When thinking about the elementary case study which deals with a third grader named Lisa, I realized that there are several strategies that I could implement. I could approach the situation from a behaviorist perspective, a social cognitive perspective, or perhaps even some sort of combination depending on what works with Lisa. Below are some ideas I have come up using ideas from both types of learning theories.
Behaviorist:
- Since Lisa has difficulty working in a group, perhaps it would be useful to try a group contingency. I want everyone in the group to participate and uphold their individual responsibilities, and providing a reward only when everyone in the group behaves appropriately might motivate Lisa to be a better group member. If every group member participates, the group will receive five extra minutes at recess (or whatever reward is motivating for Lisa). Not only might this encourage Lisa, but it could even encourage her group members to work harder to get her included in the process.
- Lisa has issues with interrupting her peers during group work. I could try cueing in order to help her correct her behavior. If I overhear her interrupting, I may make a statement to the entire class such as, "Make sure when you are discussing in your groups that you are listening and only responding when others are done speaking." This way I do not directly draw attention to Lisa, but it could help her analyze her actions. If she still continues, I may need to directly ask her to stop interrupting her peers or step closer to her group until she stops the behavior.
- Another strategy that I believe would be useful is reinforcing incompatible behaviors. Since she does not participate and interrupts her group members, I would focus on pointing out when she is doing opposite behaviors. Anytime that Lisa is sitting quietly in her group or contributing to the work, I should reward her and let her know that those behaviors are acceptable. A statement such as, "I like the way you are listening respectfully, Lisa," may be enough, or I may have to use other rewards depending on what is most motivating for her.
Social Cognitive:
- Since Lisa often gets angry when she does not get the group role she wants, I believe it would be beneficial for her to learn how to manage her own emotions. I could teach her emotion regulation techniques such as counting to 10 in order to calm down. Along with this, it may be helpful to discuss why she only prefers certain roles. Is there only one role she feels she can succeed at? Does she get angry because she is afraid she is being set up for failure when given other roles? It may be important to help build her self-efficacy and help her understand that she can be successful at other roles. Simply problem solving together could help manage her emotions and level of participation in the group.
- In my previous post, I mentioned giving Lisa a set of self-instructions that she could follow in order to guide her interactions within the group. In addition to this idea, I believe she should also be taught how to self-monitor and self-evaluate her ability to follow the instructions. She could have a printed list of her self-instructions, and she could put a check or minus beside each one she accomplishes or does not follow during her group time that day. I could also keep a similar tally and have a private discussion with Lisa later that day to compare our evaluations. We could discuss positive and negative behaviors that occurred and how to improve for the next group meeting.
I believe a combination of any of these strategies would be worth trying. The use of these strategies really depends on how Lisa responds to them, though. Getting to know her as a person and simply just using trial and error would help pinpoint the best way to approach this situation. I do not believe I would ever need to use all of these strategies to solve the issue with Lisa, but I believe it is helpful to have a variety of options as backups in case several prove not to work.
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