"But he started it"

Taking responsibility for managing one’s own behaviour

After two terms of my placement in a Year 1 class, I am getting to know the children and they me. I am practising minor behaviour management, (re-focusing pupils’ attention, calming escalating noisiness, etc) and the pupils take notice. On reflection, this (the fact that I do it at all, and the fact that they don’t completely ignore me) must be due to my increased confidence in the classroom, and to observing the techniques the teacher and TA use to manage behaviour. The children generally behave well. Not suppressed, but rarely rowdy. The teacher and TA work as a team with regards to managing behaviour; the TA taking the lead to allow uninterrupted teaching. I rarely hear either raise their voice.

I don’t often need to manage behaviour unsupported, however, recently I heard arguing and as the other adults were not available, I had to intervene. Jill Morgan, in ‘The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Managing Behaviour’ stresses that prompt intervention can prevent arguments from continuing on into lunch breaks and beyond.

Rory told me Thomas had scribbled on his work, and indeed, Rory’s page was now barely legible.

One of my failings is to get cross when I perceive unkindness, but I resisted speaking harshly; I have been hard on my children in the past, only to discover the situation was not what I thought. I asked them to tell me what had happened, partly because I believe in fairness, but also because punishing inappropriately damages the relationship between adult and pupil.

Thomas had scribbled on Rory’s work because Rory had already “scribbled” on his. They continued to argue, with Tom saying; ‘he started it’. I told them that if they chose to continue arguing I would have to fetch the teacher (with her implied authority to impose sanctions).

The “language of choice” is a powerful behaviour management tool recommended on the DFeS “teachernet” web site, and one that supports a child in taking responsibility for managing their own behaviour. For a pupil to connect behaviour to an inevitable consequence, and choose to avoid that outcome is a sign of maturity. Choosing to behave appropriately is big step towards taking responsibility for one’s own behaviour management.

Premack’s principle (Premack, 1959, 1963) states that a ‘high probability’ (something you want to do) activity can serve as a reinforcer for a ‘low probability’ (something you don’t want to do) activity. This behaviourist method is analogous to operant conditioning, but Premack is referring to anticipated activities as rewards. The ability to choose one’s behaviour in anticipation of a future reward or in avoidance of a future negative consequence is one that signifies increasing maturity. Small children have no concept of time, so rewards or sanctions must be connected immediately to the action in order to have significance (extrinsic motivation). Older children become more able to link an action with a future consequence, and are able to choose actions based on consequences. This is the beginning of intrinsic motivation, the taking of responsibility for one’s own actions.

Phrasing is important. For example, “if you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding’ is a threat. But “you can have pudding when you’ve eaten your meat” entices by offering a reward, and makes it clear that the reward is contingent on eating the meat, so there is no expectation of pudding if the meat isn’t eaten. By using ‘when’ not ‘if’ there is expectation that the meat will be eaten and pudding forthcoming. So perhaps I should have told Tom and Rory “I won’t need to ask the teacher to sort this problem out, because I know you’re going to stop arguing”.

By stating; ‘if you do this, I will have to do this’ the TA makes it clear that they impose sanctions out of concern, rather than because they are mean, which places the onus for preserving the good relationship with the TA on the pupil.

Tom and Rory’s argument stopped. I like to think this was because the boys chose to stop arguing rather than be reprimanded, but perhaps it was because the argument was unwinnable. Perhaps, by offering the option to be mature and take responsibility for their behaviour, I offered a face-saving way to end the conflict. Anyway, I praised them for making the right choice and asked them to sit at opposite ends of the table.

In cases of provocation, whilst I sympathise with the victim of the original transgression, I would not grant them impunity, because it’s important to understand that a retaliating action is just as wrong as the provoking action, and that one can choose not to react.

Piaget’s theory of the development of morality suggests that children between the ages of 5 to 9 (moral realists) evaluate wrongdoing in terms of its consequences, not the intentions of the doer. Thus, a child who deliberately does slight damage is not as naughty as one who does a huge damage accidentally. Aged 7, children begin to understand that intention is important (moral relativity) and that punishment should fit the crime. This understanding facilitates another significant leap in the ability to take responsibility for one’s own behaviour.

It’s important for the teaching assistant to support pupils in managing their own behaviour, because with greater independence and the right to choose one’s own path that is granted as one gets older, comes the responsibility to choose actions that, at least, do no harm to others. It is a stage in the development of adult autonomous intrinsic morality, where the individual’s personal morality coincides with the laws of their society and they obey the law because they agree with it, not for fear of punishment. Or not. Their choice.

References:

Morgan, J ‘The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Managing Behaviour’ continuum, 2007.

DfeS Teachernet web site http://www.teachernet.gov.uk

Wikipedia article on the Premack Principle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack%27s_principle

accessed 9/1/11

Article: Piaget’s Theory of moral Development.

http://everything2.com/title/Piaget%27s+theory+of+moral+development

accessed 9/1/11