According to Sandra McCloud (2016) Psychologist, Albert Bandura developed the social cognitive theory, which posits that people learn from social experiences; mainly through a process of imitating and sometimes identifying with people called models. People go through a process of mediation in which they analyze behavior they may or may not chose to imitate for an intrinsic or external reward (2016). For the most part, people tend to model those that are similar to them.
Bandura also observed that students with strong self-efficacy often outperformed those with equal intelligence and equity who did not believe in their ability to complete tasks (2016).
Additionally, Dewy (1910) emphasized the importance of teachers personality in setting an atmosphere for active learning, explaining that students are affected much more by how a teacher acts than what they teach. Dewy (1910) also warns educators to consider rewarding and modeling behavior that demonstrates enthusiasm towards the subject, rather than pleasing the teacher.
To this end, I believe state standards and working with data-driven teaching strategies, and highly scrutinized lesson plans help educators avoid individual biases. However, teachers must know how to communicate in ways that build up students self-efficacy and intrinsic desires to learn. For these reasons, I believe teachers should make a strong effort to externally reward students who model perseverance and resilience when they are confronted with obstacles. One example pertaining to our project would be acknowledging a student for referring to their metacognitive strategies when feeling challenged and working through their problem. Also, taking time to talk re-cap with students at the end of class about what sort of behaviors feel good at school. (e.g., passing a test, finally memorizing a presentation, completing a math problem connected to a difficult concept for the first time). In doing so, teachers are validating model behaviors, socializing over potential strategies to improve self-efficacy, and demonstrating the type approachable and caring personality that will ultimately make students feel more valued and lead them to be more enthusiastic towards subject material.
Critical Thinking in Social Science 