Reinforcement in Modern Adult Education for Offshore working environments and why B.F. Skinners’ Reinforcement Theory and Foucault’s Panopticon effect are essential but challenging.
Introduction
Learning is a multifaceted process that has been and continues to be studied and interpreted from various perspectives across different disciplines. From psychological theories to educational philosophies, the epistemology of how individuals acquire knowledge and skills has evolved over time.
Behaviourism is a theory that focuses on observable behaviours rather than internal mental processes. Conversely, constructivism, which is student-centric, is a theory based on the learners’ own understanding of the world. Strict behaviourism has no room for cognitive influences. Cognitive behaviourism assumes that thoughts and emotions impact behaviour. (Main P, 2022).
Harasim (2017) points out that a theory is “a historical construct and reflects what was possible and deemed necessary and valuable at that time”. So, do we forget about old theories as we move to the next? What if keeping old theories alive and current is the difference between life and death?
Even though behaviorism is often seen as old-fashioned, people still widely use classical and operant conditioning, especially in adult education.
The dangers of working offshore, especially in the oil and gas industry, dictate the need for operant and classical conditioning but now includes a young generation that will resist it (Jacqueline, 2023).
Operant Conditioning
In 1920, John B Watson popularised the theory of behaviourism. He believed a child’s environment is the factor that shapes behaviours over their genetic makeup or natural temperament. Johncheezy (2010) deemed his treatment of the child in the Little Albert experiment disturbing and unethical. The fact he believed he could make any child fear anything was indeed alarming.
B F Skinners’ views and methods were a lot less extreme and controversial than Watson’s (1913) and he developed the concept of operant conditioning (Skinner, 2019). This focuses on how consequences strengthen or weaken behaviours. Mechanisms such as positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment shape behaviour. The military soon engaged with this theory and to this day practice operant conditioning, although you could suggest that occasionally, they may reach back into some disturbing behaviours that Watson (1923) practised. Grossman (1996) writes that the military has used operant conditioning. Operant conditioning methods introduced by the army, such as replacing bullseye shooting targets with realistic human silhouettes to mimic actual war scenarios, attributed to the increase in firing rate among soldiers from World War II to Vietnam.
Skinners Box
One of Skinner’s experiments was to forever call the Skinner Box (Skinner B.F. 1957) or effectively an Operant conditioning chamber Skinner. Researchers would carry out experiments on animals using a maze or electric grid in the box, sealing the box to ensure there was no outside influence. Should the animal complete the task then the positive reinforcement would be food.
The basis of Skinner’s theory is positive and negative reinforcement to elicit a required behaviour. In reading Skinner’s works, I see that he obviously values positive reinforcement over and above all else.
The theory states that for positive reinforcement, you add something to increase response, such as giving a pay rise to an employee after they do a good job. Negative reinforcement is the opposite and involves removing something to increase response, such as a ten-mile run if the soldier performs his, her or their drill correctly.
Foucault’s Panopticon effect
The panopticon is a prison design with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept was to allow all prisoners to be observed by a single guard but without the prisoners knowing if they were being observed or not.
In Micheal Foucault’s book “Discipline and Punishment: The Birth of the Prison” (1977), Foucault explored this invention and deduced that permanent visibility became a way to exercise ultimate power over the inmates. As the inmates had no knowledge of whether they were being watched or not, they would follow the rules and cause no issues.
Research by Clarion Security Systems estimates that there are over 942,562 CCTV Cameras in London, meaning there is 1 CCTV camera for every 10 people in the capital. You are likely to be captured on London CCTV up to 70 times per day. (2022). Clarion also estimates that there are over 7,371,903 CCTV Cameras in the UK, meaning there is 1 CCTV camera for every 11 people in the uk (2022)
This is public knowledge and just a snapshot of the total amount of CCTV systems in the UK alone, thus in part due to the Foucault panopticon effect, the general population are law-abiding. Although this is a proven crime reduction measure there is still a great deal of criticism over their use and quantity.
The Challenge
Currently, young learners believe that democracy is good, while they condemn all else, such as autocracy, to history.
Objectivism in classrooms has also found its place in the annals of history, with its roots based on the requirements of an industrial past (Bates,T 2022).
Modern education encourages Paulo Freire work on critical pedagogy, (Corbett, J., & Guilherme, M. 2021). Educators encourage learners to question and critically examine the world around them, including issues of power, privilege, and inequality. Teachers serve as facilitators, fostering dialogue, reflection, and critical thinking rather than simply transmitting knowledge.
The young learners who come into the training centre in preparation for a life working offshore arrive with the idea of democracy and having been educated in the student-centric constructivist environment. They believe that they are the centre of the universe and that the environment needs to be adjusted to their requirements. Their constructivist learning needs to be mapped on a “learning journey” mapped to competency-based outcomes (Wolf, 1995) with appropriate rewards when completed.
With these attitudes and expectations, young learners (Jacobs,2020) would be a danger to themselves and others if they were allowed to go offshore. This could result in loss of life, injury and financial loss for the company. Even when a young learner goes offshore without the training and decides they have no idea what they were getting into, followed by a request to be sent home can cause incredible financial loss for the affected company.
Autocracy
The offshore environment operates in a similar way to the military, and that is that it is ultimately autocratic. There is the man at the top of the offshore installation, generally called the superintendent, and he has ultimate primacy when it comes down to the installation or vessel. In the offshore environment, there is no room for error and certainly no room for people who will not follow rules and instructions verbatim. The offshore environment presents one of the most dangerous work environments for people on earth by way of the weather, the equipment and work requirements.
Negative reinforcement is commonplace offshore. If you fail to follow the rules—some of which are zero-tolerance rules—you will be sent home and not allowed to return. There are some areas for positive reinforcement; for example, the week’s best safety report (safety reports are used to highlight problems in the work environment) will win a prize. But on the flip side, the section with the fewest safety reports is named and shamed.
All offshore installations have CCTV systems in all internal and external areas apart from the bedrooms and bathrooms. This guarantees that if you are outside of your room and not in a bathroom, you will be on CCTV. Foucault’s panopticon effect is very apparent in the offshore environment to the point where the only issues are generally due to lapses in concentration, deliberate acts, or accidents.
A new Journey
When receiving new learners at the training centre, appropriate conditioning needs to begin from the outset. Only certain aspects of the training need to be designed to fully encompass living and working in an autocratic environment under the ever-watching gaze of CCTV systems. These will be identified at the design phase of the training through the training needs analysis.
The learning that requires behaviour training is safety. For the first several hours of training, safety videos will be used, and these videos will show “worst-case” scenarios. This removes false expectations of life offshore and also demonstrates how they will live. This is conducted during the first few days to give the learners the option to remove themselves from the training centre early should the change their minds about their chosen career.
To implement Skinner’s reinforcement theory into the design of the training course or even the training centre, carefully consider the behaviour to be reinforced or decreased and apply reinforcements or punishments properly and consistently. Several steps to be used during the design phase of training and during the delivery of the training include:
· Identify and Set goals for behaviour
Clearly define and maintain the behaviour that is required and needs to be encouraged or decreased.
· Determine appropriate ways to reinforce the behaviour.
Select reinforcements that are meaningful to the individual. What works as reinforcement for one person may not work for another.
· Immediate and consistent reinforcement.
Ensure there is scope to apply reinforcement or punishment immediately. This will ensure the association between the reinforcement and the behaviour.
· Shaping Behaviour.
As the course progresses, design successive steps toward complex behaviours and reward each step until the full desired behaviour is achieved.
· Evaluate and revise as required.
Monitor the effectiveness of the reinforcement strategy and adjust it based on the individual’s response
· Gradually reduce reinforcement.
Once the desired behaviour is achieved, reduce the reinforcements gradually.
Working through each aspect of behavioural change, the learner’s imagination needs to be engaged to ensure learning is taking place. Higbie,R. (1988) looks at Hard Times and Dickens’ concept of imagination. For learning to take place facts need to be reinforced with the imagination. Stories need to be designed into the lesson plans, this also adds credibility to the teacher.
Positive reinforcement is reduced as we work through course and negative reinforcement is increased. This is again to replicate the conditions working offshore. As we progress through the training, the automatic responses to situations start to manifest. For example, they will start to walk downstairs with at least one hand on the handrail at all times, understanding they need three points of contact (a zero-tolerance offence offshore). Operant conditioning is being used to create habit.
As stated before negative reinforcement when used should be immediate, if there is too much of a gap between the offence and the reinforcement then the learner will think they have got away with it. Prepare to have boundaries pushed as all learners will as this will become exhausting. Most of all, consistency is required to maintain the standards and ensure the learners will change. As per Skinners theory the negative reinforcement is to remove a negative condition to elicit the behaviour. In most cases offshore, this is the threat of being sent back to shore.
In conclusion
Operant conditioning combined with Foucault’s panopticon effect is essential in the training of learners for the rigours of offshore life. This ensures they understand fully the expected behaviours and that some behaviours will become habitual. Following procedures by the number and accepting failure to do so can ultimately become the difference between life and death for the learner and the learner’s colleagues.
Although Skinner’s theory focuses on how positive or negative reinforcement strengthens or weakens behaviours, it does not address the learner’s attitude. We assume that the learners have the correct attitude to learning and motivation. Without the correct motivation and attitude, the learning process will ultimately fail.
Designing rigorous entry criteria, training, and interview processes ensures that all learners arrive with the correct attitude and will engage fully with the training to ensure operant conditioning is successful.
Future Study
As discussed about operant conditioning, whilst used to train offshore workers and also militaries across the Western world, there is scope to study the consequences of such training on a person’s mental health. I found that coming out of the military, I did not fit back into society as I once did. Moving to a role offshore I found that I once again fit into the environment that I was comfortable in. Having moved once again from the offshore environment, I feel that I do not belong, and I find it incredibly difficult to relate to people who have either not served or have never worked offshore. I can only conclude that this results from operant conditioning and requires investigation.
References
Bates, T. (2022). Teaching in a Digital Age: General : Guidelines for Designing, Teaching and Learning. Canada: Tony Bates Associates Limited.
Corbett, J., & Guilherme, M. (2021). Critical pedagogy and quality education (UNESCO SDG-4): the legacy of Paulo Freire for language and intercultural communication. Language and Intercultural Communication, 21(4), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2021.1962900. Last accessed 14/04/2024
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Grossman, D. (1996). On killing: The psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society.
Jacqueline, W. A., & Nazare, A. The Challenges of Classical Conditioning: Evaluating the Impacts of Classical Learning Among Generation Z Population. https://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=The+Challenges+of+Classical+Conditioning:+Evaluating+the+Impacts+of+Classical+Learning+Among+Generation+Z+Population.&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart Last Accessed 2024, May 8.
Jacobs,T. (2020). A New Generation Is Coming To Work, But Is the Oil and Gas Industry Ready?. https://jpt.spe.org/new-generation-coming-work-oil-and-gas-industry-ready Last Accessed 2024,April 17
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Main, P (2022, December 02). Cognitive Behavior Theory. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/cognitive-behavior-theory
Skinner, B. F. (1957). THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR. American Scientist, 45(4), 343–371. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27826953. Last accessed 14/04/2024
Skinner, B. F. (2019). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. BF Skinner Foundation.
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