Pupils who are defined by bad behaviour

When a pupil’s only claim to fame is his bad behaviour, what can you do to stop him from playing to the crowd? Take Paul Dix’s behaviour test and find out...

Jack is king of the hill for all the wrong reasons. Younger children speak his name in whispered admiration; its mere mention sends a cold shiver through the staff room.
 
Stepping back from the daily chaos that surrounds Jack, you realise your attempts to change his behaviour have given him the gift of fame. Jack has his own special report card, a personal rewards system and is slowly building an enclave at the back of the classroom. Jack’s name is called out at the end of assembly and he bathes in the glory. He is regularly taken out of lessons for ‘special chats’ and seemingly has licence to wander the corridors at will.
 
Jack has found his place in school. His throne is the sofa outside the head’s office, his chambers the boys’ toilets. He is a celebrity. You know where Jack’s fame will take him and it is a well-worn path; if you don’t do something to change his direction of travel, Jack will feel forever defined by his bad behaviour.

How do you respond?

A) Create a new behaviour contract
There is a lot of time and effort directed at Jack’s behaviour, but it is not shifting. You decide to take a different tack and ask Mum to come in and negotiate a new behaviour contract.

B) Strip away the trappings of fame
You do everything possible to take away the sense of importance Jack gets from being naughty and meet his desire for celebrity with cold, consistent ‘microscripts’.

C) Remove the audience
You cut the problem at the root and give Jack some time away from the other children. That should put a stop his fame

If you chose
A) Create a new behaviour contract
Jack’s mum is always very keen to ‘help’ and arrives with some interesting ideas on the contract. It is clear from the outset that Mum thinks this is an opportunity to stop the ‘fluffy stuff’ and get back to punishing Jack. The negotiation over targets, rules and consequences is difficult. Mum wants to remove him from the football team, while Jack is busy promising the moon – he has mastered ‘required responses’. Nevertheless, the meeting is amicable: Jack realises there is trouble afoot and Mum leaves content she has repositioned all the ducks. 
 
Looking at the contract, you’re impressed with the detail – it certainly seems like a solid agreement. The following morning is fantastic. Jack is attentive and seems to have turned a corner. Yet by the end of lunch he has broken each and every one of his agreed targets – three times over.  As Jack calms down and realises he won’t be able to play for the football team on Saturday,  he loses it. It’s a thermonuclear meltdown. The headteacher calls Mum to come and peel him from the ceiling. However useful the process might have been, you come to realise the contract is too weighty (and too punitive) to affect daily routines

Talking behaviour
• Are there ways that contracting behaviour can be successful in behaviour change?
• Is Mum right to punish Jack by taking away what he loves?
• What is the next move for the headteacher?

B) Strip away the trappings of fame
You start by taking away Jack’s red report card and the reward system that he has managed to twist to his advantage. You explain that his poor conduct is no longer going to be advertised; you will record his behaviour against his targets in private. Speaking to colleagues, you ask that, for the next two weeks, everyone ensures Jack’s troublemaking does not add to his fame. There will be no more reclining on the sofa of shame or parading his poor choices in public. You ask staff simply to recognise when he goes over and above the minimum standards. There is some muttering into Tupperware in the back row.
 
So that the message really hits home, you decide to use a microscript with Jack every time he breaks the rules. The script is simple. It reminds him of the expected behaviour, identifies the behaviour in which he’s currently engaged, delivers an appropriate consequence, and remind him of his previous good behaviour. The new mantra is regularly employed: ‘You can feel good for doing the right thing’.
 
Jack does not like the microscript. He is irritated that he cannot show his naughty skills to the rest of the children, but a great foundation for improvement has been set.
 
Jack’s first appearance on the ‘work of the day’ display is an early sign the new strategy is working.

Talking behaviour
• How do you make your trickiest pupils feel important?
• How could you get the rest of the class to help?
• Does Mum need to be involved at this stage?

C) Remove him from public view
The initial shock of being withdrawn from class seems to have had an effect on Jack. He protests strongly, but soon accepts his fate. One end of the library is sectioned off and Jack is taught by a rotation of TAs and teachers. He is no longer able to wander the corridors or sit upon his throne outside the head’s office. The staff breathe a sigh of relief.
 
Everyone works hard to try and convince Jack that he should change his ways, but it is a scattergun approach. There are too many people giving too much well-meaning advice while setting too many targets. Eventually Jack needs to be released. The intervention is in danger of becoming unproductive (Jack has become overfamiliar and is calling staff by their first names) and one-to-one tuition is not sustainable.
 
Like Steve McQueen emerging from three days in ‘the cooler’, Jack returns to the classroom a conquering hero. His incarceration seems to have increased his fame. His reputation as ‘the child they could not tame’ instantly boosts his credibility. Once Jack’s eyes have adjusted to the light, he goes about his business – settling scores and readjusting the hierarchy that has shifted in his absence. By first break it is clear nothing has changed. As Jack comes to rest once more on the sofa of shame, you overhear a conversation with the head that begins “‘Ere Dave. Nice suit, mate.” You wonder if you may have just made things a whole lot worse.

Talking behaviour
• Does separation work better if a child is separated for longer?
• What does your strategy teach the other children?
• How could you reintegrate Jack so that he doesn’t return to his old routines?

Which approach did you choose?

A) Contract Charlie
A contract for behaviour sounds so tempting and concrete. Unfortunately, whatever is written on a lengthy proforma means little to Jack in the heat of the moment. He can barely remember two targets, let alone 10. Taking away football, the one area of his life in which he is currently successful, is only going to make things worse.

B) Down to Earth Doris
If it is fame he is pursuing, it makes sense that taking away Jack’s celebrity and bringing him back to Earth will have the desired effect. Strategies that seek to modify behaviour don’t often make an instant impact, but taking away the glory in poor behaviour is an intelligent. long-term plan for Jack.

C) Short term Susan
The instant positive effect of removing one child is a huge relief for you and the rest of the children, yet you are just storing up problems. Without an effective intervention plan there is no point in isolating Jack. His disappearance gives him more status in the minds of the other children. His reappearance, rather than being a rebirth, simply reinforces what he has already discovered: behaving badly has its advantages.