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The Claim

Most student misbehaviors cannot be untaught or changed.

The Facts

Within the field of education, it is generally agreed upon that students enter the classroom with various background experiences. This includes all of the things they have learned at home, in previous classrooms, from their peer groups, and from other environmental influences such as television, movies, and the Internet. Many teachers are faced with teaching in classrooms in which students bring numerous experiences, both good and bad, into the instructional arena, making academic instruction even more difficult. These experiences affect not only academic performance, but also behavioral function as well. Often, teachers feel helpless in dealing with these behavior problems, as it is the belief that children are the product of the experiences they bring into the classroom, and there is little that can be done to change it. Our last discussion on behavior management addressed ways in which teachers can influence student behavior before the students even walk through the classroom door. In this discussion, we will present ideas on how teachers can teach appropriate behaviors to replace the misbehaviors that prevent instruction from occurring. Patricia Barbetta, Kathleen Leong Norona, and David Picard provide some useful strategies for dealing with common misbehaviors.

First and foremost, teachers need to develop clear definitions for student behaviors based on the function of the behavior. In order to develop good behavioral strategies, it is important to determine what the student is gaining from the misbehavior. How many times have you asked yourself, “Why did he/she do that?” If you ask students this question, they often will tell you they don’t know. Once you’ve ruled out a medical or diagnosable reason for the misbehavior (hyperactivity or psychological disorder) you can easily determine the cause of the misbehavior. Misbehaviors usually occur for one of two reasons: to get something or to avoid something. Once you determine what it is the student is seeking or avoiding, you can develop a strategy to help the student get what they want, while still meeting the academic and behavioral expectations of the classroom. Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) charts are commonly used to help teachers collect the “data” they need to determine the function of the behavior. Teachers can easily become data collectors within their own classrooms by creating one of these ABC charts. They are easily found on the internet, along with the instructions on how to fill it out. For an example, see this ABC chart (opens in PDF) from Special Connections at the University of Kansas.

Second, once you’ve decided on an approach or strategy, if it is not working, try another method. For too long, we attempt strategies that work on other children hoping it will work with everyone. Students are different, as their behavioral challenges are different, so sometimes we need to try various strategies until one works. You can tell an approach is not working when the behavior remains unchanged. Keep working at different strategies or reinforcers until you discover the one thing that brings about the positive changes you are looking for. Additionally, our first instinct is to provide negative consequences for misbehavior when we should instead increase praise for appropriate behaviors. Teacher praise is one of the most powerful elements in your classroom management arsenal, and it is free and very easy to apply.

Finally, it is important to determine if the misbehavior you are trying to correct is the result of a skill the student does not have in their repertoire. Behaviors can be classified as can’t dos or won’t dos. Does the student possess the ability to perform the appropriate behavior but chooses not to (won’t do), or does he/she not have the knowledge of the skill and needs to be taught the skill explicitly (can’t do). In the case of won’t do behaviors, reinforce the student in question, and any other student in the classroom each time the behavior is exhibited appropriately. In the case of can’t do behaviors, you will have to teach the skill much like you teach academics.

1. First, model the appropriate behavior you want the student to exhibit.
2. Second, provide opportunities to practice with feedback.
3. Next, provide the context for the student to try out the skill, and then finally, “test” the skill by observing the student’s use of the skill. Although this seems time consuming, this type of behavioral instruction will enable teachers to play a more proactive role in classroom management than simply applying negative consequences each time the misbehavior occurs.

Conclusion

This week’s claim is fiction. Teachers can systematically change student behavior with the right practice. The key to changing student behavior first deals with understanding the cause of the behavior. Once the cause of the behavior is established, teachers can strategically approach the problem with a form of behavior management as mentioned above. Although frustrating and time consuming, teachers should not look at student misbehavior as a road block to classroom management and instruction. Instead I offer that it should be seen simply as a detour. Although the detour takes you a little longer and might be somewhat inconvenient, with a little patience and proper guidance, in the end you will still reach your final destination.