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The Effects of a School-wide Behaviour Management
Programme on Teachers' Use of Encouragement in the
Classroom
Alan Bain a; Stephen Houghton a; Sally Williams a
a
Department of Education, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Perth,
Western Australia 6009, Australia
SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a whole school
behaviour management programme on teachers' use of encouragement in the classroom. Given
that the performance of the school has become an important dependent variable in school effects
research, it follows that interventions which address behaviour management and the improve-
ment of academic performance, have also taken on a school-wide focus or orientation. In
Australia, where this study was conducted, there has been an increased interest in the use of
school-wide behaviour management and discipline programmes, which are characterized by
their focus on improving teachers' classroom management skills. In the present study randomly
selected teachers from schools involved in a school-wide behaviour management programme
participated in an experimental evaluation of the effects of the programme. Continuous data
collection indicated that the majority of teachers made increases in their use of encouragement
over the course of the intervention. However, observations conducted during a follow-up phase
revealed reductions in levels of encouragement following the withdrawal of the intervention.
Introduction
The school-based development of expectations for academic and social behaviour
and the clear communication of those expectations to the school community have
been consistently identified as characteristics of effective schools (Rutter et al.,
1979; Lasley & Wayson, 1982; Edmonds, 1982). While the significance of these
characteristics has prompted considerable interest in strategies for responding to
behaviour problems in schools (e.g. codes of discipline, suspension and exclusion,
timeout procedures), more importantly it has also prompted consideration of the
type of teacher and student behaviour that is predictive of both high levels of
student academic achievement and positive social behaviour. Such factors as the
consistent use of reinforcement and feedback (Perrott, 1982), clear communication
of academic expectations (Rutter et al., 1979) and the management and use of
250 Alan Bain et al.
instructional time (Sanford & Evertson, 1982) have been identified as important
factors in improving student, teacher and subsequent school performance. The
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Method
Subjects and Setting
The sample was comprised of nine elementary school teachers, seven male and two
female, randomly selected from three separate schools which had volunteered to
participate in an MSB programme. Each participant had a minimum of 4 years
teaching experience. All of the schools were located in lower middle socio-economic
areas of a large Australian city. The number and grade levels of the teachers' classes
were as follows: three first-grade classes, one third-grade class, one third- and
fourth-grade combined class, one fourth-grade class, one sixth-grade class, one
sixth- and seventh-grade combined class and one seventh-grade class. The ages of
the children in these classes ranged from 5 years to 12 years.
252 Alan Bain et al.
Research Design
A multiple baseline research design across settings (i.e. schools) and subjects was
utilized to evaluate the effects of the MSB programme on teacher behaviour.
Procedure
All observations of teacher behaviour took place over a consecutive 8-week period
during the third and fourth terms of the school year. Following this the intervention
was introduced in each of the three schools for a period of three consecutive weeks.
Baseline
Baseline data were collected over observation periods of 30 minutes duration during
structured, large group, classroom teaching periods before the lunchbreak in each of
the schools. During baseline teachers had no contact with the MSB programme but
were aware that they were going to participate in such a programme.
Intervention
During the intervention phase, data were collected approximately 2 days after each
of the teachers had participated in the 'being encouraging and positive in the
classroom' workshop of the MSB programme. The workshop session was of two and
a half hours duration and began with a 15-minute presentation, describing the role
and use of encouragement (by a MSB workshop facilitator). Encouragement was
described as a means of increasing responsibility and developing self-discipline in
students; feedback, compliments and verbal/non-verbal reinforcement were also
presented as forms of encouragement. After the introductory presentation partici-
pants were involved in a 15-30 minute brainstorming session on discouragement
Teacher Encouragement 253
where they were asked to think of ways in which individuals can be actively
discouraged. Following this component participants were involved in a second
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Results
Inter observer agreement was determined using Cohen's Kappa (Frick & Semmel,
1978) which is based on observed marginal distributions, and requires no assump-
tion that marginals are symmetrical and proportional to known population mar-
ginals. Cohen's Kappa yields one agreement coefficient across two or more cate-
gories for each pair of observers. The reliability was calculated to be 0.76 for the
variable 'encouragement'. This value represents an estimate of the extent to which
chance agreement has been exceeded and as such indicates that inter observer
recording was reliable.
Figure 1 describes total instances of encouragement across schools in the
multiple baseline design, while Table I describes the mean and standard deviation
scores for the rates of encouragement across the three phases of the study in each of
the schools. The rates of encouragement increased in all three schools following the
introduction of the MSB encouragement workshop. A reduction in the mean rates of
encouragement was evident from intervention to follow-up phase although the
follow-up levels exceeded those recorded at baseline in all three schools. It should
be noted, however, that the final observation in the follow-up phase for School 1
indicated a return to baseline levels.
In order to determine the effecs of the programme on individual teachers across
the three schools a multiple baseline design across groups of teachers was employed.
Figures 2, 3 and 4 describe total instances of encouragement across the groups at
each of baseline, intervention and follow-up phases.
254 Alan Bain et al.
school 1
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
io-
0
10
§. 90-,
school 2
70-
60-
50-
f 40-
30-
20-
10-
0
i 10 12
90-,
school 3
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
0 10 12
Observations
Category
TABLE II. Mean rates of encouragement at baseline, intervention and follow-up phases
for individual teachers
Category
Group 1
Teacher
1 21.00 2.55 44.80 1.48 31.66 3.89
2 17.75 1.70 19.50 4.04 22.00 4.08
3 24.20 6.45 35.40 2.19 32.66 6.53
Group 2
Teacher
1 37.00 1.22 37.80 6.22 38.32 4.70
2 14.00 3.16 27.00 2.16 13.66 1.70
3 25.80 6.53 39.10 3.49 30.00 3.67
Group 3
Teacher
1 35.00 1.41 44.60 14.25 40.66 16.08
2 31.75 2.36 72.50 17.08 28.32 1.24
3 19.20 7.32 27.00 3.53 20.33 2.94
The Group 1 teacher in school 2 (see Fig. 2) and Group 2 teacher in school 1
(see Fig. 3) made minimal increases in their mean rates of encouragement from
baseline (X = 17.75) to intervention (X = 19.5) and through follow up (X = 22.0)
phases for the Group 1 teacher and X = 37.00, to X = 37.8, to X = 38.32 for the
Group 2 teacher. A reduction in the mean rates of encouragement from intervention
to follow-up phase occurred for 8 of the 9 teachers. In 4 cases this resulted in an
approximate return to baseline levels or lower.
256 Alan Bain et al.
80- school 1
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70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
90-
school 2
80-
70-
a 60-
i
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
0 10 12
90-
school 3
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
Observations
Discussion
The results of this study when examined across schools and teachers lend support
to the view that the MSB workshop on encouragement did in fact result in increases
in the rates of encouragement given by the majority of teachers immediately follow-
Teacher Encouragement 257
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
school 2
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
90-i
school 3
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
6 10 12
Observations
ing workshop sessions. However, it is also important to acknowledge that there was
a reduction in the levels of encouragement after the intervention phase concluded
possibly indicating a change in the contingencies which were influencing teachers
behaviour. While in most cases this did not mean a return to baseline levels it does
indicate the need for continued monitoring and maintenance training if the effects
258 Alan Bain et al.
Baseline Intervention Follow up
16CH
150- school 1
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140-
130-
120-
110-
100-
90-
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
g- 160-
2 150- school 2
o 140-
•S 130-
0 120-
•§• 1 1 0 -
5 100-
01 90-
ra 80-
| 70-
8 BO-
'S 40-
« 30-
8 20-
ra 10-
g 0
10 12
160nJ
150 school 3
140-
130JJ
120
110-
100-
90-
80-
70-
60-
50-
40-
30-
20-
10-
0
10 12
Observations
of the intervention are to be sustained over time. This may indicate the need for an
ongoing feedback or self-monitoring procedure for teachers participating in the
programme in order to maintain appropriate levels of encouragement. Where this
has been included as part of the training process there has been a high degree of
behaviour maintenance (e.g. Wheldall et al, 1989).
Teacher Encouragement 259
The results of the present study also lend support to the findings of Hamilton
(1986) by indicating that the change in teachers' attitude reported in that research
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