She has her very own chair, which is also blue; it even has her named taped on the back of it. Right now she is coloring a name tag that will be taped to her place at the table, and she is chattering along with the other children who are sitting at her table.
"Hmmm...I think I'll color the M in pink," Mindy says. "I like pink. It's my favorite color."
Tanya, who is sitting next to her, says, "I think this letter looks good. Oops, I colored outside the lines on the other one. Oh well...what should I color the rest of my letters?"
"This is so easy," Jonathan pipes in. "I did this stuff in preschool."
"I wonder if we're going to learn to read today," Grant muses.
The fifth member of the group, Tabitha, scans the room. "When did my mommy leave?" she cries. A bit unnerved, she runs across the room to seek comfort from Mr. Corbet.
Pressing a little too hard, Mindy breaks a green crayon as she begins to color the letter D on her name tag. She looks around to see if anyone else has seen what she did; unfortunately, Jonathan has observed the mishap. She walks over to Mr. Corbet so that she can tell him she broke his crayon, but he's preoccupied with Tabitha and so sends her back to her seat. Mindy hides the broken crayon in a box and resumes coloring her name tag.
Jonathan raises his hand straight up in the air. Mindy looks up to see what he is trying to touch, but there's nothing there.
As Mr. Corbet approaches the blue table, Jonathan puts his hand back down. "Well, Jonathan," Mr. Corbet says loudly enough to attract the attention of the entire class, "where did you learn to raise your hand?"
"At preschool," Jonathan replies. He points to Mindy. "That girl broke your crayon."
Mr. Corbet squats down between Mindy and Jonathan. He gently covers Jonathan's hand with his own and curls the boy's pointed finger inward. "It's not nice to point at others or to tattle on them." Jonathan frowns and pulls his hand out of his teacher's grasp.
"What's your new friend's name?" Mr. Corbet asks, looking at Mindy.
Jonathan shrugs. "I don't know know."
Mr. Corbet smiles at Mindy and asks, "Would you like to tell him your name?"
Mindy looks at Mr. Corbet, then whispers, "Mindy. I...I didn't mean to break your crayon."
"It's OK, Mindy," Mr. Corbet reassures her. "Sometimes that happens with crayons when we press on them too hard. I know you didn't mean to break anything. It's not a big deal. In fact, the more you practice using crayons, the less likely you will be to break them. So then...let's find out who else is sitting at the blue table with Mindy and Jonathan...."
After the children have finished coloring their name tags, Mr. Corbet announces, "It's time for recess." Mindy isn't sure what this recess thing is, but she can tell by her classmates' excitement that it must be something good.
Mr. Corbet continues, "I'm going to have you line up at the outside door one table at a time. Hmmm...I see that the children at the red table are waiting very nicely. So, Red Table, you may be the first ones to line up. Please walk--walk slowly and quietly--to the outside door."
Two members of the red table run to be first in line. Ignoring them, Mr. Corbet says "My, I like how Sam walks to the door. Did you see how he walked, class? It shows that he's definitely ready to be a kindergartner!"
Mr. Corbet next summons the yellow table. "Wow! Did you notice how everyone in the yellow group walked? I can tell that I have a smart class this year."
Mindy squirms in her seat until she hears her teacher call the blue table. When he does so, she makes a concerted effort to walk, not run, to join the line.
Once outside, Mindy stands near Mr. Corbet and watches the other children play on the playground equipment. She has finally concluded that recess must be a special place that has swings, monkey bars, tricycles, and other things to play on. A recess is like a park, she thinks, only smaller and without grass or trees. Unlike her kindergarten classroom, recess is a place where running is allowed. Mindy runs to play with Tanya, her new friend from the blue table.
While the class is outside, Mr. Corbet sometimes blows a loud whistle at particular students. Mindy realizes that the sound of the whistle must not be a good thing, because the children he whistles at have to stop what they're doing and talk with him, and they usually don't look too happy afterwards. Mindy wants to avoid the whistle at all costs, although she's not exactly sure how to go about doing that.
Mindy and Tanya spend most of their play time on the swings. At one point, a girl in a yellow dress pushes Tanya to the ground and then climbs on Tanya's swing as if nothing has happened. Tanya begins to cry, and Mindy looks around for Mr. Corbet. Seeing him close by, she raises her hand and waves it to get his attention.
As Mr. Corbet approaches the girls, Mindy starts to point at the girl in the yellow dress but then immediately closes her fist tight. She nods her head toward the guilty child. "See that girl in the yellow dress?" she asks her teacher. "Well, she pushed Tanya off the swings."
Questions:
1. The strategies that Mr. Corbet uses to teach his students appropriate school behavior are most consistent with which two theories/theorists that we have learned about so far this semester? Justify your response. Mr. Corbet is using Lawrence Kohlbergs theory of Moral Reasoning and the behaviorist theory. The theory of moral reasoning is being used when Mr. Corbet talks with Jonathon about tattling on Mindy and then encourages him to acknowledge Mindy as his friend. Mr. Corbet also uses the behaviorist theory by using cueing inappropriate behaviors such as using the whistle at recess. He also exhibits a behaviorist approach by reinforcing desired behaviors. Such as complimented Sam on his ability to walk nicely to get in line for recess.


2. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious reinforcement. Explain your reasoning.When Mr. Corbet reinforces Sam's good behavior of lining up properly and tells the class that Sam is ready to be a kindergartner. And then the next table that lines up for recess

also goes quietly and calmly, Mr. Corbet comments how well they have done. The fact that the table that followed Sam's table did well lining up for recess exhibits vicarious reinforcement. Sam was recognized for his behavior and because of the recognition the next table lining up for recess did a good job so that they could get recognized.






3. Describe one incident in the case study that represents vicarious punishment. Explain your reasoning. An incident that represented vicarious punishment was Jonathon being scolded by Mr. Corbet for tattling on Mindy for breaking her crayon. Because of this, when Mindy witnesses Tanya being pushed off the swing by another girl she raises her hand to tell Mr. Corbet. But when Mr. Corbet approaches Mindy, she withdraws her arm, so that she will not get punished for tattling. This response exhibits vicarious punishment, a decrease in frequency when another person is observed being punished for the same act.








4. Do you think Mindy has low or high self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior? Justify your response with examples from the case.I believe that Mindy has low self-efficacy with regard to appropriate kindergarten behavior. Her inability to understand exactly what the whistle means when it is blown by Mr. Corbet. She understands it is not a good thing, but she is not sure of how to avoid getting it blown at her. Also, when she wants to tell Mr. Corbet about the girl who pushed Tanya off the swing she is not sure how to approach telling Mr. Corbet the problem without it being considered tattling.






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