Behavior support strategies are one of the most common request for paraeducators when they are asked about what they need more training in (Mason et al.. 2020). We hope that this module will give you the base knowledge you need to be able to move beyond giving out consequences to change behavior and instead move to a more productive and positive way to support the children on your caseload who exhibit behaviors. The first thing we need to do as part of this study is to learn about behavior and determine what it is, what it is not, and what are items around it that affect behavior so that we can support children in the ways that are most beneficial.
So, let’s begin by asking, what is behavior?
Behavior is active, meaning it’s always changing. It’s how people act when they interact with each other. It can include choices we make, like how we respond to someone or a situation. Sometimes we make these choices automatically without thinking. Other times, we make them on purpose.
Behavior is Not Who You Are Behavior isn’t the same as who someone is. It’s just something that happens. For example, if a student raises their hand in class, that’s behavior. But raising a hand doesn’t mean the student is a “hand-raiser” as a person, it’s just something they did at that moment.
What Happens Before and After Behavior? Behavior happens in a moment, but there’s usually something before it (called an antecedent) and something that happens after it (called a consequence) (Lerman, Hovanetz, Strobel, and Tetreault, 2009).
- Antecedents are things that happen before the behavior. For example, if a loud noise happens, it could cause a person to jump. In this case, the noise is the antecedent, and the jumping is the behavior. You can also think of antecedents as proactive supports that happen prior to a behavior. We can add these in ahead of behavior to change the outcome of the behaviors.
- Consequences are what happen after the behavior. They are simply what happens next and are the response that follows the behavior (Sam, A., & AFIRM Team, 2015).
How Does Behavior Affect Learning? Behaviors can be fun and functional, and they can also stand in the way of fun and function. The goal of behavior is to have fun and function.
Fun = to get along and enjoy my time at school.
Function= making things work at school.
Stop behaviors (challenging behaviors) put a stop to the fun and function and the learning and living at school.
Go behaviors (replacement behaviors) increase the fun, function, learning and living experiences at school and can take the place of the challenging the behaviors (Hendrix, et al., 2018).
As educators we want to recognize the STOP behaviors and put in supports around them that might lessen their duration, intensity or frequency and replace STOP behaviors with new GO behaviors that increase the child’s fun, function and engagement in the classroom learning and living. We also want to support GO behaviors with positive feedback and supports so they happen more often.
As educators, we try to encourage positive behavior that helps students learn, have fun at school and function as part of the social and learning situations at school. We want to create an environment where students can succeed and in turn, get positive feedback!
- Hendrix, N. M., Vancel, S. M., Bruhn, A. L., Wise, S., & Kang, S. (2018). Paraprofessional support and perceptions of a function-based classroom intervention. Preventing School Failure, 62(3), 214-228.
- Mason, R. A., Gunersel, A. B., Irvin, D. W., Wills, H. P., Gregori, E., An, Z. G., & Ingram, P. B. (2020). From the frontlines: Perceptions of paraprofessionals’ roles and responsibilities. Teacher Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 44(2), 97–116.
- Sam, A., & AFIRM Team. (2015). Functional behavior assessment. Chapel Hill, NC: National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, FPG Child Development Center, University of North Carolina. Retrieved from http://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/functional-behavior-assessment
- Scott, J., Lerman, D. C., & Luck, K. (2018). Computer‐based training to detect antecedents and consequences of problem behavior. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 51(4), 784-801. https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.495.