DE LOS ESTADOS DE EXCEPCION

Bandura’s social learning theory lays emphasis on the importance of observing and modeling the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others, the factors which are all inherent in cooperative learning. Bandura (1977) state:

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behaviour is learned observationally through modeling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a guide for action (p.22).

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In view of the above statements, human behavior is explained through the social learning theory by way of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. Bandura (1977) outlines four component processes that underline observational learning as:

1. Attention, including modeled events (distinctiveness, affective valence, complexity, prevalence, functional value) and observer characteristics (sensory capacities, arousal level, perceptual set, past reinforcement),

2. Retention, including symbolic coding, cognitive organization, symbolic rehearsal, motor rehearsal),

3. Motor Reproduction, including physical capabilities, self-observation of reproduction, accuracy of feedback, and

4. Motivation, including external, vicarious and self-reinforcement.

It is important to note that the social learning theory encompasses both cognitive and behavioural frameworks because it goes beyond attention, memory and motivation. Kumpulainen and Wray (2002) shared the view that:

Guided participation is seen in schools across the United States and all around the world in language classes when the teacher says a phrase and asks the class to repeat the phrase. An extension of guided participation is reciprocal learning in which both student and teacher share responsibility in leading discussions.

Emanating from this stance, another aspect for guided participation, a core element in the social learning theory, is when students on their own will practice and parents try to teach or help them, the parents are equipping their own children with speaking skills. This happens when the children model their parents’ way of helping them with their work, which they are likely to emulate and also when they try to pronounce words and speak like their parents.

The social learning theory has also been variously applied as a way understanding aggressive behaviors and psychological disorders, especially in the context of behavior modification and it has also served as the theoretical foundation for the technique of

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behavior modeling which is widely used in training programs (Bandura, 1969; Bandura, 1973; Bandura 1997). Bandura in 1979 focused his work on the self-concept concept, which is inherent in his social learning theory, in a variety of contexts including the following:

• The highest level of observational learning is achieved by first organizing and rehearsing the modeled behaviour symbolically and then enacting it overtly. Coding modeled behaviour into words, labels or images results in better retention than simply observing.

• Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behaviour if it results in outcomes they value.

• Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behaviour if the model is similar to the observer and has admired status and the behaviour has functional value. The scope, content, elements and context of the social learning theory run parallel to what prevails in cooperative learning. This therefore makes it one of the theories that need to be considered as far as teaching and learning adopts the cooperative learning strategy. Secondly, cooperative learning is about group work and how individuality affects the ultimate goal(s) of the group, hence when one party’s behaviour is modeled by the other as postulated in the social learning theory, it behooves on teachers to adopt it in their bid to enable students get the best from their group members.

To expatiate on what has just been said, human beings are social beings and naturally inquisitive which has led to various learning approaches, technology advancement and new ways of doing things every now and then. The use of Bandura’s Social Learning theory in this study is encapsulated in the idea that in a cooperative learning situation, where students are put into study groups to work individually as well as for the benefit of the entire group, members tend to give out their best. Especially when they get to know that social loathing is unacceptable and each member of the group has to work in order to see to his or her own growth as well as that of the group.

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It becomes such a beautiful experience when the high performing students accept the low performing students as members of the task team and render all the support they can offer, and the latter also accepts their weaknesses and work towards it all in a bid to put away their individuality in order to ensure that the best is achieved for the groups in which they have been placed and given a task to accomplish. In this circumstance, the weaker students directly or indirectly observe how the high performing students do their things and model their own around that. To sum it all, Hijazi and Al-Natour (2012) establish that students help each other when there is a task at hand because they know very well that the success or failure of their group hinges on their ability to work as a group. This is seen as a great motivator in cooperative learning because all things being equal, students working in groups would rather float than sink both individually and as a group.