Positive Behaviour Management
EGD 351

Jemma Peers
S0500854

CONTENTS PAGE

1. Introduction

2. Background information

i) Background information on the child ii) Background information on the family iii) Observation of behaviour of parent and child on entering setting

3. Observation of behaviour from child

• Behaviour • How this behaviour could be learnt • Consequences

4. Back ground to behaviour management strategies

5. The strategies used and their outcomes

• Strategy 1

• Strategy 2

• Evaluation of strategies used

7. References

8. APPENDIX

• I.B.P

• Timed observation

• Examples of Proactive strategies used

Introduction

For the purpose of this essay, I will be focusing on the behaviour management of children in classrooms as teachers spend most of their time in the classrooms with children. Teachers face several challenges while teaching young children, One of the major challenges teachers need to adjust to while teaching in the early years is to be able to effectively manage the behaviour of children in a classroom setting. “Teaching is a very stressful and demanding occupation. There are many facets of the job that contribute to this stress- behaviour, curriculum demands, workload, admin tasks and the list goes on. One on the key skills of being an effective teacher is the ability to balance these in a calm and relaxed way.” (Cowley, 2005, p.5) A calm teacher will be able to face any classroom difficulties in a careful and considered way. Teachers spend most of their time in classrooms with children. Thus, it is important that teachers are able to successfully use behaviour management strategies that will ensure classroom environments are nurturing and marked with high levels of achievement. Therefore, it can be seen that behaviour management is an extremely imperative aspect in both the life of the teachers and children. “Behaviour management refers to the actions and strategies of teachers to prevent and respond to inappropriate behaviour of students as well as to enhance self discipline among students”. (Walker, J.E. and Shea, T.M, 1999) Behavioral issues commonly encountered in an early years setting include biting, fighting and conflict, problems with sharing and tantrums. This kind of negative behaviour can cause distress, chaos and disruptions in learning especially for those who are keen to enjoy the learning. Hence, it is fundamental that teachers develop an appropriate framework to manage the children's behaviour. As the way in which behaviour is managed by teachers has a major influence on how the children will behave in the future. According to research, being able to successfully manage the behaviour of students in the early years ensures good academic learning to occur as there is a relationship between intellectual outcomes and behaviour.

Background information

i) Background information on the child. The little boy in question (known as Greg from here on - to protect his real identity) has just turned four years old. Greg first joined the nursery in the January after he turned he had turned the aged of 3 (Early Entitlement). Greg came for a pre visits to the nursery and it was observed that he was confident enough to access the activities available and explore the nursery. In a group or class situation he is very confident and likes to talk to his peers. During the first two terms he made little attempt to make friends within the group, or the nursery. When Greg returned to the nursery in September for his official nursery year he had developed a great deal. He was able to interact with more children and chose a best friend which he always looks for when entering the nursery. Greg has made firm attachments to all the adults within the setting and will happily talk freely to them.

ii) Background information of the family Greg lives with mum and dad and has one older Brother they live within a nuclear family environment. All grandparents and aunts and uncles live in the same locality as Greg. Greg's older brother attended the nursery during Greg’s Early Entitlement terms but now attends the feeder school for the nursery.

iii) Observed behaviour of parent and child on entering the setting when mum drops Greg of at nursery, they will come into the setting and Greg will run of and find his friend and look for activity to do. When dad drops Greg of at nursery he does not want dad to go. On occasions he has tried to follow dad back out of the school gates.

2) Observation of behaviour from child

Behaviour

Greg displays very dominate behaviour over the other children in the nursery. He feels most confident when he is surrounded by a group of other children, who are looking up to him for guidance and support. (See Appendix B - observation on child).Greg attends five morning sessions, Monday through to Friday. He displays this behaviour at nearly every single session that he attends.

How this behaviour could be learnt • Personality • Learned behaviour • Family relationships • Lack of social interaction

Consequences

As a result of the observations made on Greg it was decided that a two step approach was needed. The first step decided was to use the SEAL scheme of work to provide Greg with the opportunity to develop and practise the social skills of sharing and taking turns, listening to each other, and of understanding some of the ways to deal with his feelings. This was to be implemented within circle time, allowing not only Greg but the rest of the class to develop their personal and social skills. It was decided that Greg needed extra recognition for his achievements; it was my decision to back up the positive behaviour witnesses with a variety of incentives. Through the strategies presented over a period of 5 weeks it is hoped to raise Greg’s social skills, emotional and self esteem to enable him to make better choices and to interact with his peers appropriately.

4) Background to Behaviour management strategies
Children go through stages of social, emotional and behavioral development and have specific needs to be met as they grow up. Some children may display challenging or anti-social behaviour as a result of physical disabilities or learning difficulties if they are finding tasks difficult they may seek attention through negative behaviour from staff in the setting as well as gaining approval from their peers. Children who are academically gifted or talented may become bored if they are not being challenged through work and play therefore may perform to gain the attention of staff in the setting. When dealing with behaviour it is important that practitioners use the correct and appropriate approach dependant on the situation, nature of behaviour and the age of the child. The language, tone of voice and body language used to expresses how the adult feels about the situation will help to encourage or discourage behaviour. When a teacher speaks clearly with a firm tone of voice and strong body language it demonstrates to the child disapproval of their actions or choice where as when an adult speaks more up tempo with an excited tone of voice and energetic body language or smiles this demonstrates approval of the behaviour displayed. It is very important that adults remember to praise or reinforce the positive in balance with discouraging negative behaviour; this is because children begin to associate a certain type of behaviour with the response or outcome and learn from both the negative and positive reinforcers. Effective classroom management includes: planning and implementing teaching strategies thoroughly, keeping students actively engaged in meaningful learning, and preventing disruptions through proactive management strategies. When a teacher needs to react to misbehaviour, careful thought should be applied to the situation to ensure that the self-esteem of the student is respected and to ensure that the consequences are realistic and appropriate

5) The strategies and their outcomes.
“Research shows that from about three years of age, children begin to feel guilt and shame about the things they do.” (Bruce and Meggitt, 1999, p.204) The way adults respond to what they have done will lead to either positive or negative self-esteem. Children learn from their relationships with adults and other children who are close to them, and gradually they begin to widen the circle of people who can help them to learn socially. However, they cannot learn about social behaviour if they cannot make sense of what is done to them.

Strategy One – The first strategy was to use a variety of proactive activities (see Appendix A - I.B.P) to ensure Greg understood what behaviour was expected at the Nursery. Greg was introduced to the golden rules during circle time, he seemed to respond well to the visual posters which were introduced and then displayed in the classroom. Having the golden rules displayed at all times has helped Greg, as it has encouraged all staff to incorporate a non verbal signal into the strategy. If the staff see Greg not following the rules all they have to do to refocus Greg is to point to the display and Greg will stop and think about what he is doing. Not being constantly verbally told off and warned has had a big impact on Greg as he is still getting the attention he needs but in a non invasive way.

Strategy Two – The second strategy was to use secondary reinforcers. “There are two types of secondary reinforcement – social or material. Social may be just a simple well done from the teacher or a gold star. Material reinforcement is when the object given may be more of a concrete object e.g. Certificate or prize”. (Porter, 2000, p.46) Positive praise is a common social reinforcer, and can be used alone or paired with other types of reinforcement. “To be effective, it must be contingent on the desired behaviour, as well as specific, high in quality and not over used. (Porter, 2000, p.44) The plan was to use positive praise when approipate behaviour is shown. Whenever Greg received positive praise for sharing, taking turns or playing co-operatively he would have a big smile on his face, which shows that his self esteem is improving. Alongside the positive praise Greg is rewarded with stickers when he is showing good behaviour.

Evaluation of strategies used.

It was clear that Greg needed to develop socially and emotionally and build upon his self esteem to enable him to make better choices and to interact with his peers appropriately. The best way forward was to put into place a two step strategy which focused on activities that developed Greg’s social and emotional skills. Once Greg has the understanding and ability to develop socially and emotionally, it was decided to incorporate step two which focused on positive reinforcements. Using the two step approach means that the strategies used will be more effective in the long term as the whole class has been given the opportunity to develop socially and emotionally.

The two strategies that were put in place for Greg seemed to have worked well for him. Using the SEAL activities focusing on relationships and Getting on and falling out have given Greg as solid foundation on which he can build on. He has been given the opportunity to explore the issues of cooperating with other children and working in a group. The activities also allow Greg to develop and practise the social skills of sharing and taking turns, listening to each other, and of understanding some of the ways to deal with his feelings. Greg has been equipped with the tools on ways of asking for help, making up with other children and saying sorry when they have fallen out. Since implementing the strategies Greg’s attitude towards other children has improved, he is more aware of their feelings and can appreciate when he has done something wrong.

When Greg is seen behaving appropriately he will receive lots of positive praise. Greg responds well to the positive praise as this gives him a confidence boost, and reassures him that he is behaving appropriately. Greg shows great pride when he receives a sticker and can’t wait to show it to his mum when she picks him up from nursery.

On evaluations of the strategies used I would consider both strategies effective as I have seen positive results from both the pro active strategy and the reinforces used. As it gives the child a chance to be shown the approipate behaviour and then when the child shows positive behaviour changes they are then rewards through praise and incentives.
Reference list

Bruce, T. and Meggitt, C., 1999. Child Care and Education. 2nd ed. Hodder and Stoughton.

Cowley, S., 2005. YOU CAN Create a CALM classroom. Scholastic.

Porter, L. 2000. BEHAVIOUR IN SCHOOLS Theory and practice for Teachers. Open University press.

Walker, J E. and Shea, T M., 1999 Behaviour Management: A Practical Approach for Educators.

McTavish, A. Creative solutions to early years behaviour. Website. www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/creative-solutions-early-years-behaviour-3.
13th December 2011

APPENDIX A

Behaviour plan

|Child’s Name |Date of Birth |Teacher |IBP Start date |Review Date |
|Greg |02/12/07 |Jemma |Beginning November |Beginning of January |

|Step 1: Negative classroom |Step 2: Why? |Step 3: Desired behaviours |Step 4: Select proactive Strategies |Step 5: positive reinforcement |
|behaviours | | | | |
|Not sharing |Not thinking of others. |Taking turns (games, on apparatus) |Use SEAL activities focusing on feelings. |Give lots of positive praise when approipate |
| | | | |behaviour is shown. |
|Not taking turns |Impulsive |Show awareness of others feelings/needs. |Model Playing a variety of games which involve taking | |
| | | |turns. |Award stickers for good sharing and taking turns. |
| |Like to be in control | | | |
| | | |Use a sand timer to limit on any one outdoor apparatus.|Give “I’m a good friend” certificate when Greg is |
| |Likes having his own way | | |being a good friend. |
| | | |Use descriptive commentary whilst the child is playing.| |
APPENDIX B

Timed observation

9.15am – Greg came into nursery holding mums hand. He came over to his teacher and said “I am staying for my lunch today”. The teacher asked him what he was having for his lunch; he replied “sandwiches, mum bought them from the shop”.

9.20am - Greg went over to the maths area where the shape jigsaw were out for the children to play with. Another child was playing he watched them for a while and then when off to another area.

9.30am – Greg came and did a jigsaw, he used the pictures on the jigsaw to put it together. When another child came over to show the teacher a book, Greg didn’t like it that the teacher wasn’t focusing their attention on him so he started to call the teachers name over and over until they spoke to Greg.

9.35am – When the teacher gave a child a Helpwr Heddiw sticker, Greg said “I am never Helpwr Heddiw”.

9.45am – Greg got the mop and started mopping the water that had spilt from the water tray onto the floor. Greg played in the water for a few minutes. When he had finished he went to a teacher and said “my sleeve is wet I need another top”, the teacher felt his top and felt that it was fine and would dry during the morning. When the teacher told Greg that his top would dry he said “No it won’t”.

10.00am – Greg came outside and went on the bikes. When other children came outside, Greg shouted to the other children to follow him. So they did and the group of boys were following Greg around the playground.

10.10am – Greg was found crouching down by the side of the tree. When asked what the matter was he replied “No one will play with me”.

10.15am – Greg and a teacher were talking about Greg’s Dad and how he had taken Greg shopping the previous day. When the teacher asked Greg if his dad was nice he said “No, my dad swears”.

10.20am - Greg had the baby in the pram pushing it around the playground. When Greg pushed it to fast the baby fell out of the pram. The teacher said poor baby, Greg said “It’s ok the baby isn’t real”.

10.30am - At group time Greg got up and went for a tissue whilst the other children were singing the bore da song. When he came back to the group he disrupted it by announcing he was back. Greg joined in with the days of the week song and listened well for the rest of group time.

10.45am – During television time Greg began talking and had to be told a few time to sit and watch the television.

11.00am – When the children went back outside, Greg and another child pinned against the wall. When the teacher went over to see what was happening Greg said that he didn’t want the other child playing with him and could he do a painting. The other child is One of Greg’s friends and was very upset from what had happened.

11.30am – During circle time Greg refused to come and join in with the group. When asked to come and join in he said “I am just doing this” He was asked again to come and join in with the group, when he said no the teacher told him that he had until the count of 5 to come and join the circle or he would miss out and have to complete the tasks after the circle time had ended when all of the other children were playing. He still didn’t join the circle so he was ignored.

Appendix C

Examples of SEAL activities that develop cooperation and understanding feelings

Circle time sessions that focus on friendship

A book used to encourage children to say sorry.

Golden rules