In “Calm Down or Else,” (15 July 2008) Benedict Carey reports about a possible increase in the use of restraints, seclusion, and other physically coercive methods to manage disruptive behavior.
For more than a decade, parents of children with developmental and psychiatric problems have pushed to gain more access to mainstream schools and classrooms for their sons and daughters. One unfortunate result, some experts say, is schools’ increasing use of precisely the sort of practices families hoped to avoid by steering clear of institutionalized settings: takedowns, isolation rooms, restraining chairs with straps, and worse.
Continue reading ‘Unrestrained management’
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Over on Teachers at Risk Elona Hartjes has a post worth a read. In “Strategies for dealing with kids who get physcially aggressive with teachers- Part 1- Establishing the classroom climate,” Ms. Hartjes explains the value of creating a positive environment with adolescents, including establishing rules (though she prefers to call them “agreements”). Read the entire post.
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Gregory Fabiano and colleagues report about a non-experimental analysis of the effects of a group contingency on children’s behavior in school cafeteria. Pretty interesting. Worthy of systematic study.
Behavior Modification, Vol. 32, No. 1, 121-132 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0145445507308577
© 2008 SAGE Publications
A Group Contingency Program to Improve the Behavior of Elementary School Students in a Cafeteria
Gregory A. Fabiano, William E. Pelham, JR, Karen Karmazin, Joanne Kreher, Carlos J. Panahon, Carl Carlson
Studies of behavior modification interventions for disruptive behavior in schools have generally focused on classroom behavior with less research directed toward child behavior in other school settings (e.g., cafeterias). The present report documents the effect of a group contingency intervention with a random reward component, targeting disruptive cafeteria behavior. An uncontrolled study of the effect of the group contingency program across the school year suggested substantial behavior improvement after the program started. Two natural treatment discontinuations during the same school year provide further support for the intervention. Both sources of information suggest behavioral improvement in rule-following behavior when the program was actively implemented.
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I teach a class for people who want to be teachers. It’s about teaching teacher-wannabes how to teach their students appropriate classroom behavior. I don’t have the chance to coach them, so I search for means to make the ideas I present memorable to them.
I refer to songs that I hope emphasize and make memorable some critical perspectives (”rules”)about teaching. Here are a few:
- Rule 1: Accentuate the Positive (teachers too often get sucked into hassling and busting kids; if teachers provide positive support when students are behaving pro-socially, there’ll be many fewer needs to intervene aversively);
- Rule 2: Before you Accuse me (usually, when things go wrong in classrooms, teachers should examine their own behavior rather than implicating their student’s intentions, wills, parents, or genes;
- Rule 3: [No song yet; idea: Never make a decision based on on data point, individual events and actions are influenced by myriad factors and open to myriad intrepretations.]
- Rule 4: Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow (teachers are the adults in classrooms and should remember that their actions will have longer-term effects [an idea that's not yet familiar to their students], so teachers should remember to take the longer view; there’s little percentage in demanding immediate compliance for students.)
I play different performers’ interpretations of these songs during class.
I’d like to hear whether these ideas are good ones and whether the songs will help teachers remember them.
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Time out (TO) is a procedure for decreasing behavior (i.e., a punishment procedure). To be used effectively, it must be used very judiciously and with great fidelity. The following story illustrates how not to use TO.
Autistic Child’s Parents Concerned Over 3-Hour School Time-Out: District, Agency Appeals
DES MOINES, Iowa — Parents of an 8-year-old autistic girl, who attended a Waukee elementary school, want changes made in time-out policies after their daughter was shut in an empty room for three hours.
Doug and Eva Loeffler said they were shocked after viewing a videotape of their daughter, Isabel, who had wet her pants and was struggling to obey the rules so she would be freed from isolation.
Read different versions of the Associated Press story:
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