A Tale of Two Discipline Models - Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification PDF

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A comparison between Love and Logic & Behavior Modification...

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A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs

University of the Peoples EDUC 5240: Creating Positive Classroom Environments Shih-Ting Lee April 15, 2020

A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification 1 In a world where educators are striving to impart knowledge and students are trying to acquire knowledge, there is a struggle to find a balance between the wills of the two main stakeholders in the classroom: the teacher and the students. Classroom discipline is the tool by which teachers and students can come together to facilitate learning. The National Education Association defines classroom discipline as “Helping students to govern their behavior in ways that help them learn is a longstanding goal of all teachers.” (National Education Association [NEA], n.d.) . There are always two sides to a coin; every educator has their methodology in creating a positive climate and culture of learning; in this case of discipline in the classroom, there are various methodologies utilized to instill discipline but this rhetoric is only going to examine what could be opposite ends of the classroom discipline spectrum: B.F. Skinner’s Behavior Modification and Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Cline’s Love and Logic. Opponent I - B.F. Skinner’s Behavior Modification B.F Skinner's research into behavior modification is amongst the pantheon of research conducted by several phycologists like Pavlov, Thorndike, and Watson. These phycologists made great strides to understand have behavior is learned and reinforced. “The work of Skinner was rooted in the view that classical conditioning was far too simplistic… the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning.” (McLeod, 2018) Operant Conditioning is a form of behavior modification that relies on positive and negative consequences to form and reinforce the behavior. In the classroom, a teacher can reward by providing points(positive) in Class Dojo ( virtual reward system based upon points and avatars that can be monitored by educators, parents, and students) for desired behaviors. Also, teachers can incentivize students for non-desired behaviors by deducting points. Teachers can have a monitor in front of the classroom viewing the Class Dojo Monitor Screen so students can get visual cues when points are added or deducted. Similarly, there are sound effects, just like Pavlov’s dog experiments, that provide audio prompts to help modify the desired behavior. Another example Operant Conditioning could be a token

A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification 2 system where tokens can be earned(positive reinforcement) for exhibiting the desired behavior (ie… entering the classroom quite, sitting down and ready to learn or doing a warmup/ bell ringer). Students can utilize earned tokens to purchases items or activity time from the class commissary or treasure box. On the other hand, students can be fined (negative reinforcement) for adverse behavior (ie… talking out of turn, or making disrespectful remarks), thus losing tokens needed for the treasure box. Skinner postulated that there are three different types of behavioral responses: neutral (responses from stimuli that neither increases or decreases a behavior), reinforcers (responses from stimuli that increase the likelihood of a behavior), and punisher (responses from stimuli that decrease the occurrence of exhibited behavior). (McLeod 2018, paragraph 5). Positive and negative effects of Operant Conditioning The positive aspects of Skinner’s theory are that the reinforcer, be it positive or negative, allows the teacher to guide students from extrinsic motivation to intrinsic motivation mindset allowing students to govern their behavior instead of the teacher. The teacher can gradually taper the frequency of reward to the point that the reward is not needed a reinforcer. Behavior modification can provide the stimulus required to make necessary changes in behavior that is needed for positive prosocial actions instead of exhibiting adverse social conduct. The negative side of this theory is that punishment sometimes does not fit the crime; say the teacher catches little Jonny pulling Sally’s pigtails and responses by yelling at Jonny. Jonny gets embarrassed by being publicly scolded and decides to have a major blowout of a tantrum to take the perceived heat off of himself. What has happened here? Now, there is a power struggle between the adult and the child. Power struggles dispel discipline. The teacher has lost control of the classroom and must strive to regain control. Who wins in a power struggle? This example is confusing punishment with negative reinforcement. Punishment does not always work. Repeat offenders are prime examples of punishment not working. A student can only get suspended so many times for skipping class. An example of negative reinforcement not working is in Texas, parents receive a

A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification 3 fine for their student’s truancy. If this was successful the truancy rate would have decreased but it has not. Opponent II: Jim Fay, Charles Fay, and Foster Cline’s Love and Logic: “Love and Logic was created to provide practical tools and techniques that help adults achieve respectful, healthy relationships with children that provides a method to making parenting and teaching fun and rewarding, instead of stressful and chaotic.” (Love and Logic Inc, n.d.) the Love and Logic platform was created out of the necessity of having a discipline construct that allows both the adult and the student to exist in the classroom without power struggles. It builds mutual respect between both parties by creating a culture and climate conducive to a safe learning environment. It utilizes various limit-setting approaches to allow students to find their way to being respectful citizens in the class, which creates opportunities for students to figure out what is being an active participant and what is not an active participant. Love and Logic principles make the teacher and the student both active participants in the learning process by having the teacher be an active role model in demonstrating what appropriate behavior looks like and what it does not. This act of inclusivity causes respect to transpire in the classroom naturally. It teaches that there are natural consequences to every action, be it good or bad. The outcome is almost always natural and not forced like behavior theory methodology where the consequences are given by the dominant figure. In Love and Logic, the adult utilizes limit setting by giving choices and using enforceable statements when given said choices and allowing students to make their decision based upon the given parameter(s). Positive and negative effects of Love and Logic: The positive aspects of Love and Logic methodology is that this modality allows students to grow and mature at their own pace with minimal interference. It is like planting a tree; a tree is planted in the ground with two stakes tied at opposite sides of the tree, pulling the fledgling tree straight until it can

A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification 4 get its footing. The tree’s growth is not hindered and manipulated into being shaped but is gently guided to grow straight and tall on its own instead of tall and crooked without guidance. The negative aspect of this praxis lies in its implementation. There are many moving pieces to Love and Logic that the adult has to get correct or the kids will riot. Case in point, if the teacher forgets to privately correct adverse behavior by publicly correcting bad behavior; he or she just kicked the socio-emotional learning out of the classroom and invited a power struggle in. Love and Logic principles allow the student to innately learn from his or her actions without extrinsic motivation. Behavior conditioning uses the short-lived external stimulus to correct behavior. The external stimulus is so short-lived that the teacher has to keep reintroducing it for it to be effective. Innate discipline is reinforced by intrinsic means like good self-esteem, positive outlook in life, and being proud of what has been accomplished. In closing, Love and Logic is the better choice because it takes into account that a student is a person that had feelings and emotions. It is these two things that lie at the feet of all classroom disruptions. The incident with little Jonny, he had a meltdown because his feelings were not taken into consideration. If the teacher had taken Jonny outside, just whispered into his ear, or even gave a nonverbal look his direction, it would be unlikely that the tantrum would occur. The Love and Logic modality is like putting a fence around your yard and letting your puppy run, frolic, and play. It allows the puppy to mature in a way a puppy should without beating it over the head with a newspaper. The puppy is allowed to discover the outside world with a safety net that the fence provides. Skinners’ instant gratification does not allow for the student to take ownership of his or her actions. The teacher takes ownership of the issue instead of allowing the student to learn from his or her mistakes; teachers do the internalizing instead of the student. Instant consequences also take empathy out of the discipline process. It alienates the student's self-worth by belittling the student. You talked out of turn; to bad so sad go move your clip. Also, with Love and Logic, you do not have to remember to keep up this the extrinsic

A Tale of Two Discipline Models: Love and Logic vs Behavior Modification 5 motivation or have the student tell you, “Miss you forgot to gave me my points,” or “Miss where’s my points” while you are in the middle of the lesson.

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References Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Performance Counts: Assessment Systems that Support High-Quality Learning. Washington, D.C.: Council of Chief State School Officers. Retrieved from https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/performance-counts-assessmentsystems-support-high-quality-learning.pdf Kratochwill, T., DeRoos, R., & Blair, S. (n.d.). Classroom Management Module. Retrieved April 22, 2020, from American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/education/k12/modulesclassroom-management Love and Logic Inc. (n.d.). The Love and Logic Fact Sheet. Retrieved from Love and Logic: https://www.loveandlogic.com/a/info/about/fact-sheet McLeod, S. (2018, January 21). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html National Education Association [NEA]. (n.d.). Maintaining Classroom Discipline. Retrieved from National Education Association: http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/mf_classdisckansasnea.pdf Nonviolent Crisis Institute (CPI). (2018). Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Foundation Course Instructors Guide. In N. C. (CPI), Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Foundation Course Instructors Guide (pp. 4549). Retrieved October 3, 2019...