The problem
“Schools must begin to accept responsibility for those kids who find school
difficult, gain no personal satisfaction from it and who often see no purpose
in it. The constant truants, the school resisters, the early school leavers,
the un-teachables, may, or may not, however have a range of out-of-school
problems but their behaviour in schools reflects more than anything a
rejection of the school as an institution. Solutions to these problems must
be found within schools.”
Campbell and Colley
The causes
“Whether a child becomes disruptive in school depends on a complex
interaction in which the pupil, his/her family, the neighbourhood in which
he/she lives, and the school, all make a contribution.”
Galloway
What are the solutions?
Many teachers are confronted by classroom behaviour which seriously
affects productive learning. What is required is some degree of behaviour
change in some students.
There are many approaches to behaviour changes, stimulated by a variety of
theoretical orientations. Some approaches attempt to identify causes of
behavioural disturbance and direct treatment accordingly. Although this
seems to be a logical procedure it is fraught with problems in its
implementation.
Because disruptive behaviour is the result of a complex interaction of
factors, it is difficult to isolate specific critical causes. Even if this were
possible, it is likely that many of these causes would be inaccessible to
teacher control.
Another difficulty with these approaches is the problem of application in the
classroom setting in terms of:
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The duration of treatment in the classroom.
The availability of support professionals.
The suitability of the type of interaction required by the teacher with
the student.
For the classroom teacher it is more beneficial to take a pragmatic approach
and identify strategies to promote appropriate behaviour, and hence facilitate
a better classroom climate and productive learning environment.
This should not imply that there is a recipe that will solve all major problems.
There are many strategies to solve classroom management problems.
Different strategies have different associated benefits and difficulties.
Factors which should be considered are:
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The length of time the strategy will need to operate before the desired
effect is observed.
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The practicality of the strategy in the classroom situation in terms of
time, space and other pupils.
Undesirable side effects which may be associated with the strategy.
The degree of teacher stress involved in implementing the strategy.
The selection and implementation any strategy involves careful planning.
There are no simple solutions to complex problems
Resource aims
It is intended that this series of booklets will assist teachers in:
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Designing classroom organisation procedures which minimise
behavioural problems
Developing a specific behaviour management programme for a
seriously disruptive student
Implementation of aims
Information is provided which:
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Outlines some research-based guidelines for strategies which are
successful in achieving good classroom discipline
Indicate some methods which will permit teachers to plan and
evaluate their own behaviour management programmes
Booklet one: solving discipline problems in the classroom
Booklet two: student motivation in perspective
This booklet examines student motivation as a critical factor in classroom
management. The following areas are discussed:
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The effects on achievement motivation of family attitudes, peer group
pressures, student success and curriculum relevance
The way in which inter-personal relationships in the classroom are
affected by: family attitudes, students’ past experiences, peer group
influences and teacher management techniques
The extent to which school can control student motivation
Booklets three and four
This part of the resource examines the factors that contribute to classroom
disharmony and suggest ways in which this may be prevented or minimised.
Suggestions outlined in this material should be successful in solving
approximately 90% of management problems due to disruptive student
behaviour. This material is a pre-requisite to the booklets 5 to 9.
Booklet three: preventing disruptive behaviour: physical organisation
and learning activities
Physical organisation
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The way in which the furniture and resources are organized.
The positioning of the students.
The positioning of the teacher.
Learning activities
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The appropriateness of the level of activities given to the students
The degree to which the activities will facilitate classroom
management in terms of:
o Format.
o Length and variety.
The presentation of the activities.
Self-evaluation checklists are provided at the conclusion of this booklet.
Booklet four: preventing disruptive behaviour: setting and
maintaining behaviour expectations
This booklet examines the development and implementation of classroom
rules. Specific discussion issues discussed are:
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The areas in which the rules are required
The formulation of rules with respect to:
o Who determines the rules?
o What format the rule should take?
The way in which the rules will be communicated to students
The procedures by which rules can be maintained.
Self-evaluation checklists are provided at the conclusion of this booklet.
Booklets 5 to 9: designing a management programme for the
disruptive student
Booklet five, stage one: programme prerequisites and determining
objectives
This booklet outlines:
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The conditions are should be met before considering the adoption of a
systematic behaviour management programme.
The ways teachers can isolate, define and measure problem
behaviours.
Criteria to be considered when selecting an initial objective.
Booklet six, stage two: increasing appropriate behaviour
This booklet examines the concept of using reinforcers to increase
appropriate behaviour. Suggestions to the following questions are offered:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What can a teacher use as a reinforcer?
What are the special properties of the various reinforcers?
How should the reinforcers be used?
How can the teacher ‘fade out’ the reinforcer?
What are some problems with using reinforcers?
Booklet seven, stage three: decreasing inappropriate behaviour
This booklet suggests strategies for dealing directly with inappropriate
behaviour. Advantages and disadvantages of the following strategies are
outlined:
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Altering the classroom situation to minimize the inappropriate
behaviour.
Ignoring inappropriate behaviour.
Distracting the students’ attention from the situation that is
prompting the inappropriate behaviours.
Making negative consequences contingent on the inappropriate
behaviour.
Booklet eight, stage four: putting your program together
This booklet;
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Examines some aspect of programme planning and implementation
o Who should be involved in the programme with regard to:
 Getting active support?
 Giving advice?
o Who should monitor the programme?
o When will you need to change the programme?
Gives an example of the programme in action.
Provides a series of checklists to guide the teacher in developing a
behaviour management programme for disruptive student.
It is intended to draw attention to the critical decisions must be made if a
program is to operate effectively.