In order to respond to behavioural issues November 18, 2018 postadmin Post in Uncategorized Stages of development in behaviour In order to respond to behavioural issues, you need to have a very clear understanding of what typical behaviour is at different ages, and the risk factors that may be present at various developmental stages. Note that while we can generalise about typical development, there are no absolute ‘rules’ as each child is unique and develops at their own rate.Preschoolers development (Raising Children, 2016) provides a useful summary of the stages of child development. When is behaviour a concern? Behaviour becomes a concern when it is persistent and/or distracting and cannot be tolerated for a significant length of time. Behaviour is also a concern if it is harmful to the individual, others (be it physical or emotional) or is something which is deemed anti-social or not acceptable within society. If the behaviour is incessant and extreme, this could be a sign that a behaviour disorder may be manifesting as the root cause. According to the Centre for Community Child Health (2006, p. 10), common everyday behavioural difficulties in children include: whining tantrums bedtime resistance fighting (with parents, other children or siblings) biting kicking swearing. Therefore, unless the above behaviours are extreme, the child is just being a child who is demonstrating a growing identity, considering where they fit in the world and exploring boundaries. Ethics and safety Before you move on to the introductory activities, there are a couple of additional issues that need to be raised. Ethics play an important role throughout this unit. Any strategies you employ to manage or control learning behaviour must appropriately respect the rights of the child, their family, and other care providers. Throughout the activities you complete, ethical factors will always need to be considered. Your safety, as both a student in this unit and as a practising teacher, is also important. You may find some material in this unit to be confronting, or a challenge to your values. If you have any concerns about any issues within this unit, make sure to raise them either with your eLA or with a member of the Student Advisor team. One of the key messages you should take from this unit is that you are not alone. As a beginning teacher, managing the behaviour of your class is not just your responsibility. As the Bronfenbrenner model illustrates, there is a range of support available. You will learn more about this support as you work through the topics in this unit. Behaviourism Behaviourism describes learning in terms of the ways our behaviour changes in response to external stimuli we receive from our environment. Classical conditioning Classical conditioning involves the association of two otherwise unrelated stimuli, e.g. when a dog learns to assoociate the arrival of food with the ringing of a bell. Operant conditioning Operant conditioning involves the association of an action with a response, e.g. receiving food when a key is pressed. Reinforcement and punishment The feedback that a learner receives can either encouage (reinforce) or discourage (punish) the behaviour. Humanism Humanism describes learning in terms of experience as the primary phenomenon in the study of human learning behaviour. Self-direction Students’ learning should be self-directed and schools should produce students who want and know how to learn. Self-discovery Self-evaluation and self-discovery are more valuable than grades and tests. Safe learning environments Feelings as well as knowledge, are important in the learning process and students learn and behave best in a non-threatening environment. Cognitivism Cognitivism focuses on how our internal mental (cognitive) processes influence learning. Information processing and the multistore memory model The multistore memory model of information processing defines three separate compartments of memory: sensory memory (receives information from environment) working memory (processes information) long-term memory (stores information). Chunking and schemas We process information by chunking (reducing the number of discrete pieces of information) and grouping related concepts and ideas to form schemas. Cognitive load The capacity of working memory to retain information is limited. Excessive information can lead to cognitive load. Metacognition Metacognition refers to the awareness of our own thought processes. Socioculturalism Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory Importance of social interaction Vygotsky saw social interaction as central to cognitive development and learning to think. Role of language in cognitive development Vygotsky believed language development occurs alongside cognitive development. Language provides a mental tool to support more sophisticated thinking. Zone of proximal development Vygotsky defined the ‘Zone of proximal development’ as the distance between what a child can do themselves and what they can do with the help of others.