Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom

Proactive, Active, and Reactive Strategies

Terry L. (Lynn) Shepherd, Diana Linn

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781483322131
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Addressing the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students in today's schools, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom provides general and special education teachers with the knowledge, skills, and strategies to make the proactive, active, and reactive interventions necessary to create a positive classroom environment in which all students can learn. Going beyond the traditional rules and hierarchy of consequences and reinforcements, the book demonstrates how to incorporate basic classroom management plans, functional behavioral analysis, functional behavioral assessments, and behavioral intervention plans into the development and implementation of response-to-intervention and school-wide positive behavior support programs. In every chapter, the authors use real world examples and case studies to explore how language and culture affect students' responses to behavior and classroom management. Unique chapters cover social skills training and collaborating with families of diverse students.

Chapter 1 Behavior and Classroom Management Basics

After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

• Explain the importance of understanding developmental theories of behavior.
• Describe the similarities and differences among major developmental theories.
• Understand how culture plays a role in the development of behavior and classroom management plans.
• Explain the premise of a universal design for behavior management.
• Understand the principles of culturally responsive behavior and classroom management.
• Describe how the goals of behavior and classroom management influence behavior strategies and interventions.

Foundations of Behavior Management

Behavior and classroom management has always been one of the predominant concerns of all teachers, administrators, and other education professionals. Behavior and classroom management consumes an inordinate amount of teachers’ and administrators’ time, and while well-developed management plans are effective with a majority of students, a small percentage of students still refuse to “follow the rules.” That is why it is extremely important for education professionals to remember that students who behave appropriately choose to behave in such a manner because it is often in their best interest to do so. Because of this crucial axiom in behavior and classroom management, it is essential that teachers develop management plans based comparatively on the needs of their students. Teachers need to understand behavior and the factors that affect it.

It is certainly understandable that teachers and administrators are interested in the practical application of behavior and classroom management; however, behavior and classroom management is no longer a simple matter of establishing five rules, five consequences, and five rewards. Today’s teachers need to understand developmental theories, examine the various facets of behavior and classroom management, and recognize the impact of culture on student behavior.

Teachers need to consider many aspects of behavior and classroom management when they are developing and implementing classroom management plans. In addition to rules, consequences, and rewards, teachers need to develop relevant curriculum, consider the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students, and implement proactive, active, and reactive strategies. They also need to examine their own perceptions and assumptions that might affect their development of effective behavior management programs.

With the increasing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse children entering today’s classrooms, teachers also need to understand the impact that culture has on behavior. Before they can understand the diverse cultures of their students, teachers first need to understand their own cultures and how their perceptions affect the ways in which they interact with students and students’ family members. Through authentic understanding of the various aspects of culture, teachers can develop culturally responsive behavior and classroom management programs.

Developmental Theories of Behavior

Developmental theories are often dismissed as a component of behavior management, but there are two important reasons teachers need to understand developmental theories. First, understanding the development of children and adolescents affects the interpretation of childhood and how children are treated. Second, developmental theories provide the basis for practical applications that can improve the behavior of students (Thelen, 2005).

The developmental theories that explain the behavior of children are diverse and often contrary to one another, yet many of these theories form the foundation of behavior and classroom management. These theories include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, social cognitive theory, ecological systems theory, sociocultural theory, and moral development theory, each of which is discussed in turn below.

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning involves the repeated pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response. A stimulus is an external event that affects an individual’s behavior or response. An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that triggers an unconditioned response. An unconditioned response is a naturally occurring reaction to a stimulus. Unconditioned responses are generally not learned. For example, the smell of homemade pizza in the oven (an unconditioned stimulus) triggers the feeling of hunger in an individual (an unconditioned response). Generally, unconditioned stimuli and unconditioned responses are instinctive, reflexive behaviors, such as eye blinking or sneezing.

Pavlov

The Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936) is considered the father of classical conditioning. During his research on the physiology of the digestion system in dogs, Pavlov noted that the dogs in his experiments naturally salivated (an unconditioned response) in response to food (an unconditioned stimulus). Pavlov also observed that the dogs began salivating with the appearance of his assistant, who was responsible for providing food for the dogs.

In his now classic experiment, Pavlov repeatedly paired the sound of a bell with food for the dogs. The bell was a neutral stimulus—that is, a stimulus that does not naturally occur in conjunction with an unconditioned stimulus. In other words, dogs normally do not associate the sound of a bell with food. After a period of time, the dogs began to associate the sound of the bell (a neutral stimulus) with food (an unconditioned stimulus) and began salivating (an unconditioned response) even when there was no food present.

In an extreme example, if a person is repeatedly exposed to the sound of a cell phone’s text message alert paired with the smell of homemade pizza, the cell phone’s sound may trigger hunger in the person even when the smell of pizza is absent. When a neutral stimulus elicits an unconditioned response, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and the response becomes a conditioned response, or the learned behavior of a previous neutral stimulus. In classical conditioning, when a neutral stimulus (sound of text message alert) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (the smell of pizza), a conditioned response (hunger) is produced.

Watson

Building on the work of Pavlov, psychologist John B. Watson (1878–1958) viewed conditioning as the basis for most human learning. He advocated a radical approach to psychology through the measurement of observable behavior and reactions and the exclusion of the emotional and mental states of individuals. Watson (1914, 1925) referred to this objective study of behavior as behaviorism.

In the classic study of an 11-month-old boy named Albert B., Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Alberta Rayner, conducted an experiment based on classical conditioning. Albert was allowed to play with a white laboratory rat. Initially, he did not show any fear toward the rat and eagerly played with the animal. Watson and Rayner then began pairing a loud clang, a sound that frightened Albert, with his touching of the rat. After being exposed to repeated pairing of the two stimuli, Albert began to cry when he saw the rat even when no sound was present. Thus the neutral stimulus (the loud clang) became the conditioned stimulus, which produced a conditioned response (Albert’s fear of the rat). This fear also generalized to other white furry objects, such as a white rabbit and Santa Claus (Watson & Rayner, 1920). Unfortunately, Albert moved away before Watson could decondition him, which left many to question what ever happened to the boy. Despite the questionable ethics involved in the research, the “Little Albert” study is among the experiments most frequently cited in psychology textbooks (Beck, Levinson, & Irons, 2009).

While human behavior is complex and individuals often do not respond to classical conditioning as expected, there are some practical applications for classical conditioning in the classroom. For example, elementary teachers have used classical conditioning methods such as the following to teach students to be quiet. Before conditioning, the teacher instructs the class to be quiet and then raises her hand and counts one, two, three, both with her fingers and verbally. During conditioning, the teacher raises her hand and counts one, two, three with her fingers and then instructs the class to be quiet. Finally, after conditioning, the teacher simple raises her hand and counts one, two, three with her fingers, and the class gets quiet.

Operant Conditioning

Classical conditioning deals with behaviors that are reflexive, or responses that are involuntary. For example, if the smell of homemade pizza triggers hunger in an individual, hunger is an automatic response. Conversely, operant conditioning deals with behaviors that are voluntary. Operant conditioning is a method of learning in which the probability that an individual’s behavior will increase or decrease is manipulated through the use of reinforcements that are pleasurable or not pleasurable. Psychologist Edward L. Thorndike (1874–1949) was one of the first to apply the principles of operant conditioning in his research on animal behavior. In his book Law of Effects (1905) he surmised that if a behavior is pleasurable, the likelihood of the behavior being repeated is increased. This principle of reinforcements became the basis for operant conditioning.

Skinner

American psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) found that classical conditioning does not explain all behaviors, especially those that have no apparent cause. He believed that thoughts and emotions also affect behavior. By including thoughts and emotions as facets of behavior, Skinner developed a radical behaviorism, which sought to study all behavior. Unlike classical conditioning, in which the behavior is caused by an antecedent event, operant behavior is affected by consequences. For example, if a student does not study for a history test (behavior) and then fails the test (consequence), the student studies for the next test to avoid failing the test (alternative behavior).

The environment also plays an important role in operant conditioning, and the consequences of the behavior can strengthen the relationship between the environment and the behavior. Skinner (1969) believed that any relationship between an individual and the environment must include the event that elicits the behavior, the behavior itself, and a consequence that reinforces the behavior. This three-term contingency is often referred to as the ABCs (antecedent, behavior, and consequence) of functional behavioral analysis. The antecedent is the event that occurs before the behavior, and the consequence is the stimulus that occurs following the behavior. This behavioral analysis is one of the most common methods of evaluating behavior used in schools today.

Case Study

Timothy and Dennis

A fifth grader at Brantwood Middle School, Timothy has an unstable home life. He is being raised by a single mother who has had difficulties maintaining a job and is seldom home at night. He has not seen his father in 3 years. His home environment has affected his academic and behavior performance at school. He is failing several classes and his behavior is often inappropriate.

Lost in thought, Timothy enters his fifth-hour mathematics class with the other students. Mrs. Cantu, the teacher, is writing math problems on the board as the students start taking their seats in anticipation of the tardy bell.

Dennis Baker, a popular football player, comes up behind Timothy. “Hey, Tim,” he says softly and with a grin, “I heard that your mom was at the Roundup with three guys.” The Roundup is a notorious bar on the fringe of town.

Bristling, Timothy hisses, “Shut up.”

Grinning, Dennis responds, “Or maybe it was four guys . . .”

“Shut up,” Timothy repeats, raising his fists.

“You might have a new baby brother soon,” continues Dennis.

Hearing a commotion behind her, Mrs. Cantu turns in time to see Timothy shove Dennis, who falls to the floor.

“Timothy!” Mrs. Cantu orders sternly, “Go to the office!”

Angry and frustrated, Timothy walks past a grinning Dennis as he leaves the classroom.

What are the antecedent, behavior, and consequences of this event?

In operant conditioning, the environmental event (antecedent) influences the behavior, but unlike in classical conditioning, the environm...