Challenging behaviors in the classroom are difficult to manage as a teacher. Knowing that a child is unhappy in the classroom, causing them to act out, is unsettling to the classroom’s environment. It impacts not only the challenging student, but also their peers and school staff. Getting the child back on track is the only way to re-establish harmony and safety and ensure a happy learning atmosphere for everyone.
As teachers, we could all use a little advice to enhance our own ability to deal with these types of situations. Let’s explore a hypothetical situation, along with guidance from John Watson’s theories about Behaviorism, to discover how we can keep our classroom under control and help students with challenging behavior be more successful.
Let’s take a look at Tommy – a 5 year old boy who is struggling in the Kindergarten classroom. Tommy’s challenging behaviors include:
Often being off task
Trouble staying focused
Roaming around the classroom and playing with toys
Disrupting his peers
Not completing assigned work
These behaviors are really starting to affect Tommy’s learning. He is quickly falling behind his peers in terms of writing, coloring, reading, and other crucial developmental stages. He does not absorb information from lessons or activities because he is rarely participating. It is becoming so severe that his teacher is even considering recommending he repeats Kindergarten.
His behaviors are also impacting the class. Students lose focus when he wanders around and talks to them, or divert their attention to him while he plays with toys during lessons. The teacher spends a significant amount of time attempting to bring Tommy back into the lesson or punish him for his behavior. This takes away from time the teacher should be spending on lessons and other important aspects of the class, causing the other children to miss out too. The teacher is feeling stressed and it is beginning to diminish the quality of their teaching.
Now, let’s analyze different ways we can address this behavior and create a plan to get Tommy back on track for learning and participation!
The obvious goal for Tommy is to have him participating actively in class so he can catch up to his peers. If he is engaged, he will no longer be distracting his classmates and taking the teacher’s focus and energy away from the group.
Some specific goals for Tommy to strive for include:
Staying on task and focused throughout the day’s activities and routines
Not roaming around the classroom and disrupting the teacher and his peers
Completing assigned work while absorbing information to promote his success
Learning from his environment as well as from the teacher and his classmates
Redirecting his attention towards activities that will benefit his learning in the short and long term, so he is able to graduate Kindergarten
We can use ideas from Behavioral Psychology to gain insights on what the teacher can do to improve this difficult situation. John Watson’s theory of Behaviorism states that we learn behaviors through the way we interact with our environment.
Our behavior is a conditioned response to stimuli we are presented with in different environments (Mcleod, 2017). If we take this idea and apply it to the classroom, the teacher can create an environment that inspires Tommy to actively participate and enjoy school again. By changing Tommy’s environment, we can change his feelings and behaviors too (Behaviorism, n.d.-b).
Some ways we can manipulate the classroom environment in an attempt to prevent Tommy’s challenging behaviors, while promoting more appropriate behaviors include:
Limiting attention given when he is misbehaving so as not to reinforce the unwanted behavior
Quickly and with limited attention, interrupt and redirect him to an alternative behavior
Positively reinforce a nearby child who is currently engaged in the desired behavior
The teacher should devote the majority of their time to endorsing appropriate behaviors to the entire class (Strain et al., 2017)
In Tommy’s case, the teacher can design the environment in such a way it entices him to become active during lessons and activities. Intentionally setting up parts of the classroom with things he enjoys will lure him towards participation without him even realizing it. We know Tommy excels in math and has a great number sense. Designing a math corner in the classroom could be something that creates excitement for him to partake in. Since he spends a lot of time picking up toys, he may be a kinesthetic learner.
Math activities with kinesthetic learners in mind could include:
Cards and dice for reviewing mathematical equations
Manipulatives that children can hold in their hands to help them with math equations, like blocks or number lines
Physical objects like fruit that can be cut to teach fractions
Board games that help practice equations like Tic-Tac-Toe or number Bingo
Play money to learn math in real-life situations (Dinh, 2019)
The website SCIENCING contains a wealth of resources and is full of creative ideas for teachers to incorporate math in their classroom catering to kinesthetic learners.
Behaviorists also believe that using a system of rewards and punishments in the classroom will condition students to behave appropriately. With good behavior, students will receive a reward to condition them to do it again. A punishment for bad behavior will discourage them from repeating it (Behaviorism, n.d.-b). Students learn through constant reinforcement that tells them if what they are doing is right or wrong (Greenwood, 2020).
According to Watson, instead of directing negative attention to Tommy’s misbehaving, the teacher can redirect focus to something else. If Tommy is playing with a certain toy during a lesson, the teacher can substitute something for him to play with that relates to the subject being taught.
When Tommy or other children are partaking in the desired classroom behavior, the teacher should draw a lot of focus to it by:
Positively reinforcing the behavior verbally with specific feedback
Rewarding the child with stickers or other prizes
Finding individualized language that Tommy reacts positively to and using it consistently (Strain et al., 2017)
Some positive incentives that can be provided for good behavior could be:
Positive behavior bulletin boards that highlight successful students each week
Prizes like stickers, small toys or treats, or a class reward system
Group rewards like a class pizza party for achieving good grades
Additional time to play a game the students love
A dance party on Fridays for reaching the week’s goals
This list from whatihavelearnedteaching.com is full of positive and creative ideas.
When Tommy is demonstrating the conduct the teacher expects, she can reward him by giving him extra responsibilities in the classroom to make him feel like a valued and important part of the class. If he is participating in a group activity with good behavior for an extended period of time, the teacher can give him a break to run an errand to the office. Maybe the pet turtle needs to be cleaned and Tommy is chosen to help. The class is being rewarded with a dance party, and Tommy can choose the song.
Often times the child acting out is in search of attention they are not receiving in other parts of their lives, such as from their parents, other family members, or friends. If their good behavior is recognized with positive attention, they will be incentivized to continue demonstrating similar actions.
Based on Behaviorist theories, negative consequences are also required to condition children to discontinue the unwanted behavior.
Some consequences that can be enforced if Tommy does not improve his behavior in order to reach his goals can include:
No access to toys he enjoys playing with during lesson times
Not allowed to participate in all or part of play time
Not taking part in group rewards like dance or pizza parties, unless he participates in daily activities with the group
Missing recess or sports time each day he does not participate
Finally, in order to really enforce the importance of positive behavior and participation at school in Tommy's mindset, we need to partner with his parents for help and support. If Tommy's family does not hold the belief that education is important and behavior at school reflects success, Tommy will also hold that opinion. If the rewards and consequences are not consistent, they will not make a long term impact.
The teacher can send a pamphlet to the parents with advice on how they can support Tommy at home and why it is so important.
It is also crucial that the parents understand the behavior that has been occurring and the impact it is having on Tommy, his peers, and the teacher. The teacher should set up a meeting with the parents to discuss a plan going forward that will help Tommy be more successful in the classroom. The teacher can show them direct examples of how he is not completing assigned tasks and may not be eligible to graduate Kindergarten. If the parents understand the extent of the issue, hopefully they will get on board with enforcing the plan at home.
The teacher should send weekly updates to the parents via email or their preferred method of communication. The teacher can focus on positive improvements and successes that happened that week, which will encourage Tommy and his parents to keep up their efforts. Completed work can be sent home so they can track his progress. Together, with stronger support and a bit of hard work, Tommy's performance can be turned around!
REFERENCES
4 Strategies for Your Behavior Toolkit. (2019, September 4). What I Have Learned Teaching. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.whatihavelearnedteaching.com/4-strategies-behavior-toolkit/?epik=dj0yJnU9V0oyNmowTGZfNVIzQmZnNEkxemQ1MjdPOU9NenpqQ1cmcD0wJm49YTIyN2g0X3E3c25xazFzeU9sTnhmQSZ0PUFBQUFBR0dWOEdV
Behaviorism. (n.d.-a). Learning Theories Resource Guide. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://psyc479.weebly.com/behaviorism.html
Behaviorism. (n.d.-b). Southern Illinois University. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.siue.edu/%7Eptheodo/foundations/behaviorism.html
Dinh, H. (2019, March 2). Math Activities for Kinesthetic Learners. Sciencing. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://sciencing.com/math-activities-kinesthetic-learners-12179525.html
Greenwood, B. (2020, February 13). What is Behaviourism and How to Use it in the Classroom? Satchel. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://blog.teamsatchel.com/what-is-behaviourism-and-how-to-use-it-in-the-classroom
Mcleod, S. (2017, February 5). Behaviorist Approach. Simply Psychology. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/behaviorism.html
Sprouts. (2020, April 30). Watson’s Theory of Behaviourism [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V09FuazW8bc&feature=youtu.be
Strain, P., Joseph, J., Hemmeter, M. L., Barton, E., & Fox, L. (2017, January). Tips for Responding to Challenging Behavior in Young Children. Pyramid Equity Project. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://challengingbehavior.cbcs.usf.edu/docs/PEP_Tips-responding-challenging-behavior.pdf
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