Presenting Rules to Young Children at School

Abstract

This paper reviews the theoretical and very limited research basis for common ‘practitioner advice’ given to early childhood teachers on the phrasing and presentation of rules. Displayed rule lists are the norm in classrooms and examples are given. Student participation in rule construction is difficult but possible for young children. Typical classrooms have more rules than the optimal four or five. Phrasing for generalisation is difficult to present, but assisted by key words. Omitting pronouns and modal verbs assists brevity and comprehension by young children. Positive phrasing may be unrealistic for very young children, who may need behaviourally specific prohibitions. Difficulties with pragmatic comprehension of abstract concepts are often overlooked. Picture support and possibly signing support for rules is likely to assist rule presentation for young children.

Rules and agreements — And becoming a preschool community of learners

“…Increasing interest is also being shown in classroom rules regarding the amount, nature and functions of rules, and rules as means of classroom management (e.g., Fields, 1997;Heins, 1996;Howard & Norris, 1994). A great deal of these studies have been carried out in the form of surveys and interviews with teachers or children; there have been fewer observation studies on this issue (see, however, Castle & Rogers, 1993;Choi, 1997;McCadden, t996).…”

Decreasing inappropriate vocalizations using classwide group contingencies and color wheel procedures: A component analysis

“…Classroom rules are stimuli that establish collective behavioral expectations that define and shape behaviors and provide order, discipline, and control over students to protect people and allow learning to occur unimpeded. Educators and researchers have recommended that teachers set behavioral expectations by developing one set of brief (three to five) classroom rules (Buck, 1999; Heins, 1996; Malone & Tietjens, 2000). Different classroom activities have different behavioral expectations, however.…”

Behaviour Management Strategies in the Preschool: Teacher Strategies in Current Use

“…Teachers involved in this study applied a range of strategies, but made no mention of which strategy would be best suited to particular incidents. Preventive strategies were constant with the repetition of centre rules and standards (Heins, 1996;Knight & Hughes, 1995). Pro-social skill development in the form of board games reinforced communication skills, and in the intervention (after) strategies on group discussion, point towards reinforcement of communication skills in coping with conflict.…”

“…A prominent feature of the intervention strategies was rule display and play strategy. Heins (1996) stated that, while verbal rules appeared to some degree in the early childhood setting, displays of rules were made accessible to children only in the primary school. It appears from the teacher responses in the survey undertaken here that they were in fact teaching children about rules in the early years, via a combination of visual and textual information.…”

“…It appears from the teacher responses in the survey undertaken here that they were in fact teaching children about rules in the early years, via a combination of visual and textual information. Heins (1996) argued that comprehension of rule meaning was dependent on effective language skills and cognitive ability (10). Perhaps the way in which these teachers treated antisocial play, through simplification of rules developed by the children, was enhanced through their daily interactions where the rule concept was made explicit.…”