Bhaviorist Learning Theory

I have studied the Behaviorist Learning theory throughout my Art education course work, but have never tried to apply the knowledge, to the art classroom. I have always felt that art was primarily based on application and hands-on experience not the practice of the knowledge behind the methods.

After reviewing my peers lesson plans I can see that the Behaviorist theory is necessary in many content areas, things like the 'drill and skill' method is a must when it comes to math. I have never before thought about how much repetition, memorization and application was involved in math. After this realization and creating an art lesson plan, I found that there is a place for the behaviorist theory in the art classroom and I have been using it in one way or another all along.

By having students view works or videos of famous artist, time periods or even processes and then having them create works inspired by those methods, I am implementing the behaviorist theory. Yes, it is a more hands-on approach to the theory but none the less the students gain knowledge and repeatedly apply it, which is much like the 'drill and skill' method used in math.

The behaviorist theory is harder to see in the art classroom, but I now believe that it is being applied rather we realize it or not.

First test blog