Stages of Moral Development - Eddie Phillips

The Kohlberg video was quite interesting. Each participant (children and adults) viewed the behavior of the man as inappropriate, however what was interesting was what they expressed regarding his actions. Both of the youth felt the behavior was wrong and that the man should find a way to make money and return the meds. They had very straight forward reactions of right and wrong, without looking at the why or why-nots.

On the other hand the adults, had life experience that seemed to give reason to their responses.

The male adult participant was very matter of fact about the fact that the example male needed to find another resource and there was never an excuse for the course of action that he selected.

The 1st female participant was torn she believed that everything about the situation was wrong. The fact that he would steal for meds and the fact that he was put under the circumstances in the first place. However, she also believed that if he had exhausted all resources his actions were somewhat justified to save his wife's life.

Finally the 2nd female participant was somewhat a combination package. The behavior of the example participant was wrong and he should seek additional resources, however if all else fails then use force (ex: go the emergency room where treatment is forced).

Therefore, what I observed out of this clip is that very early on we are taught right and wrong and we tend to go by those taught behaviors on morals. However, as we develop, outside forces come into play which tend to alter how we justify our actions/decisions regarding right and wrong.

Eddie

Bobo Experiment - Eddie Phillips

What the Bandura video displays is that children often and do tend to model behavior that has been observed at some point. Affective learning involves teachers and facilitators attempting to alter the behavior of their students. Therefore, the video does fit into the concept of affective learning model because it looked at how small children's behaviors were modified based on observation.

My opinion is that children are like sponges and each time that we stand before them there is some form of learning that takes place. We want to be careful that the behavior we display is one that we want others to duplicate.

Final Exit Ticket - Eddie Phillips

At first when trying to provide a response to the question of defining my a-ha moment I thought, the entire class was often an a-ha moment. There were times when my fellow classmates either offered new information on a topic that was unfamiliar, times when they reinforced theories on current knowledge and definitely times when my classmates confirmed an unsure thought. Therefore, a-has were popping up each week we had discussions in the class.

However, I must admit that as I reviewed the Bandura video, my light bulb lit up! I realized that there is somewhat of a comparison of our class and the participants in the video. Observational learning occurs when observer's behavior changes based on an observed behavioral model. I once went to observe a Workforce Development class at one of the alternative schools and the facilitator was giving a class on communication where she explained to the students how communication can alter the recipients behavior. Each week during our class discussions I was able to take some of the professional insights that I am sure have and will continue to alter the decisions that I make as I work with the students with disabilities.

So, while there were serveral flickers of light during the class, I guess I would have to say that my true A-HA moment came at the very end of the class during reflection.

Eddie

Final Exit Ticket---John

In thinking back over the past 8 weeks I found it somewhat difficult to pinpoint one specific moment that I could call an A-Ha experience. This is not to say that each and every week was not a valuable learning experience because they most definitely were. Much of this learning came as a result of our lively calss discussions/debates. I think the most valuable and poignant moments in class were times when we had the opportunity to share stories from our own experience so that we could all share in the valuable lessons we have each learned over the years. Professor Evans, I think most of these A-ha moments came as a direct result of your years of experience and your willingness to share with us. One specific incident that I recall was from our second class (I think?) when you discussed the importance of being able to set aside you own personal beliefs to better help a student that needs your guidance. I think often in postions like this people are so used to "putting themselves into their work" that sometimes it may be hard for them to step out and put their feelings aside regardless of how strong these feelings are or how passionate they are. This professional distance is something that I think would be a valuable lesson for everyone. While it is impossible to not become involved emotionally in his kind of work, hearing a professional like yourself talk about setting feelings aside to best help a student was definitely an A-ha moment.

Final Exit Ticket~Danielle Dempsey

This course has been an amazing experience! Every week that our group met, I learned more and more. So first I would like to thank all of you! I am all about learning from my colleagues. Everyone has such diverse backgrounds and experiences and it is so enlightening and refreshing to hear different perspectives or to even be challenged on existing beliefs. I remember the first day of class, Prof. Evans asked us what it was that we wanted to get out of the course. I took away 2 things from this. 1) I feel that she was modeling for us how to accomodate our students, how to meet their needs, and how to run the class so that we got as much out of the course as we could academically and emotionally (2 for 1 approach anyone?) and 2) I remember saying that I wanted to be able to apply concepts from class to real-life experiences. Well I can honestly say that I have, at least I have been trying. And I will continue to try. Not only were we provided the opportunity to learn from each other, but we were also given tools and stratgies that we can use as future counselors to make the learning process a more enjoyable and "affective" experience.

So, my AHA moment had to be this:

*Smitty's courage and profound knowledge. I can tell that you truly love what you do. We need more counselors like you.

*Eddie's stories! I loved them! He helped me apply concepts from class in REAL situations and was not afraid to offer his opinions.

*Julie's energy, enthusiam, and postive attitude. You are an overall wonderful person and you provided me with the motivation week to week to stick with it even when it seemed impossible.

*Nneka's challenging views. Even though you may have fired us up last class, I appreciate your devil's advocate approach. Sometimes as counselors we forget to consider all aspects of a situation.

*Irma's passion for diversity, as well as individuality. You are true to yourself and your beliefs and I admire that.

*Marisela's insight. You are very intelligent and brought honest situations to the table.

*John's courage to engage in difficult conversations and be confident while doing it.

*Matt's sensitivity and encouragement. After having several conversations with you in and out of class, you have the ability to make a person feel validated. That is important!

*Prof. Evans's knowledge, professionalism, character, and ability to keep it real with us.

As I mentioned, I value what others can teach me. So that is why my AHA moment pertains to qualities that I perceived from all of you. Everyone of us has the qualities of a counselor, or else we wouldnt be here ( I hope!). I hope that I can take these qualities with me throughout my endeavors and hopefully I have inspired all of you as well! Take care!

BoBo Doll~Danielle Dempsey

After hearing about the BoBo Doll experiment for the past 7 years throughout undergrad and graduate school, it was interesting to finally be able to see the actual video of what occurred in the experiment. From what I know about the BoBo Doll experiment, Bandura's goal was to portray how modeling behaviors to children (in this case aggression) can have a significant impact on their emotional development as adults. This sort of modeling is apparent in everyday life. Two year olds may repeat curse words, teenagers claim it is ok for them to smoke or drink because their parents do it, etc. Basically, every move we make as adults/parents/educators may affect our children's behaviors. But let's face it, we aren't perfect! But we can still model positive behaviors and healthy choices to the best of our ability and hope that it makes a difference. That being said, there were several aspects of the experiment that I found noteworthy. Some things I have already mentioned in my responses to my classmates comments.

My first reaction as I watched the video was, "Is BoBo not supposed to be punched?" Here we have a big blow up bouncy toy that falls over and pops back up. I think it was made to be punched. I think I would have punched BoBo too even if I had not seen a video of aggressive adults and I have never experienced or been exposed to violence as a child. I understand that the children in this experiment took the aggression to another level, but I am curious what might have happened had the toy been different? I believe John made a similar point in his post. It's not like you can really do much else with the BoBo Doll. I am not trying to poke fun at this either, just offering an honest opinion. I do take this experiment very seriously because I can see the potential dangers of showing a video such as this to children, especially after seeing the level of violence they took it to. Which brings me to my next point...

As I watched the video of the woman "beating up" BoBo, I honestly did not feel that she did any significant damage to BoBo. The adult's level of violence compared to the children's was very different. The woman threw BoBo up in the air, tapped him, and swung him around. The children, on the other hand, resorted to weapons, and though I could not hear any, violent words. I wonder why the children took this level of aggression to the extreme? Some hypotheses? Perhaps they were trying to seem powerful. Maybe they were imitating a movie, cartoon, or TV show, or even what goes on in the home! Matt was the one who discussed how hostile homes may severely impact the child's behavior, particulary in school. A teacher friend of mine who is getting her Type 73 as well made the comment to me the other day that unfortunately teachers are trained to like or dislike students based strictly on their academic performance and not on what is really going on inside. I think this is true because I have witnessed students being criticized by educators without them taking the time to even get to understand or develop a relationship with the student. I understand that in a teacher's case it is 1 against a classroom of 20 or so, but I feel that everyone involved within the edcuational field should consider more than academic abilities. (Social emotional learning~remember! : )

This all being said, I appreciated everyone's diverse perspectives, as always. Though an experiment such as this may be considered unethical in today's world, I do not think the field of social science would be where it is now had it not been for "unethical" experiments. I am probably opening up a whole new can of worms, but without experiments such as BoBo, Milgram, and the Standford Prison Experiment, we may not be where we are today!

Ah Nneka Austin

There have been a lot of highlights throughout this course. The one thing that raised my eyebrow and made me understand that every person has a purpose was the, Who Should Survive, activity. I have done it before, but nobody ever defined the roles of the survivors. The first time I participated in the activity, I focused mainly on how people discriminate against the old, disable, and female who are sexually promiscuous. The importance of each character wasn’t explained until this course. I would have never thought a prostitute would serve a purpose on an isolated island. Although, I picked the prostitute to get on the boat, I thought her only purpose was to take care of her baby. Not realizing that she’s worth more than that. This exercise taught me an important lesson. Never judge a book by its cover, don’t judge the person before knowing all of their characteristics. This would benefit me as a teacher and counselor.