Reducing Jason's Disruptive Behaviour

Abstract

ITower Hamlets School Suiport Team, describe their five-point' procedure for reducing the disruptive behaviour of a six-yearold boy in a London primary school. The Tower Hamlets School Support Team, set up in 1979 as part of the Inner London Education Authority's response to disruptive behaviour, consists of 12 teachers, a teacher in charge, an educational psychologist, a senior education welfare officer and a clerical officer. The team uses a theoretical analysis and model of work based on those developed by David Lane and his colleagues at the Islington Educational Guidance Centre.1 Referral Jason, a lively but aggressive six-year-old, was referred to the Tower Hamlets School Support Team in November last year. His teacher described him as extremely disruptive. H e did not get on well with other children in his class, often preferring to kick or punch them, let loose a flow of invective or to make off with their toys. AssessmentAs usual when primary or secondary schools refer pupils to the Tower Hamlets team, the peripatetic support teacher assigned to the school makes an assessment of the child, together with the class teacher. Part of the assessment procedure that the Tower Hamlets School Support Team uses includes Stott's Bristol Social Adjustment Guide (BSAG) and a behaviour checklist developed by the team. The checklist enables the class teacher to be very specific about behaviour and consists of 90 items which can be scored on a three-point scale (eg turns round in seat; moves furniture; makes non-verbal noises; writes on furniture; verbally abuses another pupil; pokes another pupil).While the teacher filled in the BSAG and the checklist, giving specific details about the boy's behaviour, the support teacher began to make a systematic observation of Jason's behaviour and also of his friend Paul, who had been referred to the team at the same time for disruptiveness. She watched Jason and his friend in a variety of activities, in and out of class.On the BSAG, a questionnaire which covers five aspects of school life -interaction with teacher, school work, games and play, attitudes to other children and personal ways, physique and school achievement -Jason's score for aggressive behaviour was higher than average. At the same time the BSAG also indicated that he responded to praise. On the team's checklist his problem behaviour related to interfering with other children. He abused them verbally, kicked them, poked and punched them. The class teacher estimated that each of these behaviours occurred three to five times a day.Discussion with the class teacher followed. The teacher, a probationer, was obviously concerned about her handling of the class as a whole and felt that the general problems of organisation and management of the group were exacerbating the disruptive behaviour of Jason and Paul. FormulationThe next step in the team's five-point procedure was to try to identify the child's pattern of behaviour in order to plan ways of altering it. The formulation was, as always, done with the class teacher. J...

The battleground in kindergarten: a contrast between pretend aggression and real aggression in a full-day kindergarten classroom

“…Educators have used several successful interventions. Behavior modification techniques including positive reinforcement and rewards for appropriate behavior have been successful at decreasing aggression and increasing prosocial behaviors (Ellis & Blake, 1986;Petermann, 1987).…”

“…Social skills training can reduce children's aggression by increasing the number of alternative behaviors that are available to them (Ellis & Blake, 1986). By teaching children to be assertive, cooperate, and share, aggression in the classroom can be decreased (Levin, 1994;Slaby et al, 1995).…”