TEACHING Social,
Emotional, and Behavioral Skills Requires Behavioral Instruction
Dear Colleagues,
The
marketing of “Character Education” curricula, programs, and materials is a big
business in this country—netting millions of dollars per year. Moreover, one of the largest purchasers are
our schools. Our schools not only
buy these materials (often by “word of mouth”). . . but they spend an
incredible amount of time implementing these programs, having weekly
“competitions,” using them in middle and high school “advisory” periods, and
then having monthly “pep rallies” and “character celebrations.”
And
then, many of these same schools say that they do not have time for
professional development, team and school-level committee meetings, and to
provide intervention time for academically struggling or behaviorally
challenging students.
At
face value, “character education” is “as American as apple pie.” Who can argue against the belief that
students need to have good characters?
And yet, it is critical for schools to decide what the goals of their character education
time is.
* If
the goal is to make students more aware of how to behave. . .
interpersonally, socially, and ethically, then a character education program might
be satisfactory.
*
However, if the goal is for students to demonstrate
effective interpersonal, social, and ethical behaviors, then most character education programs at NOT
worth the money and time invested. . . they do not have the
science-to-practice components needed to
teach behavior.
As
proof: simply look at the amount of
teasing, taunting, bullying, cyber-bullying, harassment, hazing, and physical
aggression that still goes on in our schools (most recently, after the recent
Presidential election).
_ _ _ _ _
The
simple fact is: The vast majority of character education programs used
in this country are not
evidence-based and do not teach or change student behavior.
Oh
yes. . . some of their authors may have done some “research.” But often, that “research” was done (a) by
convenience; (b) with small, non-representative, and non-random samples; (c)
without comparisons to matched “control groups;” and (d) in scientifically
unsound ways. Moreover, many times, the
authors’ research was not blindly reviewed (as when someone publishes their
work in a professional journal) by three or more independent experts in the
field.
PLEASE
NOTE: Anyone can do their own
research, pay $50.00 to establish a website, and begin to market their
products. To determine if the
research is sound, the program produces the results it says it does,
and the same results will meaningfully transfer into your school, agency, or setting, YOU need to do your own
investigation, analysis, and due diligence.
Too
many programs (as noted above), are purchased because of someone else’s
personal experience and testimony, their “popularity” and marketing, due to a
“celebrity” endorsement, or because they are “easy” to implement.
Once
again, these programs need to be Evidence-based. And, the newly reauthorized federal Elementary
and Secondary Education Act, explicitly defines “Evidence-based” as:
“when used with respect
to a State, local educational agency, or school activity, means an activity,
strategy, or intervention that ‘(i) demonstrates a statistically significant
effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes based on— ‘(I)
strong evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented experimental
study; ‘(II) moderate evidence from at least 1 well-designed and well-implemented
quasi-experimental study; or ‘(III) promising evidence from at least 1
well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with statistical controls
for selection bias;
or ‘(ii)(I) demonstrates
a rationale based on high-quality research findings or positive evaluation that
such activity, strategy, or intervention is likely to improve student outcomes
or other relevant outcomes; and ‘(II) includes ongoing efforts to examine the
effects of such activity, strategy, or intervention.”
_ _ _ _ _
This
message will discuss this definition more practically. . . providing guidance
on how to evaluate “character education” programs in a more functional way.
The
primary conclusion will be: Schools need
to choose programs that (a) are evidence-based; (b) teach social, emotional,
and behavioral skills with instruction that uses social learning theory components;
(c) have been successfully field-tested—reporting positive and sustained
results with students who are similar to their own students; and that (d)
use classroom teachers as the primary instructors, and mental health
staff as the multi-tiered layer of support for students who need adapted,
smaller group, or more strategic or intensive instruction.
All
of this will be accomplished, using four “mantras” that capture
important, scientifically-sound implementation principles.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mantra
1:
Behavioral Awareness vs. Behavioral Skill
The
First Mantra is: “Behavioral
Awareness does not necessarily translate into Behavioral Skill.”
How
many behaviorally challenging students know that they have made a “Bad
Choice,” can tell you what that Bad Choice was, will tell you
what the Good Choice should have been, and then will assure you that
they will make the Good Choice next time. . . . only to demonstrate the Bad
Choice again and again? [Spoiler
Alert: Most of them.]
While some students do this because they are motivated to make Bad
Choices (these students are called “Performance Deficit” students), many more
students (who are “Skill Deficit”) have never learned, mastered, or cannot
independently apply the interpersonal, social problem-solving, conflict
prevention and resolution, and emotional control and coping skills that they
need.
These latter students are “Can’t Do” students; in contrast to the former
who are “Won’t Do” students.
Critically, the “Can’t Do” students have not learned how to
disagree with someone appropriately or accept that they are wrong; to think
through a number of possible good choices and choose the best one for a
specific situation; to avoid problem situations or talk through and resolve a
teacher or peer conflict; or to maintain self- or emotional-control.
For
the Skill Deficit students, the only “intervention” is social, emotional,
and behavioral instruction.
The
questions here are: “Who will do the instruction?” “What instruction is best—and when, where, and
how will it occur?” And, “Given the
student’s status, how strategic or intensive does the instruction need to be?”
Said
a different way: If the student has
never been taught the needed skills, the instruction could occur in the
classroom, guided by the classroom teacher(s).
If the student needs excessive remediations, accommodations, smaller
group instruction, or has significant emotional or mental health needs, the
instruction may need to occur with a mental health (counselor, school
psychologist, social worker) professional.
_ _ _ _ _
The
key to all of this is that social, emotional, and behavioral skills need to
be explicitly taught. And yet, most
character education programs (that are not social skills programs) do not
use behavioral instruction. Instead,
they often use stories or narratives, teacher-led presentations or lectures, or
group activities or discussions as their primary “instruction.”
While discussion-oriented character education programs may increase
students’ awareness, understanding, or even knowledge of what they should do,
there is no guarantee that their students can perform the required behaviors.
Think
of it this way: While I may think
that I can be an Oscar-winning actor, and while I am aware of what I
need to do to prepare and when on-stage, I truly do not have the acting skills
(if I were ever to get on-stage). To be
successful, I need a theatrical coach who teaches me effective skills and
techniques, who watches me practice while giving me critical feedback, and who
mentors me with additional critical feedback and follow-up practice when I begin
to perform on-stage.
To
be successful, character education curricula need to include behavioral
instruction, practice, feedback, and opportunity. Moreover, the “coaches” (that is, the
classroom teachers) also need behavioral instruction—so they can teach
and implement the curriculum in scientifically-sound and effective in-class ways.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mantra
2:
What Does “Behavioral Instruction” Entail?
The
Second Mantra is: “Talk doesn’t
change behavior; Behavioral Instruction does.”
Expanding
on Mantra #1, we have established that most character education programs
talk about behavior. . . they don’t teach behavior using
scientifically-based behavioral instruction approaches.
As a
licensed psychologist who has provided “private practice” therapy to many children
and adolescents, I would like to tell you that Talk doesn’t change behavior.
Indeed. . . as a quick sidebar. . . if talk changed behavior, every
one of us would be at our ideal levels of health, weight, stress, and fitness.
That
is. . . you can’t TALK yourself into health.
You can’t TALK yourself into losing weight. You can’t TALK yourself out of stress. And, you can’t TALK yourself into being fit.
While the TALK may MOTIVATE you. . . you need to demonstrate healthy behaviors, effective diet and
nutritional behaviors, effective stress prevention and reduction
behaviors, and effective activity and exercise behaviors.
And
so, in therapy, most of my focus was on teaching my child and adolescent
clients the social, emotional, and behavioral skills that they needed
for success.
If
my clients already had the skills and our “talk” helped to change their
motivation to use the skills (that is, they were “Performance Deficit”
students), then the talk “worked.”
But
(once again) most of my students had never learned the skills (that is,
they were “Skill Deficit”). Or, they were
not using the skills independently (transferring our therapeutic
work into their daily lives), or they did not have the self-control skills
needed to use their skills under “conditions of emotionality.”
Critically, in these latter two areas, students often need to be
taught how to use their skills independently, and how to control their
emotions. These are related areas of
skill deficits.
Significantly,
this instructional sequence is exactly what teachers do. They teach students academic skills “in
isolation” (for example, the different definitions of a word). They teach students the metacognitive
skills so that they can differentially apply their vocabulary skills when
words are in a paragraph or story context.
And, they teach students the emotional-control skills so that
they don’t panic during a test, and forget what they have been taught and how
to apply it.
_ _ _ _ _
And
so. . . what are the goals and components of Behavioral Instruction?
The
goals of Behavioral Instruction,
quite simply, are to teach students—at their developmental level—the interpersonal,
social problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution, and emotional
control and coping skills that they need for school, home, peer, and community
success.
To
do this, they need to (a) learn and memorize the skills and their specific
steps (or “scripts”); (b) practice these skills and scripts so that they become
automatic; (c) learn how to apply, adjust, and adapt these skills to different
social situations; and (d) learn how to self-monitor, self-evaluate,
self-correct (as needed), and self-reinforce so that they become effective
self-managers.
Critically, this does not all happen at once. Preschoolers and early elementary-level
students typically learn their skills, but need to be prompted to use them by
adults. Middle to late elementary
students become more adept at self-managing “routine” social skills, but not
those that are more socially complex, or that involve high levels of
emotionality. And, adolescents continue
this process—becoming more adept with complex and emotionally-involved social situations
over time.
Critically: the developmental progression discussed
immediately above is EXACTLY why social, emotional, and behavioral skills
need to be taught from preschool through high school. . . just like reading,
math, science, and other academic areas.
_ _ _ _ _
The
components of Behavioral Instruction
are based on the most valid and long-standing theory in this area, Social
Learning Theory.
Discussed
by Albert Bandura and others, social learning theory has empirically demonstrated
that behavioral skills (which include emotional control, cognitive/attitudinal
control, and behavioral control) are taught using the following components: Teach, Model, Roleplay, Performance
Feedback, and Transfer of Training.
More
specifically:
When Teaching and Modeling: Teachers need to make sure that students:
* Have the prerequisite skills to be
successful
* Are taught using language that they can
understand
* Are taught in simple steps that ensure
success
* Hear the social skills script as the
social skills behavior is demonstrated
_ _ _ _ _
When Practicing or Roleplaying: Teachers need to make sure that students:
* Verbalize (or repeat or hear) the steps to
a particular social skill as they demonstrate its appropriate behavior
* Practice only the positive or appropriate
social skill behavior
* Receive ongoing and consistent practice
opportunities
* Use relevant practice situations that
simulate the “emotional” intensity of the real situations so that they can
fully master the social skill and be able to demonstrate it under
conditions of emotionality
* Practice the skills at a developmental
level that they can handle
_ _ _ _ _
When Giving Performance Feedback: Teachers need to make sure that the feedback
is:
* Specific and descriptive
* Focused on reinforcing students’
successful use of the social skill, or on correcting an inaccurate or incomplete
social skills demonstration
* Positive--emphasizing what was done well
and what can be done well (or better) next time
_ _ _ _ _
When Transferring or Applying Social
Skills after Instruction: Teachers
need to make sure that they reinforce students’ prosocial skills steps and
behavior when students:
* Have successfully demonstrated an
appropriate social skill
* Have made a “bad” choice, demonstrating an
inappropriate social skill
* Are faced with a problem or situation but
have not committed to, nor demonstrated, a prosocial skill
* Must use the skill in situations that are
somewhat different from those used when the skill was originally taught and
practiced
_ _ _ _ _
Collectively, these components are the instructional components
that successfully teach students their social, emotional, and behavioral
skills.
Moreover,
this pedagogy does not differ from the way that effective teachers
teach academic skills when they (a) Teach students scaffolded information,
skills, and step-by-step processes; (b) Demonstrate these skills
sequentially to the class; (c) give students massed and distributed Practice
opportunities and systematic Feedback; and (d) provide students with
guided opportunities to Apply their skills toward eventual independence.
But,
once again, precious few character education programs (excluding social skills
programs) either include this behavioral instruction in their curricula, or make
it the centerpiece of their program.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mantra
3:
School Discipline, Classroom Management, and Student Self-Management
The
Third Mantra is: “Social, Emotional,
and Behavioral Skill Instruction is Part of Classroom Management.”
Expanding
on Mantra #2, we have established that social, emotional, and behavioral
skills need to be explicitly taught to students from preschool through high
school, and that the instructional approach is exactly the same one that
teachers use when teaching academic skills.
Beyond this, it is important to know that literally hundreds of
well-designed research studies investigating school-based social skills
programs revealed that classroom time spent on addressing the social,
emotional, and behavioral skills and needs of students helped (a) to
significantly increase their academic performance as well as their social and
emotional skills, and that the students involved (b) were better behaved, (c) more
socially successful, (d) less anxious, (e) more emotionally well-adjusted, and (f)
earned higher grades and test scores (Durlak, et al., 2011; January, Casey,
& Paulson, 2011; Payton, et al., 2008).
More
specifically, these studies revealed that these positive results occurred:
* At
the elementary, middle, and high school levels;
* For
students at all socio-economic levels (although they were especially effective
in classroom or schools with higher percentages of free and reduced-price lunch
students);
* When
classroom teachers and other school staff did the instruction, and embedded the
skill practice into daily classroom activities and interactions; and
*
When the programs used roleplay and other experiential activities; and infused
their skill instruction and practice throughout the school year.
Altogether, these results involved over 240 studies and more than
280,000 students. When compared to students not receiving the social skills
training, those receiving the training demonstrated academic gains amounting
to an 11-percentile point advantage.
_ _ _ _ _
Given the
results above, it is clear that social, emotional, and behavioral skill
instruction significantly contributes to effective school discipline, classroom
management, and student self-management.
In addition, it
must be emphasized that (a) all students—from preschool through high
school—should receive this training, and (b) these students’ classroom
teachers should be the primary teachers of the social skills.
This is not to
give the classroom teachers “another thing to do.” This is to recognize that these teachers know
the students better than anyone else, they can (as above) more easily embed the
skill practice into daily activities and interactions (like cooperative
learning groups, project-based learning activities, science labs, and other
collaborative efforts), they have more opportunities to reinforce good social
skill behavior than anyone else, and they have the most to gain from the
academic benefits also noted above.
Relative to
school counselors, social workers, or school psychologists: they should not be the primary social skills
instructors. This is an “old-school”
role that is no longer supported by the behavioral science.
Indeed, when
most counselors teach the primary social skills program:
* They can only
be in each classroom twice per month at most (and this is true more at the
elementary school level than at the secondary level—where counselors rarely
have routine visitation time);
* The classroom
teachers often use the time to catch up on other work or to take a break (thus,
creating a “transfer of training” problem when the teachers do not know enough
to reinforce the program during the day, and the students don’t “connect” the
teacher with the program and its implementation);
* There is not enough instructional time is
available for roleplays—much less for skill application and infusion; and
* The students
do not see the skills as important to the academic program, much less than to
classroom management.
Indeed, the
best social skill instruction role for counselors, social workers, and school psychologists
is to (a) co-teach, as needed, selected skills with the classroom teachers (for
example, those involving complex or controversial social interactions or
emotional situations); and (b) provide the multi-tiered layer of support for students
who need adapted, smaller group, or more strategic or intensive clinical or
therapeutic instruction.
_ _ _ _ _
Relative
to the skills that are taught, the emphasis is on teaching skills
and not constructs. That is, a
social skill program cannot teach “Cooperation,” “Respect,” “Responsibility,” “Safety,”
“Trustworthiness,” “Fairness,” “Caring,” or “Citizenship.” Instead, the program must teach the behaviors
that are embedded in or represented by these constructs.
For example, the Stop & Think Social
Skills Program (see the additional information in the right-hand column), teaches
20 essential skills at the preschool through Grade 1, Grades 2 to 3, Grades 4
to 5, and Middle/High school levels, respectively.
These skills include:
Listening, Following Directions, Asking for
Help, Ignoring Distractions, Dealing with Teasing, Accepting a Consequence,
Apologizing, Starting/Ending a Conversation, Setting a Goal, Dealing with
Anger, Handling Rejection, Dealing with Peer Pressure, Walking away from a
Fight.
Many of these skills, once again, facilitate
students’ prosocial skills, their cooperative group skills, their academic
engagement, and thus their social and academic progress and success.
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
Mantra
4:
Management versus Self-Management
The
Fourth Mantra is: “The absence of behavioral
problems, do not represent the presence of social skills.”
The
essence of this Mantra is that there is a difference between “behavior
management” and “behavioral self-management.”
Relative
to the former, some teachers (and parents) attempt to completely manage
students’ behavior. Sometimes this
occurs through coercive management where students are afraid to misbehave
because they will receive a harsh or severe punishment. At other times, this occurs through excessive
supervision.
Either way, when students are behaviorally over-managed, they do often
demonstrate fewer inappropriate behaviors. . . but they also tend to
stop demonstrating appropriate behaviors. In essence, they are stuck in “neutral”—avoiding
antisocial behavior in fear being punished, but also avoiding prosocial behavior
in fear of calling undue attention to themselves.
But
the biggest problem with over-management is that students are not being
taught self-management skills. Thus,
when the coercive or excessively supervised management is gone, many of the
students do not know what to do.
This
happened in a small district where I was consulting a number of years ago. The High School staff complained vigorously
that the 9th graders were consistently coming from the Middle School
“out-of-control.” When I observed at the
Middle School, I noticed that all of the students—in Grades 6th,
7th, and 8th—were supervised everywhere. . . all of the
time. When I asked if this was typical,
I was told that this practice had been in place for the 10 years of the current
Principal’s tenure.
Critically, this explained. . . first, why there were virtually no
office discipline referrals in the school to speak of. Indeed, between the mixture of constant
supervision and the punishments for inappropriate behavior, the students either
did not have the chance to be inappropriate, or they were afraid to.
Second. . . this phenomenon explained why the 9th graders
were coming to the High School “out-of-control.” This was because—after three years of
constant supervision and dependency on the adults—most of the students (the
Skill Deficit students) had never learned adolescent-level social, emotional,
and behavioral self-management skills.
Thus, they were unprepared to be organized, independent, and self-sufficient
as expected in 9th grade.
The
remainder of the students (the Performance Deficit students) had the
self-management skills, but they did not care.
They were now free from the previous years’ supervision and punishments
(at least until they completely acted up), and free to “test their wings” to
see how much they could “get away” with.
The
Point? While we need to provide some
structure, supervision, and “management” with all students, if we don’t
simultaneously teach and help them develop social, emotional, and behavioral
self-management skills, they will never learn to be confident, capable,
independent, productive, self-sufficient, and successful individuals.
_ _ _ _ _
And
so. . . the Mantra.
As
noted above, when school staff over-manage their students, the students often
get stuck in neutral—passively (even protectively) sitting back and letting the
adults take the lead.
This
passive behavior is further reinforced when teachers believe that “good
classroom behavior” occurs when students are not exhibiting any problems.
But.
. . the absence of behavioral problems does not represent the presence of
social skills. That is, the passive students,
who are not demonstrating any behavioral problems in the classroom, may have no
social skills at all. They simply
have not been put into a position of having to demonstrate these skills.
_ _ _ _ _
The
Bottom Line, once again, is that we need to behaviorally teach all students
social, emotional, and behavioral skills from preschool through high school,
giving students the opportunity to practice their skills to a level of
developmental self-management. This is
all part of an effective school’s discipline, classroom management, and student
engagement/self-management process.
And
the process needs to go well beyond the awareness that typically results from
character education programs. It needs
to involve the instruction embedded in social skills training programs.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Summary
It
is a simple fact that how students feel, feel about themselves, behave, and get
along with others strongly predicts their interactions and their achievement in
school.
* If
students are feeling pressured, bullied, or unsafe, they focus more on these
emotional conditions than on academic instruction and learning.
* If
they are unsure of themselves, lack self-confidence, or are self-conscious,
they may not believe that they can succeed.
* If
they do not have the behavioral skills to pay attention, work independently, or
organize themselves, their academic work may suffer.
* If they cannot relate to
others, work cooperatively in a group, and prevent or resolve conflicts, they
will not socially survive.
We
have known that students’ social, emotional, and behavioral competency and
self-management is essential to their academic and interpersonal success in
school for decades. While a strong
academic program with effective instruction and a focus on real-world knowledge
and skills is essential to student achievement and understanding, it is evident
that (a) a positive and supportive school and classroom climate, (b) with
positive and productive student and teacher interactions, and (c) effective
classroom management also are necessary.
The
newly reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/ESSA)
requires states and districts to track a non-academic indicator that correlates
with academic achievement. I cannot
think of a more important indicator than students’ ability to demonstrate
interpersonal, social problem-solving, conflict prevention and resolution, emotional
control and coping skills.
Not
only will these skills enhance students’ academic engagement and achievement,
but they will also address other ESEA/ESSA requirements related to office
discipline referrals, suspensions and expulsions, teasing and bullying, and disproportionality.
But
we need to go beyond awareness training.
We need to use our scientific and evidence-based knowledge to teach
and change behavior.
_ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _
As always, I look forward to your thoughts
and comments. Feel free to contact me at
any time, and remember to look at my website (www.projectachieve.net) for the many free resources that are available there.
Best,
Howie
