March 8, 2018

7:47 p.m.

Chapter 6: Social Modeling

Just as Bandura’s theory on social modeling applied to behaviorism and social learning, it
equally applies to moral development and moral behavior. Bandura argued that children are
always watching and modeling the behaviors of their peers and the adults around them,
particularly of the actions that are praised by others. When a parent or respected peer
demonstrates strong moral behavior, the child is likely to mimic this behavior, especially if the
individual acting as the model is rewarded or praised afterwards. Also, the child acting as the
model will be more likely to repeat this positive behavior because of the praise they had received
(Audley-Piotrowski, 2017).

Looking back on my childhood, I didn’t have an older sister, but my best friend’s older
sister was most definitely my role model. If I saw her working on her homework, I would work
on mine. If she got in trouble for something, I would make sure I didn’t do whatever she had
gotten in trouble for. This is the most frequent example of social modeling throughout my
childhood, and it continued even into my adolescence.

In my future classroom, I plan to act as a positive moral role model for my students. I will
also praise students who act morally, especially students who are well-liked by their peers, so
that other students will follow suit and act responsibly as well. By using these techniques to
develop strong moral behavior among the students within my classroom, I hope that these
behaviors will be carried on throughout their lives.