Valuable Consultation Tools for Promoting Responsible Student Behavior

Patricia Kyle, PhD
Southern Oregon University

Lawrence Rogien, PhD
Boise State University

Patricia Kyle, PhD. is an assistant Professor of Psychology at Southern Oregon University where she is a counselor educator in mental health counseling. She specializes in positive behavior change strategies that actively involve children in the process. E-Mail: pkyle@rmci.net

School counselors are in a unique position to lead the way in helping teachers to create environments more conducive to learning and responsibility. Comprehensive classroom management provides valuable consultation tools for school counselors to have a positive impact upon teaching, discipline and management in their schools and the resultant learning. This comprehensive classroom management approach is uniquely organized around four major components emphasizing the integration of effective teaching (CLEAR), proactive preventive strategies (PACE), practical corrective strategies (ABC’S of Intervention), and positive supportive techniques (RESPECT). School counselors can help teachers to motivate students through active involment in their own learning and discipline processes with the goals of acquiring learning, responsible behaviors and self-management. Effectively integrating these four components is key to long-term learned responsible behavior. Students learn responsible behavior best when they are active participants in both the learning process and the teaching process.

One of the biggest challenges in today’s classrooms is to deal with disruptive behavior, but to do it in a way that makes it more likely that students will choose responsible behavior in the future. Based on research, the comprehensive classroom management strategies presented give school counselors practical consultation tools to help teachers accomplish that goal. Research supports active involvement of students in the discipline process in order to promote future responsible behavior (Murphy, 1995; Brophy, 1985). Research also indicates that actually teaching students responsible behavior and self-management is key (Gallagher, 1997; Gottfredson, Gottfredson, and Hybl, 1993; Shockley, and Sevier, 1991; Kyle. 1991). Dollard, Christensen, Colucci, and Epanchin (1996) discovered that giving more responsibility for their own behavior to students was important for both general and special education students.

In today’s “No Child Left Behind” environment, counselors need consultation strategies that are research-based and provide an innovative response to complex issues involved in the current focus on standards-based teaching, discipline and management. School counselors can provide invaluable support to teachers in being more effective at meeting the needs of all students through the teaching, discipline, and management choices made. School counselors also have the opportunity to suggest effective teaching and behavior management strategies through multidisciplinary team meetings and through working with students in developing behavior intervention plans and positive behavior supports. The school counselor’s role in conducting classroom guidance activities also necessitates incorporating practical teaching, discipline and management strategies.

Since Phi Delta Kappa has identified discipline as the number one problem in public schools since 1969 and since aggressive and violent behavior is an ever increasing concern, what is needed is a discipline approach that not only tells teachers that they need to promote responsible behavior, but also teaches them how to do that. This approach draws from years of research and integrates that research into practical classroom applications. Synthesized from several prevalent discipline approaches, it presents the approaches working together rather than as discrete entities. There is not one discipline/management approach that can meet the needs of every teacher and every student and every situation. Having a process for utilizing strategies from many approaches maximizes the counselor’s impact upon positive discipline strategies that can actually be part of the process of teaching responsible behavior being used in schools.

The effective teaching principles included in the CLEAR model come from extensive research investigating student perspectives on effective teaching (Rogien, 1998):

CLEAR teaching principles focus on what teachers did to help students learn most effectively. Literally thousands of students from elementary through university level were asked about their best teachers and what those teachers did to help them learn. The recurrent themes of those student comments are captured in the CLEAR Model. With its emphasis on CLEAR teaching, this model focuses on learning and the decisions teachers make to facilitate learning. Utilizing a CLEAR approach to lesson delivery enhances management as well as teaching. Integrating different content areas, teaching and connecting concepts, and teaching to multiple intelligences are examples of teaching tactics that can enrich the learning environment and prevent many discipline problems. School counselors can provide support in teachers examining of how their instructional choices affect the behavior choices of the students.

Preventative long-term prevention strategies are the glue that holds the classroom management plan together, setting the PACE is the focus of this component of comprehensive management. Advance planning to prevent problems is the first step to long-term success. Continually maintaining and re-evaluating your management approach is also needed. When the appropriate PACE is set in the classroom, problems are prevented through having Proactive options, Accountability options, Choices and Environment options.

Preventing problems before they occur is important to a comprehensive approach. As important as corrective strategies for the moment of misbehavior re, they are short-lived solutions only. Without prevention strategies, you’re caught in an endless cycle of short-term solutions for the immediate situation. Establishing classroom rules, procedures, and accountability are the initial steps towards establishing the PACE in the classroom. The Prevention Component is essential to having long-lasting results. School Counselors can assist the teachers in knowing when solutions to class problems fall within the Prevention Component.

Excellent teaching and proactive prevention keep a lot of classroom problems from developing, but reality indicates that these two components will not eliminate all problems. Being prepared with practical strategies to deal with the moment of misbehavior is also vital to a comprehensive approach. Recognizing the type of misbehavior that the student is choosing is necessary, so a corrective intervention strategy that fits the situation is essential. Attention, power, revenge, avoidance, impulsive, and unmotivated behaviors all need different strategies to effectively deal with misbehavior. Having a process for implementing corrective strategies is necessary. We present the following options for dealing with different levels of misbehaviors: A Options for Distracting behaviors, B Options for Controlling behaviors, and C Options for Angry/Violent behaviors. School counselors can be vital in helping teachers to know how and when and with whom to use correctives strategies:.

Helping students to learn RESPECT for themselves, for other people in their communities, and for property becomes a pivotal feature of this comprehensive management approach. Giving students the support they need to choose appropriate behavior is critical to having a comprehensive approach. Teaching self-management and conflict resolution skills are essential strategies for promoting responsible behavior with special needs students (Dollard, Christensen, Colucci, and Epanchin, 1996). Teaching Responsible behavior, Establishing classroom harmony, and actively involving Students in the discipline process are keys to going beyond the immediate situation, resulting in newly learned pro-social behaviors. At-risk youth need to be taught coping skills (Mazza & Overstreet, 2000). Eliciting Parent cooperation is an essential element to support students in choosing alternative behaviors to disruption. Infusing Encouragement strategies throughout all aspects of the classroom is an on-going need. Violence is prevented when students have a positive connection to the schools (Furlong, Morrison, & Pavelski, 2000). Helping students feel Capable of performing classroom tasks supports learning. Positive Teacher/student relationships form the foundation for classroom RESPECT. Positive teacher-student relationships promote favorable student attitudes towards school (Murphy, 1995). Positive teacher-student relationships are integral to problem prevention (Shockley and Sevier,1991). School counselors cab use these consultation tools to help teachers effect positive changes

It is important for counselors to remember that in actuality the four essential components of comprehensive classroom management (Effective Teaching, Preventive, Corrective, and Supportive Components) act in concert with each other. It is the integration of the four components that results in creating school environments where learning and responsible behavior can take place (Kyle & Rogien, 2004). Even though we must look at each of them separately, counselor and teachers need to envision them integrating and impacting each other. When teaching is effective, students are engaged in the learning process and misbehave less. When a wide variety of strategies are used with the appropriate behaviors, then misbehavior is handled with little disruption of the learning process. When students are supported in making responsible behavior choices, then a classroom can be created where everyone wants to be and can learn. The focus of the entire approach is to help students learn responsible behavior and self-management. Involving students in the discipline process and promoting student reflection about their own behavior is the key to effective discipline (Wade, 1997).

Comprehensive classroom management encompasses consultation tools for school counselors to share with teachers that integrate effective teaching, proactive preventive strategies, practical discipline strategies, and positive supportive strategies in order to bring about responsible behavior. The result is more learning. Practicing effective management and teaching strategies will increase counselor impact both in their roles of consultant to teachers and parents and as classroom guidance and in-service providers. Counselors need to develop a repertoire of strategies for helping teachers to meet the needs of all students through more effective options to create opportunities for students to learn responsible behavior.

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