Whenever I hear of a psychological approach to dealing with a classroom full of children I have to admit, I am skeptical. The phrase behavior modification sometimes brings to mind images of children herded like cattle, unimaginative or able to independently think. In full disclosure, I homeschool in part because I want to see my children grow into the people they choose to be and the thought of formulated, calculated, psychological methods being used to keep them in the status quo unnerves me.
However, upon reading Behavior Modification: principles, issues, and applications, I began to see that these methods of behavior modification being used in public school classrooms are not entirely different from some of the techniques I employ in our own little schoolhouse of Oldenburg Homeschool. They are, in fact, very similar to some of the approaches I take to parenting in general.
How Is Behavior Modification Used in the Classroom?
Classroom management is one of the most important things a teacher can accomplish if she expects to be the primary provider of an education for 25 students. There are two important components of truly and effectively using behavior modification in the classroom. The first is that the teacher must base her approach on the collection of data about the behaviors and the activities in the classroom. Doing this helps the teacher identify specific areas that need to be addressed.
The second component is consistency. Just as in parenting, teaching requires consistent and reliable actions and reactions that build trust and understanding between children and adults. When the reactions and actions are predictable, improvements can be made.
There are three main areas of behavior modification in the classroom.
- Praise and ignore
- Behavior modification charts and tokens
- Punishment
Praise and Ignore
This technique has been used in classrooms, probably often without a deliberate employment of behavior modification plans. It can be used with either individuals, small groups within the classroom, or with the entire class. In 1963 researchers at the University of Washington Laboratory Preschool studied how adult attention given to children after children displayed inappropriate behaviors actually increased the likelihood of reoccurrence. Their findings were clear – as adult praise and attention increased for appropriate behaviors, the behaviors increased. When misbehaviors were ignored, their frequency rates decreased.
While these finding don’t align with studies by those such as Alfie Kohn, they do affirm the old adage about the squeaky wheel. Sometimes our kids to react positively to negative attention – it is better than no attention at all. In a classroom where children are fighting for the attention of a single teacher or those of peers, misbehaving can be one way to gain attention.
Behavior Modification Charts and Tokens
These are popular methods used in classrooms across the country. While some might consider them bribery, using charts and tokens as motivation to improve behaviors is an effective form of behavior modification. Some teachers allow for children to turn in their tokens for prizes or once the students reach a certain milestone on the chart they receive a small trinket. For some children these are motivators, but for others these are unimportant.
It can be difficult to employ behavior modification charts and tokens well in a classroom setting with a wide range of needs. The goals of the tokens and charts should be relevant to each child in order to be effective, so the goals need to either be global for the classroom, or they need to be individually valuable. For example, not everyone will need motivation to read more, so a token system to increase reading minutes will not be beneficial to all.
Punishment
Perhaps one of the most controversial methods of behavior modification, punishment in a classroom setting can take on various forms. While you might envision a teacher slapping a student’s hand with a ruler, punishment in terms of effective behavior modification is different. It might be in the form of a student losing tokens for misbehaviors, or through social isolation (a time-out in a quiet section of the room perhaps).
Punishment could also come in the form of verbal reprimands, but this appears to be the least effective option. In fact, one interesting study done in 1970 (Craighead et al) was with a group of 48 students who inappropriately consistently getting up out of their seats. Results from the observational study showed that the number of times the teacher verbally reprimanded the students and told them to sit down directly related to the number of times students go up out of their seats. Tripling the number of times the teacher said “Sit down!” resulted in a 33% increase in the number of times children got out of their seats! In instances like this it appears that verbal punishment acts as a reinforcement of the negative behavior.
Will Behavior Modification Help in the Classroom?
Like so many components of our children’s lives, their successful interactions in the classroom rely on several factors. One of the concerns with behavior modification in the classroom is being able to maintain the new behavior. Research has shown that there are several things that can be done to make behavior modification in the classroom as beneficial as possible.
- Parents must be involved and supportive in the plans and procedures.
- There must be a solid academic program as the foundation.
- Expect that the children will do well.
- Involve children in the techniques and get them excited about them.
- Support teachers by providing them with supportive resources on behavioral principles.
So, if your child’s teacher says she wants to implement a behavior modification technique, don’t get crazy images in your head of catonic children hypnotized by psychological methods. Ask her what her data is for the plan and support her methods as you can. I’ll probably have a parent-teacher conference for my kids on the subject (that’s crazy homeschool humor).
*Source: Behavior Modification: principles, issues, and applications, by Craighead, Kazdin, and Mahoney
Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BetterParenting/~3/Efo6RTX39DU/