Teaching Students Responsible Behavior - Coursework Example

Teaching Responsible Behavior Control Theory This section will address three key areas. First it will describe why schools have so many “at risk” students in school and how the control theory can increase their success. It will then explain the control theory and how the brain functions to generate behavior. Finally, it will describe the writer’s plan for teaching control theory and how it is working. At-risk students are those who require ongoing or temporary intervention to achieve academic success and transition into successful adulthood (Koball 216). Without help, such students, who are characterized by behavioral and emotional difficulties and poor academic performance, will most likely fail to be economically self-sufficient. The number of such students is high in schools because of the underlying factors that contribute towards pre-disposing them to risk. The factors include poverty, lack of parental engagement, low student engagement, coming from single-parent families, family dysfunction and instability and coming from marginalized minorities (Koball 224). Using control theory will present an individual approach to education, which will enable students to take accountability of their own choices and assist them to develop the capacity to make sound decisions that affect their learning positively. This can increase the success of at-risk students because it also focuses on creating resiliency among them. Resiliency will be characterised by developing high self-esteem an inner locus of control, autonomy and self-efficacy. More importantly, the control theory will enable the at-risk students to not only develop but maintain healthy expectations, high activity levels and strong interpersonal skills. According to studies, the willingness of students to persist in academic endeavors is influenced by the way they perceive their learning environment (Giddens & Carr 69). Therefore, with the understanding that individual students also have attributes such as prior education, family background, abilities and skills, their perception can be moulded in a way that their commitments interact with school experiences. This has the potential of making them both socially and academically connected. According to control theory, all behavior is driven by needs and goals, and all people possess such basic needs that they inherited genetically (Balleine, Liljeholm & Ostlund 44). The theory recognises four basic psychological needs in all people and they include belonging, gaining power, having fun and being free. The needs and goals will shape their lives and all behavior is aimed at satisfying those needs, irrespective of whether the behavior is socially acceptable or not. Control theory supports the perception that humans can desist from deviant behavior because several external and internal control factors can be applied to control the impulse to go against social norms (Cervone, Smith & Fiori 150). It goes further to explain why humans do not often act on their deviant impulses. The external control factors include parents, teachers, legal codes and friends while internal ones include the motivation to succeed and an individual’s conscience. From a combination of the internal and external factors, it is possible to explain how the brain generates behavior. Evidently, brain function affects behavior through a biological relationship and, physiologically, its key function is controlling the body by secreting hormones and generating muscle activity patterns (Balleine, Liljeholm & Ostlund 48). The brain receives input from the factors and sends it to the nerves around the body. Since these inputs continually alter the mental state, the brain and its mental processes generate and produce varying behavior by allowing rapid and coordinated responses to the changes. The plan to teach control theory will be founded on the notion of making sure that students understand it is for their own benefit rather than the school. Basing on the four psychological needs identified by the control theory, the teaching strategy will be designed to make the students develop a sense of belonging and have fun. This is as opposed to them believing they are in an institution that they feel is more important than them (Balleine, Liljeholm & Ostlund 52). This is expected to work by acknowledging that the values of students are being modified by the dynamic society they live in, often leading to them viewing school as a problem they need to defeat. Responsibility Training This section will address components and procedures for a Responsibility Training Program (RTP), what students will gain from it and why they must be involved in its management. Responsibility training is an outgrowth of control theory and in it, students basically learn why they arrive at the decisions they do as well as how they can develop skills to arrive at better choices (Sternberg 31). In an RTP, students are taught to be responsible of all their activities in the classrooms from simply bringing pencils to the hustle of transitioning through lessons. Responsibility training starts with a mentality and set of presumptions passed on to students and entail the teacher designing instructional programs by developing school-based learning objectives for groups and individuals (British Columbia Teachers’ Federation 7). It is imperative that an environment conducive to responsibility training be created and essentially, an RTP is an incentive program in a system in which students are rewarded with what they value. According to Sabornie and Bettencourt (102), this could be in the form of something or circumstance they would endeavor to safeguard the moment they got it in their possession or control. For example, they can be given more time for activities they prefer although not necessarily outside the learning parameters and that could include watching academic videos. The idea of creating conducive environments is informed by the knowledge that when students are not adequately prepared for the degree of change expected from them academically, socially and in terms of responsibility, they may be overwhelmed and drop out (Watson & Gemin 17). In an RTP, students learn about making choices and more importantly, how positive and negative choices affect them (Balleine, Liljeholm & Ostlund 51). Students are first empowered by teachers to make choices and then are taught to make positive choices. Therefore, they also learn how to be responsible for their actions by the way they make choices regarding time, how to spend it and, ultimately, live with the consequences. The implication here is that people learn to take responsibility only over things or situations they can control and making choices is an indication of having control over their destiny. As Sabornie and Bettencourt (94) point out, students learn how to use their power to determine their destiny to make responsible choices. Further, it is often not the students’ desire not to learn how to make positive choices but rather, it is the result of traditional teaching instruction not addressing their needs as comprehensively as a well-designed RTP (Balleine, Liljeholm & Ostlund 49). Through the RTP, students are expected to develop not only academic but also life skills, because responsibility training goes far beyond academic responsibility. It is imperative for students to be involved in the management of RTP in order to facilitate the shift from traditional coercive, punishing and nagging traditional methods of instruction to ones that promote cooperation. The cooperation is critical in promoting the development of the discipline and behavioral systems, which serves a wider purpose than simply focusing on academics (British Columbia Teachers’ Federation 9). Therefore, students must participate in the management of RTP in order to make it a fully participatory and effective process, and this can be explained by the way (Sternberg 32) explained the connection between self-determination and motivation. Motivation has been shown by studies to be connected to whether students have the opportunity to become independent and make relevant choices in academics and life or not (Sternberg 32). Therefore, a cyclic chain of events can be drawn from the initial inclusion of students in the management of the RTP. When students can make choices by being part of the management of the RTP, they will be motivated by the feeling that they are in control of their learning and, in turn, develop a further sense of responsibility. The underlying idea is that in order for any initiative in the classroom to have positive and effective results, it will significantly rely on the students’ cooperation and not only the skills of the teachers to deliver education (Watson & Gemin 24). Success Making This section will address the rationale for teaching students the purposes and practices of success-making and how learning the two will be of help. It will than describe how Pert, IAP and Time-Out will be used to solve problems and finally evaluate one of the three strategies and offer ideas of improving it. Teaching students the purposes and practices of success-making are strategies informed by the knowledge that students must learn life skills that will be carried out of the academic setting and be useful in life (British Columbia Teachers’ Federation 4). It is imperative that students learn success-making in order to not only memorize information but also think logically and retain information and, more importantly, be able to apply it to real-world circumstances. For example, students who are able to think and make positive decisions will most likely have conversation, money-making, money-handling, social and civic skills. Students who successfully complete responsibility training, therefore, should be given more support in learning about success-making (Cervone, Smith & Fiori 154). Success-making can also be shown to reflect on control theory by carrying on with one of its attributes of balancing freedom and responsibility, helping students to set and achieve goals systematically. Essentially, teaching success-making is further building upon the positive foundations that had already been set earlier. A key rationale that features in teaching success-making is time management. For instance, throughout their course, students are expected to study the provided materials as well as their own research and prepare for exams, tests and assignments within certain time constraints (Giddens & Carr 81). However, the same instructions given do not teach how to effectively manage time and complete the exams, tests and assignments successfully. Therefore, once time management is taught as a success-making component, it will be useful even in real-world applications. Pert will be used to explicitly identify and define a problem and then critically analyze it. The significance of these steps is that they will facilitate the generation of potential solutions and how they will be implemented. For example, one problem may be defined as responsibility training. Then, with the available resources and skills, the lesson delivery plan will be generated and the theorized solution implemented. Critical solution paths will be made visible and, hence, pert will also be used to reduce the duration of the project. IAP will be instrumental in changing problem behavior in class because it will present innovative approaches to deal with them (Giddens & Carr 78). For example, social media may be used to encourage positive behavior by starting a classroom community in which each student becomes a member and communicates with others on the social platform. Time-out will be used with recognition that it is actually a punishment procedure and, therefore, must be as short as is appropriate and less intrusive methods such as behavioral triggers and reminders did not work effectively (Sabornie & Bettencourt (117). This will basically involve removing a student from the classroom setting because of his behavior when the student actually prefers to be within that setting, hence the punitive aspect. Time-out will basically be sending a student to sit alone in another classroom for, say, 10 minutes and complete their work for misbehavior. An evaluation of the pert method reveals that it is the most appropriate to solve problems in the classroom setting, making it the choice of this project, since it was designed to simplify how projects are planned and scheduled. Although it may be disadvantaged when it comes to executing a project with multiple objectives, it is highly efficient in the classroom setting that intends to address a well-defined task within a specified time. Further, it allows data to be relating to a project be organized on a diagram for easier decision making. This will enable the tasks involved to be analyzed and the time required to complete each determined as well as the overall project duration. Works Cited Balleine, B., Liljeholm, M., & Ostlund, S. “The Integrative Function of the Basal Ganglia in Instrumental Learning.” Behavioral Brain Research, 199 (2009): 43-52. Print. British Columbia Teachers’ Federation. Roles and Responsibilities of Teachers and teacher Assistants/Educaton Assistants. Vancouver: Author, 2009. Print. Cervone, D., Smith, R. E., & Fiori, M. “Self-regulation and Personality Science”. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 55 (2009): 149-160. Print. Giddens, Anthony & Deborah Carr. Introduction to Sociology. New York: Norton, 2009. Print. Koball, Heather. Synthesis of Research and Resources to Support At- Risk Youth. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012. Print. Sabornie, E., & Bettencourt, L. Teaching Students With Mild and High-incidence Disabilities at the Secondary Level. New Jersey: Pearson, 2009. Print. Sternberg, R. “Recognizing Neglected Strengths”. Educational Leadership, 64 (2008): 30-35. Print. Watson, John & Gemin, Butch. Promising Practices in Online Learning. Virginia: North American Council for Online Learning, 2008. Print. Read More