Improving Student Motivation: Critically reflect on two Psychological theories
In answering this part of the assessment I am reflecting on my experience with a particularly difficult Year 10 class of 15 students (one with intellectual disability, two epileptic students whose medication gave them behavioural problems, one child with ESL, one with borderline ADHD, one school refuser, and the rest a mixture of those who could-if-they-would and those who would-if-they-could.
1. Assertiveness – Lee and Marlene Canter
Create positive student-teacher relationships
Establish rules or expectations
Track misbehaviour
Use negative consequences to enforce limits
Implement a system of positive consequences
Establish strong parent support
There are a number of problems with this model in the real world:
Sometimes even the most willing teacher is not able to establish rapport with particular students.
Canter’s model of establishing straightforward rules (p.84) is non-democratic and draconian and does not allow student input and ownership. Some are inappropriate: ‘Stay in your seat and sit facing the front of the room’ implies the class is organized in rows rather than a more collaborative horseshoe.
Establishing rules and goals democratically works well with some classes and not with others. Students with learning/behavioural problems may resist the rules at every opportunity (sometimes this is outside their control –the two children with epilepsy had medication that destroyed their concentration in the early mornings - three out of five lessons). Tracking misbehaviour through behaviour management sheets was ineffective as they continually ‘lost’ their sheets, failed to show them to the parents, and the parents missed parent teacher meetings and offered no support to the teacher.
Using negative consequences to enforce limits was counterproductive – keeping students back at recess further reduced rapport, increased resentment and also made it hard for the teacher to be ready for the next lesson.
Positive consequences, reward systems, praise encouragement and varied teaching methods were occasionally effective but every time I thought I had achieved a breakthrough, the bad behaviour would resurface at the beginning of the next lesson due to medical/behavioural problems.
Rudolf Dreikurs: Democratic Discipline
Many of Dreikurs’ ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’ (Edward and Watts, p.106) are helpful, but still not entirely sufficient in the real world (or at least I failed to make these principles work). With this particular class, despite consistently committing myself to strategies which ignored or avoided the negative and built on the positive, several of the students were intransigent. As a consequence I became discouraged and demoralized and was frequently guilty of nagging. Despite my best efforts to show that I accepted them and valued their contributions (if I rejected their behaviour), despite feeling and showing genuine pleasure at their slightest achievement, the students with epilepsy disliked me and English from an early date, and I was unable to counter this.
This particular class led me to think that some students at this age would in fact be better off out of school in the working world, acquiring the maturity and perspective that might have enabled them to value education. In the German education system, for example, there are Hauptschule which lead to trade and vocational qualifications, Realschule (generalist) and Gymnasium – academic schools. I am almost certain that this system would be much more suited to many Year 10 students in Australia.
Bibliography:
Clifford H. Edwards and Vivienne Watts, 2004. Classroom Discipline and Management. John Wiley and Sons, Milton QLD.
Rudolf DreikursPrinciples of Parent Education
http://www.adleriansociety.co.uk/phdi/p3.nsf/supppages/0939?opendocument&part=7
German School System
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/germanschools.html
In answering this part of the assessment I am reflecting on my experience with a particularly difficult Year 10 class of 15 students (one with intellectual disability, two epileptic students whose medication gave them behavioural problems, one child with ESL, one with borderline ADHD, one school refuser, and the rest a mixture of those who could-if-they-would and those who would-if-they-could.
1. Assertiveness – Lee and Marlene Canter
Create positive student-teacher relationships
Establish rules or expectations
Track misbehaviour
Use negative consequences to enforce limits
Implement a system of positive consequences
Establish strong parent support
There are a number of problems with this model in the real world:
Sometimes even the most willing teacher is not able to establish rapport with particular students.
Canter’s model of establishing straightforward rules (p.84) is non-democratic and draconian and does not allow student input and ownership. Some are inappropriate: ‘Stay in your seat and sit facing the front of the room’ implies the class is organized in rows rather than a more collaborative horseshoe.
Establishing rules and goals democratically works well with some classes and not with others. Students with learning/behavioural problems may resist the rules at every opportunity (sometimes this is outside their control –the two children with epilepsy had medication that destroyed their concentration in the early mornings - three out of five lessons). Tracking misbehaviour through behaviour management sheets was ineffective as they continually ‘lost’ their sheets, failed to show them to the parents, and the parents missed parent teacher meetings and offered no support to the teacher.
Using negative consequences to enforce limits was counterproductive – keeping students back at recess further reduced rapport, increased resentment and also made it hard for the teacher to be ready for the next lesson.
Positive consequences, reward systems, praise encouragement and varied teaching methods were occasionally effective but every time I thought I had achieved a breakthrough, the bad behaviour would resurface at the beginning of the next lesson due to medical/behavioural problems.
Rudolf Dreikurs: Democratic Discipline
Many of Dreikurs’ ‘Do’s’ and ‘Don’ts’ (Edward and Watts, p.106) are helpful, but still not entirely sufficient in the real world (or at least I failed to make these principles work). With this particular class, despite consistently committing myself to strategies which ignored or avoided the negative and built on the positive, several of the students were intransigent. As a consequence I became discouraged and demoralized and was frequently guilty of nagging. Despite my best efforts to show that I accepted them and valued their contributions (if I rejected their behaviour), despite feeling and showing genuine pleasure at their slightest achievement, the students with epilepsy disliked me and English from an early date, and I was unable to counter this.
This particular class led me to think that some students at this age would in fact be better off out of school in the working world, acquiring the maturity and perspective that might have enabled them to value education. In the German education system, for example, there are Hauptschule which lead to trade and vocational qualifications, Realschule (generalist) and Gymnasium – academic schools. I am almost certain that this system would be much more suited to many Year 10 students in Australia.
Bibliography:
Clifford H. Edwards and Vivienne Watts, 2004. Classroom Discipline and Management. John Wiley and Sons, Milton QLD.
Rudolf DreikursPrinciples of Parent Education
http://www.adleriansociety.co.uk/phdi/p3.nsf/supppages/0939?opendocument&part=7
German School System
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/germanschools.html
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