By: Virginia Stratford
Schoolteachers can help troubled children with behavioral issues using new teaching techniques, according to research published by a BYU special education professor.
'Instead of punishing students when they engage in problem behaviors, we find replacement behaviors and it's a positive approach,' said Darlene Anderson, research associate and instructor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education at BYU. 'The children don't have teacher-pleasing behaviors, so it's a focus on teaching new skills that teachers can reinforce. It's all about building relationships.'
Anderson recently published research on using functional behavioral analysis in general education classrooms to help children with behavior problems including screaming, arguing and pouting.
'It's not trying to fix the child; it's setting up the environment so the child can be successful,' she said. 'For students who are challenged, who are at risk, or who have disabilities - behavioral or learning - we find that structure can be very helpful. We help them learn how to learn.'
Anderson conducted an intervention at a local junior high school to test her thesis hypothesis that students will respond better to positive attention rather than a reprimand for disruptive behavior. Over the course of three months, her research team saw an improvement in the classrooms where FBA was implemented.
'I felt that these kids had a lot of talent, and what a waste of student talent to be hung up on these things and not to be progressing,' Anderson said. 'They have the ability, they just needed a different angle.'
Anderson helped develop video instruction on FBA to be given to teachers in Utah.
'I think this is very important because it's based on what you see,' she said. 'It's very pragmatic and easy to implement.'
FBA can help teachers change behavior in general education classrooms by using a positive approach to teaching.
'We want to be proactive and keep problem behavior from occurring in the first place,' she said. 'We want kids to be successful.'