Ch. 4 - Behavioral Approaches to Classroom Management

This chapter offers some applicable strategies for improving behavior in the classroom.

Big Idea #1:  Assertive Discipline.  Developed by the Canters, Assertive Discipline follows B. F. Skinner's ideas and encourages positive reinforcement and negative consequences.  While I am in favor of a more passive, covert behavior management plan, there comes an age group and a stage of mental development with Skinner's behaviorism doesn't necessarily work anymore.  For older children, simple temporal rewards or punishments aren't enough to dictate their behavior.

Big Idea #2:  The Good Behavior Game.  Barrish, Saunders, and Wolf developed the game to diminish negative behaviors and to focus on peer encouragement.  To be frank, I see the Good Behavior Game as nothing more than a short term solution.  This is "imposed discipline" if I ever saw it, and it is only an extension of Skinner's system of rewards and punishments.

Big Idea #3:  Think Time.  Nelson created Think Time to reinforce rules, provide early intervention and encourage positive social exchange between the teacher and the student.  I am not convinced.  Think Time seems like a glorified time-out, which I think is one of the worst discipline practices around.  You are basically informing the child, "if you no longer wish to participate in my class, here is how you can get out of it."  The child then proceeds to misbehave, and is given a free ticket out of class, and is prevented from learning the material and developing a sense of social responsibility to the rest of the students.  And the debriefing form is supposed to fix this?  I doubt it.