ABSTRACT
Teaching practice itself is a curious idea whereby student teachers are left alone for large periods of time to cope, as best they can, with whole classes of children, with little or no guidance as to how to proceed once they are actually in the classroom. The behavioural approach to teaching is based on behavioural psychology, a school of thought which is sometimes referred to as behaviourism. It is not sufficient to attempt to examine behaviour simply in terms of behaviours and reinforcers. As well as considering what happens after a behaviour occurs people must also consider what happened before the behaviour occurred. Sometimes it proves difficult to convince people of the damage they are doing or where they are going wrong. Lollipops are a fairly safe bet as a reinforcer with most young children, but on occasions it may prove difficult to determine or define appropriate reinforcers.
