Developmental Discipline

Paediatrics & Child Health (2004) appreciate the word “discipline” as a teaching method of enabling children to learn. Nonetheless, this terminology is found to be equated more with control and punishment. In the society there exists debates on the extent of which control and punishment should be administered to children as some childcare givers happen to overdo it and it harms children. Instilling discipline in children is said to be done in numerous ways and which have effects which are both short and long-term. However, regardless of the method used, it is stated that disciplining children should be: (a) done by an adult who has a loving bond with the child (b) consistently done and followed immediately with a behavior disorder that needs to be changed (c) a method that the child finds to be fair (d) appropriate developmentally (e) one which eventually leads the child to self-discipline. It is underscored that childcare givers can be counseled on the best and fair disciplining methods.

Answers to Questions Asked

What I have learned about this strategy of resolving behavior disorders in children is that discipline does not necessarily mean controlling and punishing children as many put it. As a matter of fact, the method used to control behaviors is compelled should be one that enhances their personal development. That is, in terms of developing their own individual knowledge and values; and that it is the role of the care givers to facilitate this individual construction by employing guidance methods that the children find to be fair. What has surprised me in this study is to realize that the children already active learners and that what they find to be fair is to be allowed to develop their knowledge in a democratic and supportive environment. This is used to explain why discipliners like teachers and parents need to first have an affectionate bond with these children before instituting their supportive measures. This new knowledge that I have gained will personally apply it and also make an effort to inform other childcare givers as a way to improve behaviors in children (Kaiser & Sklar, 2012).

A-B-C Analysis of Target Behaviors

Time	Antecedent	Behavior	Consequences
3	Seeing the mother	Falling down and crying	The child kept quiet and stood up when the mother passed him and left without attending to him.

Table 1: A-B-C Analysis Model

Functional Behavior Assessment: Identifying the Reasons for Problem Behavior and Developing a Behavior Plan

Page 1: Understanding Behavior

Shown by Table 1 above

Page 2: Learning Key Behavior Principles

Reinforcement

Ask the child why he is behaving that way

According to the reason given, try to find out what other positive behavior can replace this one

Award when the new recommended behavior is portrayed

Discipline when this undesirable behavior is repeated

Page 3: Applying Behavior Principles

Always appreciate when the positive behavior is portrayed and punish whenever it is not

The negative behavior remains in extinction

Page 4: Learning goals

This assessment is found applicable when a child repeats the same behavior a number of times when he or she has a need that should be addressed.

Answers to Questions Asked

The target behavior in this case is where a child throws himself down and cries in effort to get his mom’s attention and when the mother fails to attend to him he does it over and over again. Thus, lack of mother’s attention is suggested to trigger this behavior and lack of mother’s response to stop this behavior and replace it with a more positive one seems to maintain it. The function this behavior serves the child is that he will soon realize that his strategy to resolve his problem is not working and would probably look for another one and this explains why the mother should be quick to instill a better behavior. Another example where this assessment can be done is when a child misbehaves in a shopping mall in effort to make his/her parent buy what he/she desires.

Assignment

How Teachers Collect Data in order To Determine the Functions of a Behavior

One way teachers gather data is through direct observation and identifying significant behaviors and describing it. This description is expounded to cover in detail all what took place during the time allocated for observation. Moreover, a quantitative data is collected in terms of the frequency the behavior is repeated, the intensity of the behavior, and the sampling time. In addition to this, the kind of environment the child is in when he behaves undesirably. This is explained to be important so as to determine the cause of this behavior (Drecktrah, 2008). Evans et al. (2006-2015) add to this by informing that the method chosen of collecting data should be one which is appropriate in understanding the targeted behavior and one which is suitable for the teacher to use.

An Analysis of the Importance of Collecting and Reviewing Data before Implementing Specific Interventions to Address Challenging Behavior

Essentially it is the role of the teacher to ensure that the students possess behaviors that are favorable for learning. Assessment of each of the students’ behavior is found to require a lot of time and thus, a teacher needs to establish the worthiness of changing a particular disturbing behavior especially in regards to learning. Examples of behaviors that affect learning and which need to be acted upon are listed to include: bullying, dangerous games, throwing objects, and others. It is further said that once the teacher has identified a significant behavioral problem, he or she has to define it in observable and specific terms. These terms are articulated to be technical ones and also quite simple for the student to comprehend and helpful when it comes to the treatment stage. The last important step to consider is noted to be prioritizing the treatment identified to ensure that the teacher is able have enough time in resolving each significant behavioral problem in the class and in a systematic manner (Evans et al., 2006-2015).

Three Common Behaviors a Teacher may See in Young Children and Target for Modification or Replacement and their Possible Functions

The following are three behavioral problems mentioned to be common among young students. They are: (a) head banging- can be interpreted as a behavior portrayed as a sign of distress in that something within his/her environment is causing him/her be distress and thus need to be resolved (b) anxiety-this is can be said to be a function by itself that a child portrays when he or she becomes threatened or frightened (c) bullying- which is also a function expressed by children who are fond of showing that they can rule others and therefore tend to humiliate those that challenge their social position (Kidsmentalhealth.org, 2009). In this section, functions of these behaviors have been determined from the understanding that every behavior that a child portrays is one which he/she thinks is the right solution to the problem he/she has. Moreover, the child is also said to portray the behavior as a means of communicating their need. Thus, these behaviors are appreciated as a function and are ways of getting their caregivers attend to their needs (Kaiser & Sklar, 2012: 197).

References

Drecktrah, M. E. (2008). Functional Assessment: Analyzing Child Behavior. Retrieved< http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=255>.

Evans et al. (2006-2015). Classroom Management. Retrieved< http://www.education.com/reference/article/classroom-management/>.

Kaiser, B. & Sklar, R. J. (2012). Challenging Behavior in Young Children 3^rd ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.

Kidsmentalhealth.org (2009). Children’s Behavioral and Emotional Disorders. Retrieved< http://www.kidsmentalhealth.org/childrens-behavioral-and-emotional-disorders/>.

Paediatrics & Child Health (2004). Effective Discipline for Children. Paediatr Child Health, 9(1). Retrieved< http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719514/>.