¶ … Managing Supportive Learning Environments
Mode of Enrolment: ONC (Toowoomba) or WEB (Highlight one).
A central message from this advancement is that successful behaviour change requires identification of the events that predict and maintain problem behaviours. Historically, the problem behaviours have been seen as inherent in the child, behaviours which must be controlled and managed. The idea of support proactively focuses on prevention and educating students in different, more appropriate forms of behaviour. The challenge is to teach that poor behaviour goes beyond breaking rules and getting caught -- that it deprives others of their right to feel safe and respected, and to learn without distractions (Rogers, 2007). In practice, behaviour support involves "interventions that consider the contexts within which the behaviour occurs . . . that address the functionality of the problem behaviour . . . that can be justified by the outcomes . . . [and] that are acceptable to the individual, the family, and the supportive community" (Haring and De Vault 1996).
Implication 2: The other challenge to teachers is redesign of the environment and their own behaviour. It is much more difficult to see what is wrong with you and your methods than it is to see what is wrong with your students (Sugai, Horner, Dunlap, et al., 2000).
Question 2
1. The two most important things to establish are the rules of expected behaviour (and the disciplinary measures for breaking them) and the routines for efficient and respectful movement through the day (Rogers & McPherson, 2008).
2. I would add to this the idea of follow-through. When a teacher effectively establishes rules and routines, the children will expect them in the specified situations, and to omit them undermines the discipline you worked so hard to establish in the first place (Rogers, 2006).
Question 3
Negative outcome: According to Levin (2007), food, safety, belonging, and security are prerequisites for appropriate classroom behaviour (pg. 42). Belonging specifically is the feeling of being a welcome, worthwhile contributor. The degree of sense of school membership can inhibit or support academic participation (Goodenow, 1992). One consequence of not feeling a sense of community is the crippling fear of failure. Instead of risking failure, a student...
Then the teacher can draw on Gardner's (1983) multiple intelligences and alter his/her way of teaching a concept to suit the student's learning style. The teacher can also focus on past achievements and emphasize the value of hard work over success (Charles, 2002). There are two further ideas that Linda Albert suggests in Charles (2002) that I particularly like: accomplishment portfolios and talks about yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Students can have tangible evidence of what they're capable of and can see themselves progressing (pg. 73).
Question 4
Finding 1: An effective teacher would identify the lulls in disruptive behaviour and take advantage of them to encourage defiant students -- smother them with positive reinforcement and compassion. The longer you can maintain the calm phase, the better (Walker, 1995).
Finding 2: Secondly, a teacher would do well to examine their own teaching whenever encountering low level disruptive behaviour. It is neither fair nor reasonable to expect students to be engaged in the classroom if the instruction is not engaging. Teaching to the students' skill level and learning style, as well as incorporating their interests will go far toward grabbing their attention (Walker, 1995).
Question 5
1. Beginning of the lesson: The first thing a teacher can do to manage low-level disruptive behaviour is to establish a routine. Routines give a security to students with emotional problems, and previewing the daily routine at the beginning of each lesson will reorient problem students to safe expectations.
2. Group work: During group work, a teacher can take advantage of physical proximity to discourage off-task behaviour. The teacher can linger for as long as it takes for the student to focus without saying a single confrontational word.
3. Question & Answer session: During whole class discussions, a teacher can use a disruptive student's name -- whether by asking the student a question, to do something, or using the student's name in a scenario (Walker, 1995).…
