Positive Behaviour
Choose four, approaches to support positive behaviour, from the following list. Evaluate the four approaches you have chosen to show how effective each one is at promoting positive behaviour.
1) Positive reinforcement strategies
-Practitioners can promote positive behaviour by rewarding children when they behave in acceptable ways. Children enjoy being rewarded, so they are encouraged to behave in the same way again. When children repeat behaviours, overtime they become an ingrained, natural part of what the child does. The more a child is given positive attention for behaving appropriately, the less inappropriate behaviour they are likely to display. Rewards that can be given to children fall into two categories - tangible and intangible. Tangible rewards are real items that physically exist and can be seen. Intangible rewards are not physical items, but something that children can experience.
2) Modelling positive behaviour
- It’s important that adults model positive behaviour, as children naturally learn some of their own behaviour from what they see happening around them. Treating people with respect, being polite, not raising voices in anger, showing patience, being kind and considerate – this is the kind of behaviour children should see from their role models. If adults behave in this way, it sets the tone for a positive culture within the group.
3) Individual behaviour planning
-Sometimes in consultation with parents it is necessary to plan a behaviour programme for an individual child. This is in line with but in addition to the behaviour policy that applies to all. This means that particular behaviour goals are identified to suit an individual child and strategies are planned to help them achieve the goals. The practitioner, child/young person and parent/carers should work together on devising a plan. Individual behaviour programmes may be necessary if:
A child frequently/persistently displays challenging behaviour
A child’s behaviour is inconsistent with their age
A child behaviour has changed recently
A child has been identified as in need of specialist help and practitioners are asked to work in partnership with parents, carers and specialists. This could be due to an impairment such as a learning difficulty, communication difficulty or attention