With the knowledge that in September I will be put in front
of a class in a Teach First school, which are by definition difficult, and be
expected to be calm, in control and able to impart knowledge, behaviour issues
fill my nightmares.
So what can Applied Behaviour Analysis propose that may
lessen my worry? The method I’ve found includes the word ‘game’ in the title
and I feel you can’t go far wrong with that: The Good Behavior Game.
(Tingstrom, Sterling-Turner, & Wilczynski, 2006).
Let’s see what this looks like in my future classroom:
“Hello class, today you are going to be split into two teams
and the rules are that you must not leave your seat, talk without permission or
engage in disruptive behaviour.
According to your responses on the questionnaire you filled
in earlier this week to choose your reward today’s prize is a 5 minute break at
the end of the lesson if you win.
If anyone breaks a rule, their team will receive a mark on
the board. If you do not get 4 or more marks on the board in this lesson your
team will win. Yes, both teams can win today.
Don’t forget that if you win today it will be added to the
weekly running total and the prize for the best team of the week that you chose
is a cake for that team.”
(Based on the procedure in Kleinman & Saigh, 2011).
Making the reinforcement contingent on the whole team’s
behaviour appeals to me as it is likely that there will be multiple pupils with
behavioural issues in my classroom and it also encourages teamwork. The Good
Behavior Game is more likely to be able to address multiple pupil’s behavioural
issues simultaneously whilst ensuring time to teach the class as a whole which
is the overarching goal.
What I didn’t tell you is that I will be teaching secondary
school English…you may be thinking, “isn’t this game a bit childish?” Well I
guess I’ll find out. To help you decide whether it is too childish I’ll leave
you with this question: do you still like being rewarded for good behaviour?
Lydia Dyckhoff
Kleinman, K. E., & Saigh, P. A. (2011). The effects of
the good behavior game on the conduct of regular education New York City high
school students. Behavior modification, 35(1), 95-105.
Tingstrom, D. H., Sterling-Turner, H. E., &
Wilczynski, S. M. (2006). The good behavior game: 1969-2002. Behavior
modification, 30(2),
225-253.
Hello Lydia, we have much experience with GBG with colleagues at Hopkins and several other universities where we are following the impact longitudinally. We've used the procedures from pre-k through grade/violent felony offender juveniles, and in after-school settings. You can learn more at www.GoodBehaviorGame.org. PAX GBG is the largest iteration of the science of this for the real world. You can read some of my paper on this at www.pubmed.gov. Our whole province study in Manitoba for virtually all grade one children is now releasing data on the early outcomes. Good luck to you.
ReplyDelete