SHAPING EXCELLENT CHARACTER

A MANUAL FOR PARENTS
(FOR NON-MUSLIM)

PART 2

SUMMARY FOR PARENTS

  1. Parents should discuss the goals they are working toward with their children so that the goals may be clearly understood and agreed upon.

  2. Involve the whole family in understanding the Laws of Learning so that they can be shared, practiced, and cooperation gained from all parties to help achieve the goals.

  3. It is important for parents to reinforce these good behaviours and traits through directed positive influence.

  4. Parents have to realize that good behaviour does not spontaneously happen but must be a continuous and carefully planned part of family life.

  5. The continuous effort to develop good character in your child must be carried out through small rewarded steps (shaping) that lead towards the final goal.

  6. The application of the Laws of Learning can be seen simply in the, "Chicken Story".

    7.


APPLICATION OF THE LAWS OF LEARNING: CHICKEN STORY

This true story illustrates how the Laws of Learning can be applied to train a chicken.

Objective: To train a chicken to stand on its right leg only, turn a full circle hopping on that one leg to the right, peck a red button on the wall of the cage and have a bite of food.

Problem: It is difficult for us to train the chicken to do the above because we cannot communicate with it. But with knowledge of the Laws of Learning, this seemingly impossible task can be achieved in less than 10 minutes.

Situation: A hungry chicken, a cage, and a food tray with chicken feed that pops up when the chicken presses the red button or the trainer presses a separate button.

Method: In this experiment, REWARD is given in the form of food.

Stage 1:

At the beginning, we observe the chicken's behaviour. Usually a chicken will not stand still, and will be constantly lifting one foot or the other and pecking at random. The first time the chicken lifts its left foot up, we will reward it with food by raising the food tray. After that, if its left foot is lifted up, it will be rewarded with food only if its left foot is lifted higher than it was the time before. The chicken will quickly associate this action of lifting its left foot higher and higher with the availability of food. At the end of this stage, we will have a chicken that is standing constantly on its right leg. From this stage onwards, no more food is given until the chicken begins turning to the right as described in Stage 2.

Stage 2:

Now every time the chicken, while standing on its right leg, turns further to the right, it will be rewarded with food. It will be only a matter of time before the chicken, while standing on its right foot, will turn its head to the right, and be rewarded. When it can turn its head no further, it will begin hopping to the right until eventually its body has turned in a full circle and it is standing on one leg facing the red button on the cage wall.

Stage 3:

When the chicken then pecks at the red button it will cause the food tray to be raised so it is again rewarded by food. The objective has now been fully achieved. Now the chicken is only rewarded with food when it performs all the actions in sequence, i.e. standing on its right leg, making a full turn to the right, and pecking the red button. Because every time the chicken completes that series of actions it will be rewarded with food, the chicken will continue to perform those actions over and over again.

What can be learned from this experiment?

  1. A task that is seemingly impossible in the beginning can be easily achieved by correctly using the knowledge of the Laws of Learning.

  2. A complex task can be taught in small stages.

  3. Every action that is followed by a reward will reinforce that action, and result in it occurring more often in the future.

  4. At every stage we need a specific goal; completing all the small goals in each stage will lead towards successfully attaining the final, larger objective.

    5.

Making these methods applicable to our children

  1. Prepare a suitable objective.

  2. If the objective is complex it has to be broken down into small stages.

  3. A reward is given for every small step toward the goal that occurs in each of the stages.

  4. When this procedure is carried out carefully, we can help our children achieve any positive goal; and, the positive traits learned will be permanently imprinted in our children.

    5.

Summary for Parents

  1. Prepare a specific objective for whatever you wish to achieve.

  2. Pay attention to the positive/good behavior exhibited by your children.

  3. Don't pay too much attention to the negative/bad behaviour exhibited by your children, but gently remind them of better ways to do things.

  4. Give a reward for every positive act performed by your child that is a step along the path to the positive objective they are working toward, and continue doing this until that specific objective is achieved.

    5. Children need lots of attention from their parents.

    At every moment, our children's development is being shaped by their environment, including what they are learning from their parents.

 

  1. What are the different kinds of Rewards?

    • Words of praise.

    • Words of encouragement.

    • Giving children attention and acknowledgement for the good things that they have done, and expressing your appreciation.

    • Rewards can sometimes (but not too often) be in the form of gifts or presents.


  2. What is the best time to give rewards?

    3. Rewards are best given immediately after any response by your child that you consider to be good and that you would like to see happen more often in the future. Therefore, you should always pay attention to every good thing that your children do.

  3. In what manner do we give the reward?

    1. Tell your child what good thing they have done (with lots of detail).

    2. Praise your child with sincerity and gentleness.

    3. Use different words of praise every time. Try to avoid using the same phrases over and over.


      4.


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