A Case Study in Six Perspectives

... if we always do what we’ve always done we’ll always get what we always got.

Overview

Contents Overview

This page includes practicle interventions and explanations for how different beliefs of the cause of behavior of different people affect their choices of interventions & the resulting outcomes of their choices. This information is presented with case studies, one for each of the six historical theoretical points of view:

  1. Behavioral,
  2. Cognitive,
  3. Psychodynamic Interpersonal,
  4. Humanistic,
  5. Biophysical, and
  6. Environmental or Ecological.

Imagine a student that was cloned at birth and dropped into six different schools, each with a different theoretical approach on causes of behavior. The result might be the following for each of the clones.

Laboratory codes: | zb1 | zb2 | zb3 | zb4 | zb5 | zb6 |

Perspective One - clone zb1

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris's General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.

The school SAT Team meets with the teacher.

SAT Team: Ms. Jones, I understand you are having a problem with Chris.

Teacher: Yes, he is really hyper and aggressive. He is very difficult to manage. He can’t seem to sit still, and he constantly argues with me when I ask him to do something. I have tried everything to get him to behave. Maybe he belongs in a special class.

SAT Team: Can you describe exactly what he does that bothers you?

Teacher: He can’t sit still and doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. He just won’t obey the rules.

SAT Team: What specific behaviors bother you most?

Teacher: He is so hyper.

SAT Team: Yes, give me examples of how he is hyper.

Teacher: He always gets out of his seat.

SAT Team: Does he do it all day long?

Teacher: No. I guess most of it is in the afternoon.

SAT Team: What does he do when he gets out of his seat?

Teacher: Well, he usually just wanders around.

SAT Team: What other things bother you?

Teacher: When he wanders around class, he isn’t doing his schoolwork, and he bothers other children. Maybe he has an attention disorder and needs Ritalin.

SAT Team: So the main thing that bothers you is that he doesn’t stay in his seat. The other things happen when he is not in his seat.

Teacher: I guess so, but maybe he really doesn’t belong in this class.

SAT Team: What makes you think so?

Teacher: I am constantly correcting him when he gets out of his seat. He sometimes sits down, but then he repeats the behavior until I get upset and send him to the principal.

SAT Team: How do you correct him?

Teacher: Well, I tell him that it is important for him to be good and cooperate with everyone. I tell him that he should not walk around the room and disturb other students and he should get his work done.

SAT Team: What does he do?

Teacher: He sometimes goes back to his seat for awhile and then gets back up. Or sometimes he doesn’t even get back to his seat. He starts and gets involved in something else along the way.

SAT Team: What do you do then?

Teacher: I tell him if he doesn’t sit down he will have to stay in for recess or stay after school.

SAT Team: Does that work?

Teacher: No. He usually says I can’t make him.

SAT Team: And then?

Teacher: I usually end up sending him to the principal.

SAT Team: Does he behave when he comes back from the principal?

Teacher: Not for long.

Next the SAT Team attempted to diagnose the problem by having the teacher describe the specific behaviors to eliminate.

Teacher’s List

  • getting out of the seat without permission
  • refusal to accept the teacher’s directions when told to sit down, and
  • talking out of turn.

Next the SAT Team asked the teacher to define if it is excessive?

Teacher’s description

Chris was out of his seat two to three times a day without permission and other students were hardly ever.

Yes it is excessive.

Next the SAT Team analyzed the behavior through the following discussion.

SAT Team: When is Chris out of his seat most?

Teacher: During transitional times and individual work time.

SAT Team: What behavior do you want?

Teacher: Chris should only get up to do what is allowed and sit down promptly when he is asked. If he does this he should be able to work more independently on his own at his desk.

SAT Team: First you need to collect data so we can document change or lack of change.

Sometime Later

Teacher: The baseline data for out of seat behavior had a frequency range of 6-8 with a mean of 6.6.

Set goals of the intervention

SAT Team: What is the goal for the desired behavior?

Teacher: Chris should decrease out-of-seat behavior 50% the first week and 80% the second. Increase the work completed by 40% the first week and 60% the second.

Treatment and Intervention

SAT Team: What is the intervention?

Teacher: I will use planned ignoring for a week or two, unless he attacks or is actively bothering a classmate. I will collect data for out-of-seat and appropriate reinforcer(s). And I will start with a conference to tell Chris of the plan.

Conference with Chris.

Teacher: Chris, you know I have been watching you for the last few weeks. Do you know about how many times you get out of your seat every afternoon?

Chris: Why were you watching me? You don’t watch the other kids like that.

Teacher: Well, you know that you are the only one who is out of his seat so many times.

Chris: But I can’t help it. I just can’t sit still sometimes.

Teacher: I understand and I don’t mind you getting up to stretch or sharpen your pencil. But many times you are doing things that bother others. Then I end up yelling at you. Do you know that every afternoon you are out of your seat about five times each hour? Wouldn’t you like to help yourself stay in your seat? That would stop me from yelling at you all the time.

Chris: You don’t yell at any of the other kids. You are always picking on me.

Teacher: Well, maybe I am picking on you. I am sorry about that, but I am tired of yelling at you, and you must be tired of hearing me. So let’s see if we can make a bargain to stop all this stuff. How would you like to earn some rewards for not getting out of your seat?
Chris What kinds of rewards?

Teacher: What would you like to earn, that I can give you? Or maybe there is something that your parents can get you.

Chris: You mean like a new Nintendo game?

Teacher: Yes, you could earn points for not getting out of your seat. Then you could cash in those points with your parents. I know that they would be willing to let you earn things. They told me they would be happy to do something like this because they don’t like what has been happening. Also, we can arrange for you to earn privileges in school.

Chris: Like what?

Teacher: I know you like artwork and gym. I can arrange for you to take an extra gym class at the end of each week, if you earn it. I can also give you extra art time each day.

Chris: You mean I can get all that for just staying in my seat? But I don’t know if I can do it all afternoon.

Teacher: Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to do it all right away. Here is how we will do it. Each day you start out with five points. If you stay in your seat, except when you ask permission, all afternoon, you get all five points. You lose a point each time you get out of your seat. So even if you are not perfect, you can get points. We will set up a chart to show how many points you earn each week. We will also make a chart showing how many points each thing is worth. If you want to change your rewards and add new ones, we can do that. How does that sound?

Reflection Questions

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

Perspective Two - clone zb2

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris's General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.

 

The school SAT Team meets with the teacher

Analysis

The SAT team and classroom teacher tried numerous interventions with Chris for over a period of two months. During this time they tried rewards, punishment, goal setting, interviews, counseling, conflict resolution, teaching of specific social skills, and cooperative learning.

Analysis

While Chris has made progress with many of the interventions his teacher still reports, to the SAT team that he is having problems with attention and impulsiveness. The SAT team recommends referral to a MDT team.

MDT Team

The classroom teacher reports to the MDT her belief that Chris has a combination of ADD and a mild learning disability. She supports this with her anecdotal reports of Chris’s work in various situations to the MDT team.

MDT Team confers with the SAT Team

The SAT team supports the possibility of her hypothesis and believes it is necessary to conduct testing to collect further data. The MDT team believes his restlessness and fine motor coordination problems might suggest the possibility of organic problems and supports further testing.

MDT Team diagnosis

Testing is arranged with the school psychologist.

The psychologist asks the teacher and other people who spend significant time with Chris to fill out rating sheets. These were available for the psychologist when she met with Chris and examined him.

Psychological Testing

The psychologist used the rating scales, psychological tests, and a computerized test that measures a student’s attention. The psychologist recommended, from her findings, that a medical assessment be given by a pediatric neurologist for a final diagnosis.

Medical analysis

After all the data indicated ADD a trial double blind study was recommended with the psycho stimulant Ritalin. Chris was to be given a placebo or the actual drug for two of four weeks that were only know by the pediatrician. Parents and teachers documented his behavior to attend and non conventional behavior.

A triple blind test could have been done which would have meant that neither the teacher, parent, or the child would know whether the pills contain Ritalin or a placebo, or which dosage was being tried at any one time.

Evaluation of study

The information collected was used by the pediatrician to decide to put Chris on Ritalin. The pediatrician also recommended that Chris continue to be sent to special teachers and counselors to help him improve his social skills, study habits, and deal with his differences.

Reflection Questions

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

Perspective Three - clone zb3

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.


The school SAT Team meets with the teacher

SAT Analysis

Chris, whines about rules, is frequently out of Chris’s seat, makes silly noises in class, and speaks out of turn. This might be developmentally appropriate in primary grades but is unconventional in middle school.

SAT Analysis

Despite frequent reprimands and attempts at reasoning and explanations of the natural consequences of this behavior, nothing seems to change.
Analysis of Chris’s cumulative folder and previous teacher (see previous history). Yielded no successful interventions.

Possible hypothesis

The SAT team suggests causes such as

  • Teacher’s anger at some of Chris’s behavior because of a lack of objectivity due to the teacher’s feelings and previous experiences with someone like Chris. For example the teacher may be associating Chris to a previous neighbor, who always got the teacher into trouble.
  • Chris lacks the intellectual ability to work at the grade level required. The team ruled this out because previous records and current teachers’ reports indicate that he has adequate intelligence and that he does do the work when he is motivated.
  • Chris has adequate intelligence, but has a learning disability or attention deficit disorder. The team ruled this hypothesis out because there is no history of this, his attendance has been regular, and there was no sudden change in his pattern of behavior.
  • Chris has a new or preexisting illness (i.e., anemia, brain tumor, diabetes) or physical disability (i.e., vision or hearing deficit). The team ruled this hypothesis out because there were no weakness in any specific areas and grades were not consistently low.
  • Chris has emotional problems, including low self-esteem, which are rooted in home or school and result in lack of achievement. The team believed that the information in this case indicated that this was most likely the source of the problem.

Ask for more information

The SAT team asks the teacher to talk to Chris, other students, parents, the school nurse, previous teachers, and others to try to gain information that might suggest a cause of a problem.

Questions to obtain more specific information from teachers who have worked with Chris

  • What kind of student was Chris when Chris was in your class?
  • What kind of person was Chris when Chris was with you?
  • Can you tell me what you know about Chris outside of school?

Questions to obtain more specific information from Chris's parents

The team also wanted more information from the parents. They felt that chronic misbehavior at school often is a reflection of the same behavior at home. They also knew that in many cases this kind of information was extremely hard to get. Parents get defensive and feel helpless. They may deny or minimize the student’s problems or blame the school.

Planned procedure for parent conference

The teacher should start the conference by asking Chris’s parents to talk about Chris.
A list of questions should be prepared to probe for more detail.

Teacher’s list of questions

  • What was Chris like when he was younger?
  • Did he have any particular problems at any particular stage?
  • Did any of them have similar problems as a child?
  • How did Chris handle the divorce?
  • Teacher’s list of questions
  • How well does Chris get along with siblings?
  • What are Chris’s interests, hobbies, and strengths?
  • How does Chris feel about school and his teachers?
  • What have they tried with Chris that works and does not work?

Interview

Teacher: Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I asked you to come here so we can talk about how we can help Chris. I wonder if you could tell me about how Chris is at home.

Parent: Has Chris been a problem in school again?

Teacher: Well, let’s not talk about that right now. I am trying to understand Chris, and you are the experts because you live with him. You know him better than anyone.

Parent: Well what do you want to know?

Teacher: How does Chris react when you ask if about school or if there is homework?

Parent: He will try anything to avoid having to do homework.
More questions to get detail.....

Teacher: How does Chris get along with his siblings?

Parent: Well, just like other typical brothers and sisters. They fight once in a while.”

Teacher: How often do they fight?

Parent: It all depends. Sometimes they are real good together. Then other days it seems they can’t be in the same house.

Teacher: When do they fight?

Parent: They fight over toys. Then fight when I am around. It seems that they can get along all morning and then when I am with them they can’t get along for a minute.

Teacher: What is a typical fight like.

Parent: One person wants something the other person has. Or doesn’t want the other person to have or do.

Teacher: How intense are the fights?

Parent: They scream and yell. If I don’t separate them they will hit each other. They just don’t seem to stop until I make them.

The teacher continues to use the prepared list to gain information

  • The child’s and parent’s reactions to important developmental tasks such as feeding, toilet training, sharing, complying with requests, temper tantrums, etc.
  • The child’s early and continuing relationships with siblings
  • The child’s early and continuing reaction to authority figures
  • The teacher continues to use the prepared list to gain information
  • The child’s history of academic difficulties and how they are handled by the parents
  • The parent’s typical methods of disciplining the child
  • The ways in which the child’s parents were disciplined by their parents
  • The child’s reactions to stressful situations such as death, divorce, or disability of a parent, relative, or close friend
  • The teacher continues to use the prepared list to gain information
  • History of any traumatic event such as chronic illness, abuse in home, school or other setting
  • The child’s friendship patterns
  • Rejection and acceptance by peers
  • Reactions to older students
  • The teacher continues to use the prepared list to gain information
  • Identification with role models
  • Reaction of parents to child’s attempts at autonomy
  • Reaction of parents to dating
  • Attempts by parents to control various aspects of the child’s life
  • Reaction to child’s use of leisure time

Questions about television viewing in terms of time and content.

  • Does Chris watch too much TV violence?
  • Does Chris have trouble separating the fantasy of movies from real life?
  • Does Chris believe that real-life karate experts can really vanquish ten or fifteen foes at a time?

Classroom information

The teacher also recorded information in anecdotal records of Chris’s behavior and misbehavior in various situations and added teacher reflections.

Anecdotal Record

Friday, Oct. 3, 1:30 p.m.
Social studies lesson
The class had just taken out their books and were quietly reviewing the chapter they read for homework. I was walking around the classroom. Chris kept asking Bob questions about the assignment. Bob gave Chris an answer and then Chris wanted to talk about other things.

Chris: Hey Bob, were we supposed to read the whole chapter?

Bob: Yeah, don’t you remember the teacher just told us ten minutes ago?

Chris: Did you read the whole chapter?

Bob: Yeah, I did.

Chris: What was it about:

Bob: Come on, Chris; leave me alone.

Chris: Come on, you creep, why won’t you help me?

Bob: Chris, you are always doing this. Why don’t you just do your work yourself like you are supposed to?

Chris: (loudly) F_ _ _ you Bob.

Teacher: Chris, what did I hear you say?

Chris: Nothing.

Teacher: I heard you cursing at Bob. I also heard you asking him to help you with your assignment.

Chris: I needed to finish my homework first. Then I didn’t think I’d have time to read it. I asked my father to help me last night but he wouldn’t and mom was too busy with Pat. How can I do do my work when it is so hard and nobody wants to help me?

Teacher: Chris, I’ve told you a million times, if you want help, ask me. Besides, I will call your parents and see if we can’t arrange for them to help with your homework.

Chris: Don’t do that. They will just yell at me. Nobody seems to care anyway.

Teacher: OK, let’s use the few minutes we have left.

Teacher reflections

Chris had not completed homework from the previous day, worked on it during reading class, and finished it, then asked Bob to summarize the reading assignment. Bob was annoyed and felt that Chris should leave him alone. When Chris’s request was rejected Chris cursed.

Competence and good self-esteem are based on successful completion of tasks with little or no help. Chris’s failure to do so has caused him to feel inadequate and inferior.

The teacher remembered learning that neurotic misbehavior is related to unconscious needs, drives, and motivations. And if students do not understand the reasons for their misbehavior, it is nearly impossible for them to gain insight into solving their problems.

The teacher then asked,

“What is Chris trying to accomplish?”
“What is Chris up against in Chris’s struggle to accomplish Chris’s goals?”

The teacher thought that he might use pictures, movies, or stories as a source to gain projective information about Chris’s motives, needs, and desires by asking Chris questions such as:

  • What was the hero trying to do?
  • How did various characters feel about what happened?
  • What would be the most desirable outcome to the events that took place?
  • Were certain actions moral, immoral, or amoral?
  • How did you feel about certain characters and what would you do if you were in their places?

The teacher decided to discuss these ideas with the SAT team.

The SAT team decided that there were probably some things that the teacher could do better. However, they also felt that Chris’s behavior was unconventional and needed to be addressed.
They suggested that the teacher should consult with the school counselor about the possibility of the following interventions:

  • Therapy: individual, group, family, play
  • Bibliothearpy-videotherapy
  • Self-analysis though writing and discussing an autobiography
  • Peer projects
  • Big brother/sister
  • Esteem building activities within the classroom and school
  • Environmental/staff changes
  • Psychodrama and role playing
  • Peer counseling

Counselor visit

On the first visit to the counselor the counselor tried to determine if part of the problem was based on the teacher’s

  • lack of skill
  • lack of knowledge
  • lack of objectivity or
  • lack of self-confidence in dealing with the student.

Interview

Teacher: I know that Chris has problems, but I can’t allow Chris to curse and make noises when frustrated. We have rules in this school about cursing. Chris must be suspended if Chris can’t control what Chris says.

Counselor: But isn’t this one of the reasons Chris was placed in your class?

Teacher: Yes, but Chris is emotionally disturbed. Chris should be in a class for kids with emotional problems.

Counselor: Can you recommend that Chris be placed in such a class?

Teacher: There are none, and the SAT team is not convinced that Chris is sick enough to be placed out of our school district. But I can’t allow this.

Counselor: So you are saying you are stuck with Chris.

Teacher: Yes, but not with the swearing, It disrupts the whole class. Chris should be suspended each time Chris swears or makes weird sounds.

Counselor: Chris was suspended not long ago. Did it work?

Teacher: No, but we do have school rules.

Counselor: Why do you think Chris keeps doing it?

Teacher: I guess Chris loves to irritate me. I know it doesn’t happen with some of the other teachers.

Counselor: If Chris is doing it to irritate you, I guess Chris has succeeded.

Teacher: I know! I know! I should ignore it. But I just can’t. Besides, if I ignore it, all the other kids will think it is OK to swear and make noises whenever they feel like it.

Counselor: Well then, what are you going to do?

Teacher: Do you think I should ignore the swearing? I really can’t let him get away with it. I will listen to your advice, but I don’t like the idea.

Counselor: I didn’t say you should do it. If you feel uncomfortable, don’t. Besides, if I tell you to do that and it doesn’t work , you will blame me.

Teacher: (Laughs) No, I won’t blame you. But I guess I could try it for a little while to see if it works. Besides, after talking to you, I don’t feel so angry.

Counselor: Good. We’ll try it for awhile and if you want to talk to me, you know where to find me.

Reflection Questions:

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

Perspective Four - clone zb4

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.

The school SAT Team meets with the teacher - Ms. Jones

SAT Team: Well, Ms. Jones, I understand you are having problems with Chris.

Teacher: Yes, he is really hyper and aggressive. He is very difficult to manage, He can’t seem to sit still, and he constantly gets into fights. I have tried everything to get him to behave. Maybe he belongs in a special class.

SAT Team: Can you describe exactly what he does that bothers you?

Teacher: He can’t sit still and doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. He just won’t obey the rules.

SAT Team: What bothers you most?

Teacher: He is so hyper.

SAT Team: Give me examples of how he is hyper.

Teacher: He always gets out of his seat.

SAT Team: What do you do when he gets out of his seat?

Teacher: I tell him to return. Sometimes he talks back to me.

SAT Team: What does he do when he gets out of his seat?

Teacher: Well, he usually just wanders around until I catch him.

SAT Team: What feelings or ideas does he display when you confront him?

Teacher: (Silence)

SAT Team: What does he do when you ask him to do something?

Teacher: He looses control and talks back to me. I mean he is always wandering around class and not doing his schoolwork. He bothers other children. Maybe he has an attention disorder.

SAT Team: Give me an example of a recent time when he was out of his seat. What you said and how he responded. Tell me, as close as you can, exactly what he said.

Teacher: Well, yesterday afternoon I told him to sit down, and he refused.

SAT Team: Picture what happened in your mind. Where were you in the room? What time was it? What did you say and do? And what did he say and do?

Teacher: It was around two in the afternoon. I was helping Jane with her homework. It was study time. Chris had wandered around several times, and each time I told him to sit down he did. This time he started to complain. He claimed he was only going to sharpen his pencil. I said he always seems to be sharpening his pencil.

SAT Team: How did you say it? Was it in a joking way, an angry way or calm way?

Teacher: I guess it was a little sarcastic. Anyway, he flipped out. He started yelling that other kids are allowed to get out of their seats all the time, which isn’t true. He claimed he is the only one I yell at. He claims I pick on him just like all the other teachers, that no one likes him anyway, and why don’t I just suspend him?

Then he said something to the effect of, “There is nothing you can do to me. I don’t care if you kick me out of school.”

SAT Team: What did you do?

Teacher: I told him to be quiet and sit down. His response to that was that I could go f___ myself. At that point, I sent him to the principal, which was what he wanted. He is now cooling his heels at home. Maybe he really doesn’t belong in this class.

SAT Team: Do you think you are always correcting Chris?

Teacher: Yes. It seems he is always out of his seat and I am telling him to sit down. Some days he sits and some days I have to send him to the principal.

SAT Team: Tell me how close what I am going to say is to what you think is happening. Your corrections are usually lectures about why he should be good and how he is being bad.

Teacher: Yes.

SAT Team: Sometimes he obeys you and when he does not you threaten him.

Teacher: Yes.

SAT Team: And there are times when he continues to push you, until you send him to the principal.

Teacher: Yes.

SAT Team decided on the following course of action.

  • Identify the problem.
  • Analyze the conditions that affect the behavior.
  • Identify antecedents and consequences?
  • Try to identify what irrational thinking that may have caused the misbehaviors in the classroom.
  • Conduct a preliminary analysis of Chris’s attitudes about himself and school. What is his relationship to his parents, teachers, his parent’s divorce, formal instruction, success in school, learning disability, image of self,..

Guidelines for preliminary analysis

  • Focus on how to change Chris’s feelings that no matter what he does, the teachers are not out to get him.
  • Identify specific misbehaviors and dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and emotions to be eliminated.
  • Chris probably is aware of what will happen when he leaves his seat.
  • Someone could talk to Chris in a nonthreatening way to try to get him to reveal his thinking and feeling during the events that are causing problems.
  • Probe to see if Chris thinks that no matter what I do she picks on me. She doesn’t like me. I can’t do anything to satisfy her. She can do what ever she wants. I don’t care she can’t hurt me. I’ll fix her. This logic is seen in statements like: “All I did was get up to sharpen my pencil.” Ask if he thinks other students are up a lot of other times and nothing happens to them, so she picks on him because she hates him. Or ask, if she dislikes him or what she does that causes him to believe she doesn't like him? And if other teachers dislike him or treat him the same or different?
  • Was there ever a teacher that liked him?
  • “What really tees him off.”

It is a very important to try to find what event causes the feelings that result in a maladaptive, self-defeating behavior, and begin to provide counter-examples and explore logical consequences.

Chris really gets angry and starts to lose it when:

  • a teacher gives him an order he does not like and
  • the teacher’s reprimand reminds him of other teachers, who he thinks are unfair.
  • a teacher reminds him that he is not capable.

Which may cause Chris to think: She’s not going to tell me what to do. And follow it up by saying: “F___ her." The most serious and irrational part is: Him saying the teacher can not tell him what to do. Chris may refuse to do what she says, but she can tell him what to do. And if he does not do it, she has the right to ask others to do things to him that he may not want done.

“Let her kick me out. I don’t care. I’ll fix her.” Students who use maladaptive behaviors think they are getting back at the teacher with their negative behaviors. The teacher may be annoyed, angry, and frustrated. However, the teacher usually wins through the authority of the school by having the student punished. It is usually easy to have the student understand that the student ends up with more grief than the teacher.

Intervention and rationale for possible success

Illogical thinking and feelings can be unlearned and new thoughts and feelings can be learned to take their place. Because the behavior is repeated, it must be assumed there is no punishment.

SAT Team requests that Ms. Jones use these ideas in a discussion with Chris

Intervention Procedure

Have Chris identify the triggers that make Chris mad: Teacher picking on me. People putting me down. Identify new thoughts, feelings, or emotions to replace targeted misbehaviors.
If Chris will acknowledge his thoughts they might be: teachers always pick on me, it’s okay to feel angry, and the idea that I can get revenge on a teacher by misbehaving is illogical or has bad consequences.

Intervention Discussion

Teacher: Well, Chris, you do admit that I yell at other kids when they don’t cooperate, but you still think I am picking on you.

Chris: Yeah, I guess I am not the only kid you pick on.

Teacher: Yes, but the others don’t seem to feel I am picking on them.

Chris: Maybe you don’t pick on me all the time, but you pick on me.

Teacher: Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that I do pick on you when I am upset. Would you admit that when you get angry, especially when you curse at me, it gives you more grief than it gives me.

Chris: Yes, but I can’t help it. I always get angry when people pick on me. It’s just the way I am.

Teacher: No, it’s the way you think you have to be. You just learned to be angry.

Chris: I can’t help it. My father is the same way. He used to always lose his temper. I used to cause it a lot because I was so bad.

Teacher: No. you are not bad; you have just learned to act bad. Everybody gets angry, but we can learn to think before we act on our anger. For instance, the other day when I asked you to sit down, there were several ways you could have handled it.

Teacher: First, you could get angry and curse, or you could tell me you think I am picking on you, and I could say we will discuss it later, after you sit down, or as soon as you felt that I was picking on you and you were really getting angry, you could take two nice slow steady deep breathes to calm down. Or you and I could set up a plan so that as soon as you start to really get angry, and before you begin to curse and defy me, you could go to the principal’s office and calm down and return when you are ready, Or you could decide that you are not a bad boy, which I don’t think anyway, and begin to try being good, so that I don’t yell so much.
Or we could work out another plan of your choice.
What do you think?

Chris: What kind of plan?

Teacher: Why don’t we start with #4 and see if we can teach you how to recognize when you might need to leave and what to do to regain your cool.

Chris: When could I leave?

Teacher: Well you could remind your self by talking to your self in your mind. For example you might say: “I know that I get mad when she starts giving me orders. I know that she thinks I am bad. I an not bad, and if I lose my temper I will look bad. I better take some deep breaths and calm down before I blow it. or “I am starting to get mad. She is out to get me again. If I stay in the class, I am going to blow up, I better leave and go to the principal’s office like we planned. After I come back, I will calmly tell her how I feel.

Further Plans:

  • Teacher can gather baseline data of observable and measurable behaviors that would target Chris’ thoughts, feelings, or emotions. An anger scale for Chris could be made for him to indicate how angry he gets when he believes he is being picked on.
  • Teacher can use behavioral rehearsal. Teach Chris new social skills and have him practice them.
  • Teach relaxation procedures for anger control. Deep muscle relaxation, imagery, deep breathing, yoga, self-hypnosis, and meditation.

Reflection Questions:

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

Perspective Five - clone zb5

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.

 

The school SAT Team meets with the teacher

Analysis:

Chris’s family is blue collar or working class. The community is predominantly working class and Chris and his family feel comfortable in terms of their aspirations, family values, and interactions with neighbors and community institutions.

Teacher Related Factors for Analysis:

  • Is the teacher empathetic to working-class values?
  • Does the teacher understand both parents must be employed to survive economically?
  • Does the teacher understand the value the parents have for work and education?
  • Does the teacher understand that some parents may have two or more jobs to maintain their desired lifestyle?
  • Is the teacher apathetic or overly punitive about misbehavior?
  • Does the teacher create a physical environment that is inviting to learn?
  • Does the teacher create an overall classroom climate so students feel safe and willing to take risks?
  • Does the teacher encourage student achievement and cooperation?

School and Peer Group Related Factors for Analysis:

  • What subgroup cultures exist and how does each encourage or discourage misbehavior?
  • Do students perceive teachers as favoring particular subgroups in terms of rule enforcement?
  • Have teachers attempted to use different motivational techniques to reach various peer groups?
  • Have approaches such as peer counseling or peer tutoring been used?
  • Have students been involved in planning discipline codes or monitoring fairness of administration of rules?

Community Related Factors for Analysis:

  • Has Chris’s behavior caused problems with neighbors?
  • Has his aggression resulted in police action?
  • How does the community control youth aggression?
  • Community Related Factors for Analysis:
  • Do community values encourage and support preventive and/or punitive interventions toward children like Chris?
  • Do people believe children will grow out of the problems they have in school?
  • Are problems like Chris’s viewed as serious and need to be changed through treatment or punishment?
  • Community Related Factors for Analysis:
  • Are there recreational activities, after-school programs, church youth groups, and other activities for children?
  • Does the community recognize a need for support services for families in which both parents work?

Home Related Factors for Analysis:

  • Is the family intact?
  • Who is responsible for discipline?
  • Does the student have family responsibilities that help him or her develop self-discipline?
  • Does the parents’ work schedule interfere with discipline and completion of homework?
  • Are one or both parents weak and unable to support the school’s discipline policies?
  • Is the student’s misbehavior related to a power struggle with his or her parents?
  • Do the parents need support to help discipline the child at home?
  • Do the parents value conformity in school?
  • Home Related Factors for Analysis:
  • Are parents able to effectively communicate their values to the school and the child?
  • Are the parents supporting or undermining school authority?
  • Are parents supporting each other?

School System Related Factors for Analysis:

  • Are teachers rewarded or recognized for interventions that work with students?
  • Are teachers involved in problem solving and planning interventions to help reduce misbehavior?
  • Are teachers provided adequate information about students who misbehave and intervention strategies?
  • Are teachers supported by the administration?
  • Are teachers provided time and encouraged to work with parents?
  • Is parent-teacher communication facilitated or discouraged by other staff?
  • Are interesting curriculum materials available?
  • Is instruction developmentally appropriate?

Analysis

Data collected from these questions were used to generate a hypotheses.

Hypothesis

Chris did not respond to the discipline strategies that were used. Although his current blended family is intact, there is good information to support the divorce had a negative impact on his progress toward self discipline. Interventions at home and school were probably inconsistent and were ineffective. Results at school were also insufficient.

Implementation guidelines

  • Establish a clear set of guidelines for rules or a code of conduct.
  • Check to see if Chris and his parents are aware of consequences for misbehaviors at school.
  • Send guidelines home through the mail or with Chris.
  • Discuss guidelines and procedures with Chris.
  • Implement logical consequences and restitution whenever possible. Use punishment as a last resort.
  • Work with faculty and staff to help them consistently follow intervention procedures.
  • Provide support staff to assist with the consequences of misbehavior, not teachers.
  • Use goal setting and encouragement to increase intrinsic motivation. May want to consider positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior.
  • Provide administrative support for teachers who teach and encourage appropriate behavior with Chris.
  • Emphasize that Chris has personal reasons for his misbehavior and avoid blaming other teachers or his parents for his misbehavior.
  • Try to make school an interesting and rewarding place for Chris to be.

Reflections Questions

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

 

Perspective Six - clone zb6

Background Information

Mrs. Jones reported that in sixth grade Chris was inconsistent in following directions, was often out of his seat, frequently talked out of turn, and made aggressive statements and gestures to other students when they suggested he sit down or stop bothering them. He has never physically attacked his peers.

Problem

The teacher reported the problem as being mainly in the afternoon, Chris spent less time than his peers at seat work. Is not learning in class independently. Will only pass tests if he is made to study in class. As a result of Chris’s erratic performance, the school SAT team was asked for assistance.

Chris General Characteristics

  • age eleven in sixth grade
  • oldest of three children
  • blended family
  • lives with birth mother & stepfather
  • youngest sibling is one year old and the biological daughter of Chris’s mother and stepfather
  • parents have blue-collar jobs
  • their combined income is at the middle-class level

History

  • Chris had problems in kindergarten when his mother divorced Chris’s father.
  • After kindergarten Chris was put in a transitional class.
  • The next year Chris was promoted to first grade.

  • The kindergarten and first grade teacher reported Chris was restless, had problems with fine motor skills, and was sometimes stubborn and uncooperative.
  • From kindergarten until the end of second grade Chris was clinging and dependent, this behavior disappeared by the end of second grade.

  • The second grade teacher reported Chris was able to do the work, and did very well in some areas “when Chris wanted to.”
  • Chris periodically misbehaved, and the teacher reported trouble getting Chris to complete work at those times.
  • There were also times Chris seemed to daydream.
  • Teacher reports through the current grade are consistent with these reports except that as Chris became older the disruptions in class became more frequent.

The school SAT Team meets with the teacher

SAT Analysis

With the breakup of Chris’s family around the age of five. Chris’s needs for safety and stability were sorely tested. When Chris does not feel safe Chris increases alertness and aggressiveness for protection. Chris does not feel safe in the school environment.

Analysis

  • His needs for love and association were not met at a sufficient level. Probably because of the conflict between his parents and later between his mother, his stepfather, and his biological father.
  • After the birth of his half-sister. He probably believed there was less love and association. He may have even questioned if he could depend on them.
  • The record shows that Chris had some problems with fine motor skills in the primary grades. Trouble learning how to read and may have had a learning disability. Testing indicated adequate intelligence. In spite of any problems Chris was able to compensate and learned to read. A fact that should be celebrated by Chris and those who are close to Chris.
  • Chris’s teachers should recognize that Chris has the ability to solve problems and allow Chris to learn at his own rate.
  • Chris should not have been placed in a transitional class that resulted in being kept back for a year. Chris’s needs for cognitive and physical mastery were not met in those early years.
  • Chris may never progress adequately until lower-level needs have been met. Self-esteem, self-actualization, and self-efficacy cannot be established when lower-level needs are not met.

Hypothesis

The SAT team believes that Chris has unmet emotional needs and is using aggression to try and meet those needs. They believe it is possible to use Maslow’s theory to determine what needs are not being met and intervene to provide conventional behaviors for Chris to use to meet them.

Intervention:

Develop a positive rapport with Chris. Encourage Chris to share personal feelings, perceptions, and beliefs. Use questioning strategies to show interest in Chris and determine what needs have not been met.

Possible Needs

  • physiological needs
  • safety needs
  • association/love
  • cognitive/physical mastery
  • self-esteem
  • self-actualization
  • self-efficacy

Intervention

The teacher must establish an open and trusting relationship with Chris and Chris’s parents. This relationship will enhance the communication necessary to understand Chris, and Chris’s parents will be encouraged to willingly relate all of the background information necessary to understand how misbehavior can be related to the lack of Chris’s needs being met.

To diagnose unmet needs, the teacher interviewed Chris:

Teacher: Hi Chris, tell me what your old house looked like?

Chris: What house do you mean?

Teacher: The house you used to live in before your parents got divorced.

Chris: Oh, that was a great big house. We had a huge yard, and I had a bedroom all to myself.

Teacher: Oh, do you share your bedroom now?

Chris: Yeah, and Pat is always messing with my things. Pat hides stuff and breaks stuff.

Teacher: It sounds like you really liked living in that house.

Chris: Yeah, I really liked it there. I could keep all of my toys away from Pat. I was really mad when my parents got divorced.

Teacher: So you were really angry.

Chris: Yeah, I didn’t want to move and leave my friends. Sometimes I think it was my fault they got divorced.

Teacher: Why did you think it was your fault?

Chris: Because they were always arguing about how to make me behave.

Teacher: How did you feel when they were arguing about you?

Chris: I felt sad, because I caused so much trouble. I made my parents angry at each other. I made the problems.

Teacher: Do you think that you were the only reason why your parents argued?

Chris: Sure, they didn’t talk much to each other or spend much time together. But when I was bad, they’d start fighting about me and then other things. It was my fault they started yelling in the first place.

Teacher: You must feel terrible if you believe that you were the cause of your parents’ problems.

Chris: Yeah, I feel bad sometimes. We had to move and I had to make new friends. It was hard. I promised myself that I would try to be good. I don’t want my Mom to hate me more than she does already.

Identify What is Causing Chris to Feel this Way

  • Find out if the parents, teachers, or school are sources of frustration for Chris. Are the kinds of strategies and interventions used by school personal, or the way the curriculum is designed decrease Chris’s feelings of worth?
  • Are teachers too authoritarian, punitive, and don’t believe conflict is part of everyday life and a democratic process?
  • Are demands put on Chris by Chris’s parents, his stepfather, and the school creating a problem for Chris.

Intervention Hypothesis

Help people who interact with Chris to realize Chris’s needs, so they might provide an environment for Chris to realize what potential for self-actualization and self-efficacy might be attained.

Intervention Procedure

  • Identify variables in the environment that cause feelings of individual worthlessness
  • Provide acceptance of Chris and the description Chris gives of Chris’s feelings
  • Balance the importance of cognitive and rational learning to intuitive and alternative methods of solving problems
  • Encourage individual differences
  • Help all students accept each other
  • Reduce environmental variables that contribute to feelings of individual worthlessness
  • Give Chris unconditional positive regard
  • Chris’s parents and teachers should not accept any misbehavior. They should discuss with Chris the meaning of the misbehavior.
  • For instance, if Chris is consistently not in Chris’s seat. The teacher will not correct or reprimand Chris each time it happens. Rather, the teacher will wait for an opportune time to discuss the behavior.

Intervention Example

Teacher: Chris, I noticed that you have been getting out of your seat a lot today. You seem to be restless. I wondered if something is bothering you. I know that you sometimes get this way.

Chris: I didn’t bother anybody Ms. Jones.

Teacher: I’m not accusing you of anything. I didn’t think you bothered anybody.

Chris: How come you are talking to me about it, if I wasn’t doing anything bad?

Teacher: Do you think you’re bad? Is that why you think I am talking to you?

Chris: Yeah, all the other teachers always yelled at me for not staying at my desk.

Teacher: No Chris. I realize you have a hard time staying still, but I also know that you pay attention to what is going on in class. As long as you don’t bother anybody, I will allow you to get up and move around. I noticed that some days you do it more than others, and I worry that something is bothering you. Did anything happen at home or school this morning that upset you?

Chris: Yeah, Pat was sick and neither of my parents would help me with my homework last night. They said they would check it in the morning, but they were too busy.

Teacher: Oh, so that’s why you didn’t have your homework this morning.

Chris: Yeah, It was pretty hard to do.

Teacher: Well, if you find the work too hard, I would be happy to help you. I guess it’s my fault if I give you homework you can’t do on your own. I could see if other students are having problems.

Chris: I hate homework. I wish you wouldn’t give us homework.

Teacher: Why don’t you bring that up at the class meeting? We could all talk about it. Maybe we could all figure out something to do about it.

Analysis

  • Chris was surprised the teacher did not yell.
  • Chris could be lying about the reason for not doing the homework, because Chris has given many excuses in the past.
  • Ms. Jones is not overly concerned that Chris did not have the homework. She felt it was a reaction to the feelings of inadequacy and perceived rejection of his parents.
  • She refused to focus on the out of seat behavior and failure to complete homework because she realized it would only increase Chris’s feelings of incompetence and rejection.
  • She admitted she may be responsible for the problem with the homework and she is willing to discuss it with the whole class.
  • If the class agrees with Chris and is against homework, she is willing to discuss other ideas.
  • She could change the homework, have them do it in school, start a homework help line, or have days when they do not have homework.
  • She helped Chris explore Chris’s behavior without judging what is good and what is bad. And will continue to do so as long as Chris does not hurt others.

Hypothesis Evaluation

  • Present instructional methods did not work well for Chris.
  • Formal instruction was often started before Chris was ready.
  • Chris’s lack of readiness skills had not been attended to.
  • Chris had emotional difficulty with the divorce.

Summary

School should have been a haven for Chris, not a place of punishment. Chris needed a place where understanding and nurturing teachers provided creative expression through play, literature, music, art, and physical activities that provided Chris with the time needed to deal with negative feelings and the opportunity to begin formal learning when Chris was ready.

Reflection Questions:

Think about what was emphasized. What did the teacher and team believe was the cause of behavior? How did that affect the decisions that they made?

 

 

Home: Self, Individual, Group, and Classroom Management

Pedagogy - theory, curriculum, learning, human development, & teaching

Top

Dr. Robert Sweetland's notes
[Home: homeofbob.com & thehob.net ]