Positive Pupil Management and Motivation

A Secondary Teacher's Guide

Eddie McNamara

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781134113774
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Educación general

First Published in 2000. In 1988 a major inquiry into the difficulties in managing adolescent behaviour was instigated by the Government under the chairmanship of Lord Elton. The report, known as the Elton Report on Discipline in Schools was published in 1989. At dissemination conferences the view was put forward that to aim to totally eliminate problematic pupils was unrealistic - a more realistic aim was to 'marginalise' the problem(s) i.e. to have effective school systems in place to respond to pupil misbehaviour so that problems of pupil discipline could be handled comfortably and not dominate the school's agenda. Starting with the findings of the Elton Report this book explores the identified causes of problem behaviour: emotional disturbance, home background, classroom factors and school system factors and then offers practical advice on how to manage them.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Difficult to manage adolescent behaviour is not a new phenomenon. Problems of youth have been of concern since early in man’s history. For example Socrates wrote:

Children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority. They show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise: children are now tyrants not servants of their households.

Some authorities believe that challenging behaviour can be viewed as a characteristic of adolescence and that it is normal and to be expected. In 1988 a major inquiry into the subject was instigated by the Government under the chairmanship of Lord Elton. The report, known as the Elton Report on Discipline in Schools was published in 1989. At dissemination conferences the view was put forward that to aim to totally eliminate problematic pupils was unrealistic – a more realistic aim was to ‘marginalise’ the problem(s), i.e. to have effective school systems in place to respond to pupil misbehaviour so that problems of pupil discipline could be handled comfortably and not dominate the school’s agenda.

The findings of the Elton Report can be summarised as follows:

•  the causes of pupil problem behaviour are multiple and diverse; and consequently,

•  the possible responses to such behaviour can be multiple and diverse.

This summary position is taken as the starting point for this book.

The identified causes of problem behaviour may:

•  be predominantly within the child (e.g. emotional disturbance);

•  be attributed to home background and neighbourhood factors (e.g. family stress);

•  be due to classroom factors (e.g. seating arrangements, teacher management style);

•  be contributed to by school system factors and management decisions (e.g. room allocation, incentive and sanction systems).

Frequently factors contributing to pupil problem behaviour reside in more than one of these four areas and may be interactive in nature. A model to represent this is presented in Figure 1.1.

Home background factors can be responded to by accommodation, compensation or communication. For example, the absence of suitable conditions for completing coursework at home can be accommodated or compensated for by allowing pupils to study in the school library before start of school, during lunchtime and after school. ‘Disinterested’ parents can be encouraged by efficient friendly communications from the school.

Figure 1.1 Contributory factors to problem behaviour

Pupil factors can also be responded to in a variety of ways. For example, if pupils are disruptive because of a lack of social skills then social skills groupwork could be included in the personal and social education (PSE) curriculum; if a pupil is emotionally disturbed then pastoral counselling or counselling from support service personnel may be arranged; if solvent abuse is a problem then liaison with the community drugs team is required.

Thus while some of the contributory factors cannot be directly influenced or controlled by teachers (e.g. family stress), some factors can be directly controlled (e.g. by school policies and classroom management practices).

The most efficient use of teachers’ skills and time is achieved by directing it at those factors over which they have most control and therefore can have most influence. These factors predominantly reside in the two boxes on the right hand side of the model in Figure 1.1 (McNamara 1990). Therefore in addition to an assessment of the nature of the pupil’s problem behaviour, an assessment of context factors (i.e. within classroom and within school system factors) is a necessary prerequisite for a comprehensive assessment of problem behaviour in the school situation. This emphasis upon classroom and school system factors should not be interpreted as under-emphasising the significance of within pupil factors and family background factors but merely as an effective approach to the management of pupil behaviour which addresses in the first instance those contributory factors over which teachers have most direct control – for it is often a manipulation of context factors which constitutes the intervention of first choice.

THE SCHOOL

Schools are complex systems and require effective management. This management can be viewed as operating at three levels, and for the management of pupil behaviour the levels can be described as:

Level 1: Whole-School pupil management policies and practices.

Level 2: Classroom management policies and practices.

Level 3: Individual pupil management policies and practices.

These levels are represented diagrammatically in Figure 1.2. Integrated, consistent, monitored and evaluated pupil management policies, permeating from level 1 through level 2 to level 3, are the hallmarks of the effective school.

Sometimes assessment of pupil behaviour at level 3 reveals policy or practice shortcomings at level 2 and/or level 1. If level 2 and/or level 1 policy or practice shortcomings or deficits contribute to level 3 problems, then to restrict the intervention to level 3 would at best resolve a problem for the time being but not contribute to a preventive approach – achieved by intervening at level 2 and/or level 1. Intervention at levels 1 or 2 would reduce the probability of similar problems occurring in the future. At worst, not addressing level 2 or level 1 contributory factors to level 3 problems is to accept a status quo that should not be accepted: in the extreme it could result in the consequences of school management shortcomings being erroneously interpreted as ‘pupil problems’. The following two examples are of level 3 ‘problems’ which are more appropriately addressed at level 2 or level 1.

Figure 1.2 ‘Levels’ of intervention

Problem pupil behaviour more appropriately addressed at level 2 (classroom)

Kevin was referred to a Behaviour Support Team because of disruptive behaviour in class. Classroom observation data (Jolly and McNamara 1992) revealed that Kevin’s level of on-task behaviour was very similar to the class average. Kevin was on task for an average of 65 per cent of the time and the class average was 69 per cent. Scrutiny of the data also revealed that five pupils in the teaching group were on task for less time than Kevin.

This data supported the Behaviour Support Team members’ judgement that a whole class (level 2) intervention was more appropriate than a level 1 (individual pupil) intervention.

Problem pupil behaviour more appropriately addressed at level 1 (school policy)
Class 10.8, the eighth set of an eight class year group, was referred to a Behaviour Support Team because of disruptive behaviour during English lessons. Classroom observation (narrative account) revealed that in a number of lessons the task was for each pupil to read aloud in turn from their personal copy of Lord of the Flies. The text was assessed for Readability Level and this was found to be in the range 14.0 years to 14 years 10 months. The reading competence of the pupils was assessed and found to range from 9 years 3 months to 12 years 11 months with the average being 12 years 3 months (London Reading Test).

The Behaviour Support Team members did not recommend a classroom pupil management programme: it was suggested that the English Department review the pupil–curriculum demand ‘match’ and that the teaching methodology be reviewed. This response is level 1 (school policy) and can be viewed as a preventive response.

The chapters that follow contain descriptions of strategies for the management of problem pupil behaviour. The strategies are presented at the levels of:

•  whole class interventions

•  individual pupil interventions.

Implicit in the rationale of intervention are the assumptions that (a) for each level of problem analysis, consideration has been given to whether ‘higher level’ factors contribute to the presenting problems, and, if so, (b) that the identified higher level contributory factors have been addressed.

CHAPTER 2

Classroom management

The aims of this chapter are to:

• Illustrate the place of classroom management within a whole school approach to pupil management.

• Describe the theory of pupil management.

• In the context of pupil management, describe the need for

– rules of the classroom

– pupil involvement

– feedback to pupils

– responses to inappropriate behaviour

– evaluative statements.

The interventions described have been implemented successfully in schools and therefore have ‘chalk face’ validity. However the interventions have even greater power and utility when the rationale underlying them is explicit and understood. When this is the case the user has greater flexibility and diversity of approach, as appreciation of the principles that generate the interventions creates the potential for many different management interventions to be generated. This consideration is the reason for presenting the rationale underlying the intervention, i.e. why the management practices are suggested and why they ‘work’.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT – THE THEORY

Antecedents–Behaviour–Consequences (A-B-C)

The A-B-C statement of the relationship between behaviour and its antecedents and consequences is central to the analysis and management of pupil behaviour.

The A-B-C model is used to generate classroom management interventions. The model is the central conceptual statement of the relationship of behaviour (B) to the environment. Environmental factors can be sorted into those which precede the behaviour, the antecedents (A) and those which follow the behaviour, the consequences (C). The ‘laws’ of behaviour underpinning this model are:

• Behaviour is influenced by its consequences – the B-C dimension. Behaviour which is followed by something nice, positive reinforcement, increases in frequency. Behaviour which is followed by something not nice, punishment, is suppressed. Behaviour which has its reinforcer withdrawn is extinguished.

• To change behaviour by positive reinforcement requires the behaviour to be reinforced immediately, frequently and consistently.

• To maintain behaviour at a high frequency requires the behaviour to be reinforced intermittently.

Antecedents

The probability of behaviour occurring is influenced by its antecedents – the A-B dimension. In education settings the antecedents to behaviour can be considered under four headings:

• Stimulus conditions – the immediate precursors to pupil behaviour (e.g. teacher–pupil interaction).

• Setting factors (e.g. desk arrangements, publicly posted rules).

• Curriculum (e.g. content, structure and delivery).

• Organisational factors (e.g. incentive and sanctions systems, mixed ability/streamed classes). See Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 The relationship of Antecedents to behaviour in the classroom

Behaviour

The main concern of teachers when faced with the management of a difficult pupil or class of pupils is the actual behaviour of the pupil(s). Consequently the focus of the concern is pupil behaviour – the B of the A-B-C model.

Consequences

Behaviour is influenced by its consequences. Teacher response to pupil behaviour is a significant consequence of pupil behaviour in classroom situations, i. e. teacher response to pupil behaviour is a powerful determinant of that behaviour. There are a range of teacher responses, both verbal and non-verbal, which can influence pupil behaviour – the most significant being:

• teacher praise (positive feedback)

• teacher criticism (negative feedback) in response to pupil appropriate/inappropriate social and academic behaviour.

In summary, in addition to consequences, the other major determinants of behaviour are the immediate antecedents of the behaviour, i.e. what ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Classroom management
• 3 On-report: a positive approach
• 4 Behavioural contracts
• 5 Pupil self-management
• 6 Anxiety management: the troubled student
• 7 Tackling disaffection and apathy
• References
• Index