Challenging behaviour is something that all teachers have to deal with in their classroom at some point in time. It can be defined as “any repeated pattern of behaviour, or perception of behaviour, that interferes with or is at risk of interfering with optimal learning or engagement in prosocial interactions with peers and adults” (Powell, Dunlap, & Fox 2006, 26). But what can teachers do when such behaviour occurs in the early childhood classroom? Numerous theories related to childhood education and development could be applied when determining which course of action to take to tackle challenging behaviour. One such approach is the behaviourist B.F. Skinner's theory of 'Operant Conditioning'. This is based on the idea that children will continue a desirable behaviour if it is appropriately rewarded on a consistent basis, and also that they will avoid negative behaviours if they receive some sort of consequences when displaying such behaviours. Using a scenario from my own teaching experience, we will explore how such behaviour can be managed based on this approach.
The Scenario
In this section we will explore what the challenging behaviours are, how they are affecting the student, and how they are impacting the class.
The student in question has difficulties focusing in class and will often become quite distracted. He may sit and play with things on his table, or sit ripping pieces of paper out of his text book. He is a bright and capable child, however due to his inability to remain focused in class he often falls behind the other students and does not complete his class work. He is also at times quite distracting to the other students as he will often get out of his seat during class time and wonder around the classroom or shout across to students at the other side of the room. He has a good sense of humour and his classmates find him quite comical at times, therefore when he does misbehave, his classmates can find it somewhat entertaining. This further encourages the behaviour and makes it more difficult to calm the class down again. As he can be quite boisterous at times, there are occasions where other students in the class have been upset by his comments or his behaviour e.g. making jokes about classmates, touching classmates belongings etc. This has led to the other mothers forming a negative impression of the child and requesting that their child not be sat with him in class. Although the other students do find him entertaining, most of them do request to change seats after some time of being seated next to him. He is not an aggressive child and has not been involved in any physical altercations with the other students. He just struggles to follow classroom procedures and if the teacher does not check in with him regularly in class, he tends to just sit and play and not get his work done. When reminded to continue with his work he will often straight away just ask for help from the teacher, without even reading the question in front of him. He seems to lack motivation to learn and needs a lot more encouragement than some of the other students. This can mean that a lot of time is spent ensuring he is on task and keeping up with the class, which then limits the time available for the teacher to spend with other students who may be struggling also.
Strategies to increase engagement in classroom activities
From the above scenario the student's challenging behaviour can broadly be broken down into four categories; being off task, distracting behaviour, negative interactions with classmates, and lack of motivation. We will now explore how these behaviours can be addressed, appropriate goals that can be set for the student, and what positive incentives and consequences can be enforced based around the theory of 'Operant Conditioning'.
Challenging Behaviour | How to address this behaviour | Goals for the student | Positive incentives | Consequence |
Being off task | Offer consistent praise to students who are managing to remain on task and make it clear what the praise is for. This can be done initially as an indirect way of drawing the student's attention to the desired behaviour. The teacher should also ensure that items that can cause the student to lose focus are removed from the seating area of that student. | A goal could be set for the student to gradually increase their 'on task' time by a set number of minutes. | The child can be rewarded for their efforts by being given the opportunity to participate in a more 'fun' activity (e.g. a game, a song or a short video) if they are able to increase their 'on task time' by the specified amount. | If positive incentives are ineffective, the child will have to give up some of their 'fun' activity time to spend some time with the teacher one-to-one completing the activities they were unable to complete during class time because of being off task. |
Distracting others | The enforcing of rules relating to this behaviour must be consistent. If the teacher at times allows the students to shout across the classroom or walk around during class time, then this sends a message that this behaviour is ok and that the teacher does not really mean what they say. The behaviour should be pointed out and corrected each time it occurs. This could again initially be done by pointing out students who have managed to meet this goal and offer praise. | A goal could be set for the student to remain in their seat during class time and to use their indoor voice in the classroom. | The teacher can allocate a set number of points/stickers to be given to students who are able to remain in their seats and use their indoor voice during class time. These will be displayed on the reward chart for all students to see which would hopefully motivate the student to achieve this goal. | One consequence could simply be the refusal of points/stickers due to not meeting the expected behaviour standards. Another could be that if their behaviour continues to be a distraction to other students then that student will lose some of their 'free/play' time. |
Negative interactions with classmates | The student should be encouraged to think about how they would feel if someone had behaved in the same way to them. They should then be given a second chance to 'get it right' and replace the negative interaction with a positive one. | To consider others' feelings and think before we speak or act. | The class reward chart could be separated based on the different behaviours the teacher would like to work on. Therefore when the student does interact positively with classmates and acts in a considerate and caring manner, the teacher can offer both verbal praise and allocate points/stickers to that aspect of the reward chart. The student can also be made aware that when they have positive interactions with their classmates, they will be able to choose their own seat and who they sit next to in the following class. | If the behaviour continues then the student should be made aware that until they are able to interact positively with their classmates they will be unable to choose where and who they sit with. |
Lack of motivation | The teacher should try to find out what the student is interested in and try to cater the lessons a little more to the needs and interests of the students. The teacher could also keep a record of how the student responds to certain activities to find out which are most effective in increasing learner motivation. | A goal could be to complete a piece of work to the best of their ability, perhaps work that will go up on the display board so this can give them a sense of pride in their work. | Again, praise is important here. Whenever they show an interest in the lesson they should be praised for participating and also rewarded by being given more freedom to choose e.g. giving options when it comes to class tasks rather than specifying a specific way of completing it. | Incentives would most likely be more effective here than consequences, as if they are already feeling unmotivated to participate they are unlikely to feel more eager to participate after receiving some form of punishment. |
A final point to consider is how to communicate the plan and progress with the family. It is always important that parents are aware of what goes on in the classroom in regards to their child's behaviour and attitude to learning. The parents are an invaluable resource as they are able to fill in the gaps that teachers would otherwise be unaware of. For example, the apparent lack of motivation could be due to the fact that outside of school the student also attends numerous academies/cram schools and is simply burnt out from all the studying. By maintaining regular communication with the parents the teacher is able to identify possible causes for challenging behaviour and therefore is better able to identify suitable solutions to the problems. Rather than over focusing on the negative behaviour, it may be beneficial to emphasise the times that the student behaves well and completes their work to the best of their ability. By emphasising such occasions, this means the parents are also likely to comment on this to their children and mention how proud they are that they have been working hard in school. This extra praise from parents at home also acts as another reward for the behaviour and could encourage the child to maintain that behaviour going forward.
References:
Powell, Diane & Dunlap, Glen & Fox, Lise. (2006). Prevention and Intervention for the Challenging Behaviors of Toddlers and Preschoolers. Infants & Young Children. 19. 10.1097/00001163-200601000-00004.
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