|
Table of Contents
|
 Considering the potential of public recognitionResearch has shown that public and authentic delivery of positive reinforcement has a powerful modelling effect. When students see their peers being recognized for positive behaviour, they are motivated to display the same behaviour. As students get older, however, public recognition may not work for some students who prefer private feedback. Involving parentsMany students are powerfully reinforced by positive communication with parents. Look for opportunities to share good news with parents about how their children are demonstrating positive behaviour at school. The most effective positive communication strategies are preplanned and applied systematically and consistently across the school community. A number of schools set targets, asking school staff to make a specific number of positive parent contacts per week or month―by phone, by e-mail, in writing or face to face. Staff are encouraged to record and track their contacts and tell their colleagues about the strategies they use and responses they receive. Students should be aware of staff contacts with their parents. Or, if possible, have them present and participating when the contacts are made. Students should be able to state why teachers have called home. Just as students have individual feedback preferences, parents also have varying comfort levels regarding contact with school staff. Increasing reinforcement before difficult timesDuring certain times of the year, for example, just before holidays, students are more likely to be stressed or engage in problem behaviour. To prevent problems during these times, schools can increase the amount of supervision and positive reinforcement, and revisit skills and expectations with “booster lessons.” This is a form of precorrection. Reinforcing adultsSchool staff can benefit from reinforcement of their efforts to improve relationships and build a positive school culture. As well, students often enjoy having their teacher win public recognition. The core team and school administrator can look for systemic and meaningful ways to let school staff know that their individual actions and commitment are contributing to positive behaviour in the school. Increasing positive reinforcementWe took the 4:1 ratio of four positive statements for every one negative statement quite literally. We had green and red cards printed, with 16 green cards and four red ones in each packet. The green cards were reinforcement for positive student behaviour. When staff members saw a student doing something positive, they gave the student a green card and commented on the behaviour. All of the green cards were put up on a bulletin board called “Doing good.” After one month, students could take the cards home to share with their parents. The red cards were given to students when they demonstrated an inappropriate behaviour. Information about this red card incident was entered into a spreadsheet, which could be sorted by a number of fields. Each month the data was brought back to staff to look at the types of incidents and the number of students involved. Using the green cards helped staff increase the amount of reinforcement they gave for positive behaviour. The red cards, combined with the spreadsheet, allowed us to more accurately target specific behaviours that needed improvement as well as specific students. For example, the first month of data showed that many students were coming in late from recess. We reduced the problem by asking teachers to walk out to areas where students were most likely to linger and walk back to the school with them. – Principal, rural junior high school Addressing concerns about rewardsMany educators are concerned about methods of positive reinforcement and potential unintended consequences. Consider how your school can address the following concerns about positive reinforcement. What you always wanted to know about praise and rewards7
|
