I have often used rubrics to help students develop projects and guide their academic work. The same principles can be applied when assisting students in managing their own behavior. The text differentiates between self-recording (simply keeping a record of their behavior) and self-evaluation (actually evaluating that performance). Studies have shown that students often keep records that are quite accurate when compared to records kept by teachers. Furthermore, experts agree that self-recording forces students to monitor their own behavior more closely.
When people diet, they often keep food journals. Simply knowing that one has to record what has been eaten often serves as a deterrent for eating junk. In the same way, if a student knows that he or she will have to record (and therefore admit to) certain behaviors, he or she may be less likely to engage in problematic behaviors. Additionally, my sense is that in maintaining their own records, students gain more ownership over their behavior. As a result, they may gain more intrinsic satisfaction/motivation from performing more acceptable behaviors.
Can anyone else think of a reason why self-recording and/or self-evaluation might be an effective tool for behavior management?
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There are several other reasons why self-management might be considered as part of an overall program of classroom/behavior management. Self-management strategies not only add extra eyes and ears to the classroom but also actively involve students in their own behavior-change programs. Active student monitoring of their own behavior promotes more immediate and precise feedback than is likely when only the teacher provides information about their performance. In addition, teaching students to monitor their own behavior can create more time for teachers to teach.
Self-management techniques are also portable. Once students have learned to monitor their own behavior, they can carry these skills to any number of other settings. This portability may help students maintain and generalize newly acquired behavior to many different circumstances.
That's correct Sarah...self-management changes the dynamics from an external locus of control (teacher implementing a behavior change program) to an internal locus of control (student in charge of SELF-RECORDING, SELF-EVALUATING, and SELF-REINFORCING own behavior).
In addition to the initial REACTIVE EFFECT, students using self-management techniques ensures that behaviors will generalize.
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