Disciplinary Interventions
Effective discipline requires effective school-based discipline procedures and classroom management. Most effective disciplinary strategies can generally fit into four broad categories:
1. Reinforcement - The timely recognition &/or rewarding (e.g., tangible recognition - concrete or symbolic, which can be individually administered and involve home contingencies, or it can be contingent on a group behavior) of an increase in pro social behavior &/or decrease/cessation of challenging behavior.
2. Punishment- The timely application of negative consequences (e.g., removal of tangible recognition, which can be individually administered and involve home contingencies, or it can be contingent on a group behavior) for occurrence of challenging behavior.
3. No immediate consequences, but may involve stimulus cueing - a reminder that an antecedent event, which usually results in a challenging behavior, is about to occur (e.g., transition, lunch, etc.) and the student should utilize certain strategies to prevent the challenging behavior.
4. A combination of reinforcement and punishment
In the implementation of disciplinary procedures, effective classroom management should maintain a positive focus with an array of techniques, such as:
a.
Emphasizing social reinforcement (e.g., teacher praise, feedback,
smiles, "thumbs up" gestures, & "good job" statements)
and concrete rewards for appropriate behavior, and decrease teacher attention
for inappropriate behavior. A rule of thumb is that teachers should utilize four
positive engagements for each negative interaction.
b.
Communicating high and positive expectations.
c.
Providing specific instruction to build alternative pro-social
responses and skills to replace inappropriate behavioral problems.
d.
Using behavior contracts to increase pro-social and decrease inappropriate
behavior (s). Remember that behavior
contracts must specify responsibilities and consequences for all involved,
including the teacher. Research
demonstrates that student involvement in developing interventions increases the
likelihood of success. Consequently, it could help to have student assist the
teacher in identifying problem behavior, pro social replacement behavior,
consequences for student’s subsequent behavior, and developing a behavioral
contract memorializing these facts utilizing forms like the following:
What
if chart
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Behavior |
Replacement
Behavior |
What if you do? | What
if you don’t? |
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Could be individualized for each student. It enables student (s) to be aware of the agreed upon contingencies and ensures teacher remembers consequences. |
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Behavioral
Contract
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Student
and teacher will collaborate on assessing & recording daily progress
(insert method). |
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Teacher
and parent will apply agreed upon contingencies on a weekly basis, based
upon agreed upon goals. |
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Student’s
signature and date |
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Teacher’s
signature and date |
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Parent’s
signature and date |
e.
Reinforcing high-status peers or models for performing desired behavior (s).
f.
Utilizing “time-out” and “planned ignoring” to withdraw
reinforcement following the occurrence of undesirable attention-seeking
behavior;
g.
Emphasizing strategies that are pro-active and focus on the
antecedents of behavior, rather than relying solely on strategies that are
reactive and focus only on the consequences of behavior.
h.
Offering opportunities for students to voice their needs and opinions (e.g., class
meetings, student councils, etc.) and to solve social problems on their own. In
addition, encouraging children's active participation in decisions regarding
their behavior encourages autonomy and self-discipline;
i. Catching problem behavior before it escalates or becomes more severe by redirecting student's attention and behavior.