This week we discussed behaviour management during the implementation of arts lessons. Whilst most behavior management strategies are reactive by being put in place after a child has demonstrated certain behaviors, some are preemptive working to prevent these behaviors from occurring. One of these is the implementation of instructions, delivered by the practitioner in a melodic song type voice which the children will become familiar with and do so in unison. This ‘call and response’ concept was first introduced to me during my first-year placement and the effect of it within different aspects of education has been reiterated to me during today’s lesson. Within this lesson the lecturer explained that by connecting something children find demanding and tedious (like tidying or listening) with something fun and enjoyable (like music and singing) children are less likely to exhibit poor behavior in response to these tasks. Common examples of this are ‘1,2,3, eyes on me!’ to gain pupils engagement or singing a ‘tidy up song’ which informs children that it is time to do so. Employing this strategy is not simply a way of ‘planning for good behaviour; teaching the routines and the rules’ (Rodgers, 2007), but also an important step to take when establishing boundaries regarding ‘low level disruptive behaviour’ (gov.uk, 2014).
Integrating Thorndike’s law of effect (Thorndike, 1905) and Skinner’s operant conditioning theories (Skinner, 1938) into practice enables practitioners to use reinforcement as a means of behavior management. This is implemented in the classroom often using reward systems of tokens or points which may add up to more time on the smart board or a class treat at the end of the week. The positive reinforcement in that situation being the reward of the tokens or points as well as the bigger treat. The presence of both, should encourage children to display behaviors they know would grant them access to these. The negative reinforcement in that situation being the sanction of losing tokens or the end of week class treats for poor behavior, being removed if the child takes the opportunity to gain them back by demonstrating improved behavior for the remainder of the week. Knowledge of this sanction alone should actively dissuade children from displaying poor behavior. However, in the instance that it still occurs, the practitioner must follow through on the sanction and children will have their poor behavior negatively reinforced by having their rewards removed so they understand that their actions have consequences.
While I feel the concept of positive reinforcement is valuable to behaviour management, it should only be used in moderation. If rewards become too common children are motivated by them instead of the behaviours associated with them and could become dependent upon them to feel secure in their learning. I would promote Intrinsic motivation (Kohn, 1998) through the learning itself and periodically employ positive reinforcement so that children can develop a genuine interest in their behavior instead of the rewards. I will also ensure that I work to prevent poor behavior by adhering to William Glasser’s choice theory (Glasser, 1965) which suggests that children’s choice to engage with a task is dependent upon how well it meets the five needs of; fun, freedom, power, survival and belonging.
During today’s lecture we were also given the opportunity to experiment with sequence planning, as this was something we had identified as an area for development. Our lecturer had informed us that sequence planning is often used in the arts as it allows for a more cohesive series of lessons which show clear and measurable progression. We had been given an example sequence plan and had then been given a few hours to populate a similar template with a series of lessons. I was inspired by last weeks input and blog to create my sequence plan using ‘Animals in the Rainforest’ as the stimulus. I aimed to create cross curricular links within this short series of lessons and add an element of depth to the children’s learning. I have included my sequence plan at the end of this blog.
