Modifying Behavior in an Elementary Classroom
Use Pavlov's and Skinner's Behaviorist Principles with K-6 Students
Mar 29, 2009
Problem behaviors disrupt class, interfere with student learning and make meaningful instruction impossible. It is the teacher’s responsibility to identify the problem behavior and its cause, and replace it with more desirable behavior. Understanding and applying the principles of Pavlov’s extinction and B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning theories will help make the behavior modification process a success.
Identifying the Problem Behavior and Its Likely Cause
All recurring behaviors are triggered by something beforehand and reinforced by something afterward. With chronic classroom behavior problems, teachers can look for a stimulus, an event that occurs immediately before the undesirable behavior and a reinforcing consequence that occurs after the behavior and makes it more likely to occur again. Typically, the reinforcement is also filling a need within the student.
For example, students who shout out answers to questions rather than raising their hands may feel anxious to share what they know, which becomes the stimulus for the disruptive behavior. However, if the teacher accepts the answer, even after scolding the student for speaking out, the behavior is reinforced and is likely to continue.
While a singular stimulus may not be readily apparent, teachers must identify the consequences that reinforce a poor behavior, and the need that the reinforcement appears to be filling. In the above example, the acceptance of the answer reinforces the behavior, and the need that acceptance is filling may be a need for attention, or for the self-esteem boost that comes with appearing knowledgeable in front other students.
Use Extinction to Remove an Undesirable Behavior
Pavlov’s experiments showed that extinction eliminates behavior by breaking the stimulus-response connection. Skinner expanded on these ideas by demonstrating that extinction occurs when a behavior is no longer reinforced. Both of these principles apply in the classroom.
When events like recess trigger problem behaviors, teachers must structure those events differently and remove the stimulus causing the poor response. In the calling out example given above, teachers would ignore the behavior, making no response and calling on someone else, which then removes the reinforcement. Of course, if poor behavior is a danger, the teacher must respond immediately. But in most situations, removing the reinforcement for a behavior is a very effective deterrent.
Use Reinforcement to Promote the Desired Behavior
Positive reinforcement makes a desired behavior more likely to happen again. Teachers will be much more effective if, while using extinction, they also reinforce the desired behavior. For example, teachers ignore shouted answers and call on students with their hands up, saying, “I would like to hear what Sam has to say because he is raising his hand;” or, before calling on anyone, “Look at how nicely Josh and Kim are raising their hands.”
These comments identify the desired behavior and reinforce those who are practicing it, while at the same time vicariously reinforcing the desired behavior for the child who has trouble remembering. When the target child begins raising his hand, the teacher should then further reinforce the behavior, thanking the student for raising his hand, or pointing it out as an example for others in the class.
These basic behaviorist principles are as valid today as when they were first introduced. By practicing them regularly, teachers may eliminate unwanted behavior problems and manage their classrooms more pleasantly and effectively.
Further Reading
Rosenblum-Lowden, Renee. You Have to Go to School – You’re the Teacher!: 250 Classroom Management Strategies to Make Your Job Easier and More Fun. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2000.
Shore, Kenneth. Elementary Teacher’s Discipline Problem-Solver: A Practical A-Z Guide for Managing Classroom Behavior Problems. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2003.
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