Understanding Student Behavior

1
Understanding Student Behavior
2
Understanding Student Behavior

• Understanding students' behavior, and
  misbehavior, is often a challenge even for the
  most experienced teachers.
• Why does Alan seek to disrupt the class by
  talking while the instructor is lecturing?
• Why does Betty become helpless in the face of a
  two-page written assignment?
• Why does Carl answer her teacher with such
  smoldering disrespect?
• Why does Danielle spend all of her time Instant
  Messaging in class?

3
Understanding Student Behavior

• The answers to these questions will give us
  important information about how we can best
  influence students to give up such misbehavior
  and
• Instead look for cooperative, responsible ways to
  achieve their goals

4
Understanding Behavior Purpose Not Cause

• To understand another person's behavior, it does
  little good to look back and try to figure out
  what caused it
• Human beings have free will
• We choose how to behave based on our experience,
  values and goals for the future

5
Understanding Behavior Purpose Not Cause

• So to understand why people, including students,
  behave the way they do, we always want to ask
  ourselves,
• "What is their goal?
• What payoff is their behavior aimed at
  getting?"

6
Understanding Behavior Purpose Not Cause

• For example, Why does Danielle spend all of her
  time Instant Messaging in class?
• What was her purpose or goal?
• Does her behavior get her the payoff she wants?
  
• To answer these questions, we want to look four
  basic goals of all student's behavior,
• Then see which one Danielle might achieve through
  her behavior.

7
Four Goals of Student Behavior

• (Handout)

8
Four Goals of Student Behavior

• Building on the foundation laid by Rudolf
  Dreikurs and expanded on by Michael Popkin
• Todays presentation suggests that there are four
  goals basic to human survival and the ability to
  thrive.
• These same four goals also govern behavior
• Contact
• Power
• Protection
• Withdrawal

9
Contact

• The basic need of every human being is to belong
• A baby could not survive without others to depend
  upon
• Neither could the human species have survived
  throughout history without belonging to various
  groups
• families, communities, cities, states and
  nations, etc.

10
Contact

• Out of this desire to belong, each of us develops
  the goal of making contactphysical or
  emotionalwith other human beings
• The group setting and activities found in a
  classroom provide a student many opportunities to
  make contact and develop a sense of belonging
• Student organizations, residence halls,
  athletics, religious organizations and other
  institutions offer additional opportunities

11
Power

• Each one of us wants to influence our environment
  and gain at least a measure of control over it
• We would like for things to go our way we want
  the power to make that happen.
• It is through learning that we become able to do
  this

12
Protection

• We must be able to protect ourselves
• Our instinct to repel attackswhether physical or
  psychologicalhas led to the development of
  elaborate systems of justice and defense.

13
Withdrawal

• Time-outs are essential and refreshing in any
  sport or group activity
• Just as a student seeks contact, at other times
  he needs to withdraw, regroup, center
• Also, withdrawing is a kind of counter-balancing
  act to the goal of contact

14
Positive and Negative Approaches to theFour Goals
15
Positive and Negative Approaches to the Four Goals

• There are no good or bad students
• Instead, students choose to pursue the four basic
  goals in either positive or negative way
• Students with high self-esteem and courage will
  generally choose the positive approaches
• Those with low self-esteem who are discouraged
  will more likely choose the negative approaches

16

• Student's Goal
• Contact
• Power
• Protection
• Withdrawal

• Positive Approach
• Contribution
• Independence
• Assertiveness Forgiveness
• Centering

• Negative Approach
• Undue attention-seeking
• Rebellion
• Revenge
• Avoidance

17
How to Determine a Student's Goal

• Because we do not usually know the goals behind a
  student's misbehavior, we often take an action
  that makes the problem worse.
• Our discipline actually gives the student a
  payoff in terms of achieving her basic goal.
• And if negative behavior works, why not continue
  to use it?
• It's usually the easier approach.

18
How to Determine a Student's Goal

• The first step, then, is to determine what the
  student really wants.
• Once we know the goal, we can help the student
  choose the positive approach to getting it
• Because much of the student's misbehavior is
  aimed at us, becoming aware of our own feelings
  during a conflict can be a powerful clue to the
  student's goals

19
How to Determine a Student's Goal

• Second, the student's response to our attempts at
  correcting the misbehavior
• How does a student behave after we have made an
  effort to correct the misbehavior?

20
(No Transcript)
21
Four Negative Approaches
22
Undue Attention-Seeking

• The student who seeks contact through undue
  attention-seeking probably has the mistaken
  belief that they must be the center of attention
  in order to belong
• Older students prefer the attention of peers
• They may become class clowns or the ones who are
  constantly in troubleanything to stay in the
  limelight

23
Undue Attention-Seeking

• So the student finds ways to keep people busy
• The student may act forgetful, helpless or lazy,
  putting the teacher in his service with reminders
  and coaxing
• Or the student may get attention by clowning,
  asking constant questions, pestering or making a
  nuisance
• Teachers typically feel annoyed or irritated with
  such behavior
• When we correct the student, they will usually
  stop the misbehavior
• Our correction has given the contact the student
  seeks
• However, the student will usually want more
  contact soon and resume the misbehavior.

24
Undue Attention-Seeking

• How teachers pay off the negative approach of
  undue attention seeking
• We tend to remind, nag, coax, complain, give
  mini-lectures, scold and otherwise stay in
  contact with the student.
• This attention tends to reinforce the student's
  mistaken approach to achieving contact.

25
Undue Attention-Seeking What can teachers do
differently?

• Do the unexpected
• We want to act more and talk less
• Either a brief confrontation through an I
  message or a logical consequence
• We also want to actively encourage the student
  toward the positive approach
• We want to help the student achieve the
  recognition and contact they want by finding
  meaningful ways for the student to contribute to
  the group
• While ignoring some of the unproductive
  attention-getting behaviors

26
Rebellion

• Rebellion is the most common and creates the most
  distress in schools.
• The student's mistaken belief with this approach
  is that the only way to achieve power is to
  control others, or at least show others she can't
  be controlled by them
• This behavior can be very frustrating, and what
  clues us into the fact that we are engaged in a
  power struggle is our own anger
• If we express this anger to the student and join
  the power struggle, the student's usual response
  is to intensify the struggle, an increase the
  misbehavior.
• If the student does back down during such a
  confrontation, it is only to fight again another
  day

27
Rebellion How Teachers Pay Off The Negative
Approach

• There are two ways to lose a power struggle
• Fighting and giving in
• When we get angry and engage in a verbal fight,
  we are in effect saying to the student, "Look how
  powerful you are you have made me angry and
  pulled me down to your level."
• When we give in to a rebelling student's
  unreasonable demands, we give the message, "Look
  how powerful your rebellion is it has gotten you
  your way."
• In either case, the student's rebellious approach
  to power has been paid off and will likely
  continue.

28
What Can Teachers Do Differently?

• We can give a choice
• We can let the student make some mistakes and
  then experience the consequences . . . without
  our lecturing or humiliating
• We can use communication skills and methods of
  encouragement to begin winning a more cooperative
  relationship
• And, most important, we can show the student we
  are not interested in fighting
• Instead, we will work together to find solutions,
  and when discipline is necessary, we will use
  methods like logical consequences rather than
  anger and punishment.

29
What Can Teachers Do Differently?

• We can refuse to give in to the student's
  unreasonable demands.
• We can set firm limits, negotiate within those
  limits
• We can refuse to be intimidated by the displays
  of anger and enforce the consequences of breaking
  the limits
• We can let our students know that while we
  believe they should be treated respectfully, we
  expect to be treated respectfully as well.

30
Revenge

• An increase in the power struggle usually leads
  to the negative approach of revenge, especially
  if the student feels that the teacher has "won
  too many battles" or has hurt the student in the
  process.
• The student decides that the best form of
  protection is to hurt back.
• The teacher's typical feeling is hurt, and
  because we can feel when students hurt us we
  should punish them more, and escalating revenge
  cycle begins

31
Revenge How Teachers Pay Off The Negative
Approach

• When students seek to protect themselves by
  getting revenge, they are usually feeling very
  discouraged
• When we retaliate with punishment we discourage
  them further and confirm their belief that they
  have a right to hurt us back.
• The more we hurt them, the more they want to hurt
  us back.

32
Revenge How Teachers Pay Off The Negative
Approach

• It will help us to remember that no student is
  born "bad" or "mean."
• For students to act this way, they have to be
  hurting inside.
• The first step, then, is to do what we can to
  stop whatever is hurting the student
• If it is our behavior, we can take a new
  approach.
• If someone else is hurting her, we can support
  the student in handling it herself or take more
  direct action when appropriate

33
Avoidance

• Students who become extremely discouraged may
  give up trying.
• Their belief becomes "I can't succeed so I'll
  avoid trying then I can't fail."
• They develop an apathy and lack of motivation
  that often leaves teachers feeling helpless.
• Such students may be absent from class, fail to
  do assignments and avoid peers.
• For too many tobacco, alcohol and other drugs may
  become a way for them to avoid the challenges
  life poses and find temporary relief from their
  own discouragement.

34
Avoidance How Teachers Pay OffThe Negative
Approach

• Our perfectionism may assist the student's long,
  slow slide into avoidance.
• When we focus excessively on mistakes,
• When nothing ever seems to be good enough for us,
  
• When all we talk about is their great
  "potential," the student may give up trying
  altogether

35
Avoidance How Teachers Pay OffThe Negative
Approach

• Once a student has chosen avoidance, we often
  make the mistake of giving up on them
• We can write them off as losers and stop making
  an effort to help
• Or we raise our voice, humiliate and punish.
• Either way, we send the message "You're not good
  enough for us."
• This confirms the student's own evaluation of
  himself and so justifies his avoidance.

36
Avoidance What Can Teachers Do Differently?

• Communicate to the student that whether she
  succeeds or fails, our caring for her is
  unconditional
• We will need to practice patience and give a lot
  of encouragement
• We can help the student find tasks they can
  perform successfully, so they can begin to break
  the misconception of themselves as a loser
• We can help them to see that mistakes are for
  learning, and failure is just a lesson on the
  road to success.

37
Negative Approaches What Can We Do Differently?

• With persistent problems related to any of the
  four goals, all are encouraged to consider the
  team approach
• Involving not only the student, but possibly the
  Student Success Center, Tutors, and other
  resources.

38
The Teacher-Student Cycle
39
The Teacher-Student Cycle

• Many people act as if other people control their
  feelings
• You make me angry.
• You make me so happy.

40
The Teacher-Student Cycle

• Although other people do influence or trigger our
  feelings,
• The cause of our feelings are our own beliefs,
  attitudes and values or what we think

41
The Teacher-Student Cycle

• We can influence others through our behavior and
  they can influence us through theirs
• The choice, however, is always with us
• Events that happen do not define us. How we
  decide to respond to these events do.

42
The Teacher-Student Cycle

• Example "You're really making me angry" an
  instructor says to a student whose mistaken
  approach to power is rebellion
• "Look how powerful your rebellion is it has
  made me lose my temper."
• This actually reinforces the student's mistaken
  belief, and he rebels even more.

• Alternative Example Accepting that "I have a
  choice I can either get angry or I can take some
  other action" puts you in control of yourself
• When you "push your own buttons" instead of
  giving away that power, many alternatives become
  available.

43
The Teacher-Student Cycle
Student
Teacher

• We can see how what a student might "do" can
  influence what his teacher thinks.
• The teacher's thinking then influences his
  feeling, which influences what he chooses to do.
• What the teacher does then influences what the
  student thinks, feels and does

44
How to Approach Negative Behavior
45
Who Owns The Problem?
46
When the Teacher Owns the Problem
47
When the Teacher Owns the Problem Logical
Consequences Guidelines

• Give person a choice
• Either/or choice
• When/then choice
• Make sure the consequence is logical
• Ask person to help
• Give choices you can live with
• Keep your tone firm and friendly

48
When the Teacher Owns the Problem Logical
Consequences Guidelines

• Give choice once, then act
• Expect testing
• Allow person to try again later

49
When the Student Owns the Problem
50
Situations when not to use Natural Consequences

• When the situation is too dangerous
• When the consequences are too distant
• When no natural consequences are likely to occur

51
I Messages

• A term coined Thomas Gordon in his Parent
  Effectiveness Training (PE.T) program
• They are firm and calm communications that can
  produce surprisingly effective results.
• They are called "I" messages because they shift
  the emphasis from the student (a traditional
  "you" message) to how the teacher ("I") feels
  about the student's behavior.

52
I Message Advantages

• They allow the teacher to say how she feels about
  the student's behavior without blaming or
  labeling the student.
• They create a situation in which the student is
  more likely to hear is was leading a what the
  teacher is saying because it is expressed in a
  non-threatening way
• They convey clearly to the student one
  consequence (the teacher feeling) of the
  student's behavior
• They put the emphasis on the student's behavior
  and not on the student's personality
• They give the student clear information about
  what change in behavior the teacher wants

53
How to Send an "I" Message

• Name the behavior or situation you want changed.
• "I have a problem with your Instant Messaging and
  surfing the Internet during class."
• Say how you feel about the situation
• "I feel irritated and disrespected. . ."

54
How to Send an "I" Message

• State your reason.
• . . because it distracts other students from my
  lecture and also shows my class is less of a
  priority.
• Say what you want done.
• "I would like you to stop Instant Messaging and
  surfing the Internet during class."

55
I Message

• I have a problem with your Instant Messaging and
  surfing the Internet during class. I feel
  irritated and disrespected because it distracts
  other students from my lecture and also shows my
  class is less of a priority. I would like you to
  stop Instant Messaging and surfing the Internet
  during class.

56
Purpose of Teaching

• Prepare students to survive and thrive
• in the kind of society in which they live.

57
Purpose of Teaching

• Although the subject matter taught is certainly
  an important part of any purpose, teachers go
  beyond subject matter.
• We teach to the students attitude, as well as
  aptitude
• They listen to the student's heart, as well as
  her words.
• They help foster the qualities of character and
  self-worth that enable students to make real
  contributions to their communities and their
  world.

58
Active teachers go beyond subject matter

• "Enhancing discipline, self-esteem and student
  performance" speaks to a larger purpose of
  teaching than simple classroom management.
• The goal is not merely to manage students so that
  we can cover the material.
• Instead our goal is to enhance students so that
  they develop the attitudes, skills and personal
  qualities that will enable them to survive and
  thrive in a democratic society.
• Then they will have something to contribute back
  to that society.

59
What Do We Want for Our Students?

• What does it take for a student to thrive?
• What qualities are important for surviving and
  thriving in a democratic society?
• Four qualities are essential
• Responsibility
• Cooperation
• Courage
• Self-Esteem