DISCIPLINE CHALLENGES 1

UNIT 5: PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY

MUHAMMAD FAROOQ

University of the People

EDUC 5240: CREATING POSITIVE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTS

OCTOBER 06th, 2022

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Evaluate the methods/models introduced in this unit and create a plan for preventing

studentmisbehavior. Explain how you will incorporate it into your future classroom to

minimize classroom disruptions?

There is a fight to find a balance between the wills of the two primary stakeholders in the study

room—the educators and the learners—everywhere in the globe when educators are driven to

impart knowledge and students are attempting to gain knowledge. The means by which teachers

and students can cooperate to promote learning is through classroom discipline. Classroom

management is described by the National Education Association as "helping students to

moderate their conduct in ways that help them learn is a longstanding goal of all teachers." NEA,

National Education Association, n.d. There are always two sides to a story; every educator has

their own method for fostering a supportive environment and culture of learning; in this case,

there are many methodologies used to instill discipline in the classroom, but this essay will only

look at two that may represent the opposite ends of the spectrum: B.F. Skinner's behavior

modification and Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Cline's love and logic.

B.F. Skinner's Behavior Modification is the first opponent. Behavior modification study by B.F.

Skinner is included in the pantheon of studies done by physicists like Pavlov, Thorndike, and

Watson. These physicists made significant progress in their understanding of how behavior is

taught and rewarded. "Skinner's approach was founded on the idea that classical conditioning

was overly simplistic, and that the best way to comprehend behavior is to look at the reasons

behind an action and its results. He referred to this strategy as operant conditioning. Mcelod

(2018) Operant conditioning is a technique for changing behavior that uses rewards and

punishments to shape and strengthen the behavior.

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A teacher can encourage desired actions in the classroom by awarding good points in Class Dojo,

a virtual reward system based on points and avatars that can be tracked by teachers, parents, and

students. Additionally, teachers have the option of subtracting points from students for

undesirable behavior. So that students can see when points are added or subtracted, teachers can

place a monitor in front of the classroom that displays the Class Dojo Monitor Screen. Similar to

Pavlov's dog experiments, there are sound effects that serve as audio cues to aid in changing the

desired behavior. Another illustration of operant conditioning is a system of tokens where

rewards are obtained for engaging in the desired behavior. (i.e., entering the classroom quiet,

sitting down and ready to learn or doing a warmup/ bell ringer).

Tokens earned by students can be used to buy things or activity time from the classroom

commissary or treasure box. On the other side, pupils who engage in unfavorable behavior (such

as speaking out of turn or using derogatory language) may be punished (negative reinforcement),

losing them the tokens they need for the treasure box. According to Skinner, there are three basic

kinds of behavioral responses: reinforcers (responses from stimuli that increase the chance of a

behavior) and punishers (responses from stimuli that decrease the likelihood of a behavior)

(responses from stimuli that decrease the occurrence of exhibited behavior). (See McLeod 2018,

line 5) Operant Conditioning effects, both good and bad The benefit of Skinner's theory is that it

enables teachers to help students transition from an extrinsic motivation perspective to an

intrinsic motivation mindset, allowing students to control their behavior rather than the teacher.

Reinforcers can be positive or negative. The frequency of rewards can be gradually reduced by

the teacher until they are no longer necessary as reinforcers. Behavior modification can give

people the motivation they need to change their behavior so that they engage in constructive

prosocial behaviors rather than engaging in disruptive social behavior.

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The drawback of this notion is that occasionally the punishment does not fit the offense. For

example, imagine that a teacher sees young Jonny pulling Sally's pigtails and yells at him in

retaliation. Jonny chooses to have a massive temper tantrum to attract attention away from

himself after being publically reprimanded. What's going on here? Now, the adult and the child

are engaged in a power struggle. Conflicts over power destroy discipline. The teacher must work

to restore control of the classroom since he or she has lost it.

It teaches that every activity, whether positive or negative, has natural consequences. The

positive aspects of Love and Logic methodology is that this modality allows students to grow

and mature at their own pace with minimal interference. The negative aspect of this praxis lies in

its implementation. There are many moving pieces to Love and Logic that the adult must get

correct, or the kids will riot. Case in point, if the teacher forgets to privately correct adverse

behavior by publicly correcting bad behavior; he or she just kicked the socio-emotional learning

out of the classroom and invited a power struggle in.

In conclusion, Love and Logic is the better choice because it considers that a student is a person

that had feelings and emotions. It is these two things that lie at the feet of all classroom

disruptions. The incident with little Jonny, he had a meltdown because his feelings were not

taken into consideration. If the teacher had taken Jonny outside, just whispered into his ear, or

even gave a nonverbal look his direction, it would be unlikely that the tantrum would occur.
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References

Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Performance Counts: Assessment Systems that Support High-

Quality Learning. Washington, D.C.: Council of Chief State School Officers.

McLeod, S. (2018, January 21). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from Simply

Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html

National Education Association [NEA]. (n.d.). Maintaining Classroom Discipline. Retrieved

from National Education Association:

http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/mf_classdisckansasnea.pdf

Nonviolent Crisis Institute (CPI). (2018). Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Foundation Course

Instructors Guide. In N. C. (CPI), Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Foundation Course Instructors

Guide (pp. 45- 49). Retrieved October 3, 2019