The
law of applying classroom rules and enforcing them has been a evolving at an
accelerated pace in the past century and it very essential for the good
educator to understand the best method for maintaining the desired classroom
behavior. From discipline being enforced though punishment, it has now moved on
to reinforcements. But how and when and why’s of enforcing these are still
quiet difficult to determine. To answer questions like, should there be a
reaction to the positive or disruptive behavior or should it be ignored for
sometime. If there has to be a reaction, how strong or mild it should be? To
determine all these questions, a teacher needs to have an understanding of her
student group and the dynamics within that group. The teacher needs to be fair
and just and consistent at all times. And
have WITHITNESS to foresee the problem area.
I
feel there can be two ways a teacher can respond to a favorable or a negative
situation.
The
first one, is by being spontaneous. If and when the situation arises, the
teacher responds to it. This can have quiet a few negative aspects. The
students might not have the clarity, as
to a consequence of a particular action, the teacher can be taken as unjust and
unfair, the action of the teacher might not be appropriate as it will be
spontaneous and not well thought of.
Second,
it can be a well thought of action and consequence plan, discussed and informed,
to and by, the students and the teacher together. In this method, the students
are very much aware or both, positive as well as negative consequences, of
their actions in the classroom. There is no scope of confusion and the teacher
can make sure that she is fair with one and all.
So,
we choose the second path for enforcing good behavior, academic and otherwise.
Now to take the second path again we have two options. First option is that we
choose punishment and award to enforce good behavior or second option is to use
reinforcements.
Reinforcement is defined by
its effect on behavior. Only environmental events that actually increase
behavior are positive reinforcements.
A reward is the offering of an
environmental event in exchange for the student's participation, service, or
achievement (Craighead, Kazdin, & Mahoney, 1981). For example: a teacher
gave a reward to a student for good performance, if the frequency of better
performing the task increases, then the reward will be a positive
reinforcement.
Similarly, a negative
reinforcement increases the probability of a positive behavior and it entails
removing a negative consequence when a desired behavior occurs. A punishment
decreases the possibility of a negative behavior and it involves administrating
a negative consequence when an undesired behavior occurs. [2]
Reinforcement comes in two
types—positive and negative. Positive reinforcement occurs when desired
behavior is strengthened by the presentation of a contingent stimulus. Negative
reinforcement occurs when desired behavior is strengthened by the removal of a
contingent stimulus.[1]
For example: [1]
Once you have targeted a
behavior, you must clearly define for the class what the desired behavior
is. It is not enough to tell students what they should not do. You must clearly
describe, in observable terms, a desired behavior that is incompatible with the
challenging behavior. For example, if you are targeting “tardy” as the
challenging behavior, the incompatible behavior would be to arrive to class on
time. If your challenging behavior is something less easily defined, such
as arguing, your desired behavior may take more finesse to define. For example,
what do you want students to do that would be incompatible with arguing? Are
they to speak only about the assigned topic, ask permission before speaking to
peers or ask for help if they feel angry with a peer? Think carefully about how
to define the behavior so that students are fully aware of what they are
supposed to do. In this way, anyone in your classroom can easily determine if
students are performing the desired behavior. This may be your most challenging
step of the process.
After defining the desired
behavior, you need to teach students what is expected of them and clearly post
the expectations. Refer often to the expectations and prompt students before
activities when challenging behavior is likely to occur. After you have taught
students how to perform the desired behavior, you must acknowledge them when
they actually do what you want them to do. If your students arrive to class on
time, praise them for doing so. If arguing was the problem behavior, praise
students each time they choose the incompatible behavior of asking for help
when they feel angry with a peer.
When and how to apply Positive reinforcements towards
students who are following the rules and procedures
Positive behavior needs to be
reinforced so that it could be modeled by everyone. If it is not reinforced at
the correct time, it might loose its importance and the student might not even
realize the good behavior was indeed worth the effort.
Ignore: The routine good behavior,
that is defined in the class-room rules, is an expected action from every
student. That can be ignored and does not need to be positively reinforced in
any way. For example, students sitting quietly and doing the given work. This
behavior need not be praised or otherwise rewarded all the time. The students
need to be told and explained the goal and then explicitly told to not to talk
and complete the given work.
Comment: If a good behavior is one
which is not being followed by everyone but expected, but only some of the
students are behaving, then the teacher needs to comment on the action of those
few students. This will help the other students to model that behavior and to
reinforce the positive behavior in those who are already following it. For
example: At the beginning of the class, when the students are taking too much
of time to settle down. At this time, the teacher can comment as to how some of
the students have already settled down and started their work and the rest
should follow their example.
Praise:
A bit more
stronger than just commenting on a good behavior will be giving the student or
students praise for their actions. This can be done is a couple of scenarios.
For example if a student is a perpetual talker. If in one of the class, the
teacher notices that the particular student is sitting quietly , listening and
doing the required work. Then to reinforce in the student that his behavior is
good and should be repeated, then it needs to be praised. This praise will make
the student to make an effort to take up the good behavior for long term.
Praise can be a powerful
motivating force if you follow these guidelines:
• Be sincere and specific with
your praise
• Praise kids only for traits
they have the power to change
• Use descriptive praise that
conveys realistic, attainable standards
• Be careful about praising kids
for achievements that come easily
• Be careful about praising kids
for doing what they already love to do
• Encourage kids to focus on
mastering skills—not on comparing themselves to others.[5]
Reward:
A good
behavior, whether it is academic or otherwise, needs to be rewarded if it is
excelling. Reward should be given if a student is good in every way or if the
student is exceeding expectation academically. A reward can motivate students
to take standardized test more seriously.
The prospect of losing a
reward creates a stronger desire to perform than the possibility of receiving a
reward after a test, a research showed. Most importantly, all motivating power
of the incentives vanishes when rewards are handed out with a delay.
A reward can vary from a
pencil to a gift certicate which the student can avail either in the school
shop or on net. Some teachers use a edible treat while other use special
privileges like standing first in the line , as their mode of reward.
Contacting
Parents: For
a good behavior to be repeated again, contacting parent with a positive review about their ward can prove to be
very successful. More so, if you communicate with the students ( specially the
difficult ones) that there will be a phone call to their parents about whatever
positive is done by them , it can make a huge difference in their behavior.
There are many ways to
incorporate reinforcements in your classroom. Some of them being:
- Class contracts
- A token economy
CLASS
CONTRACTS
A contract is a written statement
of what is expected of the students and what is expected of the teacher. The
best way to make a feasible contract will be to include the students in
drafting the contract and even have everyone sign the contract itself.
You should think carefully about
how to phrase the expectations. Consider also how to set up the contract so
that students are likely to earn the reinforcement at the end of the contract.
For example, if your behavior of concern is students arriving late to class,
you may write a contract stating that if all students arrive to class on time
three days in a week, the students may listen to music in class on Friday.
Another way to phrase the class expectation would be to state that a
reinforcement may be earned when a certain percentage of the students arrive on
time. Think about how challenging the behavior of concern is and tailor your
expectations accordingly.
The contract is between students
and the teacher. So if the students keep their side of the bargain, the teacher
has to as well. Make sure you set up a reinforcement that you are able to
provide in the stated timeframe. If your motivator was to give students a snack
when they met certain criteria, make sure you have it available when they earn
the contract. The contract will lose its power with students if you do not
honor your commitment.
Another concern with class
contracts is that you may have a student who chooses to sabotage the class, or
who is unable to meet the expectations in the contract. If you think this may
be a concern, you may set different expectations.
TOKEN ECONOMY
In Token economy, students earn some type of a token that can be exchanged later for a specific reinforcement. You need to carefully think out the logistics of the system. A few rules of thumb will help to make the system manageable.
- We are using this system as a positive reinforcement and not just an award. Therefore, always pair tokens with specific praise; make sure students know why they have earned a token so that you will increase the likelihood that the desired behavior will continue.
- Students should only earn one token at a time. Do not equate tokens to currency. For example, avoid setting up an earning schedule — students earn five tokens for homework, two tokens for having materials, etc. This will become complicated and it sends a different message than tokens earned when students are “caught being good.”
- Have a specific plan when students can exchange tokens for reinforcements and stick to your schedule. Students should be allowed to exchange tokens about once a week. The tokens will lose their meaning if students are unable to use them for specific motivators.
- Do not take away tokens. Once a student earns a token, it belongs to him. For example: If a student earns a token for coming to class on time and then later does not have his materials, you cannot take his or her token for the infraction. That would be like your principal taking money out of your bank account if you did not turn in your lesson plans on time.
- Make sure to give out your tokens consistently. Find ways to remind yourself to catch all students being good. You can use reminder tools found on different sites on the web.
When and how
you will respond when students are breaking the rules or not following
procedures
In case of bad behavior, it is
very necessary to first determine whether the students have been explained the
rules and procedures of the classroom well. There might be cases where in the
student is not aware that a rule is being broken. Once it determined that the
rules were properly communicated to the student then the other steps follow to
disciple the student.
Ignore: if the particular bad behavior or a behavior that is not
congruent to classroom rules and procedures, is been preformed by a student/s,
which is not disrupting the class in a major way, it can be ignore. For
example: if a student has been asked to finish the given work, but the student
turns around and is asking for pencil or an eraser, it can be ignored. Even
though the class room rule says, that there will be no talking when the
instructions to finish work has been given.
Planned Signal: This method can be used to correct a wrong behavior
and avoid disruption to the lesson and wasting precious planned time. The
signal can be just moving towards the student, a look or a stare , a tap on the
student’s table etc. for example for a student who is reading messages on the
phone while class discussion is going on. A teacher can simply walk upto the
student and stay there. The proximity to the student should give a signal to
the student to concentrate on the discussion.
Ripple Effect : This is a method where in the teacher appreciates a
good behavior of another student so that it gives the deviant student something
to model. For example: if a student has done very neat work in the notebook,
where as a peer of the student is not making an effort to be neat. The teacher
can praise the first student so that the other student can try and make an
effort in order to get the praise.
Warn: When non of the above
methods either work or are inappropriate, then the teacher needs to warn the
student. Warning can be a reminder of the rule being broken or of some other
harsher consequence in case the bad behavior is not stopped. In order for the
warning to be taken seriously, it is very important for the teacher to be fair,
stick to rules and be consistent.
For example, a student who is
always late to the class. After a continuous reminder of the class time to the
student, the teacher can warn the student of detention in case tardiness
continues.
Move: In case the disruptive
behavior of the student continues, even after continuous warnings, the teacher
can resort to moving the student from the place of comfort . The move can
either be on the time out seat or to the seat next to a model student. Any kind
of movement should be a warning to the student of rougher consequences if rules
are not followed. For example for a student who continues to submit incomplete
work, can be moved permanently to a seat next to the efficient student who
always tend to complete the work, in a hope that good behavior will rub off and
help the student. Where as another student who continues to talk to his friends
when the lesson is in progress, can be asked to sit on a chair which is totally
isolated in order to stop the talking.
Negative reinforcements: Negative reinforcement can be an effective
way to strengthen a desired behavior. However, it is most effective when
reinforcements are presented immediately following a behavior. When a long
period of time elapses between the behavior and the reinforcement, the response
is likely to be weaker. In some cases, behaviors that occur in the intervening time between the initial action and the reinforcements may also
be inadvertently strengthened as well.
According to Wolfgang (2001),
negative reinforcement should be used sparingly in classroom settings, while positive reinforcement should be emphasized. While
negative reinforcement can produce immediate results, he suggests that it is
best suited for short-term use.
For example: If the
teacher is using negative reinforcement, the teacher pays attention to the
student until the assignment is completed. Although this too is negative
reinforcement, it teaches the student that the only way to get rid of the
aversive consequence (i.e., your attention) is not just to start – but to
complete the task at hand. As an example, you may move the student's desk next
to your desk until that particular piece of work is completed.
Call the
authorities or send the student to the authorities: This a drastic step to
rectify drastic disruptions. This method is use when all other methods fail to
discipline the student. It should be used very sparingly since it gives a
signal to other students that the teacher is unable to control the class/
students. the behavior of the student should be so negative that the students
needs to be removed from the class immediately. For example it can be that the
student has turned violent towards other students or the teacher.
Call
the parents: educating
a student is the responsibility of both the teacher and the parents. A
situation where in both the actors work hand in hand to help the student is
usually a successful way of education. But calling a parent to discuss a
negative behavior of a student should not be taken lightly. And should not be
an exercise done regularly, because then it looses its importance for both the
student and the parent. The call should be short and to the point either asking
the parents to talk to the student or for the parent to come and meet the
teacher to discuss the issue depending on the seriousness of the behavior. for
example a student who never tend to submit homework. The call could be made to
the parent requesting home supervision to make sure the student finishes home
work and submits it on time.
[1]
http://www.education.com/reference/article/reinforcement/
[4]http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2011/08/avoiding-negative-reinforcement-in.html
[5] Henderlong and Lepper 2002
