Jacky Chow Yee Pang

HDPS2203

1.0 Introduction
In a classroom we see student who do their work with full concentration and also see student who are not doing their work and running around. We can also see students who disturb others in the absence of their teacher or during recess time.

Every child is unique and different from other children; it is not easy to judge the development of a child. We need to have an individual assessment on a particular that child and that allows us to evaluate the children based from our observations.

An observation is looking at what has been done by a child. An adult observes how a child performs an activity or how he organises or manages himself. [1] Observation helps us to make the right conclusions, understand the feelings and attitudes of the child, become more observant and giving accurate comments and clarifications.

Nursery or kindergarten teachers require great skill in observing children accurately. Clear, correct, caring, focused comment are essential. Observation becomes the duty and responsibility of every child career as it helps to understand the behaviour of children, evaluate the development of children and evaluate their educational progress.
[2]

Evaluation is a process of collecting information through the observation of the development and progress of a child; we will observe the childs behaviour such as attitude, work, manipulative, social and kinaesthetic skills, etc. We also observing the child interaction with other children, teacher, peer group, educational hardware etc. [3]

There are many ways that can be used to observe child behaviour in a classroom. In this assignment, I used the operant conditioning paradigm of world famous American psychologist, Burrhus Frederic Skinners ABC Model.

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2.0 Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist. Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania to Grace and William Skinner. His father was a lawyer. His brother Edward who was two and a half years younger than him died at the age of sixteen.

Skinner attended Hamilton College in New York with the intention of becoming a writer. He received his B.A. in English literature in 1926. After graduation, he spent a year at his parents home in Scranton attempting to become a writer of fiction.

Skinner received a PhD from Harvard in 1931 and remained there as a researcher until 1936. He then taught at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and later at Indiana University, where he was chair of the psychology department from 1946 47, before returning to Harvard as a tenured professor in 1948. He remained at Harvard for the rest of his career.

In 1936, Skinner married Yvonne Blue. The couple had two daughters, Julie and Deborah. He died of leukaemia on August 18, 1990 and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. [4]

3.0 Operant Conditioning (B.F.Skinner)

Skinners theory is based upon the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behaviour. Changes in behaviour are the result of an individuals response to events (stimuli) that occur in the environment. A response produces a consequence such as defining a word, lifting a ball or solving a math problem. When a particular stimulus Response (S-R) pattern is reinforced (reward), the individual is conditioned to respond.
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The distinctive characteristic of operant conditioning is related to the previous form of behaviourism. [5]

4.0 ABC Model

One of the simplest yet effective methods of functional behaviour assessment is called the ABC approach, where observations are made on Antecedents, Behaviours and Consequences. In other words, What comes directly before the behaviour?,What does the behaviour look like? and What comes directly after the behaviour? [6]

ABC Model
Antecedents Behaviour

Reinforcement

Consequences

B.F Skinner was using pigeon and mouse in his experiment to prove in his theory Radical behaviourism.
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Experiment 1 Using Pigeon

Skinner placed a pigeon in a box, there is a switch at the door and when the door was knocked, food will drop from the door as a reward. After repeat for many times, and the pigeon gets a habit and learns from it.

Experiment 2 Using Mouse

A mouse was put in a box. There is a place made of tin for eating and at the outside of the box there is a place to drop in food into that tin which made a sound when the food is dropped. The mouse needs to step on a piece of iron stick to make the food drop. At first, the hungry mouse stepped on that iron stick accidentally. After a few times, the mouse learned that there is a reward of food when it steps on that particular iron stick. The mouse will do it repeatedly when hungry.

The ABC Model is a principle of behaviour modification. The objective of behaviour modification is to change behaviour (B) by managing its antecedents (A) and Consequences. (C)

5.0 Examples of ABC Model

Example 1 Victor, 7 years old, always fights with his friend Kishen who sits beside him. (B) Victors always teased by Kishen because he is wearing a dirty school uniform and his shoes are always dirty too.(A) After fighting with Kishen, Victor will sit alone and keep quiet for whole day. (C)

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HDPS2203

Example 2 Kai Xuan, 7 years old, is always talking in the classroom. (B) This is because he is the youngest child in the family, he has 3 elder brothers and one sister. He always tries to attract others attention. (A) The teacher punished him and made him stand alone facing the wall and he was crying while standing facing the wall. (C) Example 3 Mei Ling is not doing her work in the classroom. (B) She is disturbed by the classmate who sits behind her. (A) After a while, Mei Ling starts beating her classmate who sits behind her. (C)

Based on these 3 cases, the behaviour (B) of the children is cause by the antecedents (A) and the consequences (C) come after the behaviour.
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6.0 Observing a Child

Based on my assignment, I have been observing a child by using a checklist with problem behaviour questionnaire. (Refer to appendix) My observation is based on B.F.Skinner ABC Model theory. Antecedents (A) Behaviour (B) Consequences (C)

The child that I observed is a 6-year-old boy, Eddie Sim. He is the eldest child in his family with a brother and a sister. He is living with his grandmother in big family. There are a total of 12 children live together under one roof.

Eddies parents are very strict with him but behind his mothers back, he always wants to catch others attention. (Antecedents) He is the most active child at home.

When Eddie walks into classroom, he is jumping around and making the other students laugh. He snatches his friends stationery and runs away. (Behaviour)

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HDPS2203

When the other classmates tell him to be quiet, he will hit them with his ruler and pencil. He also slaps the table very loudly to get everybodys attention. He then hugs the boy sitting beside him. The boy is very shocked and begins to cry.

After class teacher comes in, Eddie picks his nose and makes the other students touch his hand. When nobody touches his hand, he rubs his finger on the wall. When everyone is doing their work, Eddie does not do his work. He scribbles on his note book and make the other students complain to the teacher about Eddie. The teacher goes out of the classroom to look for someones help.

The teacher orders him to be quiet and do his work but Eddie wants to go the toilet. When discipline teacher passes by Eddies classroom. Eddie was well-behaves at that time. When the teacher goes out from the class, he starts talking and running around again.

The consequences(C) show by Eddie after showing bad behaviour is that he will be sad for the rest of the day. He will not talk to anyone until school end. He does not even listen to his teacher and does not do his work as well. If no one continues talk to him, he will cry and when he starts crying no one can comfort him at all. According to his teacher as told by his family, he will be get back to normal when he reachs home. He will start his misbehaviours again while he is at home to catch the attention of everyone.

7.0 Follow-up Plan

After observing and evaluating Eddies behaviour in the class, as a class teacher there are many steps that can be taken to resolve Eddies constant misbehaviour. We can give the student a position of responsibility in the classroom such as class monitor, group leader and etc. This is to encourage this student to set a good example
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for others. Most of the students like to be a class leader and this will change their behaviour become a good model to the class. We can also assign the student a special project, this project must interest him. Ask this student to complete the project and present to the class. Student will be proud of himself and feel that he is important to the class. As a class teacher, we should ignore the students annoying comments. We should give the student praise when the student is well-behaved. Young children always feel proud and confident when praised by their class teacher. We also need to provide recognition and positive attention to that student whenever possible. Class teacher and the well-behaved peers are role models for the student on their behaviour.. We can also discuss our expectations with the class and make rules and consequences at the very beginning of the school year and post it in the front of the classroom with the rules written on it such as raise your hand when you want to talk or answer, wait for your turn quietly at your seat and listening to others when they are talking or reading. Talk with the student in private about how you feel about his behaviour and explain what you expect from him and try to build up a trusting relationship with him. We must also listen to his problems, feelings and expectations. Having morning tea section with the parents and arranging parents conference is important to let the teacher to understand the situation of the children.

8.0 Conclusion
According to B.F. Skinner ABC Model theory, every child has their own behaviour. This behaviour is caused by the antecedent and the consequences come after the behaviour. To reform child behaviour, we needed to observe the childs behaviour and
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we have to evaluate the result of the observation. Reinforcement is to reinforce the childs behaviour. The child will understand whether they are well-behaved or not. They will continue their behaviour if they have been praised and rewarded. They will also change their behaviour if they have been scolded or punished.

To evaluate a child we need time to observe. After observing we can understand the child better. Conclusions of the evaluation can only be made after a detailed observation. From the above observation, we can understand the childrens behaviour by evaluating their development and education progress.

Based on my above observation on the child, I have found that the best action to be taken to correct the childs behaviour is by using positive reinforcement. Children will directly know whether they are doing things right or not, depending on the rewards. They will continue to do the same behaviour repeatedly.

Children behaviour can be changed by punishment too. If a child continues to misbehave, punishment will be the last step used to force the child to change their behaviour.

Jacky Chow Yee Pang

HDPS2203

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Mr Sim Po Kang, father of Eddie Sim for allowing me to do an observation on his son.

Thank you Ms Lai, teacher of A-One Children Art for co-operating with me during my observation in her class.

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References
[1] Malaysia. Open University Malaysia. (2009). HDPS2203 Children Evaluation and Observation.P.2.

[2] Malaysia. Open University Malaysia. (2009). HDPS2203 Children Evaluation and Observation.P.3.

[3] Malaysia. Open University Malaysia. (2009). HDPS2203 Children Evaluation and Observation.P.4. [4] B.F.Skinner. n.d. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner.html. [25 February 2010] [5] Operant conditioning. n.d. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning.html. [25 February 2010] [6] B.F.Skinner Behavioural Theory. n.d. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning.html. [25 February 2010] An article that challenges Behavior Based Safety. n.d. [online]

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HDPS2203

Available at: http://www.mocalinc.com/id14.html [25 February 2010] Children Behaviour. n.d. [online] Available at: http://www.psych.umn.edu/courses/spring07/kramerm/psy3617/lectures/lecture_16_behave [25 February 2010] Operant Conditining. n.d. [online] Available at: http://www.gakushuu.org/index.php/developmental-psychology/52-mechanism/64operant_conditining.html [25 February 2010] Skinners ABC Analysis of Performance. n.d. [online] Available at: http://www.doctoc.com/docs/19598596/Defining-Best_Pratice-Intcentive-andReward-Strategies [25 February 2010]

Malaysia. Open University Malaysia. (2009). HDPS2203 Children Evaluation and Observation

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Jacky Chow Yee Pang

HDPS2203

Appendix
Problem Behaviour Questionnaire
Student :Eddie Sim DOB: 28 Jan 2004 Grade:1 sex:male

Teacher:_______________School: _____________Date: 28 February 2010

Behaviour question Aggression (physically injuring other students) Verbally and mentally injuring other students Making noise in the Classroom Leaving his seat when there is no teacher Playing with the stationery Disturbing Picking his nose Running around the classroom

Yes

No

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