Social Learning Theories
Social Learning Perspectives
The term Social Learning Theory translates to different perspectives that can be broadly understood as behavioral approach that highlights the reciprocal interaction between environmental, behavioral and cognitive determinants. Such theories arose from Civil Rights movement and social reforms led by Lyndon Johnson during the 1960s. One example of many social learning theories is also named “Social Learning Theory” developed by Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura. The underlying principles in his theory pertains to vicarious learning phenomenon defined as the notion that people learn from observing others as compared to experiencing things themselves (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Furthermore, observing other people’s failures, success, styles and effort allow us to learn without a need to experiencing everything. It is regarded as one of the unique capabilities of humans in terms of learning while observing at the same time.
When political aspects of literacy education such as the manner of the school’s reinforcement of existing opportunities within education takes place, it would relate to another example of social learning perspective collectively known as “Critical Literacy Theory”. This theory encompasses the important principle of investigating the political factors affecting the empowerment of people to overcome adversities of oppression in order to achieve learning development. Sociolinguistics theory on the other hand emphasizes the place of language in society in establishing social relationships derived from reading, structured from a language commonly communicated within the discourse community. In addition, reading and writing is viewed by Anthropologists as an important cultural perspective that affects social practices. The theory is also based on the principle that meaning is constructed during the reading process as language constitutes meaning (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). Therefore, language is closely related to social and cultural indices of one’s learning and reading practices.
Sociolinguistic theory is also analogous to another social learning perspective called “Socio-Cultural Theory”. The only difference is the area of focus emphasized by each theory. Socio-cultural theory was based from the principles derived from concentric levels of influences that affect the child’s development (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). There are four spheres of influences that has a significant impact to the human development such as exosystem, macrosystem, mesosystem and microsystem. Primarily, the four level of influences are consists of the child’s immediate learning environment such as the home and classroom. Furthermore, the roles, activities, social settings and inter-personal relationships that the learner has a direct contact with also determine the level of learning the student could achieve.
All of the theories discussed herewith constitute different applications and implications on research and reading instruction. The theories can be generally applied to psychological disorder and aggression particularly in determining the context of behavior modification. Ultimately, the theoretical foundations can be used as a foundation in developing behavior modeling and techniques in training programs. The concepts of learning can be further improved by means of adapting the principles of social learning theories in classroom management that are central to administering literacy instruction. Reading educators may also use the fundamentals of the social learning perspectives in practices such as establishing literacy center inside the classrooms, paired reading, shared reading, cross-age reading, process writing, guided writing, morning meetings, literature circle and e-mail pals (Tracey & Morrow, 2012). For schools with diverse populations of student, the fundamental proponents of social learning theories create an adverse impact on the institution’s overall priorities for learning and teaching. Institutions are beginning to structure opportunities to increase involvement and interaction among student diversities in and out of the classroom. The theories emphasize the importance of students having diverse peers to improve the ability to engage in more complex thinking (Hurtado et al., 1999).
References
Hurtado, S. M., Jeffrey, C. P., & Walter, A. A. (1999). Enacting Diverse Learning Environments: Improving the Climate for Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Higher Education. ERIC Digest. Retrieved from ED430513.
Tracey, D. H., & Morrow, L. M. (2012). Chapter 6: Social Learning Perspectives. In Lenses on reading: An introduction to theories and models (2nd ed.). New York, USA: The Guilford Press.
