Q#1

Q. 1 Discuss Kohlberg ad Piaget position on moral development from Heteronomy to

Autonomy. Support your answer with references.
Answer:
Morality/Moral Development
Are you nervous to tackle the subject of morality? Don't worry, it's all right. Or is it all
wrong? Wait, is it right or wrong? I don't know anymore! How do we tell? Okay, maybe this
isn't going to be so simple.
Morality, at its most basic, is the distinction between right and wrong, and while this sounds
simple, it's actually very complex. Different people in different societies have morals, so how
do we start sorting them out? Well, luckily for us, there are already a few perspectives where
we can start.
Autonomy
Where do we look for morals? What is the most basic unit of morality? Well, look no further.
I mean, it's not me; that's not what I'm saying. Actually, just the opposite. It's you. In the
perspective of autonomy, the individual self is the basis of morality. In this theory, it all
comes down to the choice of the individual.
What is truly moral and what is not? Even more importantly, what does that morality mean?
Society can tell you that something is right or wrong, but at the end of the day, it's a personal
choice to accept that or to reject it.
For example, the law says don't steal. Okay, there's a moral standard, but you have to decide
not to steal. This means that the most fundamental aspect of morality is the action of the
individual person. What this also means, however, is that people are responsible for their own
actions. When you act, you judge what is right and wrong for yourself, and if you choose to
do something that is outside our society's expectations, you are personally responsible for
having made that choice.

Heteronomy
So, autonomy looks to the individual self for morality. But this is a question of philosophy, so
naturally, there are multiple sides to this. The opposite of autonomy is heteronomy, morals
defined by a force outside of the individual. This means that you do not define morality; it is
defined for you.
Let's see an example. The law says don't steal. If you don't steal because you believe it's
wrong, that's autonomy at work. But if the only reason you don't steal is because you're afraid
of being caught, that's an external force pressuring you, or heteronomy. Now, that's
admittedly not a perfect example, because autonomous societies do have laws, as long as
people are aware that the laws are created, not universal, and they have a say in what those
laws are.
The laws that govern heteronymous societies are more...out there - beyond the ability of
society to control. Things like the ancestors, tradition, and national identity. These are
heteronomous forces and are seen by some as immoral because they do not respect individual
choice. Others see them as necessary so that moral systems feel permanent, which prevents
people from disobeying them.
Piaget's Theory of Moral Development
Moral development refers to the process through which children develop the standards of
right and wrong within their society, based on social and cultural norms, and laws.
Lawrence Kohlberg describes moral development as a process of discovering universal moral
principles, and is based on a child's intellectual development.
Piaget conceptualizes moral development as a constructivist process, whereby the interplay of
action and thought builds moral concepts.
Piaget (1932) was principally interested not in what children do (i.e., in whether they break
rules or not) but in what they think. In other words he was interested in children’s moral
reasoning.
Piaget was interested in three main aspects of children’s understanding of moral issues. They
were
Children’s understanding of rules. 
• Where do rules come from?
• Can rules be changed?
• Who makes rules?
Children’s understanding of moral responsibility. 
• Who is to blame for “bad” things?
• Is it the outcome of behavior that makes an action “bad”?
• Is there a difference between accidental and deliberate wrongdoing?
Children’s understanding of justice. 
• Should the punishment fit the crime?
• Are the guilty always punished?
Piaget found that children’s ideas regarding rules, moral judgements and punishment tended
to change as they got older. In other words just as there were stages to children’s cognitive
development so there were also universal stages to their moral development.
Piaget (1932) suggested two main types of moral thinking:
 Heteronomous morality (moral realism)
 Autonomous morality (moral relativism)
Heteronomous Morality (5-9 yrs)
The stage of heteronomous morality is also known as moral realism – morality imposed
from the outside. Children regard morality as obeying other people's rules and laws, which
cannot be changed.
They accept that all rules are made by some authority figure (e.g. parents, teacher, God), and
that breaking the rules will lead to immediate and severe punishment (immanent justice).
The function of any punishment is to make the guilty suffer in that the severity of the
punishment should be related to severity of wrong-doing (expiatory punishment).
During this stage children consider rules as being absolute and unchanging, i.e. 'divine like'.
They think that rules cannot be changed and have always been the same as they are now.
behavior is judged as “bad” in terms of the observable consequences, regardless on the
intentions or reasons for that behavior. Therefore, a large amount of accidental damage is
viewed as worse than a small amount of deliberate damage.
Research Findings
Piaget (1932) told the children stories that embodied a moral theme and then asked for their
opinion. Here are two examples:
There was once a little girl who was called Marie. She wanted to give her mother a nice
surprise and cut out a piece of sewing for her. But she didn’t know how to use the scissors
properly and cut a big hole in her dress, and A little girl called Margaret went and took her
mother’s scissors one day when her mother was out. She played with them for a bit. Then, as
she didn’t know how to use them properly, she made a little hole in her dress.
The child is then asked, “Who is naughtier?”
Typically younger children (pre-operational and early concrete operational i.e. up to age 9-
10) say that Marie is the naughtier child.
Although they recognise the distinction between a well-intentioned act that turns out badly
and a careless, thoughtless or malicious act they tend to judge naughtiness in terms of the
severity of the consequence rather than in terms of motives. This is what Piaget means
by moral realism.
Piaget was also interested in what children understand by a lie. Here he found that the
seriousness of a lie is measured by younger children in terms of the size of the departure from
the truth.
So a child who said he saw a dog the size of an elephant would be judged to have told a
worse lie than a child who said he saw a dog the size of a horse even though the first child is
less likely to be believed.
With regard to punishment Piaget also found that young children also had a characteristic
view. Firstly they saw the function of punishment as make the guilty suffer. Paint called this
retributive justice (or expiatory punishment) because punishment is seen as an act of
retribution or revenge.
If you like young children have a very Old Testament view of punishment (“an eye for an
eye”). Punishment is seen as a deterrent to further wrongdoing and the stricter it is the more
effective they imagine it will be.
They also believe in what Piaget called immanent justice (that punishment should
automatically follow bad behavior). For example one story he told was of two children who
robbed the local farmer’s orchard (today we might take the example of children who robbed
cars).
The farmer saw the children and tried to catch them. One was caught and the farmer gave him
a thrashing. The other, who could run faster, got away. However on the way home this child
had to cross the stream on a very slippery log. This child fell off the log and cut his leg badly.
Now when you ask younger children why the boy cut his leg they don’t say, “because the log
was slippery,” they say, “because he stole from the farmer”. In other words young children
interpret misfortune as if it were some kind of punishment from God of from some kind of
superiour force.
For young children justice is seen as in the nature of things. The guilty in their view are
always punished (in the long run) and the natural world is like a policeman.
Piaget (1932) described the morality described above as heteronomous morality. This means
a morality that is formed out of being subject to another’s rules.
Of course for young children these are the rules that adults impose upon them. It is thus a
morality that comes from unilateral respect. That is to say the respect children owe to their
parents, teachers and others.
However as children get older the circumstances of their lives change and their whole attitude
to moral questions undergoes a radical change. An example of this is is how children respond
to a question about the wrongdoing of a member of their peer group.
Young children typically “tell” on others. They believe their primary obligation is to tell the
truth to an adult when asked to do so. Older children typically believe that their first loyalty is
to their friends and you don’t “grass” on your mates. This would be one example of the two
moralities of the child.
Autonomous Morality (9-10 yrs)
The stage of autonomous morality is also known as moral relativism – morality based on
your own rules. Children recognize there is no absolute right or wrong and that morality
depends on intentions not consequences.
Piaget believed that around the age of 9-10 children’s understanding of moral issues
underwent a fundamental reorganisation. By now they are beginning to overcome
the egocentrism of middle childhood and have developed the ability to see moral rules from
other people’s point of view.
A child who can decentre to take other people’s intentions and circumstances into account
can move to making the more independent moral judgements of the second stage. As a result
children’s ideas on the nature of rules themselves, on moral responsibility and on punishment
and justice all change and their thinking becomes more like that of adults.
Children now understand that rules do not come from some mystical “divine-like” source.
People make rules and people can change them – they are not inscribed on tablets of stone.
With regard to the “rules of the game” older children recognise that rules are needed to
prevent quarrelling and to ensure fair play.
Indeed sometimes they even become quite fascinated with the whole issue and will for
example discuss the rules of board games (like chess, Monopoly, cards) or sport (the off-side
rule) with all the interest of a lawyer. They also recognise that rules can be changed if
circumstances dictate (e.g. “You’ve got one player less so we will give you a three goal
start”) and if everybody agrees.
With regard to issues of blame and moral responsibility older children don’t just take the
consequences into account they also consider motives. Children begin to realize that if they
behave in ways that appear to be wrong, but have good intentions, they are not necessarily
going to be punished. Thus for them a well-intentioned act that turned out badly is less
blameworthy than a malicious act that did no harm.
So in the previous research study children of 10 and over typically consider Margaret the
naughtier child. Although Marie made a much bigger hole in her dress she was motivated by
the desire to please her mother whereas Margaret may have caused less damage but did not
act out of noble intentions.
It all goes to show, in Piaget’s opinion, that children are now able to appreciate the
significance of subjective facts and of internal responsibility.
Children’s views on lying also change. The seriousness of a lie is judged in terms of betrayal
of trust. They now recognise that all lies are not the same and, for example, you might tell a
“white lie” in order to spare someone’s feelings.
They also recognise that if someone says something that they know not to be the case this
doesn’t necessarily mean the other person is telling a lie. It could be that they made a mistake
or that this is a difference of opinion. Overall lying is now considered wrong not because you
get punished for it by adults (the younger children’s view) but because it is a betrayal of trust
and undermines friendship and co-operation.
With regard to punishment the emphasis now moves from retribution to restitution. It’s
purpose is not primarily to make the guilty suffer but to put things right again.
In other words punishment should be aimed at helping the offender understand the harm (s)he
has caused so that (s)he will not be motivated to repeat the offence and, wherever possible,
punishment should fit the crime – say for example when a vandal is required to make good
the damage (s)he has caused.
Older children also recognise that justice in real life is an imperfect system. Sometimes the
guilty get away with their crimes and sometimes the innocent suffer unfairly. For younger
children collective punishment is seen as acceptable.
For example they would not disagree with a whole class being punished for the misdeeds of a
single child. For the older children it is always considered wrong to punish the innocent for
the misdeeds of the guilty.
Overall Piaget describes the morality of the older child as an autonomous morality i.e. a
morality that is subject to its own laws. The change is partly seen as a result of the child’s
general cognitive development partly due to declining egocentrism and partly to the growing
importance of the peer group.
The reference group for children’s moral beliefs is increasingly focused on other children and
disputes between equals need to be negotiated and compromises made. In place of the
unilateral respect the younger children owed to their parents an attitude of mutual respect
governs relations between peers.
Lawrence Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development and
Education
The American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg modified and elaborated Piaget's work and
determined that the process of attaining moral maturity took longer and was more gradual
than Piaget had proposed. On the basis of his research, Kohlberg identified six stages of
moral reasoning grouped into three major levels. At the first, preconventional level, a
person's moral judgments are characterized by a concrete, individual perspective. Within this
level, a Stage 1 heteronomous orientation focuses on avoiding breaking rules that are backed
by punishment, obedience for its own sake, and avoiding the physical consequences of an
action. At Stage 2 a moral orientation emerges that focuses on the instrumental, pragmatic
values of actions. Reciprocity is of the form: "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."
Individuals at the second, conventional, level reason about moral situations with an
understanding that norms and conventions are necessary to uphold society. Within this level,
individuals at Stage 3 define what is right in terms of what is expected by people close to
them and in terms of the stereo-typic roles that define being good–for example, a good
brother, mother, teacher. Stage 4 marks the shift from defining what is right in terms of local
norms and role expectations to defining right in terms of the laws and norms established by
the larger social system. This is the "member of society" perspective in which one is moral by
fulfilling the actual duties defining one's social responsibilities.
Finally, the postconventional level is characterized by reasoning based on principles, using a
"prior to society" perspective. These individuals reason on the basis of principles that
underlie rules and norms. While two stages have been presented within the theory, only one,
Stage 5, has received substantial empirical support. Stage 6 remains a theoretical endpoint
that rationally follows from the preceding five stages. In essence this last level of moral
judgment entails reasoning rooted in the ethical fairness principles from which moral laws
would be devised. Laws are evaluated in terms of their coherence with basic principles of
fairness rather than upheld simply on the basis of their place within an existing social order.
Kohlberg used findings from his research to reject traditional character education practices
that are premised in the idea that virtues and vices are the basis to moral behavior, or that
moral character is comprised of a "bag of virtues," such as honesty, kindness, patience, and
strength. Kohlberg believed a better approach to affecting moral behavior would focus on
stages of moral development. Initial educational efforts employing Kohlberg's theory sought
to engage students in classroom discussions of moral dilemmas that would lead to an
awareness of contradictions inherent in students' present level of moral reasoning and to
shifts toward the next stage of moral judgment. Kohlberg and his colleagues eventually
developed the "just community" schools approach toward promoting moral development,
described in the 1989 book Lawrence Kohlberg's Approach to Moral Education. These
schools seek to enhance moral development by offering students the chance to participate in
community discussions to arrive at consensual resolutions of the actual moral problems and
issues students face as members of the school community.
Q#2
Q. 2 How do the different studies suggest that heredity plays an important part in explaining
individual differences. Support your answer with examples.
Answer:

Role of Heredity and Environment in Individual Differences

No man is created equal. He differs from one to another is various aspects

Heredity and Environment

Some events in life, such as achieving sexual maturity, are mostly governed by heredity.
Others, such as learning to swim or use a computer, are primarily a matter of environment.
But which is more important, heredity or environment? Let’s consider some evidence on both
sides of the nature-nurture debate.
Heredity

Heredity (“nature”) refers to genetically passing characteristics from parents to children. An

incredible number of personal features are set at conception, when a sperm and an ovum
(egg) unite.

Genes are small areas of DNA that affect a particular process or personal characteristic.
Sometimes, a single gene is responsible for an inherited feature, such as eye color. Most
characteristics, however, are polygenic (pol-ih-JEN-ik), or controlled by many genes
working in combination. Genes may be dominant or recessive. When a gene is dominant, the
feature it controls will appear every time the gene is present. When a gene is recessive, it
must be paired with a second recessive gene before its effect will be expressed.
Various areas where heredity has an influences in creating individual differences are-

1.   Human growth sequence- 

Its the  overall pattern of physical development. To a degree, genetic instructions affect body
size and shape, height, intelligence, athletic potential, personality traits, sexual orientation,
and a host of other details.  Heredity determines eye color, skin color, and susceptibility to
some diseases.

2.   Temperament-     
Difference in temperament is evident even in newborns. This is the physical core of
personality. It includes sensitivity, irritability, distractibility, and typical mood. About 40
percent of all newborns are easy children, who are relaxed and agreeable. Ten percent
are difficult children, who are moody, intense, and easily angered. Slow-to warm-up
children  (about 15 percent) are restrained, unexpressive, or shy. The remaining children do
not fit neatly into a single category
3.   Intelligence-
The closer two people are on a family tree, the more alike their IQs are likely to be.
4.   Personality-

   
 Twins and Traits indicate that personality is hugely influenced by heridity. For two decades,
psychologists at the University of Minnesota have been studying identical twins who grew up
in different homes. Medical and psychological tests reveal that reunited twins are very much
alike, even when they are reared apart. Typically, they are astonishingly similar in
appearance, voice quality, facial gestures, hand movements, and nervous tics, such as nail
biting. Separated twins also tend to have similar talents. If one twin excels at art, music,
dance, drama, or athletics, the other is likely to as well— despite wide differences in
childhood environment.

Environment
Environment (“nurture”) refers to the sum of all external conditions that affect a person. The
environments in which a child grows up can have a powerful impact on development.
Humans today are genetically very similar to cave dwellers who lived 30,000 years ago.
Nevertheless, a bright baby born today could learn to become almost anything—a ballet
dancer, an engineer, a gangsta rapper, or a biochemist. But a baby born 30,000 years ago
could have only become a hunter or food gatherer. In short, environmental forces guide
human development, for better or worse, throughout life.

1.   Sensitive Periods
These are times when children are more susceptible to particular types of environmental
influences. Events that occur during a sensitive period can permanently alter the course of
development. Certain events must occur during a sensitive period for a person to develop
normally. For example, forming a loving bond with a caregiver early in life seems to be
crucial for optimal development. Likewise, babies who don’t hear normal speech during their
first year may have impaired language abilities 
2.   Prenatal Influences
The impact of nurture actually starts before birth. Although the intrauterine environment
(interior of the womb) is highly protected, environmental conditions can affect the
developing child. For example Teratogens- Anything capable of causing birth defects is
called a teratogen. Sometimes women are exposed to powerful teratogens, such as radiation,
lead, pesticides etc can cause mental retardation in children.
3.   Intelligence-

 Strong evidence for an environmental view of intelligence comes from families

having one adopted child and one biological child. Such children have shown
strikingly similar IQ levels.
 Children adopted by parents of high or low socio-economic status- As you might
predict, children who grow up in high-status homes develop higher IQs than those
reared by lower-status parents. In one study, striking increases in IQ occurred in 25
children who were moved from an orphanage and were eventually adopted by parents
who gave them love, a family, and a stimulating home environment. Once considered
mentally retarded and unadoptable, the children gained an average of 29 IQ points. A
second group of initially less “retarded” children, who stayed in the
orphanage, lost an average of 26 IQ
 A particularly dramatic environmental effect is the Flynn effect, the fact that 14
nations have shown average IQ gains of from 5 to 25 points during the last 30 years
(Dickens & Flynn, 2001; Flynn, 1990). These IQ boosts, averaging 15 points,
occurred in far too short a time for genetics to explain them. It is more likely that the
gains reflect environmental forces, such as improved education, nutrition, and living
in a technologically complex society

Nature-Nurture Interactions
The outcome of the nature-nurture debate is clear: Heredity and environment are both
important. Heredity gives us a variety of potentials and limitations. These, in turn, are
affected by environmental influences, such as learning, nutrition, disease, and culture. Thus,
the person you are today reflects a constant interaction, between the forces of nature and
nurture.
1.   Reciprocal Influences
Because of differences in temperament, some babies are more likely than others to smile, cry,
vocalize, reach out, or pay attention. As a result, babies rapidly become active participants in
their own development. Growing infants alter their parents’ behavior at the same time they
are changed by it. The reverse also occurs: Difficult children make parents unhappy and elicit
more negative parenting (Parke, 2004).
Twin Studies indicate that the IQ scores of fraternal twins are more alike than those of
ordinary brothers and sisters. identical twins, who develop from a single egg and have
identical genes and grow up in the same family have highly correlated IQs. This is what we
would expect with identical heredity and very similar environments.
Educational Implications of Heredity and Environment:
The knowledge of heredity and environment has a great influence on human development.
Human development is the product of both heredity and environment. The development
pattern of the children is determined by both heredity and environment.
As per the developmental pattern of the children the educational pattern, methods and
learning environment should be made by the teacher in the teaching-learning situation. So the
knowledge of heredity and environment helps the teacher in various ways which are
discussed hereunder.
 Knowledge of heredity and environment helps the teacher to know the varying needs
and abilities of the children.
 It helps to provide proper guidance to his children in the field of educational,
vocational and personal.
 It helps the teacher to classify the students as gifted, normal or slow learner and
arrange different types of education for them.
 It helps the teacher to provide better learning environment in the school.
 It helps the teacher to know the principle of individual differences and arrange the
educational experience accordingly.
 It helps the teacher to study the behaviour of the children under different situations.
  It helps the teacher to organize various curricular and co- curricular programmes for
the best benefit of the children.
So the knowledge of both heredity and environment is of utmost value to the teachers,
administrators and educational planners. If it is realized, the system of education will be
changed to a great extend.

Q#3
Q. 3 How can a teacher hearing impaired children can apply principles of operant
conditioning theory to encourage desirable behaviour in his/her classroom?
Support your discussion with examples.
Answer:

How To Use Operant conditioning in your classroom of Hearing

Impaired
Discipline is important for a child's success and development - most teaching staff would
vouch for that. It's easy to think that discipline is always a form of punishment, but in truth,
this doesn't have to be the case. Operant conditioning encourages positive reinforcement,
which can be applied in the classroom environment to get the good behavior you want - and
need - from your pupils.
Skinner's theory of operant conditioning uses both positive and negative reinforcements to
encourage good and wanted behavior whilst deterring bad and unwanted behavior.
Psychologists have observed that we every action has a consequence, and if this is good, the
person is more likely to do it again in the future. However, if the consequence isn't so great, it
is likely the individual will avoid doing it in a similar situation next time round. It is through
this process that we develop our behaviors and begin to understand what is appropriate and
useful, and what isn't.
Used in a variety of situations, operant conditioning has been found to be particularly
effective in the classroom environment. One of the main ways of reinforcing a behavior is
through praise, as the following example illustrates.
During 'listening time' on the carpet, pupils are required to remain quiet and put their hand up
when they want to make a vocal contribution to the class. When a child manages to sit and
behave in the exemplary way, the teacher may say, 'Great effort, Jamie' or, 'Well done,
Louise - just like I asked'. Undoubtedly, the student will feel pleased with themselves after
getting such a positive response. The feeling of pride and self-satisfaction is one they are
going to want to emulate in the future, and so they are likely to behave well during 'listening
time' from here onwards.
Simple though it may be, the teacher has now managed to educate the pupil on the type of
behavior she expects, and through positive reinforcement, the child will probably feel
determined to impress next time round - a positive outcome for both parties: the teacher, and
the child.
Rewards may be used occasionally for a similar effect, but shouldn't be overused, as it is
important to prevent the child from developing a dependency. If they become too adjusted to
getting sweets, for example, they may eventually struggle to act in the same way without
being presented with such a treat.
By building operant conditioning techniques into lesson plans, it is easily possible to teach
children useful skills - as well as good behaviors. By using symbols like smiley faces, 'Good
Work' stamps, stickers, and even simple ticks when a child does something correctly, you are
encouraging them to repeat such satisfying work again further down the line.
You could even use this type of reinforcement when teaching a student something totally
new, like how to spell a particular word. When they do it correctly, you can administer praise
to ingrain the message that they've done it right. By doing the opposite when they don't get it
exactly correct, you can tempt them away from doing it this way in the future. In effect, the
process is all about nurturing the student and aiding them in their development. With a good
attitude and positive approach, it really can be done.
Operant:
Skinner considers an operant as a set of acts which constitutes an organism’s doing
something e.g., raising its head, walking about, pushing a lever etc.
Defining Operant Conditioning:
Operant conditioning refers to a kind of learning process whereby a response is made more
probable or more frequent by reinforcement. It helps in the learning of operant behaviour, the
behaviour that is not necessarily associated with a known stimuli.
Skinner’s Experiment:
B.F.Skinner conducted a series of experiments with animals. For conducting the experiments
with rats, he designed a special apparatus known as Skinner’s box. It was a much modified
form of the puzzle box used by thorndike for his experiments with cats. To begin with,
Skinner, in one of his experiments, placed a hungry rat in the above described box. In this
experiment pressing of the bar in a desirable way by the rat could result in the production of a
click sound and presence of a food pallet.
For doing experiments with pigeons, Skinner made use of another specific apparatus called
“Pigeon Box”. A Pigeon in this experiment had a peck at a lighted plastic key mounted on the
wall at head height and was consequently rewarded by receiving grain.
 
With the help of such experiments, Skinner put forward his theory of operant conditioning for
learning not only the simple responses like pressing of the lever but also for learning the most
difficult and complex series of responses.
Reinforcer and Reinforcement:
The concept of reinforcement is identical to the presentation of a rewards. A reinforcer is the
stimulus whose presentation or removal increases the probability of a response re-occurring
using.

According to Skinner there are two styles of reinforcer — Positive

and Negative:
(i) Positive Reinforce:
A positive reinforce is any stimulus the introduction or presentation of which increases the
likelihood of a particular behaviour. Food, water, sexual contact, etc. are classified as positive
reinforcer.
(ii) Negative Reinfrocer:
A negative reinforcer is any stimulus the removal or with-drawl of which increases the
likelihood of a particular behaviour. Electric shock, a loud noise etc. are said to be negative
reinforcers.
The Schedules of Reinforcement:
The important schedules of reinforcement are as follows:
1. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule
2. Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule
3. Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule
4. Variable Reinforcement Schedule.

Educational Implications or Significance of Operant

Conditioning:
1. Successive approximation:
The theory suggests the great potentiality of the shaping procedure for behaviour
modification. Operant conditioning can be used for shaping behaviour of children by
appropriate use of reinforcement or rewards. Behaviour can be shaped through successive
approximation in terms of small steps.
Successive approximation is a process which means that complicated behaviour patterns are
learned gradually through successive steps which are rewarding for the learner. Every
successful step of the child must be rewarded by the teacher.
2. Eliminating negative behaviour through extinction:
When a learned response is repeated without reinforcement, the strength of the tendency to
perform that response undergoes a progressive decrease. Extinction procedures can be
successfully used by the class-room teacher in eliminating negative behaviour of students.
3. Reinforcement:
Operant conditioning has valuable implications for reinforcement techniques in the class-
room. The schools can use the principles of operant conditioning to eliminate the element of
fear from school atmosphere by using positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is
perhaps the most widely used behavioural technique in the school setting.
This technique simply involves providing a reward for positive behaviour. The reward can be
a high grade, a pen, a smile, a verbal compliment. The principle underlying positive
reinforcement is that the tendency to repeat a response to a given stimulus will be
strengthened as the response is positively rewarded.
Some educators believe that whenever a child is systematically punished for certain negative
behaviour that behaviour tends to decrease in strength.

The effectiveness of punishment as a reinforcement technique

depends upon the following variables:
(i) Timing of punishment:
To be effective, punishment should be administered immediately after the inappropriate
behaviour.
(ii) Consistency of punishment:
If a child is punished sometimes for a certain behaviour but not punished at other times, then
the punishment is less effective than if it is consistently administered.
(iii) Intensity of punishment:
Punishment may range from a disapproving look to corporal punishment, to severe electrical
shocks. But very aversive stimuli produce more permanent changes than mildly aversive
stimuli and that intense punishment is effective. But corporal punishment which is an intense
aversive stimulus should be avoided and instead some other strong aversive punishing stimuli
should be found.
(iv) Adaptation to punishment:
If the child is continually subjected to punishment, he loses the ability to distinguish between
aversive and non- aversive situations, between which behaviours are acceptable and which
are not acceptable.
(v) Alternatives to the goal:
If a child is punished for a behaviour that has no alternatives, serious, psychoneurotic side
effects can be produced. By providing alternatives a teacher also facilitates the child’s
discrimination between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.

4. Behaviour modification:
Shaping may be used as a successful technique for making individual learn difficult and
complex behaviour. Operant conditioning technique also implies the use of behaviour
modification programmes to shape desirable behaviour and to eliminate undesirable
behaviour.
The basic principle of operant conditioning is that an individual learns to make desired
responses because he is somehow rewarded for doing so, as that he learns to avoid undesired
responses because he is either not rewarded or because he is punished for making them.

The following principles of behaviour modification help a

teacher to a great extent:
(i) Identifying the target behaviour:
The teacher should identify first the particular disruptive acts or undesired responses of the
child that he would like to terminate. The more specific he can be in this respect, the better
for him. The undesired behaviour that is to be eliminated is called the ‘target behaviour’.
When there are several target behaviours the teacher must single out and concentrate on the
one that he finds most disruptive or that can be most readily modified.
(ii) Recording the frequency of target behaviour:
The teacher should gather information about the frequency with which a target behaviour
occurs. He should ascertain and record the number of times a student acts in the undesired
way.
(iii) Identifying the antecedents of mis-behaviour:
The teacher should observe and record the circumstances or conditions under which the
student misbehaves. He should find out what happened just before the student misbehaved.
(iv) Identifying the consequences of the behaviour:
It should be identified that what happens to the child immediately after he misbehaves.
(v) Specifying the goal behaviour:
Goal behaviour refers to the desired responses the teacher wishes to bring out, the things he
wants the child to do. The teacher must first of all decide what behaviour is to be established.
He should give a functional description of the goal. Here the teacher should be as precise as
possible.
(vi) Formulating and trying out the hypothesis:
The above mentioned five preceding steps are essential parts of a total behaviour
modification programme. But the formulation and testing of hypothesis is at the very heart of
the programme.

Formulating the hypothesis and implementing the intervention

programmes also imply the use of reinforcement techniques:
(a) Positive reinforcers:
The teacher should use positive reinforcers to influence behaviours.
(A) Appropriate reinforcer:
The reinforcer should be selected that is appropriate for the behaviour. No one reinforcer is
likely to work in all situations. Variation in the reinforcer may be effective.
(c) No demand for too much effort:
The teacher should not demand too much effort for too little reward. Positive reinforcers are
effective because children derive certain benefits from them. Children assess these benefits
against the effort it took them to obtain a reinforcer.
(d)Immediate reinforcement:
The teacher should reinforce a behaviour immediately after it occurs because the association
between a behaviour and the reward is easily made at this time.
(e) Reinforcing successive approximation to goal behaviour:
The teacher should reinforce each successive approximation to the goal behaviour. When a
student shows little success, his success must be rewarded. Instead of waiting for the
complete behaviour, the teacher should reinforce components of the total behaviour. This is
known as shaping behaviour.
(f) Continuous reinforcement to partial reinforcement:
Once the goal behaviour is acquired, the teacher should gradually make a shift from
continuous reinforcement to intermittent schedules. If the teacher abruptly stops reinforcing
the behaviour, extinction is likely to occur. The purpose of shifting from continuous
reinforcement to partial reinforcement is to bring the behaviour under self-reinforcement or
self-control.
(g) Attention to desirable behaviour:
The teacher should usually try to catch the child doing the right thing rather than the wrong
thing and thus calls attention to desirable behaviours, not undesirable ones.
(h) Praise the behaviour:
The teacher should praise the behaviour not the child.
(viii) keeps records of progress and checking the result:
The teacher needs to record the student’s progress towards achieving a goal behaviour.
Keeping records of student’s progress will allow the teacher to assess if his plan is working.
It should be noted that the success of any behaviour modification programme depends on the
resourcefulness of the teacher, the student and the parents.

5. Basis for programmed instruction:

The theory provides the basis for programmed instruction. Programmed instruction is a kind
of learning experience in which a programme takes the place of tutor for the students and
leads him through a set of specified behaviours. The principles originating from operant
conditioning have revolutionised the training and learning programmes. Consequently,
mechanical learning in the form of teaching machines and computer-assisted instructions
have replaced usual classroom instructions. The use of programmed material in the form of a
book or machine makes provision for immediate reinforcement.
6. Behaviour therapy:
Operate conditioning has also been used as a form of behaviour therapy. Behaviour therapy
attempts to treat behaviour disorders by reinforcing socially adaptive behaviour and
extinguishing maladaptive behaviuor.

Q#4
Q. 4 What is educational reporting and what are the three-fold
responsibilities for the education? Explain it with references.
Answer
Grading and Reporting for Education
Educational equity means ensuring just outcomes for each student,
raising marginalized voices, and challenging the imbalance of power and privilege.
The purpose of a grading system is to give feedback to students so they can take charge of
their learning and to provide information to all who support these students—teachers, special
educators, parents, and others. The purpose of a reporting system is to communicate the
students’ achievement to families, post-secondary institutions, and employers. These systems
 must, above all, communicate clear information about the skills a student has mastered or the
areas where they need more support or practice. When schools use grades to reward or punish
students, or to sort students into levels, imbalances in power and privilege will be magnified
and the purposes of the grading and reporting systems will not be achieved. This guide is
intended to highlight the central practices that schools can use to ensure that their grading and
reporting systems help them build a nurturing, equitable, creative, and dynamic culture of
learning.

The following tenets must be at the core of the

school’s grading and reporting practices:
Communicat Effective grading systems communicate information about learning to help students be
e Information proactive, overcome failures, and excel. In equitable schools and classrooms, grades will
About never be used as rewards, punishments, or tools to force compliance.
Learning

Design Clear When each teacher designs their own unique grading system, consistency becomes
Grading & impossible. Clear, collaboratively- designed school guidelines for grading and reporting,
Reporting known and followed by everyone, help create a school culture that supports all students.
Guidelines

Use Common An essential practice for educational equity is establishing clear, agreed-upon learning
Rubrics or outcomes and defining the criteria for meeting those outcomes. These descriptions of what
Scoring mastery looks like are powerful tools for learning, teaching, and assessment design.
Guides

Provide Low- In order for students to learn from practice and feedback, they need chances to practice,
Stakes make mistakes, and get feedback based on common scoring criteria, without worrying that
Practice & early mistakes will count heavily against them.
Feedback

Report on Separating habits of work from academic proficiency ensures that a student’s good behavior
Habits of or work habits cannot mask a lack of proficiency, and that a student’s poor behavior or work
Work habits cannot mask their attainment of proficiency.
Separately

Organize Design grade book categories in such a way that they will yield the most useful information
Grade Books to educators and learners. The method used for organizing information in gradebooks should
Consistently be consistent across the school.
 Technical Aspects of Grading:
Report The numerals, letters, or other codes used to designate various levels of achievement or proficiency
Grades should be clear, easy to understand, and connected to common scoring guides or rubrics; they
Clearly and should also be used in a consistent way by all teachers.
Consistently

Establish a Agree upon a consistent method for determining a final grade from multiple assessment grades.
Process for (Note: A separate verification system may be built in order to ensure that students can meet
Determinin standards through internships or out-of-school projects.)
g Course or
Standards
Grades
Definition of Terms

Grading System: The system that a school has developed to guide how teachers assess and
grade student work.
Reporting System: The system that a school has developed for the organization of
assignment scores in gradebooks (either online or paper), and the determination of final
grades for report cards and transcripts.

Considerations for Schools or Districts When

Redesigning Grading Systems
The central challenge for all schools is to create a vibrant and supportive culture of learning.
In schools where this culture exists, the faculty believe they can teach all students to reach
high standards and have designed school-wide systems to help students get there. Grading
and reporting systems can play an important role in helping schools create this culture of high
expectations and nurturing support.
In the work of making grading equitable, schools should initially shift culture through the
tenets that focus on classroom practice, rather than starting with a change of the symbols that
will be used on report cards. Begin redesign efforts by working on common scoring criteria,
assessment design, calibration of scoring, opportunities for low-stakes practice and feedback,
and systems of academic support. Remember, the point of improving the grading system is to
make grading fair, informative, and transparent so students can focus on learning, creating,
and growing.
We are grateful to the many extraordinary schools and districts that have contributed to this
guide. Their work exemplifies what it means to strive for educational equity.

A Threefold Plan for Trainers and Educators in Today’s Diverse Learning

Environments
Introduction
In reviewing the needs of nontraditional learners, both in the workforce and in higher
education, we found some similarities and overlapping concepts that could assist with
learning, retention and motivation among adults. Nontraditional learners in higher education
tend to have other priorities, such as families and jobs. Ross-Gordon (2011) presented a 2003
NCES report titled Work First, Study Second in which more than half of the undergraduate
students surveyed viewed themselves as workers who were students. Meanwhile, Houle,
Chiocchio, Favreau and Villeneuve (2012) explored the concepts of family interfering with
work and work interfering with family. Though the authors’ study was based on factors of
how family and work interfered with each other, it provides a clear view of the role conflict.
Are workers parents first?
The individual’s view of his or her primary role often defines that same role in learning.
More often than not, we are finding that be it in education or training, the learner is not a
learner first. So, how can we adapt the learning tasks to fit learners’ needs and ensure that
they learn? If we begin with microlearning as a concept to provide learners with small
amounts of information to fit their needs and the hectic schedules created by the many roles
they play in their daily lives, they will be more able to digest the information. Coupling this
with collaboration, in which learners are able to share their new knowledge with others and
gain additional knowledge from them would provide mastery of the required material. This
leaves us with the question of how to motivate the learner. There is a simple answer that is
frequently used in business today, gamification.
The Tierce Design is based on the idea of using these three basic components, which are
adaptable to any learning environment. Through microlearning, collaboration and
gamification, we can reach a wider audience of learners in any setting. The material is catered
to individual learners and the group as a whole when it is presented in small chunks that
provide learning material for those who are students first while not interfering with the time
constraints and needs of those who are not. It provides for the time-honored and proven
model of learning from slightly more knowledgeable peers through the sharing of the new
knowledge from many perspectives. Finally, it provides motivation, both intrinsic and
extrinsic, by allowing learners to work toward not only the goal of increased knowledge but
also toward goals that are more tangible to them. So where do we start?
Adult Learning Theory
The concept of teaching and training adults is not new; Knowles developed the adult version
of pedagogy, andragogy, in 1974. He based this adult learning theory on four basic
characteristics of adult learners:
 They are self-directed, take responsibility for their own actions and resist having
information arbitrarily imposed on them.
 They have an extensive depth of experience, which serves as a critical component in
the foundation of their self-identity.
 They are ready to learn. Because most adult learners return to college voluntarily,
they are likely to actively engage in the learning process.
 They are task motivated. Adult students returning to college attend for a specific goal
and the primary component of their motivational drive tends to be internal (Knowles,
1984).
Tierce Design embraces and addresses these characteristics as integral to planning and
implementing curricula or training programs. Using microlearning addresses the four
characteristics by providing small amounts of information to be learned independently that
can be related to the learner’s experience or current knowledge, thus building a higher level
of knowledge. Sharing this knowledge with others, collaboration, addresses the four
characteristics as well. Sharing is a self-regulated task that promotes the self-identity of the
one who understands the material as well as the one who can build on that new knowledge
through the process. Gamification ensures that the material is viewed as necessary, because
the instructor is willing to instill a reward for its mastery, providing a game-like atmosphere
to build upon self-identity while promoting active engagement and goal achievement.
Microlearning
Microlearning divides large, more complex amounts of required information into more
manageable, relatable and understandable chunks. Providing information in smaller portions
does not overwhelm learners and often motivates them to master the material presented.
Aitchanov, Nussipbekov, and
Zhaparov (2012) explained how people are using microlearning in their everyday lives,
unconsciously, “while reading tutorials, forums, wiki, blogs and other things like this” (p.
149). They described microlearning as a step-by-step plan for learning everything about a
topic.
The key components that we identified consisted of interacting with small amounts of
information, in a relatively small timeframe, to master a chain of related topics that lead to
information mastery on a larger scale. This allows learners to take ownership of the learning
activity, pacing themselves as they personalize their learning experiences. Microlearning
creates an active learning environment for learners because they are less anxious and more
engaged in the learning process. It is often viewed as informal, short, simplistic and flexible,
with easily accessible information that is ideal for any attention span. Using timely topics
with small content bites allows the learner to easily digest, retain and recall the information
presented for review and leads to improved problem solving.
Collaboration
Hartley (2010) suggested that microlearning is a collaborative experience in that it involves
coaching through the use of learning leaders in many instances and is enhanced by visiting
and discussing learned topics with coworkers. We found several aspects in common between
the two as well. Both lead to improved problem solving through engaging
informal learning practices that promote active learning. Himes and Ravert (2012) found that
students were able to learn more by communicating informally with peers due to their ability
to understand each other, subsequently increasing their achievement and mastery in a
learning environment. Citing a survey “conducted in March and April of 2012 by social
learning expert Jane Hart, founder of the Centre for Learning Technologies and the Social
Learning Centre” (p. 27), Lombardozzi (2012) showed a rise in the use of social tools,
including collaboration, in the workforce.
There are many ways to provide a collaborative environment for learners. Each setting is
unique, as are the collaborative practices used. We identified several components of
collaboration that can be tailored to the autonomous needs of learners in any setting. Most
learners excel through face-to-face interaction because they are able to confirm or improve
their understanding of learned material through coaching, mentoring, shadowing or peer-
assisted learning. Learners are also better able to interact with a topic because the information
is more digestible when it can be recalled, reviewed and discussed as it is shared with others.
Cooperative learning environments, such as collaboration, provide learners with the ability to
apply their new knowledge and have their mastery assessed through the sharing process.
Gamification
Another aspect of assessment is found in gamification. Learning begins in childhood, with
games, stories and songs intended to teach basic skills and lessons. Games as a learning tool
need not stop with adulthood because
the playing of games does not necessarily stop in childhood in this age of technology.
Gamification takes the basic premise of play but uses elements of games in nongaming
contexts. Erenli (2013) provided several facts derived from various websites that indicated
the potential of games in education and learning. These included that the average age range of
gamers and game purchasers was late thirties to early forties, just under the average age of
the workforce as indicated by the California Employment Development Department (EDD)
(2001), with 29 percent being over the age of 50.
As an active learning tool, gamification provides an informal, simplistic platform for
assessing performance and retention, using competition to gauge progress in some settings.
This fun, interactive approach strategically provides a method of encouraging universal
engagement and motivation, not only through play but through status from achievement. The
concept provides for feedback through the use of leaderboards, badges, level systems,
specified achievements and/or rewards depending on the needs of the material, setting or
learner.

Q #5
Q. 5 Pout and Brown identified six major theoretical approaches of counselling and
psycho-teaching. Discuss these stages in details.
Answer:
Professional counselors apply a variety of clinical approaches in their work, and there are
hundreds of clinical counseling approaches to choose from. The most recent editio
n of The SAGE Encyclopedia of Theory in Counseling and Psychotherapy lists over 300
different approaches to counseling practice.1 So how do counselors come to know what
approach is the right one for them? To answer that question, it is first necessary to understand
that no one counseling approach is better than the rest. That is because counseling approaches
are based upon theories about human function and change as opposed to hard evidence.
Determining whether one counseling approach works better than another is difficult, because
there are so many variables to consider in the counseling process. For example, if we try to
compare the effectiveness of two counselors applying the same theoretical model, there can
be major differences in the counseling outcome due to differences in the clients' histories and
situations, differences in the counselors' communication styles, and even differences in client
and counselor mood on the day of the comparison.
Such differences are hard to control for experimentally, thus making it almost impossible to
prove that one approach to counseling is the absolute best way. Without such proof, it
becomes the responsibility of counselors to do all they can to see that the treatment model(s)
they apply are the best ones to address each client's needs. That responsibility starts with
becoming familiar with the models that have shown to be most beneficial in actual practice.
Fortunately, almost all of the many individual theoretical models of counseling fall into one
or more of six major theoretical categories: humanistic, cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytic,
constructionist and systemic.

Six Stages of Counselling

We understand that for counselling to be successful, both the client and the counsellor need to
understand what change stage they are in. There are six (6) stages of change in counselling,
each one having an importance in allowing each and every one of us to move from the
unpleasant to the pleasant state of living (the happy life). In an almost perfect world these six
stages of change proceed in a linear manner, other times stages may need to be repeated due
to various nature/nurture factors that are discovered in the learning and growth dynamics of
counselling. Some change stages even occur simultaneously.
Stage 1: Pre-contemplation
This stage is characterized by two distinct elements: a) the person not being able to see or
understand what the problem is, and/or b) the client wanting some other person to change (the
problem is them, not me). Pre-contemplators usually come to counselling because of some
form of pressure from another person (spouse, employer, the courts, school, friends).
Concurrently, pre-contemplators also resist change and therefore employ denial-minimization
tactics to disown any responsibility for their contribution to the issue(s) at hand. Thus, one of
the initial goals in counselling is to determine how much denial or minimization the client is
experiencing that prevents change.
Stage 2: Contemplation
This stage is characterized by the client wanting to better understand what the "bump in the
road" is, to see the causes and as well to explore what options are available to resolve the
demise. The key point to remember here is that even though a person may know what is the
issue and what needs to be changed, contemplators are not quite yet ready to make a
commitment to action (fourth stage of change). The second stage is a critical time for those in
counselling to better understand two (2) key themes before action is undertaken: who am I
(their map of orientation) and what strengths and resources do I have to support my journey
(map of direction)? Hence, in counselling the client and counsellor will know when the time
for action arises when the language and thoughts in counselling focus around the "solution
versus the problem" and a "view more about today and the future than the past."
Stage 3: Preparation
This stage is characterized by the client going through additional areas of mindfulness
in areas of mindfulness, learning and growth. Sometimes the client needs to improve their
communication skills, career goals, parenting behaviors, intimacy practices, and further
strengthening their self-esteem. In particular, we use this stage as an opportunity to identify
the client's values and supporting behaviors in four key areas of life: defining the self, self-
development, work and relationships. The primary goal here is to actualize individual
awareness so that a sense of self-control, comfort and security are present when the client
goes from preparation to action. In short, a mindful sense of well-being.
Stage 4: Action
Probably the most misunderstood and misapplied stage of all in counselling. The common
problem here is that most clients and counsellors believe that change means action, and action
now at the onset of counselling. However, if the first three stages of change are not properly
addressed in counselling, failure in counselling and/or after counselling can occur (in fact,
over 45% of all clients stop counselling before the third session as they feel their therapist or
family want action before they are actually ready for action). This stage is characterized by
the basic premise in positive psychology and cognitive behavioral sciences that before we can
"change" a behavior, we must first change or reframe our thought patterns (our mental tapes
we play if you will). While most of us want to "see" some form of change, often times the
more important change must occur in the way we think where we often don't see that change
until some future point and time. Once the action stage in counselling has allowed us to
change our thoughts (reframing), then can we commence with the more visible desired
actions, behaviours and feelings in and outside of counselling.
Stage 5: Maintenance
This stage is characterized by the counsellor and client (and in most cases his or her social
support network) to identify what possible trigger points or other conflictual issues exist in
the work and social/family setting that could cause a relapse. Whether a client is coming in to
quit smoking or improve his communications at work or in the marriage, the counsellor and
client in this stage shall develop a strong commitment to establishing positive reinforcement
activities (validation, cheerleading, acknowledgement, praise, rewards) to sustain the change
made in the action stage. In other words, change never ends in the action stage, it merely
takes a new form and presence in our life.
Stage 6: After-care
There are some thoughts, behaviors or feelings we wish never return  (the former smoker who
doesn't take up smoking again when he gets stressed). However, some healthcare
professionals believe there are certain behaviors, thoughts or feelings we never completely
remove (traditional 12 step programs for example propose that alcoholics will always remain
"an addict in recovery"). This stage is characterized by determining what types of behaviors,
thoughts or feelings can realistically be terminated, and equally as well, what types require a
lifetime of support and maintenance.
Counseling Theories: Exploring 6 Major Theoretical Categories
Humanistic: 
Humanistic counseling theories hold that people have within themselves all the resources
they need to live healthy and functional lives, and that problems occur as a result of restricted
or unavailable problem-solving resources. Humanistic counselors see their role not as one of
directing clients in how to address their problems but, rather, as one of helping clients to
discover and access within themselves the restricted resources they need to solve problems on
their own. Some currently preferred humanistic counseling therapies include person-centered,
existential, emotion-focused, Gestalt and positive psychology.
Cognitive: 
Cognitive counseling theories hold that people experience psychological and emotional
difficulties when their thinking is out of sync with reality. When this distorted or "faulty"
thinking is applied to problem-solving, the result understandably leads to faulty solutions.
Cognitive counselors work to challenge their clients' faulty thinking patterns so clients are
able to derive solutions that accurately address the problems they are experiencing. Currently
preferred cognitive-theory-based therapies include cognitive behavior therapy, reality
therapy, motivational interviewing, and acceptance and commitment therapy.
Behavioral: 
Behavioral counseling theories hold that people engage in problematic thinking and behavior
when their environment supports it. When an environment reinforces or encourages these
problems, they will continue to occur. Behavioral counselors work to help clients identify the
reinforcements that are supporting problematic patterns of thinking and acting and replace
them with alternative reinforcements for more desirable patterns. Currently preferred
therapies based in behavior theory include behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy,
multimodal therapy and conjoint sex therapy.
Psychoanalytic: 
Psychoanalytic counseling theories hold that psychological problems result from the present-
day influence of unconscious psychological drives or motivations stemming from past
relationships and experiences. Dysfunctional thought and behavior patterns from the past
have become unconscious "working models" that guide clients toward continued
dysfunctional thought and behavior in their present lives. Psychoanalytic counselors strive to
help their clients become aware of these unconscious working models so that their negative
influence can be understood and addressed. Some currently preferred therapies grounded in
psychoanalytic theory include psychoanalysis, attachment therapy, object relations therapy
and Adlerian therapy.
Constructionist:
 Constructionist counseling theories hold that knowledge is merely an invented or
"constructed" understanding of actual events in the world. While actual events in the world
can trigger people's meaning-making processes, it is those meaning-making processes, rather
than the events themselves, that determine how people think, feel and behave. Constructionist
counselors work collaboratively with clients to examine and revise problematic client
constructions of self, relationships and the world. Some currently preferred constructionist-
theory-based therapy models include solution focused brief therapy, narrative therapy,
feminist therapy, Eriksonian therapy and identity renegotiation counseling.
Systemic: Systemic counseling theories hold that thinking, feeling and behavior are largely
shaped by pressures exerted on people by the social systems within which they live.
Accordingly, individual thinking, feeling and behavior are best understood when examined in
relationship to the role they play within a person's family or other important social networks.
Systemically focused counselors work to revise social network dynamics that influence a
client's undesirable thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Some currently preferred therapies
drawing from systemic theory include structural family therapy, strategic family therapy,
human validation process family therapy and Gottman method couples therapy.
During their initial training, counselors are typically introduced to a variety of currently
preferred counseling models falling under each of the six main theoretical categories. From
there, the counselors' task is to determine through continued training and experience which
models best fit
(a) their personal view of human function and change,
(b) their preferred style of communication and
(c) the needs of the client population they are currently working with and/or the client
population they plan to work with in the future.
Most counselors will find that some therapy models are a particularly good fit, while others
may not be a good fit at all. Consequently, they are most likely to apply those models in
counseling practice that fall within their "comfort/competency zone" and avoid those that do
not. When confronted with client situations that fall outside of their zone of comfort and/or
competency, counselors must decide between
(a) working to expand their comfort/competency zone to include alternative models more
appropriate to the client's needs or
(b) referring the client to another counselor who is more comfortable and competent in the
needed alternative models.
Above all, this important decision must always be determined by what action is needed to
best meet the counseling needs of each client.