Behaviour Expert Academy Circular. How can you interpret and pre-empt behaviour?

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1 Behaviour Expert Academy Circular (for teachers, teaching assistants and LSAs who are serious about becoming super-successful behaviour managers) E: Inside this month: How can you interpret and pre-empt behaviour? Win, Manage or Survive? Peel back the layers of behaviour, like an onion. The outer, tougher skins will belie the softer and sweeter layers beneath. Winning isn t the ultimate prize.. In my experience, most people lack the ability to discern what is truly important and what is not. In fact I ll take it a stage further and say that most people are so weak at this that they deal with anything and everyone at random. Pre-empting is an easily learnt skill When you learn what the triggers are, behaviour issues are easier to reduce. Make some changes to set a different tone. Your Report Card You ve got checklists to fill in and you have to sign yourself off when the deeds have been done. The consequences of an act affect the probability of its occurring again. B. F. Skinner

2 Interpreting behaviour Sometimes it s just not clear why some behaviours present themselves in the classroom (or elsewhere, for that matter). Certainly, if you are faced with new scenarios on a regular basis, you will be building up a catalogue of experiences on which to draw. It might seem easy, then, to assume that you ll be able to interpret understand more about the behaviour than you believe. For example, somebody new to teaching or supporting would perhaps find it challenging if a student refused to comply with a request. They may have an empty toolkit at that point because it s not a set of circumstances which they may have encountered before. On the other hand, if you are an experienced teacher or mentor, you will have seen it all before and this is where your interpretation of the situation will come into play. But understanding why the behaviour is taking place, and how to change it, will become part of a process that you can implement easily.

3 You ll ask yourself these questions: Why are they refusing? Is it that they won t do what I ask? o Do I need to win this battle? o Does the student need to win this battle? Is it that they can t do what I ask? o Is the work too hard? o Does the student have a pen? Sometimes the answers to these questions aren t clear. But rather than assume anything, give yourself a moment to take stock. (I have met students who would rather be punished for not doing their work than be ranted at for not bringing a pen again.) Your next step can set a pattern of future behaviour that you may not like. Skinner Operant Conditioning In 1938 a behavioural psychologist B.F. Skinner coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing behaviour by the use of reinforcement, to increase the probability of a behaviour being repeated. When you have the desired response, you reinforce it. This is broken into several sub-classes, including positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

4 Positive Reinforcement Positive reinforcement works by providing a motivating incentive to the person after they behave in the way you d like them to, which makes the behaviour more likely to happen in the future. For example: A mother gives her son praise (positive incentive) for doing homework The boy receives 5.00 (positive incentive) for every good report at parents evening So you ll often hear of teachers ignoring the negative behaviour and praising the positive behaviour. If you look back over your own experiences you might be able to recall a time when you tried out some behaviours and learnt whether they ended well (or not!). An example in one of the articles from Skinner:... if when you were younger you tried smoking at school, and the consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with, you would have been positively reinforced (i.e. rewarded) and would be likely to repeat the behaviour (ie carry on smoking). If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught, caned, suspended from school and your parents became involved you would most certainly have been punished, and you would consequently be much less likely to smoke now. So, reinforcement strengthens the behaviour and makes it likely that a person will behave that way again. Another example in the article says:

5 Positive reinforcement strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence which an individual will find rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you 5 each time you complete your homework (i.e. a reward) you are more likely to continue to complete your homework in the future. Negative reinforcement Similarly, behaviour can also be improved (or strengthened) by removing an unpleasant experience. This is what Skinner described as Negative Reinforcement. Negative reinforcement means that something already existing is taken away as a result of a particular behaviour. It is said that the behaviour which led to the removal will increase in the future, particularly if it created a favourable outcome! It should not be seen as punishment. For example: The teenager washes the dishes (behaviour) in order to avoid his mother nagging (negative stimulus). In the morning, the student leaves home early in order to avoid getting stuck in traffic and being late for class. An example of negative reinforcement: if you do not complete your homework you give your teacher 5 (the bad experience). So you will be more inclined to complete your homework to avoid the bad experience (paying 5), thus strengthening the behaviour of completing your homework. Negative punishment is different: this is where a young person might be grounded or banned from attending a popular party (for example).

6 Task 1 Here are some examples of common classroom situations: Example 1 Jake doesn t want to do the work but his teachers keep trying to get him to pick up his pen and do it. In the classroom, if he s given work that he can t do, he will disrupt and annoy others until he is sent out of class. Example 2 Donna is a reluctant student and turns up late to class. Her teacher sends her away. Example 3 Stephen uses his phone throughout the lesson even though he s been asked not to. Nobody stops him. Example 4 Bryony has completed her work and handed it in on time. Her teacher gives her a big smile, Well done and a grade A. Decide whether these examples are positive or negative reinforcers, and why. What could be a better approach? Task 2 Take five minutes to think of a scenario in your class which is negatively reinforced. Write down: What is the behaviour How is it negatively reinforced? What could you do to positively reinforce it?

7 Pre-empting behaviours pre-empt priˈɛmpt/ verb present participle: pre-empting take action in order to prevent (an anticipated event) happening; forestall. "the government pre-empted a coup attempt" Preventative measures or revenge? Here s a short video about What Great Teachers do Differently: Quick thinking turns disaster into success There will undoubtedly be times when you have to think on your feet. You re only human! But knowing what are the short term triggers for behaviour issues is a great start to being able to pre-empt some episodes Short term triggers of poor behaviour: Boredom Lack of skills to complete a specific task Perceptions of injustice Not being listened to Failure to understand an instruction Having personal possessions taken or destroyed Being shouted at Tiredness Being bullied Extracts from DfES publications 2005: Creating conditions for learning: Unit 20: Classroom Management

8 I m a firm believer in pre-empting behaviour in class. Strangely, in spite of many years as the Behaviour Lady, this does not mean that I like confrontation or enjoy dealing with poor classroom behaviour. So looking at some items on this list of 9 short term triggers, here are some ways to prevent the behaviour: Boredom Eliminate boredom by breaking your lessons into manageable chunks. It s dreary for students to arrive at class, sit down, and get on with their assignments. Give students a pleasant surprise with lesson openings that engage, and that they don t want to miss. Mix up your activities in lesson - too much teacher talk is hard to endure for some students and use group work and movement at least once. Lack of skills to complete a specific task A common mindset is that we believe that all students know how to learn particularly in Key Stages 3 and 4. It s a reasonable assumption, considering that they ve been in education for many years. But this is not so, some students find it difficult to be independent learners and their thought processes may be slow or their ability to recall a series of instructions is limited. As a preventative measure, create instructions or checklists for specific tasks. Make them available to everyone. Encourage the use of them.

9 Perceptions of Injustice Why are you picking on me or That s not fair are frequently said. These comments should be considered as a defence mechanism, borne out of feelings of humiliation and embarrassment. This also has a similar outcome if a student feels overlooked. To prevent perceptions of injustice, ensure you have behavioural guidelines for dealing with different scenarios and/or infringements, created in a discussion with your students. But of absolute importance is your rigid and consistent adherence to those guidelines. If someone can use their phone today, surely they can also use it tomorrow...? There s more to this... I have some teacher techniques to share with you, ways to respond to low-level off-task behaviour. All will be revealed in the webinar, so don t miss it!

10 Webinar During the webinar we look more at positive and negative reinforcement, further tips for preempting the triggers for short term behaviour issues, and how to embed this in our dealings with students. Use headphones if you can, but obviously if you have sound/ speakers this is not an issue. Webinars should not last longer than 30 minutes. That s it for this month Here s your checklist: Viewed Webinar Read the online article Watched the video

11 Responding to low level off-task behaviour Teacher Techniques Details Choice Gives students some control over a situation and less likely to initiate point-blank refusal. Examples include: I want you to get on with your work or (consequences) it s your choice. Are you choosing not to follow my instruction? or Sit over here or next to Peter (implicit choice) Take-up time Allows students not to lose face. Watching and waiting is, in a way, issuing a challenge. We need to be clear and confident about expressing expectations. Follow an instruction with a pause to allow students time to comply. Examples include: Could you open your book and start work now Jane. I m going to see Stephen who needs some help but I ll come back in a minute if you need any. Partial agreement Deflects confrontation with students by acknowledging concerns, feelings and actions. Examples include: Yes you may have been talking about your work but I would like you to... Yes, it may not seem fair but... When-then direction Avoids the negative by expressing the situation positively. Examples include: it is better to say When you have finished your work, then you can go out than No, you cannot go out because you have not finished your work. Tactical ignoring May be appropriate for attention-seeking behaviour. This could be an example of secondary behaviour, so try to focus on the primary behaviour by concentrating on the student and not the behaviour. Ignore the target student but praise the nearby student. If target student changes their behaviour, praise them. Redirect behaviour Reminds the students what they should be doing and avoids getting involved in discussion about what the students are doing wrong. It may be possible to focus their attention on the required task. Examples include: OK Maria and Mark, we re looking at the section on page 23. Consequences and sanctions Needs to be in line with school/college policy and be implemented clearly and consistently. Examples include: Remember the rule Phil, if you are late for lessons you need to [ ] or you will receive [ ]. Deferred consequences Deals later with a student who is misbehaving and therefore removes the audience the rest of the class who are watching the drama unfold. It also avoids a possible confrontation. Dealing with a student in a one-to-one situation is more likely to have a positive outcome. Examples include: I d like to sort this out Amy, but we can t do it now. I will talk with you at