Behaviourism

Question

How would you solve these behaviour issues without using behaviourist techniques?      

Room Profile

Traditional classroom with table groups, reading area, teacher desk, and three computer stations

Class Profile

• Class of 30 grade 6 students consisting of 10 girls and 20 boys
• 10 designations total
• 6 IEPs - ranging from needing written instructions to having to keep them at your side and a close eye on them for the safety of the student and others in the classroom
• No EA or student aide help

Description of Behaviours

First day

Students exhibit a wide array of disruptive behaviours. The majority of the class is running around, yelling at each other, using disrespectful language or derogatory terms to address one another, and throwing papers and materials across the room. When the teacher tries to address the students, only a handful pay attention and listen for instructions. When the teacher asks for silence, some of the students keep talking to each other, while others keep interrupting the teacher and moving around the classroom. One student with a designation refuses to stop playing games on his phone, claiming he can use it because of his IEP accommodations; however, this student’s IEP specifies that the student should be seated very close to the teacher and to not let him “get away with anything.” Despite the teacher’s efforts, the majority of students won't remain silent or still, mocking the teacher whenever they speak. It takes the teacher 25 minutes to get the students' attention and for them to be relatively quiet. The lesson is not effective since most students tend to be distracted and off-task.

First week

The teacher works on respectful language and discusses code switching, specifically how the classroom has different norms and behavioural expectations than outside of school and students must “switch” to adhere to these expectations when in the classroom. Emails are sent home about language use and respectful behaviour. The teacher also sits the class down for a minimum of 20 minutes each day to discuss appropriate behaviour and language in class (this continues for the first three weeks of the quarter as behaviour does not change enough to do any curriculum work). The teacher has the class come up with the following list of disciplinary measures increasing in severity:

• 1st offense: Verbal warning
• 2nd offense: Verbal warning and student moved from current location
• 3rd offense: Student sent outside of classroom
• 4th offense: Student sent outside and email home
• 5th offense: Student sent to office and email home
• 6th offense: Student removed from class      

Meanwhile

Students are not to use the computers due to the pandemic and cleaning load of the janitors. The teacher puts tape lines on the carpet to distinguish the classroom space, but these are ignored. Emails are sent home detailing necessary classroom boundaries for the health and safety of students in the space. Chairs are put up above the lines with signs on them noting the boundaries, but these are also ignored. Emails are again sent home and administration is notified. Despite all these efforts, the behaviour persists.

Second week

The principal comes in to talk to the class. The behaviour continues, but the teacher notes that the use of language has gotten better.

Third week

The teacher pulls five students out of their classes for one day and divides the class into separate, carefully curated, groups. The teacher also arranges for a peer-tutor to come work with one student, and another is sent to the support room. Two other students are sent to the library to work with the librarian. Everyone is successful for one hour. However, the behaviour continues when everyone is back in the classroom together.

Fourth week

The teacher decides to move the class outside as it is safer to be outside during the pandemic anyway. Little to no actual classwork has happened so far.

Behaviourism on Station 12?

Congratulations Earthling!

As one of Earth’s top teacher candidates, you have been selected to take a tour of Station 12, one of the most advanced elementary schools on Mars! As your friendly Martian tour guide, I’ll be showing you how our education system has advanced to be one of the best in the galaxy! In honesty, our progress is all thanks to you, and your fellow Earth-dwellers. You see, about 50 years ago, we received a time capsule from Earth containing tons of interesting information, sounds, and images! In addition to learning about Justin Bieber, apparently one of Earth’s greatest poets, we learned all about Behaviorism and the perils of dehumanizing our young learners through rewards and punishments. Anyways, that’s enough jibber-jabber, where are my Martian-manners! Let’s go check out Station 12 and you can see for yourself!

As you enter Station 12, you immediately notice the absence of any shiny trophy cases that commonly adorn the lobbies of schools on Earth. You think to yourself: “I guess Martians truly don’t offer rewards for certain behaviours, at least in terms of athletics.” Noticing your curiosity, your friendly Martian turns to you and says, “We don’t use any objective forms of rewards or punishments in our classrooms! We understand that if a student receives a reward or punishment for their behaviour, they may not develop intrinsic motivation for learning.”

As you continue to walk through the hallways of Station 12, you get glimpses of different classroom environments and teaching practices. Interestingly, you don’t notice any signs of grades, stars, or points systems being used in the classrooms. On the surface, the students also seem to be completely engaged and intrinsically motivated.

As you round the next corner, your tour guide invites you into a classroom where students are just about to return from recess and continue working on their independent research projects. As the students enter the classroom on time, the teacher is giving them a big, gleaming smile. After the students are settled, you begin walking around the classroom and learning about their projects. You discover that one student is learning about Earth and another about the gravity on the Moon. The students are at different stages of their projects and some are still deciding on their topics. You overhear one student inform the teacher that they have decided to study the constellations closest to Mars. As an avid astronomer, the teacher excitedly says, “I think that is a wonderful choice!” Just then, a student enters the classroom 10 minutes late from recess. The teacher lets out a quick “hmm” and shows the slightest suggestion of a frown. Your Martian tour guide turns to you and says, “Did you see that!? No detention for arriving late to the classroom!” Before you can respond, you notice another student beginning to get distracted from their work. You watch as the teacher walks over to a student sitting beside them and, with a warm smile, says, “Great job! I’m so happy you are working hard today and staying focused. I am so proud!” Interestingly, you notice the distracted student begin working again. Another student approaches the teacher and says, “I’ve decided to change my topic to the gravitational pull of the Moon!” Hearing this, the teacher says, “That's a clever idea!” and offers them a quick wink and a warm smile as the student bounces away, seemingly happy with the interaction. Just as you’re about to leave the classroom, you watch as another student explains to the teacher that they have decided to research Emily Carr and the emotions her paintings surface in both humans and Martians. Just as you exit the classroom, you watch the teacher scrunch their noise ever so slightly and say, “Oh. Okay. That’s a good choice,” before immediately moving their attention to another student.

As you leave the school, your Martian tour guide turns to you and says, “So!? What do you think? Pretty impressive, eh? We learned from the time capsule and don’t use any forms of rewards or punishments!” Before you can respond, you are awoken by one of your friends. You’re in EPSE 308 and it’s your turn to discuss your perspectives on Behaviourism. Good luck, Earth-dweller!

Possible Discussion Questions

1. In the classrooms on Station 12, you were informed that there were no objective forms of rewards or punishments for students' behaviour. Did you notice any subtle (maybe even unconscious) forms of behaviourism?
2. As a teacher candidate, you may be motivated to cultivate a classroom environment that fits your needs and values as a teacher. In this case study, the teacher did this by encouraging students to attend class on time, stay engaged in their work, and pick topics that they themselves deemed worthy. Are these subtle forms of behaviourism more or less harmful, compared to more tangible and objective rewards and punishments? Explain your reasoning.
3. As a future teacher, how might you become more aware of your subconscious values and goals for your classroom? How will you manage them in your classroom?
4. What do you see as the pros and cons of behaviourism?

Dear Colleague

I can’t imagine you have an answer to this question, but you seem to have been thinking a lot about how to motivate your students and when it comes to this, I’m at a total loss! I thought I had it all figured out, but no – my plan to motivate my students has totally backfired. Help!

I’m teaching seventh grade language arts for the first time this year, and one goal of mine going into this term was to encourage my students to become independent readers. Well, lucky for me, the school librarian, Ms. Daniels, had a program set up this year to do just that! You see, there’s a new book coming out at the end of the year – it’s the latest in a series of young adult novels that’s all the rage right now. Vampires, wizards, a dystopian world – this series has got it all. Anyway, the school librarian KNOWS that this book will be a hot commodity the moment it’s released. When the last in the series came out, she had about fifty holds on it the second she entered it into the library catalogue!

Ms. Daniels devised a system to encourage independent reading. It’s simple: each time a student reads a book from the library – any book – they fill out a worksheet to reflect on it and show they’ve read it. It's just a few questions, asking for a brief plot summary, something they liked about the book, something it made them think about – things like that. Anyway, each time a student hands in a worksheet on a book they’ve read, they get a point, or points, depending on the length of the book. You get one point if you read a book that’s at least 100 pages, two if you read a book that’s at least 200 pages, three if it’s more than 300 pages – you get the idea. The student in the school who has the most points at the end of the year wins a copy of that new young adult novel that everyone wants. It’s bound to fly off the shelves and be sold out for weeks, so they’ll be one of the first to get it!

Well, since I’m teaching language arts this year, I thought I’d supplement Ms. Daniels' competition with some extra motivation – to really get my students wanting to read. After all, not every student in my class is a fan of this series. So, I told my class that for every reading worksheet they hand in to the librarian, they'll also get a bonus mark they can add to their final assignment for the year. It would never change their grade significantly, but hopefully just enough to get them reading. Simple, right?

It all seemed to be going smoothly at first. In the beginning, Bilal was the student who was gaining the most points. He's a high achiever and has always been an avid reader, so that wasn't surprising. But then I had some unexpected runner-ups. A few students who were otherwise struggling in my class, Andy and Sobiga, started gaining more points, and fast! They were giving Bilal a run for his money.

At first, I was thrilled! But that all changed on Friday afternoon. Bilal and Andy had been close friends all term, but on Friday during class, they seemed to have a falling out. Then Bilal lingered after the bell to talk to me. Bilal declared: "Andy is cheating!" When I asked him what he meant, he explained: "He doesn't actually READ any books! He just looks at summaries online to fill out those worksheets!"

To add to my stress, I heard the next day that students in the neighbouring seventh grade class, taught by Mr. Chu, were complaining that my students had an unfair advantage over them because of the bonus marks I had promised. Mr. Chu has even gotten several calls from parents who felt that my students have an advantage over theirs.

As you can see, my plan to encourage reading has gone totally awry! What should I do now? And, most importantly, how can I motivate my students to read?

Sincerely,

Ms. Mahmoud

Potential Reflection Questions

1. Identify and provide examples of the types of behaviourism used in the case study (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment).

2. Going beyond the events described in this scenario, what are possible pros and cons of this teacher’s choice to establish a reward system to encourage reading?

3. What suggestions would have for this teacher and the librarian to encourage reading without relying on behaviourist strategies?

4. Assuming Bilal's allegations about Andy are true, how might you deal with this situation? What might be contributing to Andy's behaviour? How could this issue have been prevented?

Additional resources

• https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/reading-incentives/
• https://www.thisamericanlife.org/713/made-to-be-broken/act-two-11