The following information is not meant to supplant or contradict School Board or Ministry of Education policies, rules or guidelines. The intent is strictly to complement and support such established procedures and provide concrete, practical, and evidence-based strategies to assist teachers in meeting their disciplinary responsibilities.
Why should teachers do something about defiance and misbehaviour?
Dealing with defiance or misbehaviour in the classroom is a high priority for teachers and school administrators. This type of behaviour, even at normal or "green light" levels, is disruptive to the learning of the other students in the class, affects the mood and effectiveness of the teacher, and undermines the orderly, productive climate we expect in the classroom.
From the standpoint of the child exhibiting the behaviour, action must be taken because it can be a warning sign of worse to come. Defiant behaviour in elementary school is often a precursor to significant academic, social and behaviour problems in subsequent years. In fact, children identified as hard to manage at age 4 have a 50/50 chance of experiencing serious behaviour problems in adolescence.
Underlying beliefs about dealing with defiant behaviour
As much as everyone agrees on the need to deal with this behaviour, however, there is considerable disagreement over the question of how teachers might best approach it. Countless books and articles have been written on this topic, and they offer a myriad of philosophies, theories and practical applications. The ideas and suggestions that follow include much of this information, but are framed according to some clear underlying beliefs.
First of all, behaviour is heavily influenced by its antecedents (what happens just before) and especially by its consequences (what happens just after). However, the emotional and cognitive state of the child are also important. For example, teachers wouldn't be expected to respond in the same way to two seemingly identical temper tantrums, if one child was merely trying to get out of a detention, while the other was acting out anger feelings due to the death of a parent. Thoughts and feelings do count.
Secondly, adults can't control the behaviour of children, teens or anyone else. We can only control our own behaviour and certain aspects of the environment. Luckily that's usually enough, because the actions of adults, especially teachers, are remarkably important to children, even teenaged children. While that's good news, it does mean that we need to be aware of our own behaviour around children so that we don't unintentionally influence their behaviour in a negative way. In fact that's a common problem, and teachers often are unwittingly playing a role in maintaining the very behaviour that's bothering them.
Basic Behavioural Principles
I. Focus on Prevention
Because behaviour is significantly influenced by its antecedents, or what has come before, the general day-to-day classroom and school environment plays an important role in determining how students will behave. The guidelines below are based on practices that are known to reduce opportunities or triggers for misbehaviour.
Create a classroom that is curriculum-focused, with ample opportunity for every student to experience academic success.
All students come to school wanting to be successful, and a good deal of misbehaviour is a result of either boredom or discouragement. Therefore, teachers won't usually have to deal with a lot of misbehaviour if they:
- establish a structured learning environment that engages each student with the curriculum
- maintain a brisk academic pace
- teach each student at a level where he or she can be successful, and
- maintain general high expectations, and supports for each student as needed.
Spend time at the beginning of each school year teaching behavioural expectations.
Most teachers seem to feel that this shouldn't be necessary, but students face a wide variety of teacher styles and expectations when it comes to behaviour. For example, some teachers value student interaction in the learning process, and therefore have a high tolerance for the constant buzz of discussion in the room. Other teachers demand near silence in the classroom, particularly while they are working with small groups or individuals, or while seat work is underway.
Similarly, teachers vary in their expectations and in the rules they establish around such things as classroom discussions. Some teachers love chaotic, enthusiastic participation, while others demand orderly taking of turns. All expectations need to be taught directly just as one would teach content. It is also wise to allow students to have input and discuss and debate the procedures the teacher has established, especially with adolescents in the High School setting. Students should never have to guess or learn through trial and error when it comes to the teacher's expectations around behaviour.
Be consistent. Not perfect, since obviously that's impossible, but very consistent.
If you spend time teaching your rules and expectations, then it would be disastrously unfair to bend them, ignore them or change them unannounced. As well, a rule, procedure or expectation related to behaviour has to be applied equally to all the students, and teachers need to be reliably predictable from day to day, week to week, month to month. Kids, even teens, love well-established routines. They do not need to like or approve of every rule, but when the rules are enforced consistently, the students will at least respect your fairness.
Create a constant, unwavering climate of mutual respect.
For the teacher, part of being respectful is in trying to be consistent. Just as important, it means treating all students with respect, even when they are misbehaving. Teachers who rely on disciplinary measures that are overly punitive, demeaning, humiliating or disrespectful, are sure to escalate behavioural issues. When students are treated with respect and dignity, they generally return the favour.
Communicate with parents.
Ideally, students should see their parents and their teachers as a united team with similar hopes for student success, and similar expectations for appropriate behaviour. Teachers should never miss an opportunity to communicate with parents (even when translation services are needed), and to establish a relationship that is positive, open, supportive and child centred. Parents can be powerful allies in the task of behaviour management, since their co-operation creates a sense in the students that they are accountable for what they do beyond the limits of the school. On the other hand, if parents are not supportive, teachers can maintain high behavioural expectations without them. It's simply easier if the parents are "on the same page".
Remember that children are curious and exploratory and that's a good thing.
This means that teachers should not feel offended or defensive when their students test them. In fact, experienced teachers expect testing behaviour and are prepared for it, especially early in the school year. When rules are established, expect that at least one student will need to ensure that they will be enforced. This is not because that student is "bad" or disobedient, but simply because students need to know.
These testing situations are really quite important. If students find that the rule is not enforced, that rule will cease to have any power over their behaviour. It’s vital, especially early in the school year, that you deal with rule violations promptly, calmly, respectfully, but firmly. Do this consistently, and you'll likely not have to deal with them again very often.
Pay attention to non-verbal communication.
Some teachers may not believe that how you say something is more important than what you say, but it has been shown that maintaining control in a classroom is really about communicating effectively and consistently. After all, teachers are powerful role models to their students. You need to pay attention to how you give directions, commands or requests. This involves learning how to control your voice and your body language so that students understand you're serious and you mean what you say.
Tips for "saying it like you mean it":
- when giving a direct instruction make sure you're telling (e.g. Put your books away now, please.), rather than asking (e.g. Can we put our books away now, please?)
- if a student needs to be confronted about misbehaviour, make direct eye contact and use a calm, strong (not loud) voice
- be aware of the message your body language conveys and stand up straight, face the student, be assertive, "own the room"
- don't accuse the student of any intent or interpret his or her behaviour as having some hidden agenda, just repeat your direction calmly and wait for compliance (noncompliance is covered below)
- always sincerely thank a defiant student when he or she finally complies so that the issue ends on a positive note.
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II. Behaviour Follows Rules
As complex as human behaviour is, there are still basic rules that govern our actions. Student behaviour in the classroom is rule-governed and surprisingly predictable. Most teachers are aware of these rules and have even studied them during their training, but few have been trained to take full advantage of these rules to create a classroom that is productive, orderly and enjoyable. Those who have accomplished this have often done it instinctively because of their own natural abilities and personalities. Below is a brief review of the rules that govern behaviour.
The rule of reinforcement: Behaviour that is followed by a positive result (a reward or reinforcement) is likely to occur frequently.
Your grandmother stated it as "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." And indeed there is a common sense feel to this rule. Professionals who train animals use this rule religiously, yet many people feel that it's far too simplistic to be relevant to human beings. On the contrary, it's the single most powerful determinant of behaviour, and it's used in sports, business and industry to good advantage. It can be a powerful yet simple approach to developing the kind of behaviour that makes not only a good student, but a good citizen.
Following the rule of reinforcement in the classroom
Closely monitor behaviour, catching students in the act of being successful, and follow that with positive feedback, praise, encouragement, stickers, check marks, smiles, or any other things that students value. This strategy can be highly effective as a measure to prevent misbehaviour, when it's used to increase on-task behaviour, work completion, paying attention, and so on. Teachers often use this strategy in younger grades but it has been shown to be similarly effective with older students and even adults.
As well, children are highly imitative, and will model behaviour that they see being rewarded. This is why we often hear that misbehaviour is "contagious", but in truth, any behaviour that results in a public reward is contagious in this way.
Corollary: Any behaviour that is frequently repeated must be getting rewarded
This gives us some insight into the most common misbehaviours teachers deal with in the classroom such as talking, disrupting, breaking rules. Somehow, something or someone must be rewarding these persistent, annoying behaviours. In a disturbingly large number of cases, the "someone" is actually the teacher, and the reward is attention.
It's very difficult to convince people that attention is such a powerful reward for children, that they crave it even when it's negative. But it's true. When teachers respond to misbehaviour solely by paying attention to it, even when that attention is in the form of scolding, correcting, or disapproving, the misbehaviour increases in frequency. The result is a frustrated teacher who then looks for a way to punish the misbehaviour to make it stop.
A better solution in most cases is for the teacher to change the dynamic. If a child misbehaves, make a mental note that perhaps that child is craving attention. Why that may be is an interesting question but right now let's concentrate on teaching the child a better way to elicit attention from an important adult. Let's ignore the misbehaviour and wait for the child to do something more appropriate, even if it's only sitting quietly for a moment or two. At that point, the teacher goes into action. Now the teacher can approach the child and give him or her all the attention required.
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Principle:
If attention is given just for bad behaviour, the child is being taught to misbehave to get rewarded with attention.
When attention is given for appropriate behaviour, it's that appropriate behaviour that is reinforced and therefore is more likely to occur again.
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In more severe cases of misbehaviour, especially with older students, it may not be teacher attention that is maintaining the problem. It could instead be peer attention or a need for power and control, or some other powerful reward. In such cases, more complex reinforcement systems are required, and that will be dealt with further on in this section.
The rule of extinction: A behaviour that is occurring frequently will gradually disappear if the reward stops.
Unfortunately, this rule is frequently misunderstood. In fact, simply withdrawing reinforcement and doing nothing else differently might actually make matters worse.
Example: A student is getting out of her seat and wandering around the classroom, distracting others who are engaged in seat work. When told to take her seat, she does. But a few minutes later she's up and wandering again until again told to take her seat. This cycle typically continues for some time. Analyzing the situation, the teacher concludes that the student is getting a lot of attention for this behaviour, so he decides to ignore it. This appears to work for a while, but then the student begins to get up and wander again, this time getting aggressive and loud. In fact, if all the teacher does is ignore it, the behaviour is likely to get more and more disruptive until he can't ignore it any more and gets angry.
The problem here is that the rule of extinction cannot be used by itself. Merely ignoring misbehaviour won't solve the root problem: namely that the student for some reason needs teacher attention.
Ignoring misbehaviour works only if combined with the reinforcement of an appropriate behaviour that's incompatible with that misbehaviour.
So in our example, ignoring the student should be the first step. The second step is to shower the student with attention, help and positive feedback as soon as she sits down. This would reinforce sitting in her seat, which is incompatible with the ignored behaviour of getting up and wandering around. It's essential to use these two strategies together, and when you do they are amazingly powerful. Of course you need to be patient and consistent, which brings us to the next rule.
The rule of persistence: Behaviour change takes time and usually involves small steps with frequent setbacks.
Start small, and do not be discouraged if progress is slow and not so steady. For example, we all know that students who are having difficulty in math or science won't catch up overnight. If a child gets 5 out of 100 on a test, we know we have a lot of work to do and we'll need to be diligent, persistent, patient and optimistic if we're going to get the student caught up. Yet when a student is experiencing behavioural difficulties, we tend to expect instant success.
New learning involves the same process whether it's math, science or behaviour. Teaching anything new requires an organized plan and good teaching practices. We need to expect plateaus and setbacks, but persevere anyway, and praise any little bit of progress, whether it's a move from 5/100 to 10/100 on a test, or from 20 times out of your seat in a morning to eighteen. The time is well invested.
The rule of prompt delivery: When you reward positive behaviour, you need to do it right away. The longer you wait the less power the reward has to sustain the behaviour.
You have violated this rule if you have ever:
- told students they can have a reward at dismissal time for good behaviour throughout the day
- promised a student a reward at lunch time if they have "a good morning"
- noticed a student working unusually well and waited until recess to compliment him or her.
The rule of partial reinforcement: Once a behaviour seems to be established, we should begin reinforcing it only occasionally, rather than every single time the behaviour occurs.
If we continue to reinforce a behaviour every time it occurs, we actually weaken it, probably because the reinforcement becomes just a part of the background noise of the classroom instead of something special. So once a behaviour has become reliably established, we gradually move to a "partial reinforcement schedule" where students get attention or a pat on the back every few times you catch them behaving well. The goal is to eventually "fade" out the reinforcer altogether and have the behaviour become self-sustaining.
That seems to contradict the Rule of Prompt Delivery, but it doesn't. The key here is that the Rule of Prompt Delivery is important when you're trying to change behaviour or establish a new behaviour. Partial reinforcement is all about maintaining good behaviour once it's established.
III. Using Punishment
The research is clear that positive reinforcement strategies are by far the most powerful way a teacher can deal with misbehaviour. However, there are times when positive approaches simply aren't practical, and the use of punishment needs to be considered. There are rules for the use of punishment as well, and if you violate those rules the situation will get worse. The misuse of punishment can also lead to significant side effects such as:
- anger
- mistrust and/or avoidance of authority figures
- self-esteem issues
- avoidance behaviours such as lying, sneakiness or blaming others.
Below are the rules for using punishment strategies effectively.
The rule of planned punishment:
Punishing strategies should only be used as part of an overall behaviour management plan, and applied to achieve certain objectives.
Punishment should never be used in anger, or applied as "a gut reaction" to a child's behaviour. It needs to be carefully thought out.
The rule of no surprises: The first step in using a punishment strategy is to explain it to the student.
If a punishment strategy is to be effective, the student needs to know:
- exactly which behaviours will be punished
- exactly what the punishment will be.
Guidelines for explaining these points:
- Choose a time when the student is behaving appropriately and approach him or her for a serious talk.
- Calmly explain that you are worried about his or her behaviour, and that you fear it's creating academic and social problems for him or her, and may damage your relationship.
- Express concern for the welfare of the student and his classmates.
- There should be no hint of emotions such as spite, revenge or anger.
Begin with one or two specific behaviours that have been bothering you, and that you can define in a very clear, unambiguous way. One of the ways students tend to test a strategy like this is to exploit a lack of clarity, e.g. "You said not to touch the other kids; you didn't say I couldn't kick them." Again, there should be no surprises. If a legitimate misunderstanding arises, or something occurs that you didn't consider, apologize, redefine the system, and begin again. Although it isn't easy, the ideal situation is where the student really feels it's a partnership aimed at helping him do better.
The warning rule: Whenever possible, you should issue a warning before the punishment.
Example: "This is a warning. If you poke Mike again I'll have to move your seat."
The hope is that the warning all by itself will control the behaviour so that:
- you don't have to punish the student, and
- you create an opportunity to praise him (e.g., "Thank you for stopping. I was really proud of you choosing to stay with your friend. Good job.").
The rule of "Choice": Whenever possible you should use the word "choice" in your warning.
Example: "You have a choice, stop the shouting or get a detention."
This little word has tremendous power. It clearly illustrates to the student that he has control of his own behaviour and he makes his own decisions. We want students to realize that inappropriate behaviour is a choice they make, not something that happens to them or that is someone else's fault. That's why we hold them accountable, because they have choices. As well, using that word allows you to be more sympathetic when punishment has to be meted out, e.g., "I was really sorry you made that choice because I know how much you enjoy sitting with Mike's group. Maybe next time you can avoid the problem by making a better choice."
The rule of follow-through: When you've given a warning, and given a reasonable time to respond, you must follow through if the student fails to comply.
The quickest way to make your warnings meaningless is to repeat them, or to fail to do what you said you would do. Students realize immediately that you don't really mean it, and their behaviour will soon be out of control.
The rule of persistence: Be diligent, persistent, patient and optimistic when using punishment strategies to try to change behaviour.
Change takes time and involves small steps with frequent setbacks. Start small and do not be discouraged if progress is slow and not so steady.
The rule of prompt delivery: When you punish an unacceptable behaviour, you need to do it right away.
Just as in the case of reinforcing good behaviour, the longer you wait, the less power the punishment has in curbing the inappropriate behaviour.
The rule of balance: Remember to keep rewarding the good behaviour.
Whenever a punishment strategy is set up, there is always the danger of becoming too focused on it and completely forgetting that punishment by itself is a really poor behaviour change agent. Only when pairing the use of punishment with the continued reinforcement of the behaviour you want to encourage, will you have a viable program to effect positive change.
The rule of professionalism: Remember why you're using punishment.
Professional teachers use punishment because it's a tool that can sometimes help to change a student's behaviour. And you want to change the behaviour because it's interfering with the learning of that student and/or the other students in the class.
Professionals don't punish students because
- they're angry
- or because they dislike the student
- or to pay him or her back for disrupting the class.
Corollary to the rule of professionalism: Always employ punishment while you're calm.
This may not be easy since misbehaving, defiant, non-compliant behaviour can create complex emotions in the teacher. But as a professional it's imperative that the use of punishment never becomes personal.
Separate the behaver from the behaviour: It's never the student that we find unacceptable or unwelcome in the classroom, it's the behaviour.
The message to all the students always has to be "I respect you and I'm pleased to have you in my class. But that behaviour is unacceptable and I won't tolerate it." Anything else is simply unprofessional.
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In the early school years, normal day-to-day occurrences of misbehaviour are common and usually just annoying. There is great temptation to simply ignore the majority of these, and often that's not a bad idea. However, constant ignoring without an overall plan for training good behaviour is very likely to result in the misbehaviours escalating and becoming more serious. Sometimes basic environmental manipulations can make a difference, such as changing the seating plan, moving children in or out of groups, or shortening activities that seem to precipitate problems. But in many cases, a more targeted approach is needed.
Tips for dealing with every-day behavioural issues:
- At the beginning of the school year, clearly define behavioural rules and expectations in very simple terms. The rules should be repeated often throughout the day to the entire class, especially when rule violations occur.
- Focus on the rule rather than the child. Focusing too much attention on children who violate a rule could just reinforce the misbehaviour.
- Watch for behaviour that is consistent with the rules, and reward that behaviour often with eye contact, smiles, positive comments (both public and private), and so on.
- This combination of ignoring the misbehaviour and intermittently rewarding behaviour that is consistent with the rules should be an automatic, ongoing, second-nature kind of thing. With practice it can be highly effective.
Children who have a tendency to misbehave seldom get the same positive feedback that the other children get throughout the day. They end up being ignored most of time until their behaviour exceeds the teacher's tolerance threshold, and then they get scolded or worse.
To avoid this, teachers need to develop really good skills of observation and monitoring. Look for the early signs that particular children might not be getting much in the way of positive feedback, or that behaviour problems might be developing, and target those students for praise and encouragement when appropriate. At this point, the teacher must make a conscious decision to alter his or her behaviour in order to influence the behaviour of these at-risk children, by looking extra hard for any opportunities for positive contact.
If rule violations persist, the initial reaction should be, calmly and in private, to point out the problem to the student and have him or her repeat the rule. Sometimes young students might actually have misinterpreted the rule, so we need to first ensure that they understand and are capable of the behaviour we expect. This kind of correction strategy can be used once or twice, but if the misbehaviour continues then probably it is somehow being reinforced. The next step then is to try, through observation, to determine what is reinforcing and maintaining the misbehaviour.
Determine what is reinforcing and maintaining the behaviour.
Some helpful questions to consider are:
- "Since behaviour is influenced by its antecedents or what has come before, is something triggering the misbehaviour such as the onset of a particular activity or event? If so, do these children have a problem with these activities?"
- "Since behaviour that's occurring frequently must be getting rewarded, can I figure out what is rewarding these annoying behaviours?"
- "Are the other children rewarding the misbehaviour in some way?"
- "Am I rewarding the misbehaviour by allowing it to alter the class schedule or the nature of some activities?"
- "Am I paying too much attention to what these students are doing wrong, and missing what they are doing right?"
- "Does the misbehaviour tend to occur at the same time of day or in the same circumstances?"
- "Are other children present, and if so is it usually the same ones?"
- "Does the misbehaviour seem to be goal directed? That is, is the child trying to accomplish something such as getting attention or avoiding a particular task?"
We want to discover the underlying factors or antecedents that trigger the behaviour, as well as the reinforcement that is maintaining it, and then somehow alter them. Clearly, the importance of good observation skills, as well as strong self-awareness, cannot be overemphasized.
An Example
A child might begin to misbehave and be defiant whenever the teacher asks the children to get out their math materials. One possibility is that the child is having difficulty with the academic demands in math. If the child's misbehaviour results in a long, drawn out confrontation with the teacher, followed by a one-on-one discussion about behaving better, this allows the child to spend far less time on math.
In this example, the best course of action would be to first determine the student's ability to handle the math curriculum. If in fact the student is struggling to follow the math lessons, the solution would involve academic support. On the other hand, if the student can handle the math but is avoiding it for other reasons, such as conflict with the other students in his math group, or simply a dislike of the math lessons, or boredom, the remedial approach would vary accordingly. Another consideration would be to ensure that the misbehaviour does not accomplish its goal of avoiding math.
When a negative consequence is needed
Sometimes, no amount of tinkering with the antecedents of behaviour is effective, and whatever is reinforcing the misbehaviour (e.g., attention from the peer group) is simply too difficult to eliminate. You will then need to consider a negative consequence (punishment). It will be most effective if it's logical (e.g., if you can't share the blocks, you don't get to play with them.), and applied under the rules laid out in the previous section.
With children this age, the most effective consequences tend to be those involving "time out", which really means time away from the reinforcement of being a part of the class and/or class activities. The old-fashioned approach of having the child sit alone in the corner for a few minutes actually can be effective with some children, and it is a logical consequence for misbehaviour that causes social disruption (if you can't play nicely with others, then you can't be a part of the group.).
In most cases, it's important that each day begins with a clean slate, partly so that the child isn't discouraged by having to overcome "yesterday's baggage", and partly so that you can determine if the consequence has altered the behaviour or not. If it has, then you have the opportunity to reinforce the good behaviour and make it more likely to prevail.
Everyday approaches
The techniques described above are pretty simple, but that does not mean that they are easy to apply. Effective teachers need to be fairly high-energy individuals who move about the room, constantly observing while they teach. Interaction with the students has to be ongoing and spontaneous, but also well planned to ensure that all students get attention and positive feedback for the things they do well, including behaving appropriately, following rules, interacting positively with others, being helpful. As well, students who are having difficulty with appropriate behaviour require particularly close observation, so that any positive efforts they make will be "caught" and somehow reinforced.
Clearly, maintaining a well-ordered classroom can be exhausting but highly important work. But some students might still show a tendency to defy the teacher, break rules, have tantrums, and generally fail to comply. When this kind of behaviour becomes intense, frequent and long-lasting, it moves into the Yellow Light Zone and the teacher will need to consider providing more intensive behavioural support.
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Develop a focused management plan
When young students exhibit behaviour that's serious, worrisome and doesn't respond to the whole-class strategies described above, the next steps require a more structured approach to observing and analyzing behaviour, and to manipulating the consequences that follow targeted behaviours. Most teachers have not been trained in the application of the strategies described below, so planning and practice will be key. As well, seeking support, such as that of a colleague in the school, would go a long way toward ensuring success.
Developing a clear plan is well worth the investment of time and effort. Students whose behaviour is in the yellow light zone are already monopolizing a good deal of your time and energy in the classroom. A more structured approach probably won't take more time, but will simply help you be more organized and deliberate with the time you are already investing in trying to control the misbehaviour. By doing so, you may be able to prevent a student from falling into far more serious behavioural difficulties that could some day result in dropping out of school or even incarceration.
1. Conduct a detailed observation of the student and document what you see
The teacher should begin by listing observed behaviours that are frequently troublesome. This is a crucial step and needs to be done right. One key is to define the behaviours in a specific, observable way. It isn't useful to use a description such as "disrupting the class" or "misbehaving". A target behaviour has to be described in such a way that anyone coming into the classroom off the street could see it and recognize it. Examples of useful behavioural descriptors might be:
- pushes or hits other children
- refuses to put art materials away
- fails to comply with a teacher request within 3 seconds after the teacher repeats the request
- gets out of seat during seat-work time
- disturbs other students by talking to them while they are working
- slow to remove outerwear after recess so joins the class late
- calls out answers instead of raising hand
- teases other children, calls them names and uses other "put downs"
It might take a few days to carefully compile such a list just by observing.
2. Count how often these behaviours occur.
Clearly, the teacher will want to begin with those behaviours that seem to be the most disruptive and the most frequent. Try listing five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. A colleague or volunteer might actually be better able to carry out this step from a seat at the back of the room, but that's not essential.
This counting phase should last for about two weeks to ensure that you get a good continuous sample of behaviour over time. It's not necessary to count for every minute of every day. In fact, 4 or 5 observation periods per day, each about 10 minutes long, should suffice. Make sure that you sample as many different time periods as possible, especially those where misbehaviour seems to be frequent.
Sometimes, this period of intense observation of a student actually pays unexpected dividends.
For example,
- Teachers might note that there are patterns involving the time of day, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour, that weren't apparent with more casual observation.
- Sometimes, the teacher realizes that he or she has chosen the wrong behaviours to observe, or even the wrong student!
- Sometimes, the student notices that he or she is being observed, and actually begins to change as a result. This might be due to concerns about being "caught" or due to a sense of getting attention, or due to some other reason, but it doesn't matter. Whatever the reason it's advisable to push on with the program.
3. Pick target behaviours to work on.
Guidelines for this selection process:
- start small - pick only one or two behaviours to work on initially so that the program doesn't fall under its own weight within the first week;
- choose behaviours that are troublesome enough to be worth working on, but not so serious that they demand significant consequences beyond the classroom, such as suspension;
- pick behaviours that are clearly defined and very easily observed even by anyone who walked in off the street;
- choose behaviours that are discrete, with a clear beginning and end, so that they can be easily counted;
- choose behaviours that occur often, at least several times per day, since the infrequent misbehaviours tend to take longer to overcome.
4. Determine how good behaviour might be rewarded for this student.
Rewards in the green light zone are informal and social, such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, and praise. But in the yellow light zone, we are likely dealing with students who have not responded to these. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. But we may have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Reward suggestions for children age 3 to 5
- school supplies (erasers, pencils, crayons),
- small toys,
- nutritious treats
- points or checkmarks that can be "cashed in" at daily for prizes such as those listed above. The best prizes might be determined by either asking the student, or observing what the student tends to do when given free time.
5. Think about negative consequences or punishments.
These should be used rarely if ever. Still, it's absolutely essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of negative consequences and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
The most common punishments include:
- exclusion (sending the student to the corner, back to his or her seat, into the hall, or down to the office)
- loss of privileges such as recess or participation in an activity
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward.
Aversive consequences such as yelling, scolding, or shaming are considered unprofessional and are ineffective in the long term. As well, they create unwanted side effects such as anger and anxiety that can interfere with the long term emotional development of the child.
6. Formulate the plan.
This is simply a written description of how the teacher intends to observe the targeted behaviours, count them, deliver rewards and/or punishments and what those will be, chart results and share the outcomes. While the plan is still in draft form, it is important to discuss it with the school principal, the parents, and even the child, so that these key people can have input.
Involving the child
The role of the child at this age level might be minimal, but it's very important that he or she be involved. Talk the plan through with the child. The child must understand that this program is being put in place because the child's behaviours are interfering with his or her progress, and/or the progress of the other students. The focus should be on helping the child, who should feel a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being "done to". There may not be complete understanding or cooperation at this age level, but an attempt to make the child part of the solution is well worth the effort.
Clearly explain the specific behaviours that will be rewarded or punished, and how the consequences will work, whether it's removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to get a coloured pencil. Simple programs are essential at this age level, since complexity will quickly discourage the child.
Accentuate the positive
Build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Where the targeted behaviours are negative, the plan should include ways to reward the desired behaviour. For example, if a child is "refusing to put away art supplies", one major thrust of the program should be to reinforce any behaviour directed at putting away art supplies. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in full view of the child, puts check marks on a page each time the child picks up, puts away or cleans a piece of equipment. While recording checkmarks, the teacher is smiling and making positive comments following compliant behaviours and simply ignoring noncompliant behaviour.
Important to Note:
- Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. This assumes however, that the child is capable of doing the work.
- The plan should be a dynamic document that changes as the child's behaviour improves. At first, you need to try to provide at least some reinforcement each and every time an appropriate behaviour is observed. As the behaviour becomes more frequent and ingrained, it's more powerful to reward the behaviour intermittently. This sounds complex, but in fact is quite a natural flow over time.
7. Implement the plan.
Be consistent, persistent, and vigilant
In the first few days, consistency, persistence and vigilance are the most critical factors. It's best to have some help in the classroom at this time, since it's so important that very little is missed and the child gets rewarded a lot. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing and bargaining, but before long the program should be working fairly smoothly. It is vitally important that you continue to count both targeted and appropriate behaviours. If these can be colourfully charted or graphed for the child each day, it increases the power of the program.
Dealing with the other children
One common complication is that the other children will notice that something is going on and react with anything from curiosity to jealousy. Some may want to know why they can't participate and share in the rewards. Usually, these kinds of issues can be dealt with in private conversations discussing the need to help the targeted student. Most of the other children will be satisfied with this, especially since they will be fully aware that the targeted student is a disruptive force in the classroom. On occasion, the easiest solution may be to include the entire class in the program either individually or using a form of "group contingency" or group process.
Group contingencies can be quite effective, and are usually no more work than a program focused on an individual student. They can work in several ways, but the two most common are with groupings within the class or using the entire class as one group.
Groupings within the class
Divide the class into groups and keep track of behaviours of the groups at various preplanned times of day. The rewards are then given to the group members, and you get the added benefit of peer pressure to succeed and get the reward. It's important that the groups are formed strategically by the teacher, so that students who misbehave a lot (and are often drawn to one another), don't end up in the same group and sabotage its performance. The teacher may have to work hard to see that all the groups share in the rewards.
Entire class as one group
You may already do this. For example, you may say that if everyone finishes their work by a certain time, the class will get some kind of reward. You get the benefit of peer pressure as the students exhort one another to be productive so they all can enjoy the reward.
Important to Note: Document everything.
Documentation is important for a number of reasons, including:
- it demonstrates that you are aware there is a problem;
- it provides a clear, concrete description of the problem;
- it records your observations as a professional teacher;
- it provides a vehicle for sharing your observations with administrators, parents and consultants;
- it can be a framework for planning appropriate interventions;
- it prevents needless and unhelpful repetition of strategies that were unsuccessful;
- it provides a record of the supports that have been provided for the student.
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When young students exhibit defiance and misbehaviour that is so severe as to be clearly in the Red Light Zone, the teacher will very often require some assistance in the classroom to manage the situation until the child can get professional help. Acquiring such assistance can be a protracted process. In the meanwhile it will be necessary for the teacher to control the misbehaviour to whatever degree possible, and a written management plan will be essential.
The plan should include documentation of:
- your observations,
- the exact nature of the child's misbehaviour,
- when and where it occurred,
- who else was present,
- the strategies that have been applied (successfully and unsuccessfully).
Not only is this a hallmark of good planning, but clear notes describing these things will often be required in order to access board and community resources.
To attempt to control red light behaviour in these young students, teachers need to take a structured approach to manipulating the consequences that follow targeted behaviours. Most teachers have not been trained in the application of these strategies, so planning and practice will be key. As well, it will be essential to seek support of a colleague or administrator in the school.
Steps in a structured behaviour management plan
1. Collect data
Begin by listing observed behaviours that are seriously disruptive. This is a crucial step and needs to be done right. Descriptions such as "disrupting the class" or "misbehaving" are too vague to be useful. It is important to define the behaviours in a specific, observable way using clear, concrete language. Examples of seriously disruptive behavioural descriptors in young students include:
- violent toward other children
- intimidates or threatens other students
- has violent temper tantrums that stop class activity
- confronts teacher
- directly refuses to comply with teacher requests/directives
- vandalizes school property, or that of the teacher or other students
- leaves school property without permission or knowledge of adult
- deliberately hurts school pet
2. Count how often these behaviours occur
List five or six behaviours on a page. Put the page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each behaviour whenever you see it occur. Another adult such as a colleague or volunteer can help by doing this from a seat at the back of the room, since these behaviours will usually require immediate intervention by the teacher. Ideally, these behaviours will not be continuous throughout the day, yet will occur frequently enough for behaviour management strategies to be effective.
Try to note if there are patterns involving the time of day, social context or academic context for misbehaviour. Sometimes, the student notices that he or she is being observed, and improvement actually occurs as a result. This might be due to concerns about being "caught" or due to a sense of getting attention, or due to some other reason, but whatever the reason it's paramount to push on with the program.
The process of counting behaviours is important, since without this data initial improvements (which are likely to be slight), might be missed. Unlike yellow light behaviours, red light behaviours are usually not all that frequent during any one day with children so young. As a result, rather than selecting one or two behaviours to work on, the teacher can often work on several behaviours that would be classified as seriously defiant and/or disruptive.
3. Determine how good behaviour might be rewarded for this student.
In the red light zone, we are dealing with students who haven't responded to social reinforcement such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, praise, and so on. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. But we have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Reinforcers for children age 3 to 5
- stickers
- school supplies (erasers, pencils, crayons)
- small toys,
- nutritious treats,
- positive notes to parents.
- points or checkmarks that can be "cashed in" (daily, in the case of young students) for prizes such as those listed above.
4. Think about negative consequences or punishments.
With Red Light Zone behaviour, negative consequences will likely have to be used frequently in the initial stages. It is essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of possibilities and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
The most common punishments available include:
- exclusion,
- sending the student to the corner, or back to his or her seat or even into the hall or down to the office),
- suspension,
- loss of privileges such as recess or participation in an activity,
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward, etc.
NOTE: Aversive consequences such as yelling, scolding, and shaming are considered unprofessional and have been shown to be ineffective in the long term. As well, they create unwanted side effects such as anger and anxiety that can interfere with the long-term emotional development of the child.
5. Formulate the plan
This is simply a written description of how the teacher intends to document the targeted behaviours and deliver rewards and/or punishments. It is absolutely essential that the plan be discussed and formulated in partnership with the school administrators and that the parents, as well as the child, are informed.
Involve the child
Talk the plan through with the child. The child must understand that this program is being put in place because the child's behaviours are interfering with his or her progress, and/or the progress of the other students. The focus should be on helping the child, who should feel a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being "done to". There may not be complete understanding or cooperation at this age level, but an attempt to make the child part of the solution is well worth the effort.
Clearly explain the specific behaviours that will be rewarded or punished, and how the consequences will work, whether it's removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to get a coloured pencil. Simple programs are essential at this age level, since complexity will quickly discourage the child.
Accentuate the positive
Build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Where the targeted behaviours are negative, the plan should include ways to reward the opposite, desired behaviour.
For example, if a child "refuses to follow teacher direction", the program would reinforce the child for following directions. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in full view and in a way obvious to the child, puts check marks on a page each time the child responds to direction appropriately. While recording checkmarks, the teacher is smiling and making positive comments following compliant behaviours.
Important to Note:
- Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. This assumes however, that the child is capable of doing the work.
- Given the seriously defiant and disruptive nature of the targeted behaviours, it will likely be necessary to simply ignore less serious misbehaviour during the initial stages of the program. Otherwise you risk being in a constant disciplinary mode that would quickly discourage the child and the teacher.
6. Implement the plan
In the first few days, consistency, persistence and vigilance are the most important factors. You will require help in the classroom, since it's so important that very little is missed and the child gets rewarded a lot. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing and temper tantrums, which might persist for some time. It is vitally important that you continue to count both targeted and appropriate behaviours. If these can be colourfully charted or graphed for the child each day, it increases the power of the program.
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In the middle school years, normal day-to-day occurrences of misbehaviour are common and usually just annoying. It is very tempting simply to ignore the majority of these, and often that's not a bad idea. However, constant ignoring without an overall plan for training good behaviour is very likely to result in the misbehaviours escalating and becoming more serious than simply an annoyance.
Sometimes basic changes to the environment or routine can make a difference, such as:
- changing the seating plan
- moving children in or out of groups
- shortening activities that seem to lead to problems
But in many cases, a more targeted approach is needed.
Tips for dealing with everyday behavioural issues:
- Define behavioural rules and expectations in clear, concrete terms. Do this early in the school year, and repeat them often throughout the day to the entire class, especially when rule violations occur.
- Focus on the rule rather than the student. Too much attention on students who violate a rule might reinforce the misbehaviour.
- Constantly watch for behaviour that is consistent with the rules, and reward that behaviour often with eye contact, smiles, positive comments.
- In grades five and six, provide positive comments and praise privately, to avoid negative peer reactions.
- Ignore the negative and intermittently reinforce the positive in an automatic, ongoing, second-nature kind of way. With practice, this combination can be highly effective.
Observe, Monitor, and Praise
Students who have a tendency to misbehave seldom get the positive feedback that the other children get. They end up being ignored most of time until their behaviour exceeds the teacher's tolerance threshold, and then they get scolded or worse.
To avoid this, teachers need to develop really good skills of observation and monitoring, as well as strong self-awareness. Look for the early signs that behaviour problems might be developing, or that a particular student isn't getting much in the way of positive feedback, and target that student for praise and encouragement when appropriate. At this point, the teacher must make a conscious decision to alter his or her own behaviour by looking extra hard for any opportunities for positive contact in order to influence the behaviour of these at-risk students.
Reinforce the Rule
Sometimes younger students (grades 1 to 3) might actually have misinterpreted the rule. If rule violations persist, first ensure that they understand and are capable of the behaviour you expect. Point out the problem to the student calmly and in private, and have him or her repeat the rule. This kind of correction strategy can be used once or twice, but if the misbehaviour continues then it's probably being reinforced.
Use observation to try to determine what is triggering, reinforcing and maintaining the misbehaviour.
Questions to consider:
- "Since behaviour is influenced by its antecedents, or what has come before, is something triggering the misbehaviour such as the onset of a particular activity or event? If so, do these children have some problem with the activities?"
- "Since behaviour that's occurring frequently must be getting rewarded, can I figure out what is rewarding these annoying behaviours?"
- "Are the other children rewarding the misbehaviour in some way?"
- "Am I rewarding the misbehaviour by allowing it to alter the class schedule or the nature of some activities?"
- "Am I paying too much attention to what these students are doing wrong, and missing what they are doing right?"
- "Does the misbehaviour tend to occur at the same time of day or in the same circumstances?"
- "Are other students present, and if so is it usually the same ones?"
- "Does the misbehaviour seem to be goal directed? That is, is the child trying to accomplish something such as getting attention or avoiding a particular task?"
An example
If we can discover what triggers the behaviour and what is maintaining it, we might then somehow alter it. For example, a child begins to misbehave and be defiant whenever the teacher asks the class to get out their math materials. One possibility is that the child is having difficulty with the academic demands in math. If the child's misbehaviour results in a long, drawn-out confrontation with the teacher, followed by a one-on-one discussion about behaving better, this allows the child to spend far less time on math.
The best course of action would be first to determine the student's ability to handle the math curriculum. If in fact the student is struggling to follow the math lessons, the solution would involve academic support. If the student can handle the math, but is avoiding it for other reasons such as conflict with the other students in the math group, a dislike of the math lessons, or boredom, the approach would vary accordingly. Another consideration would be to ensure that the misbehaviour does not accomplish its goal of avoiding math.
When a negative consequence is needed
Sometimes, no amount of tinkering with the antecedents of behaviour is effective, and whatever is reinforcing the misbehaviour (e.g., attention from the peer group) is simply too difficult to eliminate. A negative consequence (punishment) will then need to be considered. It will be most effective if it's logical (e.g., if you can't work quietly beside your friend Brad, you don't get to sit beside Brad.), and applied under the rules laid out in the previous section.
With children this age, the most effective consequences tend to be those involving "time out". "Time out" really means time away from the reinforcement of being a part of the class and/or class activities. The old-fashioned approach of having the child sit alone in the corner for a few minutes actually can be effective with some children, and is a logical consequence for misbehaviour that causes social disruption. (If you can't play nicely with others, then you can't be a part of the group.). With the older students, exclusion elsewhere in the school will likely be necessary to avoid continuing attention from the peer group.
In most cases, it's important that each day begins with a clean slate. This can help ensure that the child is not discouraged by having to overcome "yesterday's baggage", and can also help you determine if the consequence has altered the behaviour or not. If it has, then you have the opportunity to reinforce the good behaviour so that it is more likely to prevail.
Everyday approaches
The techniques described above are pretty simple, but that does not mean that they are easy to apply. Effective teachers need to be fairly high-energy individuals who move about the room, constantly observing while they teach. Interaction with the students has to be ongoing and spontaneous. But it also needs to be well planned to ensure that all students get attention and positive feedback for the things they do well, including behaving appropriately, following rules, interacting positively with others, and being helpful. Students who are having difficulty behaving appropriately require particularly close observation, so that any positive efforts they make will be "caught" and somehow reinforced.
Even though you are maintaining a well-ordered classroom, some students might still show a tendency to defy the teacher, break rules, have tantrums, and generally fail to comply. When this kind of behaviour becomes intense, frequent and long-lasting, it moves into the Yellow Light Zone and the teacher will need to consider providing more intensive behavioural support.
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Develop a focused management plan
When middle school students exhibit behaviour that's serious, worrisome and doesn't respond to the strategies described in the green light area, a more structured approach is needed. This approach will help the teacher observe and analyze behaviour, and manipulate consequences for targeted behaviours. Most teachers have not been trained to do this, so planning and practice will be key. As well, seeking support, such as that of a colleague in the school, would go a long way toward ensuring success.
Developing a clear plan is well worth the investment of time and effort. Students whose behaviour is in the yellow light zone are already monopolizing a good deal of your time and energy in the classroom. A more structured approach probably won't take more time, but will simply help you be more organized and deliberate with the time you are already investing in trying to control the misbehaviour. By doing so, you may be able to prevent a student from falling into far more serious behavioural difficulties that could some day result in dropping out of school or even incarceration.
1. Observe the student and document the behaviour
First, list observed behaviours that are frequently troublesome. This is a crucial step and needs to be done right. General descriptions such as "disrupting the class" or "misbehaving" are too vague to be useful. Define the behaviour in a specific, observable way so that anyone coming into the classroom off the street can see it and recognize it. It might take a few days to carefully compile such a list just by observing.
Some useful ways of describing behaviour:
- pushes or hits other students
- refuses to put art materials away
- fails to comply with a teacher request within 3 seconds after the teacher repeats the request
- gets out of seat during seat-work time
- disturbs other students by talking to them while they are working
- slow to return to class after recess
- calls out answers instead of raising hand
- teases other children, calls them names and uses other put downs"
2. Count how often these behaviours occur.
Begin with those behaviours you feel are the most disruptive and the most frequent. List five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. It might help to have another adult such as a colleague or volunteer do this step from a seat at the back of the room, but that's not essential.
This counting phase should continue for about two weeks to provide a good sample of behaviour over time. It's not necessary to count for every minute of every day. In fact, 5 or 6 observation periods per day, each no more than 10 minutes long, should do. Make sure to sample as many different time periods as possible, especially those where misbehaviour seems to be frequent.
This period of intense observation of a student can pay unexpected dividends.
- Teachers might discover patterns they hadn't noticed before, involving the time of day, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour.
- Sometimes, the teacher realizes that he or she has chosen the wrong behaviour to observe, or even the wrong student!
- Sometimes, the student notices that he or she is being observed, and actually begins to change as a result. This might be due to concerns about being "caught" or due to a sense of getting attention, or due to some other reason. Whatever the reason, it's advisable to push on with the program.
3. Pick target behaviours to work on.
Guidelines for this selection process:
- start small - pick only one or two behaviours to work on initially so that the program doesn't fall under its own weight within the first week;
- choose behaviours that are troublesome enough to be worth working on, but not so serious that they demand significant consequences beyond the classroom, such as suspension;
- pick behaviours that are clearly defined and very easily observed even by anyone who walked in off the street;
- choose behaviours that are discrete, with a clear beginning and end, so that they can be easily counted;
- choose behaviours that occur often, at least several times per day, since the infrequent misbehaviours tend to take longer to overcome.
4. Determine how good behaviour might be rewarded for this student.
The rewards in the green light zone are informal and social, such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, and praise. But in the yellow light zone, we are likely dealing with students who have not responded to these. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. It simply means we may have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Reinforcers for children age 6 to 12
- Stickers
- school supplies (erasers, pencils, crayons)
- nutritious treats
- restaurant coupons
- points or checkmarks that can be "cashed in" at the end of a predetermined period for prizes such as those listed above. Determine prizes by asking the student, or observing what the student tends to do in their free time. The youngest students should have an opportunity to cash in at least daily.
5. Think about negative consequences or punishments.
These will be used rarely if ever. Still, it's absolutely essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of possibilities and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
The most common punishments include:
- exclusion (sending the student to the corner, back to his or her seat, into the hall or down to the office)
- loss of privileges such as recess or participation in an activity
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward.
Aversive consequences such as yelling, scolding, or shaming are considered unprofessional and are ineffective in the long term. As well, they create unwanted side effects such as anger, resentment and anxiety that can interfere with the long-term emotional development of the child.
6. Formulate the plan.
Put together a written description of how you intend to observe the targeted behaviours, count them, deliver rewards and/or punishments and what those will be, chart results and share the outcomes. While the plan is still in draft form, it is important to discuss it with the school principal and the parents, as well as the student, so that these key people can have input.
Involve the student
The role of younger students might be minimal, but it's very important that they be involved. While they might not have a high level understanding or co-operation, an attempt to make them part of the solution is well worth the effort. With the rest of the students in this age range, say grades three to eight, their contribution to the program might be surprisingly helpful.
It is very important for children of all ages to understand that this program is being implemented because the target behaviours are interfering with their progress, and/or the progress of the other students. The focus should be on helping the student, with the student feeling a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being "done to".
Make sure the child has a full understanding of the program. This will include the specific behaviours that will be rewarded or punished, and how these consequences will work, whether it's removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to earn ten minutes of free time. Simple programs are essential at the younger age levels, since complexity can quickly cause discouragement.
Accentuate the positive
Build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Where the targeted behaviours are negative, the plan should include ways to reward the opposite, desired behaviour.
For example, if a targeted behaviour is "refusing to put away art supplies", one major thrust of the program should be to reinforce any behaviour directed at putting away art supplies. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in full view and in a way obvious to the student, puts check marks on a page each time he or she picks up, puts away or cleans a piece of equipment. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and making positive comments following compliant behaviours and simply ignoring noncompliant behaviour.
Important to Note:
- Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. This assumes however, that the student is capable of doing the work.
- The plan should be a dynamic document that changes as the child's behaviour improves. When first training a new behaviour, you need to try to provide at least some reinforcement each and every time an appropriate behaviour is observed. As the behaviour becomes more frequent and ingrained, it's more powerful to reward appropriate behaviour intermittently. This sounds complex, but in fact is quite a natural flow over time.
- With the older students, public praise or attention might actually be counter-productive due to the negative peer attention it can create. Teacher praise and attention is still a powerful reinforcement for these students, but may need to be delivered in a low-key manner.
7. Implement the plan
Be consistent, persistent, and vigilant
In the first few days of implementation, consistency, persistence and vigilance are the most critical factors. It is good to have some help in the classroom at this time, since it's so important that very little is missed and the child gets rewarded a lot and punished only rarely. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing and bargaining, but before long the program should be working fairly smoothly. It is vitally important to continue counting the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as incompatible appropriate behaviours. If these can be charted or graphed by the student each day, it increases the power of the program.
Dealing with the other students
The other students will probably notice that something is going on, and react with anything from curiosity to jealousy. Some may want to know why they can't participate and share in the rewards. Usually, this can be dealt with in private conversations discussing the need to help the targeted student. Most of the other students will be satisfied with this, since they are likely aware that the targeted student is a disruptive force in the classroom. On occasion, however, it might turn out that the easiest solution is indeed to include the entire class in the program either individually or using a form of "group contingency" or group process.
Group contingencies can be quite effective, and are usually no more work than a program focused on an individual student. They can work in several ways, but the two most common are with groupings within the class or using the entire class as one group.
Groupings within the class
Divide the class into groups and keep track of behaviours of the groups at various preplanned times of day. The rewards are then given to the group members, and you get the added benefit of peer pressure to succeed and get the reward. It's important that the groups are formed strategically by the teacher, so that students who misbehave a lot (and are often drawn to one another), don't end up in the same group and sabotage its performance. The teacher may have to work hard to see that all the groups share in the rewards.
Entire class as one group
You may already do this. For example, you may say that if everyone finishes their work by a certain time, the class will get some kind of reward. You get the benefit of peer pressure as the students exhort one another to be productive so they all can enjoy the reward.
Important to Note: Document everything.
Documentation is important for a number of reasons:
- it demonstrates that you are aware there is a problem;
- it provides a clear, concrete description of the problem;
- it records your observations as a professional teacher;
- it provides a vehicle for sharing your observations with administrators, parents and consultants;
- it can be a framework for planning appropriate interventions;
- it prevents needless and unhelpful repetition of strategies that were unsuccessful;
- it provides a record of the supports that have been provided for the student.
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When these students exhibit defiance, noncompliance, rule breaking, and arguing with adults at a level that is so severe as to be clearly in our Red Light zone, the teacher will require some assistance in the classroom to manage the situation until the child can get professional help. Acquiring such assistance can be a long, drawn-out process. In the meantime it will be necessary for the teacher to control the misbehaviour to whatever degree possible, and a written management plan will be essential.
The plan should include written documentation of:
- your observations
- the exact nature of the rule breaking/defiance/arguing
- when and where it occurred
- who else was present
- the strategies which have been applied (successfully and unsuccessfully).
Not only is this a hallmark of good planning, but clear notes such as these will often be required in order to access board and community resources.
Take a structured approach to a focused behaviour management plan
1. 1. Collect data
List observed behaviours that are seriously disruptive. Define the behaviours in a specific, observable way. A target behaviour has to be described in clear, concrete language. Examples of clear behavioural descriptors in these students include:
- argues for more than one minute each day when told to put away art supplies
- says “no” to teacher direction
- repeatedly claims that teacher requests are ‘unfair’
- has violent temper tantrums that stop class activity
- confronts teacher
- refuses to comply with teacher requests/directives
- ignores teacher directives
- leaves school property without permission or knowledge of an adult
- continues to work on class project when class is told to stop
- ignores or openly defies rules regarding talking, having toys at school and being out of seat
- demands that teacher justify rules
2. 2. Count how often these behaviours occur
Put five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. Another adult such as a colleague or volunteer will be better able to carry out this step from a seat at the back of the room, since these behaviours will usually require immediate intervention by the teacher.
The process of counting behaviours is important, since without this data initial improvements (which are likely to be slight), might be missed. As well, this period of intense observation of a student may reveal that there are patterns involving the time of day, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour, that weren’t otherwise apparent. This might be useful information later on.
Note that unlike yellow light behaviours, red light behaviours are usually not all that frequent during any one day, especially in the youngest of these students. As a result, rather than selecting one or two behaviours to work on, the teacher can often work on all behaviours that can be classified as seriously defiant and/or disruptive.
3. 3. Determine how compliant, polite behaviour might be rewarded
The preferred rewards in the green and yellow light zones have been informal and social, such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, and praise. But in the red light zone, we are dealing with students who haven’t responded to these, and whose misbehaviour is far more serious. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. It simply means we may have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Common examples of concrete rewards that teachers use with this age range include:
- stickers
- school supplies (erasers, pencils, crayons)
- small toys
- nutritious treats
- restaurant coupons
- free time
- permission to work with a friend
- permission to listen to musicor use thecomputer.
Another common approach is to use points or checkmarks which act as a reinforcer because they can be “cashed in” at the end of a predetermined period for prizes such as those listed above. These may well prove necessary, at least initially, for a program to be effective with these serious misbehaviours. With the youngest of these students the opportunity to cash in should occur at least daily. Older students should also be able to cash in frequently, but can manage with less frequent cashing in as the program goes on.
4. Think about negative consequences or punishments.
Common punishments include:
- exclusion (sending the student back to his/her seat or even into the hall or down to the office)
- suspension
- loss of privileges such as recess or participation in an activity
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward.
5. Formulate the plan.
This is a written description of how the teacher intends to document the targeted behaviours and deliver rewards and/or punishments. It is absolutely essential to discuss and develop the plan in partnership with the school administrators, and that the parents and the student are informed and have an opportunity for input.
Involve the student
The student must have a full understanding of the program including the specific behaviours that will trigger negative or positive consequences, and how the consequences will work, whether it’s removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to get a coloured pencil. Obviously, simple programs are preferable at the younger age levels, since complexity can quickly become discouraging.
Accentuate the positive
In formulating the plan, it’s important to build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Although the targeted behaviours are serious and unacceptable, the plan should specifically include the reinforcement of opposite or acceptable behaviour that you would want to encourage. For example, if a targeted behaviour was “refusing to follow teacher direction” one major thrust of the program should be to reinforce compliant behaviour or productive behaviour as frequently as possible. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in a way obvious to the student, puts check marks on a page each time the child responds to direction appropriately. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and making positive comments following compliant behaviours.
Important to Note:
· Reward academic achievement
Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of rewards for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. This assumes however, that the student is capable of doing the work.
· Overlook the small stuff
Given the seriously defiant and disruptive nature of the targeted behaviours, it will likely be necessary to simply ignore less serious misbehaviour during the initial stages of the program. Otherwise you risk being in a constant disciplinary mode that would quickly discourage the child and the teacher.
· Be discreet
For the oldest students in this age range, peer approval is high and rising in importance. For this reason it’s often wise to deliver both positive and negative consequences in private whenever possible, to avoid peer attention and ridicule.
6. Implement the plan
Be consistent, persistent and vigilant
You will require classroom help in the first few days, since it’s so important that the student gets rewarded a lot and punished infrequently. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing, temper tantrums and so on, which might well persist for some time. It is vitally important that you continue to count the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as incompatible appropriate behaviours, and if these can be charted or graphed by the student on a daily basis it increases the power of the program.
Bring in outside help when possible
Students exhibiting red light behaviour are unlikely to be "cured" by the use of these programs without some form of outside counseling or therapy as well. The likelihood of that happening varies with location, resource availability, home situation, and many other factors. Nonetheless, teachers must attempt to provide programs that will improve behaviour and maintain the student's chances for success.
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In early adolescence, normal day-to-day occurrences of misbehaviour tend to be common, peer driven, and usually just annoying. There is great temptation to simply ignore the majority of these, and often that's not a bad idea. However, constant ignoring without an overall plan for training good behaviour is very likely to result in the misbehaviours escalating and becoming more serious than simply an annoyance.
Sometimes basic environmental manipulations can make a difference, such as changing the seating plan, or moving students in or out of groups. But in many cases, a more targeted approach is needed.
For example:
- Early in the school year, clearly define behavioural rules and expectations in concrete terms, and refer to them often, especially when rule violations occur.
- Focus attention on the rule rather than a student who has violated a rule, since that might inadvertently reinforce the misbehaviour.
- Be ever watchful for behaviour that is consistent with the rules, and reward that behaviour often, using subtle positive feedback such as eye contact, smiles, and positive comments.
- At this stage, positive comments and praise are often more effective if done subtly or privately, to avoid negative peer reactions.
- A combination of ignoring most misbehaviour and often rewarding good behaviour ("differential reinforcement") should be an automatic, ongoing, second-nature kind of thing, and with practice it can be highly effective.
Observe, monitor, and encourage
Students who tend to misbehave do not usually get as much positive feedback as their peers. They end up being ignored most of time until the teacher can no longer tolerate their behaviour, and then they get scolded or worse. To avoid this, teachers need to develop really good skills of observation and monitoring.
Look for the early signs of behaviour problems, or signs that a particular student might not be getting much positive feedback, and then target that student for praise and encouragement whenever appropriate. At this point, the teacher must make a conscious decision to alter his or her behaviour in order to influence the behaviour of these at-risk students, by looking extra hard for any opportunities for positive contact.
If rule violations can't be ignored, the initial reaction should be a private conversation, to calmly point out the problem to the student and have him or her acknowledge that a class rule is being violated. Indicate that further misbehaviour will not be tolerated. This kind of correction strategy can be used only once or twice. If the misbehaviour still continues, then something must be reinforcing it.
Determine what is triggering, reinforcing, and maintaining the behaviour
It is necessary to discover what triggers misbehaviour and what reinforcement is maintaining it in order to alter these factors. To do this, the importance of good observation skills, as well as strong self-awareness, cannot be overemphasized.
As an example of the need for observation, consider a student who is misbehaving and defiant mainly in math class. The misbehaviour usually produces a long, drawn-out confrontation with the teacher, followed by a one-on-one discussion about behaving better, which in the end allows the student to spend far less time on math.
The best course of action would be first to determine the student's ability to handle the math curriculum. If the student is struggling to follow the math lessons, the solution would involve academic support. If the student can handle the math, but is avoiding it for other reasons, such as conflict with the other students in the math class, or a dislike of the math teacher, or boredom, the response would vary according to the reason. An important consideration is to ensure that the misbehaviour does not accomplish its goal of avoiding math.
The teacher also has to be very conscious of his or her own reactions to negative behaviour in the classroom. Some questions to help teachers with observation and self-awareness are:
- "Since behaviour is influenced by its antecedents, or what has come before, is something triggering the misbehaviour such as a particular activity or event? If so, do these students have some problem with these activities?"
- "Since behaviour that's occurring frequently must be getting rewarded, can I figure out what is rewarding these annoying behaviours?"
- "Since early adolescents are extremely peer focused, are other students rewarding the misbehaviour in some way?"
- "Am I rewarding the misbehaviour by allowing it to alter the class schedule or the nature of some activities?"
- "Am I paying too much attention to what these students are doing wrong, and missing what they are doing right?"
- "Does the misbehaviour tend to occur at the same time of day or in the same circumstances?"
- "Are other students present, and if so is it usually the same ones?"
- "Does the misbehaviour seem to be directed toward a particular goal? Is the student trying to accomplish something such as getting attention or avoiding a particular task?"
Consider using consequences
Sometimes, no amount of manipulation of the environment or the antecedents of the behaviour is effective, and it is too difficult to eliminate whatever is reinforcing the behaviour (e.g., attention from the peer group). At this point, a consequence (i.e. punishment) will need to be considered. It will be most effective if it's logical (e.g., if you can't work quietly in a group, you'll have to work with the teacher or alone), and applied under the rules laid out earlier.
With young adolescents age 13-14, one effective consequence usually involves "time out". Time out should mean time away from the reinforcement of being a part of the class with the peer group, and would therefore involve exclusion from the room. Whenever possible this should be done in a way that is subtle and helps the student preserve dignity in the eyes of his or her peers. This not easy, but will help to avoid a "grandstanding" reaction where the student uses the situation to impress the class with his or her attitude and rebelliousness.
Everyday approaches
Each day should begin with a clean slate. This will help prevent the student from being discouraged by having to overcome "yesterday's baggage". It can also help you determine if the consequence has altered the behaviour or not. If it has, then you have the opportunity to reinforce the good behaviour and make it more likely to prevail.
Effective teachers need to move about the room constantly, observing while they teach. Interaction with the students has to be ongoing and spontaneous, but it also has to be somewhat planned. This can help ensure that all students get attention and positive feedback for the things they do well, including behaving appropriately, following rules, completing work, interacting positively with others, and being helpful. Students who are having difficulty behaving appropriately require particularly close observation, so that any positive efforts they make will be "caught" and somehow reinforced.
Maintaining a well-ordered classroom can be exhausting but highly important work. But some students might still show a tendency to defy the teacher, break rules, have tantrums, and generally fail to comply. When this kind of behaviour becomes intense, frequent and long-lasting, it moves into the Yellow Light Zone and the teacher will need to consider providing more intensive behavioural support.
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When young adolescent students exhibit behaviour that's serious, worrisome and doesn't respond to the general strategies described above, the next steps require a more structured approach to observing and analyzing behaviour, and to manipulating the consequences that follow targeted behaviours. Most teachers have not been trained in doing this, so planning and practice will be key. As well, seeking support, such as that of a colleague in the school, would go a long way toward ensuring success.
Developing a clear plan is well worth the investment of time and effort. Students whose behaviour is in the yellow light zone are already monopolizing a good deal of your time and energy in the classroom. A more structured approach probably won't take more time, but will simply help you be more organized and deliberate with the time you are already investing in trying to control the misbehaviour. By doing so, you may be able to prevent a student from falling into far more serious behavioural difficulties that could ultimately result in dropping out of school or even incarceration.
1. Observe the student and document the behaviour
Begin by listing observed behaviours that are frequently troublesome. This is a crucial step and needs to be done right. One key is to define the behaviours in a specific, observable way. It isn't useful to use a vague description such as "disrupting the class" or "misbehaving". A target behaviour has to be described in such a way that anyone coming into the classroom off the street could see it and recognize it. Examples of useful behavioural descriptors might be:
- pushes or pokes other students
- fails to complete assignments
- talks when should be working
- refuses to put art materials away
- fails to comply with a teacher request within 3 seconds after the teacher repeats the request
- gets out of seat during seat-work time
- disturbs other students by talking to them while they are working
- calls out answers instead of raising hand
- teases other students, calls them names and uses other "put downs"
It might take a few days to carefully compile such a list just through observation.
2. Count how often these behaviours occur
Begin with those behaviours that you feel are the most disruptive and the most frequent. Try putting five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. It can help to have another adult such as a colleague or volunteer carry out this step from a seat at the back of the room, but that's not essential.
This counting phase should continue for about two weeks to ensure that you get a good continuous sample of behaviour over time. It's not necessary to count for every minute of every day. In fact, 5 or 6 observation periods per day, each no more than 10 minutes long, should do. Make sure to sample as many different time periods as possible, especially those where misbehaviour seems to be frequent.
Sometimes, this period of intense observation of a student actually pays unexpected dividends. For example:
- Teachers might discover patterns involving the time of day, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour, that weren't apparent with more casual observation.
- Sometimes, the teacher realizes that he or she has chosen the wrong behaviour to observe, or even the wrong student!
- Sometimes, the student notices that he or she is being observed, and actually begins to change as a result. This might be due to concerns about being "caught" or due to a sense of getting attention, or due to some other reason, but whatever the reason it's advisable to push on with the program.
3. Pick target behaviours to work on
There are guidelines for this selection process:
- start small - pick only one or two behaviours to work on initially so that the program doesn't fall under its own weight within the first week;
- choose behaviours that are troublesome enough to be worth working on, but not so serious that they demand significant consequences beyond the classroom, such as suspension;
- pick behaviours that are clearly defined and very easily observed even by anyone who walked in off the street;
- choose behaviours that are discrete, with a clear beginning and end, so that they can be easily counted;
- choose behaviours that occur often, at least several times per day, since infrequent misbehaviours tend to take longer to overcome.
4. Determine how appropriate behaviour might be rewarded
The best reinforcers to use with children in early adolescence are informal and social rewards such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, and praise.
5. Consider negative consequences or punishments
These should be used rarely if ever, but it's absolutely essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of negative consequences and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
The most common punishments for children in early adolescence include:
- exclusion, (sending the student back to his or her seat, into the hall or down to the office)
- loss of privileges such as participation in an activity
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward
Note that aversive consequences such as yelling, scolding, and shaming are considered unprofessional and are ineffective in the long term. As well, they create unwanted side effects such as anger, resentment and anxiety that can interfere with the child's long-term emotional development.
6. Formulate the plan
This involves putting together a written description of how the teacher intends to:
- observe and count the targeted behaviours,
- deliver rewards and/or punishments (including descriptions of what those will be)
- chart results and share the outcomes.
It is important that the plan be discussed with the school principal and the parents, as well as the student, and this should be done at a stage where the plan is in draft form so that these key people can have input.
Involve the student
The contribution of the student in this age range is often surprisingly helpful. Talk it through with the student. It's very important that the student understands that this program is being implemented because the target behaviours are interfering with his or her progress, and/or the progress of the other students. Obviously, the focus should be on helping the student, and he or she should feel a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being "done to".
The student must have a full understanding of the program including the specific behaviours that will be rewarded or punished, and how these consequences will work, whether it's removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to earn ten minutes of free time.
Accentuate the positive
Build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Even when the targeted behaviours are inappropriate or unacceptable, the plan should specifically include ways to reward the opposite, desired behaviour.
For example, if a targeted behaviour is "refusing to put away art supplies", the program should reinforce any behaviour directed at putting away art supplies. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in full view but in a very subtle way, puts check marks on a page each time the student picks up, puts away or cleans a piece of equipment. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and quietly making positive comments following compliant behaviours, and simply ignoring noncompliant behaviour.
Important to Note:
- Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. This assumes however, that the student is capable of doing the work.
- Keep it flexible. The plan should be a dynamic document that changes as the student's behaviour improves. When first training a new behaviour, you need to try to provide reinforcement each and every time an appropriate behaviour is observed. As the behaviour becomes more frequent and ingrained, it's more powerful to reward appropriate behaviour intermittently. This sounds complex, but in fact is quite a natural flow over time.
- Be discreet. With adolescents, public praise or attention might actually be counter-productive due to the negative peer attention it can attract. Teacher praise and attention are still powerful reinforcement for these students, but perhaps best delivered in a low-key manner.
Overlook the small stuff: Given the seriously defiant and disruptive nature of the targeted noncompliant behaviours, it will likely be necessary to simply ignore less serious misbehaviour during the initial stages of the program. Otherwise you risk being in a constant disciplinary mode that would quickly discourage the child and the teacher.
7. Implement the plan
Be consistent, persistent, and vigilant
In the first few days, consistency, persistence and vigilance are the most critical factors. It's ideal to have some help in the classroom, since it's so important that the student gets rewarded a lot and punished only rarely. Expect a range of reactions from the student, including testing and bargaining, but before long the program should be working fairly smoothly. It is vitally important that you continue to count the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as incompatible appropriate behaviours. If these can be charted or graphed by you or the student it increases the power of the program.
Dealing with other students
A complication that sometimes arises with the use of concrete rewards is that the other students will notice that something is going on and react with anything from curiosity to jealousy. Some may want to know why they can't participate and share in the rewards. Usually, these kinds of issues can be dealt with in private conversations discussing the need to help the targeted student. Most of the other students will be satisfied with this, since they likely are aware that the targeted student is a disruptive force in the classroom.
On occasion, the easiest solution may be to include the entire class in the program, usually using a form of "group contingency", or rewarding behaviour by groupings.
Group contingencies can be quite effective, and are usually no more work than a program focused on an individual student. They can work in several ways, but the two most common are with groupings within the class or using the entire class as one group.
Groupings within the class
Divide the class into groups and keep track of behaviours of the groups at various preplanned times of day. The rewards are then given to the group members, and you get the added benefit of peer pressure to succeed and get the reinforcer. It's important that the groups are formed strategically by the teacher, so that students who misbehave a lot (and are often drawn to one another), don't end up in the same group and sabotage its performance. The teacher may have to work hard to see that all the groups share in the rewards.
Entire class as one group
You may already do this. For example, you may say that if everyone finishes their work by a certain time, the class will get some kind of reward. You get the benefit of peer pressure as the students exhort one another to be productive so they all can enjoy the reward.
Important to Note: Document everything
Documentation is important for a number of reasons:
- it demonstrates that you are aware there is a problem;
- it provides a clear, concrete description of the problem;
- it records your observations as a professional teacher;
- it provides a vehicle for sharing your observations with administrators, parents and consultants;
- it can be a framework for planning appropriate interventions;
- it prevents needless and unhelpful repetition of strategies that were unsuccessful;
- it provides a record of the supports that have been provided for the student.
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When a young adolescent's defiance and misbehaviour is severe enough to be clearly in the Red Light Zone, the teacher will very often require classroom assistance to manage the situation until the student can get professional help. Acquiring such assistance can be a long, drawn-out process. In the meantime, you will need to control the misbehaviour to whatever degree possible, and you will need a written management plan.
In the plan you should document:
- your observations,
- the exact nature of the young person's misbehaviour,
- when and where it occurred,
- who else was present,
- the strategies that have been applied (successfully and unsuccessfully).
Not only is keeping records a hallmark of good planning, but clear will notes often be required in order to access board and community resources.
Most school systems have extensive "safe schools" policies, codes of behaviour and disciplinary procedures, which should all be consulted.
To attempt to control red light behaviour, you will need to apply a focused, structured approach to manipulating the consequences (both positive and negative) that follow targeted behaviours. Most teachers have not been trained to do this, so planning and practice will be key. As well, significant support from a colleague or administrator in the school will be essential.
1. Collect data
Begin by listing observed behaviours that are seriously disruptive. This is a crucial step and needs to be done right. One key is to define the behaviours in a specific, observable way. It isn't useful to use a vague description such as "disrupting the class" or "being defiant". A behaviour has to be described in clear, concrete language. Examples of ways to describe seriously disruptive behaviours include:
- strikes other students
- intimidates or threatens other students
- has violent temper outbursts that stop class activity
- speaks to teacher rudely or makes veiled threats
- directly refuses to comply with teacher requests/directives
- vandalizes school property, or that of the teacher or other students
- leaves school property without appropriate permission
- refuses to complete assigned work
2. Count how often these behaviour occur
List five or six behaviours on a page on a small clipboard, and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. It is helpful if another adult, colleague or volunteer, can do this from a seat at the back of the room, since these behaviours will usually require immediate intervention by the teacher.
Sometimes the student notices that he or she is being observed, and actually improves as a result. This might be due to concerns about being "caught" or due to a sense of getting attention, or due to some other reason. Whatever the reason, it's paramount to push on with the program.
The process of counting behaviours is important. Without this data, initial improvements (which are likely to be slight), might be missed. This period of intense observation of a student may also reveal patterns involving the time of day, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour, that weren't otherwise apparent. This information can be useful later.
Unlike yellow light behaviours, red light behaviours are usually not very frequent during any single day. Counting can confirm whether this is the case. If the behaviours are infrequent, the teacher can work on several seriously defiant and/or disruptive behaviours, rather than just one or two.
3. Determine how good behaviour might be rewarded for this student
For children in early adolescence, use informal and social rewards such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, and praise.
4. Consider negative consequences or punishments
With red light behaviour, punishments will likely have to be used frequently at first. It is essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of negative consequences and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
Common punishments used with young adolescents include:
- exclusion (sending the student back to his or her seat, into the hall or down to the office),
- notes or phone calls to parents,
- suspension,
- loss of privileges such as recess or participation in an activity,
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward.
Aversive consequences such as yelling, scolding, and shaming are considered unprofessional, and are ineffective in the long term as they do not teach adaptive skills or alternative behaviours. As well, they create unwanted side effects such as anger, resentment and anxiety that can interfere with academic engagement and the long-term emotional development of the student.
5. Formulate the plan
Put together a written description of how you intend to document the targeted behaviours and deliver rewards and/or punishments. It is absolutely essential that the plan be discussed and formulated in partnership with the school administrators and that the parents and the student are informed and have a chance for input.
Involve the student
Involvement of the student at this age level is very important. It's crucial that the student understands why the program is being implemented: because the misbehaviour is interfering with his or her progress and the progress of the other students. Talk it through with the student, with the focus on helping the student. He or she should feel like a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being "done to". The participation of older students can often be surprisingly helpful.
For a full understanding of the program, the student must know which specific behaviours will have consequences and how the consequences will work, whether it's removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to get ten minutes of free time. Simple programs are best, since complex strategies are more difficult to implement and can become discouraging.
Accentuate the positive
It is important to build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Even when the targeted behaviours are negative, the plan should specifically include reinforcement of behaviour that is incompatible with the misbehaviour. For example, if the student is "refusing to follow teacher direction", the program should ensure that compliant behaviour is reinforced as frequently as possible. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in a subtle way obvious to the student, puts check marks on a page each time the child responds to direction appropriately. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and quietly making positive comments following compliant behaviours.
Important to Note:
- Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good idea. This assumes that the student is capable of doing the work.
- Given the seriously defiant and disruptive nature of the targeted behaviours, it will likely be necessary to simply ignore less serious misbehaviour during the initial stages of the program. Otherwise you risk being in a constant disciplinary mode that would quickly discourage both you and the student.
- Always keep in mind the importance of the peer group to adolescent students. Some programs can harness that peer influence in a positive way, but peer influence is often negative and needs to be minimized as much as possible.
6. Implement the program
Be consistent, persistent, and vigilant
In the first few days, consistency, persistence and vigilance are the most important factors. You will require help in the classroom, since it's so important that the student gets rewarded a lot and punished infrequently. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing, temper tantrums and so on, which might well persist for some time. It is vitally important that you continue to count the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as incompatible appropriate behaviours, and if these can be charted or graphed by the student on a daily basis it increases the power of the program.
Bring in outside help when possible
Students exhibiting red light behaviour are unlikely to be "cured" by the use of these structured programs, without some form of outside counseling or therapy being provided as well. The likelihood of that happening varies with location, resource availability, home situation, and many other factors. Nonetheless, teachers must attempt to provide programs that will improve behaviour and maintain the student's chances for success.
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In adolescence, normal day-to-day occurrences of defiance, rule breaking, and arguing tend to be common, peer driven, and usually just annoying. To some extent, they are rooted in the continuing need for independence typical of this stage of development, so students will question, explore challenges and assert themselves. There is great temptation to simply ignore the majority of these, and often that’s not a bad idea. However, constant ignoring without an overall plan for discouraging this behaviour is very likely to result in escalation of such defiance. Therefore even with this “Green Light” level of defiance, a preventative, targeted approach is recommended.
Tips for everyday training to help prevent this behaviour:
- At the beginning of the school year, review classroom rules and behavioural expectations. Discussion and input can be encouraged, but the final result should be clear rules that must be followed. The rules in your class do not need to be the same as in any other teacher’s class, but they should be reasonable given the age and maturity level of the students. Repeat the rules often throughout the day to the entire class, especially when rule violations occur.
- Early in the school year, review expectations regarding acceptable communication skills. Clearly and simply define expectations regarding disagreeing with the teacher or other adults, and the appropriate way to do so politely rather than arguing. Repeat these expectations often, especially when violations occur.
- Focus on the rule. Don’t focus too much attention on students who violate a rule, since that might inadvertently reinforce the misbehaviour.
- Frequently note everyday instances of polite communication, and subtly reward that behaviour with eye contact, smiles, and positive comments (both public and private).
- Take note of instances where a student obeys rules, promptly follows directions, or takes issue with a teacher request in an appropriate, polite manner, and subtly reward that with positive feedback.
- Remember that positive comments and praise are usually more effective with adolescents if done privately, to avoid negative peer reactions, especially in the early part of this age range.
- The combination of ignoring inappropriate behaviour while rewarding appropriate behaviour should be an automatic, ongoing, second nature kind of thing. With practice it can be highly effective.
Observe, monitor and encourage
Teachers need to develop really good skills of observation and monitoring. Look for the early signs of defiant behaviour, or signs that a particular student might not be getting much in the way of positive feedback, then target that student for praise and encouragement whenever appropriate. At this point, the teacher must make a conscious decision to alter his or her own behaviour in order to influence the behaviour of these at risk students, by looking extra hard for any opportunities for positive contact.
Calmly correct
If the defiance, rule breaking or arguing can’t be ignored, the initial reaction should be a private conversation to calmly point out the problem to the student and have him or her acknowledge that class rules are being violated. Indicate that such behaviour will not be tolerated. This kind of correction strategy can be used only once or twice, then if the behaviour continues you know there must be some kind of reinforcement involved.
Determine what is reinforcing and maintaining the misbehaviour.
Questions to consider:
- “Since behaviour is influenced by its antecedents (what has come before), is something triggering the noncompliance such as the onset of a particular activity or event? If so, does the student have a problem with these activities?”
- “Since behaviour that’s occurring frequently must be getting rewarded, can I figure out what is rewarding these behaviours?”
- “Since adolescents are extremely peer focused, are other students rewarding the rule breaking/defiance/arguing in some way?”
- “Are other students present, and if so is it usually the same ones?”
- “Am I rewarding the behaviour by allowing it to alter the class schedule, the nature of some activities, or my expectations of the student?”
- “Am I paying too much attention to this student’s rule breaking, defiance or argumentativeness, and missing what he or she is doing well?”
- “Does the behaviour tend to occur only in my class or are other teachers having similar problems with this student?”
- “Does the behaviour seem to be goal directed? That is, is the student trying to accomplish something such as getting attention or avoiding a particular task?”
The importance of good observation skills,positive verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as strong self-awareness, cannot be overemphasized.
An example
We’re trying to discover the antecedents (what has come before) that trigger the rule breaking, defiance or arguing, as well as the reinforcement (what comes after) that is maintaining it, and then somehow alter them. For example, a student might be defiant mainly in math class. One possibility then is that the student is having difficulty with the academic demands in math. The misbehaviour might reliably produce a long, drawn out confrontation with the teacher, followed by a one-on-one discussion about behaving better, which in the end allows the student to spend far less time on math.
The best course of action would be first to determine the student’s ability to handle the math curriculum. If he or she is struggling to follow the math lessons, the solution would involve academic support. If the student can handle the math, but is avoiding it for other reasons, such as conflict with the other students in the math class, a dislike of the math teacher, or boredom, the approach to take would vary accordingly. It’s important to ensure that the misbehaviour does not accomplish its goal of avoiding math.
Consider negative consequences
Sometimes, manipulating whatever came before the behaviour makes no difference, or it is too difficult to eliminate whatever is reinforcing the behaviour (e.g. attention from the peer group). At this point a negative consequence (punishment) will need to be considered. With adolescents, one effective consequence usually involves “time out”, which really means time away from the reinforcement of being a part of the class with the peer group. Therefore, time out should mean exclusion from the room to avoid continuing attention from the peer group. Whenever possible this should be done in a way that is subtle and helps the student preserve dignity in the eyes of his or her peers. This is not easy, but will help to avoid a “grandstanding” reaction where the student uses the situation to impress the class with his or her attitude and rebelliousness.
Begin each day with a clean slate
This will help ensure that the student isn’t discouraged by having to overcome “yesterday’s baggage”, and can help you determine if the consequence has altered the behaviour or not. If it has, then you have the opportunity to reinforce the good behaviour and make it more likely to prevail.
Applying the strategies
The techniques described above are pretty simple, but that does not mean that they are easy to apply. Effective teachers need to:
- be fairly high energy
- move about the room constantly
- observe while they teach.
- catch and reinforce any positive efforts
- interact with the students in an ongoing and spontaneous manner, but
- also plan to ensure that all students get attention and positive feedback for the things they do well, including following directions, completing work, interacting positively with others, being helpful.
Maintaining a well-ordered classroom can be exhausting but highly important work. But some students might still show a tendency to defy the teacher, have tantrums, engage in power struggles and generally fail to comply. When this kind of behaviour becomes intense, frequent and long-lasting, it moves into the Yellow Light zone and the teacher will need to consider providing more intensive behavioural support.
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A focused behaviour management plan
When adolescent students exhibit behaviour that’s serious, worrisome and doesn’t respond to the general strategies described above, the next steps require a more structured approach to observing and analyzing behaviour, and to manipulating the consequences that follow targeted behaviours. Seeking support, such as that of a colleague in the school, would go a long way toward ensuring success. In most High School settings there are Guidance Teachers available to assist with student difficulties, and this might be a source of support for a subject teacher coping with defiant behaviour. The following steps will guide the teacher and support person through the approach to take.
1. Observe the student and collect data
List observed defiant behaviours that are frequently troublesome. Define the behaviours in a specific, observable way. A target behaviour has to be described in such a way that anyone coming into the classroom off the street could see it and recognize it.
Useful behavioural descriptors might be:
- refuses to complete assignments
- talks when should be working
- refuses to put art materials away
- fails to comply with a teacher request within 3 seconds after the teacher repeats the request
- argues with the teacher for more than one minute when given a direction
- ignores teacher when class is told to get out math books
- calls out answers instead of raising hand
- never completes homework
- demands that teacher justify rules
It might take a few days to carefully compile such a list just through observation.
2. Count how often these defiant behaviours occur
Put five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. Another adult such as a colleague or volunteer might be better able to carry out this step from a seat at the back of the room, but that’s not essential.
This counting phase should continue for about two weeks to ensure that you get a good continuous sample of behaviour over time. It’s not necessary to count every minute of every class. In fact, 2 to 4 observation periods per day, each no more than 10 minutes long, should do. Make sure you sample as many different points in the timetable as possible, especially those where noncompliance seems to be frequent.
3. Pick target behaviours to work on
Guidelines for this selection process:
- start small - pick only one or two behaviours to work on initially
- choose behaviours that are troublesome enough to be worth working on, but not so serious that they demand significant consequences beyond the classroom, such as suspension
- pick behaviours that are clearly defined and very easily observed even by anyone who walked in off the street
- choose behaviours that are discrete, with a clear beginning and end, so that they can be easily counted
- choose behaviours that occur often, at least several times per day, since infrequent misbehaviours tend to take longer to overcome
4. Determine how appropriate behaviour might be rewarded
In the Green Light area, rewards were informal and social, such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, praise. But in the Yellow Light zone, we are likely dealing with students who haven’t responded to these. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. It simply means we may have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Common examples that teachers use with this age student include:
- school supplies (pens, pencils, markers)
- positive notes to parents
- nutritious treats
- restaurant coupons
- free time or time on the computer
- choice of work group
- permission to move seat
- permission to listen to music.
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Another common approach is to use points or checkmarks which act as a reward or reinforcer because they can be “cashed in” at the end of a predetermined period for prizes such as those listed above. But some experts suggest that the best prizes can be determined by either asking the student, or observing what he or she tends to do when given free time.
5. Think about negative consequences or punishments
This is something that we hope will be used rarely if ever, but it’s absolutely essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of negative consequences and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
The most common punishments include:
- being moved to seat closer to the teacher and/or isolated from peers
- exclusion, (sending the student back to his/her seat, into the hall or down to the office)
- loss of privileges such as participation in an activity or field trip
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward
- negative notes to parents.
6. Formulate the plan.
This is a written description of how you intend to observe the targeted behaviours, count them, deliver rewards and/or punishments and what those will be, chart results and share the outcomes. It is important to discuss the plan with the school principal, the Guidance Teacher (if involved) and the parents* as well as the student, and this should be done at a stage where the plan is in draft form so that these key people can have input.
*Important to Note: In some jurisdictions students in this age range, particularly those over 16, have legal rights to privacy that preclude school staff from sharing information with parents unless the student agrees. This issue should be thoroughly discussed with the school administrator early on in this process to avoid inadvertently violating these rights.At the same time, other legislation may require the reporting of certain inappropriate or dangerous behaviour to school or community authorities, and students need to be informed of this in conjunction with discussions of their rights to privacy.
Involve the student
The contribution of the student in this age range is essential. It’s very important for the student to understand that this program is being put in place because the rule breaking, defiance and arguing are interfering with his or her progress, and/or the progress of the other students. Obviously, the focus should be on helping the student, and he or she should feel a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being “done to”.
The student must have a full understanding of the program including the specific behaviours that will be rewarded or punished, and how these consequences will work, whether it’s removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to earn ten minutes of free time.
Accentuate the positive
In formulating the plan, it’s important to build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Even when the targeted behaviours are inappropriate or unacceptable, the plan should specifically include the reinforcement of desired behaviour that is opposite to or incompatible with the targets. In practice, this might mean that the teacher, in full view but in a very subtle way, puts check marks on a page each time the student complies. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and quietly making positive comments following compliant behaviours, and simply ignoring non-targeted defiant behaviour.
Important to Note:
· Reward academic achievement
Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. With these older adolescents, the reinforcers for completed work might include marks, though this should never be the main tool for controlling behaviour, and the teacher should be completely confident that the student is capable of doing the work.
· Keep it flexible
The plan should be a dynamic document that changes as the student’s behaviour improves. Keep in mind that when first training a new behaviour, you need to try to provide reinforcement each and every time an appropriate behaviour is observed. As the behaviour becomes more frequent and ingrained however, it’s more powerful to reward appropriate behaviour at some times and not others (intermittently). This sounds complex, but in fact is quite a natural flow over time.
· Be discreet
With these adolescent students, public praise or attention is often counter-productive due to the negative peer attention it can attract. Teacher praise and attention are still powerful reinforcements for these students, but perhaps mainly when delivered in a low-key manner or in private.
7. Implement the plan
Be consistent, persistent and vigilant
If you can have some help in the classroom in the first few days, all the better, since it’s so important that very little is missed and the student gets rewarded a lot and punished only rarely. Expect a range of reactions from the student, including testing and bargaining, but before long the program should be working fairly smoothly. Also expect that progress will not be steady or continuous. Behaviour tends to improve in a “choppy” fashion, with two steps forward and one step back, so again, it’s important to persist with the program even when there appear to be setbacks.
It is vitally important that you continue to count the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as opposite or incompatible appropriate behaviours, and if these can be charted or graphed by you or the student it increases the power of the program.
Important to Note: Document everything.
Documentation is important:
- it demonstrates that you are aware there is a problem and tried to do something about it
- it provides a clear, concrete description of the problem
- it records your observations as a professional teacher
- it provides a vehicle for sharing your observations with administrators, parents and consultants
- it can be a framework for planning appropriate interventions
- it prevents needless and unhelpful repetition of strategies that were unsuccessful
- it provides a record of the supports that have been provided for the student.
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When adolescent students exhibit defiant behaviour such as noncompliance, rule breaking or arguing that is so severe as to be clearly in our Red Light zone, the teacher will likely require assistance in the classroom to manage the situation until the child can get professional help. Acquiring such assistance can be a long, drawn-out process. In the meantime, it will be necessary for the teacher to control the behaviour to whatever degree possible, and a written management plan will be essential.
The plan should include written documentation of:
- your observations
- the exact nature of the student’s rule breaking/defiant/argumentative behaviour
- when and where it occurred
- who else was present
- the strategies which have been applied (successfully and unsuccessfully).
Most school systems have extensive "safe schools" policies, codes of behaviour and disciplinary procedures which should all be consulted.
To attempt to control Red Light behaviour, a structured approach to manipulating the consequences (both positive and negative) that follow targeted behaviours will need to be rigorously applied. Significant support from a colleague such as a guidance teacher or administrator will be essential.
1. Collect data
The teacher should begin by listing observed behaviours that are seriously defiant. One key is to define the behaviours in a specific, observable way in clear, concrete language. Examples of descriptors of seriously defiant behaviour include:
- has violent temper outbursts that stop class activity
- speaks to teacher rudely
- ignores teacher directives
- directly refuses to comply with teacher requests/directives
- leaves school property without appropriate permission
- refuses to complete assigned work
- ignores classroom rules regarding talking, leaving one’s seat, etc.
- argues for more than one minute when disciplined
- demands that teacher justify rules
Sometimes it’s helpful to cluster observed behaviours into categories such as:
- interaction with peers
- interaction with teachers
- academic work
- behaviour in the halls
- free time behaviour.
2. Count how often these behaviours occur
Put five or six of them on a page on a small clipboard and carry it around with you, recording a check mark beside each whenever you see it occur. Another adult such as a guidance teacher, other colleague or volunteer will be better able to carry out this step from a seat at the back of the room, since these behaviours will usually require immediate intervention by the teacher.
The process of counting behaviours is important, since without this data initial improvements (which are likely to be slight), might be missed. As well, this period of intense observation of a student may reveal that there are patterns involving the point within the timetable, social context or academic context for a misbehaviour, that weren’t otherwise apparent. This information can be useful later.
3. Pick target behaviours to work on
Guidelines for this selection process:
- choose behaviours that are serious, but not so serious that they demand significant consequences beyond the classroom, such as suspension
- pick behaviours that are clearly defined and very easily observed even by anyone who walked in off the street
- choose behaviours that are discrete, with a clear beginning and end, so that they can be easily counted
- Unlike Yellow Light behaviours, Red Light behaviours are usually not all that frequent during any one class. As a result, rather than selecting one or two behaviours to work on, the teacher can in fact work on several behaviours that can be classified as seriously defiant.
4. Determine how appropriate behaviour might be rewarded
Preferred rewards in the Green and Yellow light areas have been informal and social, such as eye contact, smiles, positive comments, praise. But in the Red Light zone, we are dealing with students who haven’t responded to these, and whose misbehaviour is far more serious. This does not mean that we should stop using these informal social reinforcers. It simply means we may have to increase their power by pairing them with something more concrete.
Common examples that teachers use all the time with this age range of students include:
- school supplies (pens, pencils, markers)
- permission to listen to music while working
- positive notes to parents
- nutritious treats
- restaurant coupons
- free time or time on the computer
- permission to change work groups
- permission to move seat.
Another common approach is to use points or checkmarks which act as a reward or reinforcer because they can be “cashed in” at the end of a predetermined period for prizes such as those listed above. This type of “token economy” may well prove necessary, at least initially, for a program to be effective with these serious misbehaviours.
5. Think about negative consequences or punishments
Common punishments used with adolescents include:
- exclusion (sending the student back to his/her seat, into the hall or down to the office)
- moving to a less preferred seat or work group
- notes or phone calls to parents
- suspension
- loss of privileges such as participation in an activity or field trip
- loss of points or tokens being accumulated toward a reward.
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With Red Light behaviour, punishments will likely have to be used frequently in the initial stages, so it’s essential that the teacher is prepared beforehand with an array of negative consequences and a thoughtful plan for when and how they will be used.
6. Formulate the plan
The plan is a written description of how you intend to document the targeted behaviours and deliver rewards and/or punishments. It is absolutely essential to discuss and develop the plan in partnership with the school administrators and any guidance teacher involved, and that the parents* and the student are fully informed and have a chance for input.
*Important to Note: In some jurisdictions students in this age range, particularly those over 16, have legal rights to privacy that preclude school staff from sharing information with parents unless the student agrees. This issue should be thoroughly discussed with the school administrator early on in this process to avoid inadvertently violating these rights. At the same time, other legislation may require the reporting of certain inappropriate or dangerous behaviour to school or community authorities, and students need to be informed of this in conjunction with discussions of their rights to privacy.
Involve the student
The involvement of the student at this age level is very important. It’s crucial that the student understands that the program is being implemented because the misbehaviour is interfering with his or her progress, and the progress of the other students. Obviously, the focus should be on helping the student, and he or she should feel like a valued partner in the process, rather than the person this is being “done to”. With these adolescent students, their participation in the planning phase is essential.
The student must have a full understanding of the program including the specific behaviours that will be trigger negative or positive consequences, and how the consequences will work, whether it’s removal from the class or accumulating checkmarks to get ten minutes of free time. Simple programs are preferable, since complex strategies are more difficult to implement and can become discouraging.
Accentuate the positive
In formulating the plan, it’s important to build in as much positive reinforcement as possible. Even when the targeted behaviours are negative, the plan should specifically include the reinforcement of desired behaviour that is the opposite of, or incompatible with the targets. In practice this might mean that the teacher, in a subtle way obvious to the student, puts check marks on a page each time the child responds to direction appropriately. Assuming the check marks are important to the student, watching these accumulate should be motivating and eventually result in more of this desired behaviour. But equally important, while recording checkmarks the teacher is smiling and quietly making positive comments following compliant behaviours.
Important to Note:
· Reward academic achievement
Doing academic work is incompatible with virtually all unacceptable behaviours. Offering a complete, structured menu of reinforcers for various degrees of completed work is always a good program component to consider. With these older adolescents, the reinforcers for completed work might include marks, though this should never be the main tool for controlling behaviour, and the teacher should be completely confident that the student is capable of doing the work.
· Overlook the small stuff
Given the seriously defiant and disruptive nature of the targeted behaviours, it will likely be necessary to simply ignore less serious or nontargeted misbehaviour during the initial stages of the program. Otherwise you risk being in a constant disciplinary mode that would quickly discourage the student and the teacher.
· Be discreet
With adolescent students, the importance of the peer group must always be kept in mind. Some programs can harness that peer influence in a positive way, but very often the influence is negative and needs to be minimized as much as possible.
7. Implement the plan
Be consistent, persistent and vigilant
You will require help in the classroom in the first few days, since it’s so important that the student gets rewarded a lot and punished infrequently. Expect a range of reactions from the child, including testing, extreme anger and so on, which might well persist for some time. It is vitally important that you continue to count the behaviours that have been targeted, as well as incompatible appropriate behaviours, and if these can be charted or graphed by the student on a daily basis it increases the power of the program.
Use outside resources where possible
Students exhibiting Red Light behaviour are unlikely to be “cured” by the use of programs such as described above, without some form of outside counseling or therapy being provided as well. The likelihood of that happening varies with location, resource availability, home situation, and many other factors. Nonetheless, the teacher must attempt to provide programs that will improve behaviour and maintain the student’s chances for success.
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