English teaching & learning! Tips, reflections & discussions!

Sunday, October 7, 2012

PBS: Positive Behavior Support

Have you ever given any kind of reward to your students for an accomplished task? What about giving them a prize for a positive attitude they had?

Behave well
and get the Prize
Parents do that all the time, but it wouldn't surprise that there're some people who would say that you're not teaching any values if you suggested that as a teacher.
But that's the idea behind this approach called "Positive Behavior Support". Instead of spend your time figuring out how to punish inappropriate behaviors, you come up with a kind of gift for those who succeed on following the rules.

Although the idea was quite familiar, I hadn't heard about PBS before attending to the UO-English Language Certificate Program.

Clear rules for every
place in the School
And I could see it in action in the schools I visited as part of the program.

In some cases the approach focused really on behavioral aspects, like an 'anti-bullying' strategy, but it also can be used to enhance desirable cognitive aspects. 

You can learn more about PBS on this extract of a lecture we could attend to as part of the UO program. Check it out:



You may also like: American High Schools: Small Schools Initiative

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