Descriptive Analysis of the Instructional Control of Teachers in a Classroom of Students with Behavioral Disorders

Abstract

ABSTRACTClassroom management still remains a topic of major apprehension for teachers, and especially for those teaching students who display challenging behaviors. This paper presents an empirical examination that supplemented an exceptional project of the ministry of education in a small Middle-East country to support students with severe problem behaviors in a unique self-contained classroom. The paper conceptualizes classroom management as instructional stimulus control manifested by superior identification of the discriminative stimulus, repertoire of responses, timing, and latency. The purpose of this study was to assess teachers' instructional control by identifying and measuring co-variations between their behaviors and students' behaviors. The teachers interchangeably taught a class of 12 boys, age 8-10 with severe problem behaviors. The variables measured were teaching behaviors (e.g., type of interaction with the students, reaction time, and proximity) and students' inappropriate behaviors. Data are presented and analyzed graphically. The discussion illuminates levels of inappropriate behavior in correspondence to the type of teaching behaviors displayed, and the differences between the teachers' instructional control. Possible implications for teacher training programs are provided.