Don’t Suspend. Teach.

9/16/2014

During the first few weeks of the school year, I’ve noticed teachers in my elementary school reminding students of behavior expectations. I’ve also noticed some students having trouble meeting those expectations. In the past, schools may have been quick to suspend students who are disruptive, but new policies are asking schools to change their practices.

Credit: Washington Post

Federal guidelines on school discipline now urge schools to adopt an instructional approach to teaching behavior expectations and social-emotional skills, rather than relying on harsh discipline policies that reinforce the school-to-prison pipeline. (Many major cities are even banning suspensions for young students.) Policymakers are recognizing that teaching behavior goes beyond distributing positive and negative consequences; it requires assessing and evaluating the impact of teaching strategies.

School leaders and teachers must reflect on their instruction to determine if a student’s behavior is a matter of will (choice) or skill (knowledge). If a student is consistently punished for what seems like the exact same behavior, maybe that child hasn’t learned the skill you want them to display. While some students can follow certain rules effortlessly, others may need more instruction in how to accomplish behavior goals. Teachers, you can model behavior for students, showing them how you want them to act, and then give them a chance to practice with your feedback. Be sure they understand what your expectations are and how to accomplish them. It’s easy to assume kids should “know better,” but how can they know what you expect if they aren’t taught? Behavior, like any skill, must be practiced if a student is going to master it.

Behavior has functions that serve different purposes and adult behavior can unintentionally reinforce negative student behavior. It’s not uncommon for me to hear a teacher call a student out by name to tell them they’re doing something wrong. With this approach, students are learning that the way to get the teacher’s attention is to do the wrong thing. Likewise, a punitive consequence like suspension have can have a similar unintended effect. Consider this: A school continuously suspends a child with disruptive behavior who is craving parent attention. If the parent has to take off work every time a child is suspended, that child is getting one-on-one time at home with a parent they love. Why change?

When teaching expectations, it’s important to reinforce students’ positive behavioral choices. Teachers should call students out by name for doing what is expected or exceeding expectations. And they should keep students at school rather than at home. Kicking kids out of school for a few days, especially young children, doesn’t help them learn what they should be doing differently. Instruction does. Students must be taught positive behavior while they’re in the school environment. And like academic knowledge, that teaching needs to be clearly understood, practiced, and positively reinforced. Suspensions set children up for failure early; teaching behavior sets them up for success.

Connie Ward is an elementary school counselor in Maryland. Reach her via email or Twitter.

3 Comments

A. Pinnock

9/21/2014 12:39:50 pm

While I understand your points, as an elementary school teacher in DC, in a school where students notoriously struggle with behavior, I think that your analysis is a bit naive.

While I whole-heartedly agree that behavior expectations need to be taught and practiced, I think there is a limit to which the behavior can be taught and practiced, and believe that sometimes a student needs further assistance, through some sort of suspension, such as In-School Suspension or through participation in some sort "Behavior Academy," which at my school, serves as a kind of in-school suspension.

When you have extreme behaviors, such as a child attempting to hit you (like I have), a child climbing onto the furniture (like I have), a child leaving the classroom (like I have), a child unplugging your projector and computer as you are teaching (like I have), a child attempting to throw items at your (like I have) or a child fighting another (again, like I have), it takes more than simple "modeling" and "practicing" to correct this behavior. It takes removing them from the classroom environment and sending them to a counselor's office, as I assume you have experienced, to the principal's office, or as in my school, to the Behavior Tech's office. I think there is a limit to the behaviors that teachers should have to tolerate, and when it comes to extreme behaviors, it takes so much more than modeling and practicing. It often takes counseling, remediation, and oftentimes, removal from the classroom environment. At the end all be all, if a child is a danger to himself or herself or to other students, then they need to removed. Period.

Connie Ward

9/21/2014 11:19:49 pm

Thanks for your comment. I was hoping someone would read this and ask, “What about more extreme behaviors?” I understand where you’re coming from. Having worked in 2 states and DC, like you I’ve been hit and kicked, and have had my office destroyed among other things. It’s important to note that when a student becomes a danger to self or others, the first and primary focus should be the safety of the student, other children, and the teacher.

Dealing with the behavior you described is emotionally and physically draining for teachers, and you should not have to manage it alone. Ever. You need the support of the leaders and specialists in your building. I will say, however, I’ve seen that with younger students, an out-of-school suspension rarely changes behavior alone. Students still need to learn how to manage strong feelings, seek attention appropriately, or handle whatever is triggering their behavior in the first place. It sounds like that in your school the behavior tech is the person who supports this instruction. Counselors and school psychologists can as well. Like you said, some students need further assistance and sometimes that looks like more individualized modeling, practice, and reinforcement. When a student comes to my office, that’s generally what happens.

Safety always comes first, but teaching has to follow. It's hard and exhausting work but it's also necessary work.

Britney Knox link

10/30/2023 04:05:11 pm

This was lovely, thanks for writing this

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