Musical Success

Cognitive and behavioral learning theories offer two approaches to promote learning. Both theories attempt to explain the way students learn and include external and internal factors that contribute to successful learning. Also, both theories provide a method or tools that can be used to facilitate learning.

Behaviorists are focused on behavior; they recognize behavior is an action in response to a stimulus. The stimulus can be external or internal and their response to stimuli can be shaped. It is the teacher’s role to shape the response and ensure appropriate responses occur. The teacher does this by controlling the external stimuli through staging the environment in ways that reduce stimuli that has a known unwanted effect. By manipulating the environment, the teacher can introduce varying stimuli and work on developing appropriate responses. This is a very repetitious process that can be time-consuming and does not necessarily promote a deep understanding of subject areas but does produce appropriate responses to stimuli. This method is beneficial for lower cognitive functioning students, students with behavioral issues or other special needs. With special needs students it should be used to teach specific skills and may not be appropriate for all subject areas. 

In cognitivism the teacher is a facilitator that guides the learning process. Cognitivism recognizes learning as an internal process unique to the individual. Subject mastery is achieved when a student is allowed to engage with the subject in their own personal way. Successful cognitive learning produces a deep understanding of subjects. This is a progressive process that requires an active role from the student. The student and facilitator must both be motivated and excited by the subject for mastery to be achieved. This approach will not work if the student or teacher are not interested in the subject area. 

I prefer the cognitive approach. I think learning is best achieved when the student and teacher are experiencing it together. In music this approach works well for developing expression including both interpretation and improvisation. It is easy to apply a cognitive approach to intermediate and advanced students. With beginner students so much focus is on skill development; technique, that a cognitive approach is difficult to incorporate. With my beginner students I take a behaviorist approach for developing technique and still incorporate a cognitive approach with expression and improvisation exercises appropriate for their level. I hope to produce lifelong musicians even if the students only take one semester of music, so applying a cognitive approach increases the potential for lifelong musicians. With my special needs students however, it is almost exclusively a behavioral approach because many of these students just do not have the cognitive ability to understand music at a deeper level. The goal of my special needs sessions is to provide a social opportunity and improve social skills, not produce lifelong musicians.