It focuses on the behaviours, skills and self-regulations of students. For example completing homework and assignments or inappropriate and undesirable actions. Behavioural learning theory was developed throughout the twentieth century, to help manage behaviour in classrooms and teaching in ways students will remember and understand. There are many behaviour theories such as classical conditioning, operant learning and law of effect. Early behavioural theorist believed that processes of learning occur through contiguity. The theory of Contiguity is “psychological theory of learning which emphasizes that the only condition necessary for the association of stimuli and responses is that there be a close temporal relationship between them” (Theory of Contiguity (2013), The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). For example when the bell goes at lunch time students automatically start to pack up because they have learnt it means class is over. The best-known contiguity theory is Classical Conditioning developed by Ivan Pavlov. This is “kind of learning that occurs when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus” Shettleworth, S. J. (2010) Cognition, Evolution and Behaviour (2nd Ed), New York: Oxford. For example conditioned stimulus may be taste of food when the unconditioned response could be the salivation after it. For example John B. …show more content…
“Teachers provide attunement, relatedness, supportiveness and gentle discipline, but a student’s cultural background will affect how successful these aspects of a relationship will be” (O’Donlled (2012) Educational Psychology). Students relationship with sometimes are dependant on the culture of the student. Australia being a multicultural country it is important for teachers to understand the influence of culture in the classroom and how it can affect students. Multicultural Education is defined as “encompasses many dimensions of human difference besides culture, such as race, occupation, socioecomic status, age, gender, sexual orientation and various physical needs and traits” (Patty Ramsey, 1987). It is relevant to all children, even those who live in homogeneous areas. In Australia cultural groups tend to be higher in some areas instead of others for example asylum seekers are populated in more areas in western Sydney than the CBD. It is important for teachers to over come stereotypes and disregarding myths that exist in society about student’s cultural behaviours. Multicultural curriculum should be put in place to help students learning as well as multicultural examples to help other students understands each others