Policy Statements for Ethical Decision Making in Classroom Management and Behavior Change

Resources: | link to reflection worksheet | Ethics defined |

Model appropriate leadership

The student must see the educator’s behavior as positive. To do this, the educator must develop a relationship of genuine caring, trust, and respect with the child. The child will then model her/his behavior after the educator’s behavior.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will consistently model and teach appropriate social and leadership skills to create caring communities and classrooms.

Self-discipline

Because self-discipline is the goal of behavior management, teachers should encourage it in the classroom. By building respect and trust, the child will begin to feel the need to control her/his own behavior. This respect and trust can be fostered by positive interactions.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will provide students the freedom and autonomy to self-discipline by teaching them to critically think about the elements of a behavioral event: antecedent or cause of the behavior, the behavior related to the desired goal, and the consequences of selected responses (ABC) processes and providing guidance for critical thinking.

Match experiences to the student

Children should have positive experiences in school. An experience is usually positive if it is within the developmental stage of the child and has meaning for the child.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will consider students' needs, developmental levels, interests, when considering or negotiating curricular activities to encourage intrinsic motivation, high interest, and engagement above, but with respect of a required curriculum.

Show empathy

The educator needs to consider the child’s problems objectively to deal with them. Emotion inhibits objective thinking, while empathy allows us to view the problem from different perspectives.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will acknowledge students' feelings and desires when encouraging, negotiating, helping, and other interactions with them.

High expectations

Teachers must communicate to children their belief in each child’s abilities and demand the highest achievement from them.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will encourage high expectations through self-motivation by encouraging and guiding students to set achievable goal,s developing appropriate plans, and engage in strategies to maximize success.

Freedom and independence to function

Children should be allowed as much independence to function as possible. If limits need to be established to avoid undo failure or injury students should be allowed to experience the logical consequences of their actions. This must be done to develop self-reliance and independence.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will encourage freedom and independence by empowering each student's self-determination to make meaningful choices.

Principle of normalization

The child must be allowed to function in as normal an environment as possible.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will negotiate with students and work with MDT's and other professional educators to determine an environment best for each student that is closest to real life experiences that can be attained within classroom settings.

Principle of fairness

The intervention must be fair and allow the child to succeed in school. If consequences are applied they must be appropriate with regard to the degree of the offense.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will listen to students, collect information from different points of view, try to avoid create a win-win solution that is appropriate and fair rather than rule based or lock-step equal.

Principle of respect for dignity and worth of the individual

The intervention must provide the student an opportunity to learn or improve skills to master control over the student’s environment without degrading the individual as a human being.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will respect the dignity and self worth of each individual and all living things by creating a community where all people are valued, opinions respected, people are given a risk free environment to speak their ideas and advocate for themselves and others.

A continuum of behavior management interventions

The educator should use the intervention which least restricts the child in the classroom, yet is still effective. Over-restricting the child imposes on the student’s rights within the classroom. (See continuum of strategies)

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will consider a continuum of strategies appropriate for each individual with the hopes of leading to self- discipline and self-efficacy.

Behavior change must be rational and well planned

The behavior must be a behavior which hampers the child’s performance in the classroom, the educator must have a rationale for changing the behavior, and follow a behavioral change procedure that will result in the implementation of a behavioral strategy that is prescriptive to the behavior and does not violate the ethical considerations or due process. See SAT, MDT, and Behavior change steps.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will provide a rational along with a strategy of how I believe any procedure will benefits the student as well as being efficacious, safe, reasonable, practical, and achievable.

Consent.

The educator should be sure to notify those involved with the child of the management procedures and obtain consent to proceed. This practice will help avoid conflict over the behavior intervention.

Policy statement - think: I guarantee or promise, then

I will seek and attain input from all involved parties and work to achieve consensus and consent when possible and as required. I will continually involve all parties as appropriate during the entire process until all agree success has been attained.

 


A collaboration of Dr. Tim Sharer and Dr. Robert Sweetland ©