Principle 9: Repetition and Reinforcement
One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.
—Carl Jung
Definition
Practice brings mastery and positive reinforcement increases the assimilation.
Nick: This sounds very different from all the principles we have been discussing. They were humanistic, cognitivist, or based on a postmodern constructivist paradigm, and this sounds like old classic behaviorism: linear cause–effect.
That is true! And it is one of the interesting characteristics of Action Reflection Learning (ARL). Remember that this learning methodology emerged thanks to the intellectual freedom of the practitioners who developed it, who didn’t allow themselves to be limited by conceptual frameworks. They simply used what seemed to work in order to create powerful learning experiences and transformative learning, which is the deepest and most evolutionary type of learning that exists.
Behaviorism (Watson,1 Skinner,2 Pavlov) dominated American psychology from about 1900 to 1970. It was based on empirically observable behaviors, as opposed to subjective phenomena such as consciousness, feelings, or personal meaning given to situations. You can recognize in it the traditional classroom pedagogy, which was founded on this framework. Learning was seen as dependent on conditions of the environment, and the learner was, in Locke’s terms, a “tabula rasa.” In addition, reinforcements were found to play a key role in learning. Thorndike,3 for example, described how changes in behavior (i.e., learning) respond to the Law of Effect: “Behavior that is followed by satisfying consequences will be more likely to be repeated and behavior that is followed by unsatisfying consequences will be less likely to be repeated.” Watson, one of the first people to obtain a doctorate in psychology in the United States—in 1902— studied the impact of reinforcements. Skinner developed the theory of “operant conditioning,” noting that we behave the way we do because a behavior has had certain positive or negative consequences in the past.
Later, the behavioral influence of positive reinforcement led to the study of motivations (Maslow4), which further connected not only past experiences as conditioners, but also the future as a motivating possibility. This is seen in scenario planning, in visioning exercises, in goal-setting, and in the use of conscious intention-setting as a draw toward actions. It is the Law of Cause and Effect converted into “the law of cause and promise of effect.” To periodically recall our objective (what we informally call the “carrot”) becomes a powerful reinforcement, helping us persist in our efforts. External reinforcements were further studied by cognitivists Ausubel5 and Bandura,6 who observed that both positive and negative reinforcements have an impact and lead to changes in behavior. The concept of learning by trial and error is also present in experiential learning theory, however, adding to it the importance of the educator who supports active experimentation.7 ARL incorporates some specific aspects of behaviorist thinking by valuing positive reinforcement, and acknowledges the importance of a supportive attitude on the part of the learning facilitator, who ensures that the learner feels safe in a trusting and accepting environment, who acknowledges and appreciates the learner’s achievements, and who offers time and opportunities to try out new behaviors.
The appreciative tone present in this learning approach has roots in Carl Rogers’s8 humanistic therapeutic model, where the therapist offers empathic understanding, appreciation, and a supportive attitude. In the organizational setting, Cooperrider and Whitney9 applied the humanistic approach in “Appreciative inquiry.” Grounded in a constructivist paradigm,10 this model suggests that if we want to create change and learning in an organization, we need to ask what is working well, because more can be built on strengths than on weaknesses. Appreciative Inquiry uses the successes of individuals and organizations to enhance self-esteem, encourage action, and demonstrate to individuals that they are capable of valuable achievements.
Andres: Can you give us a few examples on how to implement this principle in a classroom?
Appreciation can be shown in many ways. It can be manifest in the feedback provided to students, and particularly in how that feedback is given one on one with the student. This can be useful if the educator considers giving that feedback as she would as a coach would with a paying client, instead of as a traditional teacher exerting her power over the student. Another way is for the teacher to take the time to ask, at the end of a class, what the learners believe has been meaningful or exciting, which can help everyone learn to identify the positive, so it can be intentionally repeated.
Teachers might consider responding to late-comers as they would treat a good friend arriving late, by welcoming them, and assuming that there must be good reasons for the tardiness. Having a follow-up chat to find out what happened, and briefing the student in what he missed are very powerful gestures to create an appreciative atmosphere that brings the best out of everyone. When we think the best of others, we trigger in others an automatic reaction to live up to it.
A Story
In a recent class at the undergraduate level, students were teaming up to work on self-selected projects. I overheard a discussion in one team, where they were looking at the tasks to be distributed, and one member was complaining that she was not able to take on any of those tasks because she had a full-time job, was a single parent, and was attending several other courses at school. Her teammates looked puzzled and frustrated.
I stepped closer and asking for permission to comment, I suggested they build their team based on the strengths they individually had, and not on their shortcomings. By conducting a quick inventory of what skills and possibilities were in the group, they would be better able to find who could do what, and still enjoy being a productive member of the team. They talked a few minutes more and realized that the female member didn’t have time to meet or do interviews, but that she had good editing skills and the ability to write up reports in her office.
Another way to develop an appreciative climate is by asking feedback from the students, and explaining that their candid feedback will help you understand better their needs. This may sound very bizarre to many of us, but the reality is that students will state their needs whether we ask for it or not, and they will do it publicly. The free website Rate my Professors is the platform students use to share their frustration and happiness and to describe their experience to other fellow students who may consider taking a class with a certain instructor. In a moderate and descriptive language, students from any institution share what they loved and what didn’t work in their instructor’s pedagogy—or personal style. (If you have never looked into it, it is a great learning experience for educators that can guide us on what we need to improve.)
Julia: I understand why appreciation creates a positive relationship and an appreciative context that fosters learning, risk-taking in a safe environment, and is more likely to result in reinforcement of learning and of behaviors. What about Repetition, the other “r” in this principle?
In experiential learning, as well as in the classical trial and error, repetition brings mastery. In similar ways, teachers have used this principle for centuries, requesting that students practice, then providing feedback and corrections, and asking them to do it again. Learning is not a onetime event, it is a sequenced process, and educators need to give time to students to transition, learn, and change, independently of the domain.
Vivien: What is the impact of this learning principle of repetition and reinforcement for our goal of developing responsible managers?
When we talk about developing responsible managers, it is clear by now that we are not referring just to “responsible managers” as any time in history, but specifically in the sense given by United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME): developing individuals who are able to lead with planet and people in mind, not only profit. We are thus trying to change their habits of mind. Adult educator Jack Mezirow elaborates on the power of repetition in the establishment of what he calls new “habits of mind.” The more personal and deeper the learning, the more repetition, challenge combined with educator’s support, and time will be needed.
Just don’t think of repetition isolated from an appreciative approach, or from the ownership of the learning that we discussed in the principle of “Relevance.” I have heard a student complain about a professor who was asking her to rewrite an essay several times, “Just because she wants me to get a better grade! That was her goal, not mine!”
A Story
In a course about the Sustainability Mindset at Fordham University, a graduate student wrote the following reflection:
I enrolled in this course because I had some questions about sustainability and wanted to learn more. Now that I’m ending the course, I have so many more questions than when I started, that I cannot believe it! But what happened, is that I realized it was not just about learning facts. The most important realization was that I began to scrutinize my own values, my habits, my purpose, and my goals. I guess it’s fine that I have many more questions now; that’s the purpose.
This comment is a good example of how we can accompany our students’ on their journey, and allow them to go at their own pace, particularly when revisiting values or worldviews. It takes repetition in terms of discussing and reflecting on certain topics several times, exploring different angles and emotions. And it takes a positive atmosphere, respectful and appreciative, to allow for such uncertainty to evolve.
Nick: Summarizing, the principle of Repetition and Reinforcement is an interesting example of the statement “nothing more practical than a good theory,” because, for the purpose of adult learning, it combines the behaviorist concepts of trial and error, and repetition to gain mastery, with the humanistic appreciative approach, of valuing the best in our students to get the best out of them.
Andres: We can show appreciation in the way we include students, assume the best, respond to them as we would respond to a client we are coaching, help them identify what works, and finally provide—and request—candid feedback. But all this has to be done within a safe, trusting environment, one where we aren’t patronizing them or assuming we always know best what they need. And we need to give them time to change, because we are transforming habits of mind and worldviews.
Julia: When we create such a positive climate, we are able to get a positive attitude toward learning, introspection, and risk-taking.
Vivien: And this is what we need in terms of a learning environment when we are aiming at developing more insightful, inquisitive, and creative leaders, who don’t see the world challenges as overwhelming realities, but instead see opportunities to act with hope and innovation.