Behavior & Guidance
Albert Bandura
Social Learning
Focus
Children imitate calm, respectful adults — you are the lesson they watch all day.
Key concepts
- Modeling
- Observational learning
- Self-efficacy
In the classroom
A teacher names her own feeling out loud — “I'm frustrated, so I'm taking a breath” — and the children borrow the strategy.
See it in practice
Every Edfable simulation connected to this theory — and why it applies.
Children imitate calm, respectful adults — how you handle the refusal IS the lesson.
Cleanup time. One child won't stop building; a younger child nearby is getting upset. Guide the moment without losing the room.
The room borrows your nervous system — a teacher who stays regulated teaches regulation.
The composite: a crying child, a block argument, and a drifting group — all at once. Triage with intention.
Every child in the room is watching how you respond to the hardest moment — you're modeling for twenty, not one.
A recurring biting incident. Move from reaction to a function-based, teaching plan.
Colleagues and children both learn from what you model — professional conduct is social learning for the whole building.
A mandated-reporting gray area and a staff conflict. Reason through the Code of Ethical Conduct.