Step 3 Thinking about behaviour

During this past month, I’ve read and dealt with a number of challenges regarding behaviours that are occurring in my school and classroom.  In a nut shell, the classroom has become more and more of an experiment in behaviour modification and that the regular classroom teacher (RCT) has to run these experiments.

During my research with a friend and colleague, we discussed the great challenge of behaviour in the classroom.  His reading and research identified two major areas: 

1.  the child who is bored and acts out in class and

2.  the child that is so overwhelmed with the work, anxiety strikes along with the resulting poor behaviour.

While a learning disability does not necessarily bind itself to a behaviour problem……..a behaviour problem doesn’t necessarily bind itself to a learning disability. 

While teachers have and will continue to work within these constraints, my friend started writing about a new model that is beginning to get a great deal of support in the field of Special Education — something called “Response to Instruction”.  It seems that in the field of  Special Education, there is a movement from “identifications based on mental health categories” for educational issues.  

My friend continues ” he categories used in mental health are under attack from the mental health community right now. They don’t hold up well under the weight of new research. There is a push to get away from categories and move to a neurodevelopmental model. So, this is not a time for education to think in terms of categories. That said, there is a push in the USA to move to a functional model for special education – this is the RTI (response to instruction) and a tiered approach to interventions.”

Well, now I’m interested to see what is happening and I started at this site:

http://www.rtinetwork.org/Learn

The program seems to tie research to interventions and academic programming. 

This link is also cited on the California Department of Education site.

A recent piece of literature that I’ve read and think that it might be something I can use (and would like to share) is:

Boys, Girls and Achievement:  Addressing the Classroom issues.  Becky Francis (author).   ISBN 0-415-23163-9

I located this book through the Margaret Wilson Library at the Ontario College of Teachers.    Published in 2000 in England, Francis does make some interesting points regarding boys “laddish” behaviours versus their female counterparts.  “Laddish” behaviours are identified as behaviours  that distract from the learning of the boys and girls in the classroom.   Francis suggests that “laddish” behaviours (speaking out,  work avoidance, challenging teachers ) are systemic in the English education system and that a wholesale change is required to improve the under performing boys and empower the female students.

The female students interviewed by Francis easily identified that these boys could perform academically and socially when not “performing” for their mates. 

Francis’  research discusses current trends in education (e.g. more non-fiction to engage boys to read) and intersperses the reviews of research with her own interviews with students on a variety of subjects.  The focus of Francis’ work is based on secondary school students but she does provide insight of the future of teaching these students.

Francis believes that the teacher needs to inject some balance to the classroom.  Teachers need to treat boys and girls equitably regarding poor behaviour and spend a great deal of time trying to educate boys in the  appropriate expectations of their educational pursuits.

I find that Francis’ work parallels what is occurring in my classroom to a lesser extent.  The behaviours that I see (and I’ve discussed with my peers) is a systemic wide problem within the school and the community. 

It seems that we (our staff) are between a rock and a hard place in this matter.

Please check my next post (Step 4) for my next two reviews.

GC

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