BEHAVIOR GUIDANCE PLAN

Behavior Guidance Plan

Hope Dishman
IVY Tech Community College
ECED 235
Instructor Erin Donovan
07/02/14

BEHAVIOR GUIDANCE PLAN

Theories
I have several beliefs regarding behavior guidance with children, and two theorists that I draw
from in these matters are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Jean Piaget believed that children who
are allowed to make mistakes often go on to discover their errors and correct them, or find new
solutions. In this process, children build their own way of learning. From children's errors,
teachers can obtain insights into the child's view of the world and can tell where guidance is
needed. They can provide appropriate materials, ask encouraging questions, and allow the child
to construct his own knowledge (Scholastic Inc., n.d.). I truly believe that mistakes are great
teachers, and we as educators can be there to help make the learning from the mistakes more
meaningful.
Vygotsky influenced my thoughts on behavior guidance by his ideas on the zone of proximal
development. The zone of proximal development is an important concept that relates to the
difference between what a child can achieve independently and what a child can achieve with
guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner (McLeod, 2007). This, to me, speaks that
while a child can do certain things on their own, they do need adult assistance with things,
including how to change their behavior for the better.
Personal Philosophy
My personal philosophy on behavior guidance is that children can be taught how to exhibit
polite, acceptable behaviors. In order to successfully do this, the childs parents and the childs
teachers need have to be on the same page! The changes need to be gradual and consistent in all
environments or the child will get confused and/or frustrated and not take it in. Children should
be given a few chances to be redirected before any action towards them is taken. Spanking,

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smacking and abuse of any kind is not something that I stand for. Parents and teachers must use
the approaches that they agree upon together in a caring yet firm manner. Change will not
happen overnight, so parents and teachers need to also be patient when trying to guide a childs
behavior. Before implementing any behavior guidance, teachers and parents need to also
understand that there are certain behaviors that are normal for children to exhibit (but still need
to be addressed) such as three year olds commonly having problems with stuttering,
commanding adults and being indecisive (Kvols, n.d., page 6).
Goals for Children, Families, and Myself
Two goals that I have for children is for them to openly listen to the adults trying to help them
and to have them realize the differences between the results of their previous behavior and the
results of their new behavior. Two goals that I have for families is to work cooperatively with
their childrens educators and for them to take the guidance plan seriously and to actually use it.
Two goals for me are to remain calm, caring and firm when dealing with a child who needs
behavior guidance and to implement any guidance plan that was agreed upon with the family.
Strategies
One strategy that I have seen in use and that actually works is redirection. Redirection is selfexplanatory; it is the practice of redirecting the child who is exhibiting unwanted behavior to a
different area/activity in order to distract the child/get the child in a positive mindset. The use of
redirection is encouraged instead of using timeouts, as it is believed that children will ultimately
benefit more for the former rather than the latter.
Another strategy that I have seen used is positive consequences for appropriate behavior.
Whether the reward is stickers, candy, a trip to a favorite place, or words of encouragement, this

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strategy is used frequently. There are debates on whether using this strategy is helpful or just flat
out bribery, but I believe that it teaches children the valuable lesson that bad actions are typically
met with consequences and good actions are typically met with some kind of reward or praise.
Another strategy that I have seen used to modify behavior is time outs. Yes, there are many
people who do not believe in time outs, but children can actually benefit from them if used
appropriately. When a child is behaving inappropriately (lets say that they are throwing a fit
over some juice that you wont let them have for lunch), it sometimes gets to the point in the fit
where the child simply is unable to be reasoned with. They shut down to any words you have to
say unless its what they want to hear, and hearing your refusal only makes it worse. So, in that
instance, taking the child and putting them in a designated spot (say the bottom step of your
staircase) and telling them why they are there, for how long and then walking away and not
engaging with them wouldnt be inappropriate in my eyes. The time out only lasts as many
minutes as they are old (a three year old would get three minutes) and when the time is up, you
then ask the child if they know why they were put in time out. This helps the child to grasp why
they were put in time out and helps them understand that their behavior was unacceptable.
Explaining why the time out happened, going over a more acceptable response to the childs
feelings and then welcoming the child back without resentment keeps the child from feeling like
you are mad at them.

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References
Scholastic Inc. (n.d.). Pioneers in our field: Jean piaget- champion of children's ideas. Retrieved
from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/pioneers-our-field-jean-piaget-championchildrens-ideas
McLeod, S. (2007). Lev vygotsky. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
Kvols, K. J. (n.d.). Common behaviors: Ages 18 months to 18 years [Introduction]. In
Redirecting children's behaviors (pp. 1-20). Retrieved from
http://seaviewpeds.com/behaviorfull.pdf