Main Body
Dealing
with difficult behaviors in the classroom can leave teacher feeling defeated
and out of ideas at times. Authors Rappaport and Minahan working together offer
some ideas and strategies to help deal with the different kinds of behavior
students that are typically found in the classroom. The approach centers around
the idea of what they call a FAIR plan. FAIR stands for “F is for understanding
the function of the
behavior, A is for accommodations,
I is for interaction strategies,
and R is for responses.”
(2012 Minahan & Rappaport). The authors feel that teachers who adopt this
plan “can discover that inappropriate behavior is malleable and temporary—and
that they can help their students thrive.” (2012 Minahan & Rappaport). In
addition, the use of the FAIR strategy has improved behavior of students who
were on the verge of being sent out of the district or to isolated classrooms.
Function
behavior, the first part of the FAIR acronym, deals with understanding the
intent of the behavior. “Behavior analyst Mark Durand outlines
four possible functions of behavior: to escape, to obtain a tangible thing, to
engage in sensory activities, and to get attention.” (2012 Minahan & Rappaport). The authors also note that
the behavioral student may not even be aware of the function. Understanding the
function is essential to changing the student behavior.
“Escape-motivated
behavior occurs when a student attempts to
avoid a task, demand, situation, or person.” (2012 Minahan & Rappaport). The author includes examples
of this type of behavior such as running out of the classroom or arguing to get
out of an activity. Sending the student to the office in this case can often
reinforce the behavior as well.
Sensory
behavior is when the student is motivated by sensory input. “Things feel
good, look good, taste good, or sound good. Humming loudly while writing,
chewing on the end of a pencil, or standing rather than sitting while working
are all typical behaviors that fall into this category.” (2012 Minahan & Rappaport). These behaviors
tend to disrupt other students and interfere with learning.
Attention-motivated behavior involves the
student seeking attention from an adult or peer. Examples include “the
student being belligerent, screaming, or continually interrupting the teacher.”
(2012 Minahan & Rappaport). The
authors note that this can be a positive behavior in an example of a student
practicing their reading for teacher praise.
The authors note that negative attention
can be better for some students than no attention at all. In addition, the
students may know that the negative attention will be quick and predictable
unlike positive attention. Some students have learned from home experiences or
outside of the home experiences that by acting in an inappropriate manner they
can also engage adults.
When behavior incidents do occur, the
teacher will document it using an ABC note format. The ABC stands for: “A
is for antecedent (what happens immediately before an incident); B is the
description of the student's behavior; and C is for consequence (the staff
member's or a peer's immediate response to the student's behavior).” (2012 Minahan & Rappaport). This
documenting allows for the behaviors to be tracked and also can be analyzed to
determine patterns or triggers for student behaviors. In addition, it
contributes to a solution to the student behaviors.
When student behaviors are known, the
accommodations piece looks to teachers to design or create an accommodation for
the student. Interaction strategies deal with the communication between the
teacher and the student. Reinforcement of positive behavior and a emphasis on
negative tones and messages is key. Response is the final step and it focuses
on the teacher response to the student behaviors. The authors note that how a
teacher responds has a direct impact on whether the student behavior escalates.
The teacher should remain calm and not reinforce the behavior function. Instead
of arguing with a student it may be best to redirect them and then to walk away
from the student.
The authors conclude that while teachers
may feel they cannot control behaviors, using the FAIR strategy they will
better understand the student motivations and that the behaviors will diminish
as a result.
Conclusion
I
believe the authors present some very valid observations and I also believe
that the FAIR strategy is sound in principal. In my classroom I believe I will
use many of these strategies to deal with behavioral students. I think it is
very key to understand the type of behavior the student is seeking. As the
authors state once the motivation is known the instructor can determine the
best way to redirect the student.
I
would like to see more overall data on the effectiveness of FAIR. The lack of
support data in this article hurts the overall effectiveness of the strategy. I
do commend the authors for presenting a number of different strategies to use
based on the attention motivations of the student.
References
Minahan, J. & Rapparport, N. (2012) Cracking
the Behavior Code. Education Leadership, 70(2). Retrieved from: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct12/vol70/num02/Cracking-the-Behavior-Code.aspx
