What is student misbehaviour?

"I am curious...how does misbehaviour mean varying things to you? In other words, do you agree that a particular behaviour is okayin one situation, but not another? And misbehaving involves acting in a manner deemed inappropriate for that particular situation?"

I completely agree with you cdegak (sorry..I'm not sure what your actual name is?)..I believe that we must first appreciate that our own conceptualization of expected behaviour and "misbehaviour" is context specific. What we define as "misbehaviour" changes depending on the specific context in which it is defined. Expectations of behaviour has, for example, changed over time. Expectations change across cultures and environments. In schools, expectations of behaviour may change across classrooms and teachers.

Behaviour is always exhibited for a reason. As educators, I believe it imperative to understand that behaviour is purposeful. Rather than simply defining behaviour in either/or terms (i.e., bad or good), we should be working to understand why the behaviour is occurring. This holds for our students as well as ourselves. This becomes even more imperative given the diverse backgrounds from where our students are coming.

What is Misbehaviour? And other related thoughts

What is Misbehaviour?
This question has always been salient in my line of work. I have quite a bit to say about it.
(For my day job I work with children in an Elementary school who have disabilities.)

I have learned that all behaviour is meaningful and usually communicative. Children are never “behaviour problems” however like us adults, all children do present “problem behaviours.” I prefer this term over “misbehaviour.” In the same way that we encounter puzzling math problems, so too there are problem behaviours that we’d like to get our minds around as teachers, and see if there might be a solution.

It’s challenging to put a finger on exactly what criteria define a ‘problem behaviour’. Behaviour expectations can change from context to context, relationship to relationship, person to person, even day to day. Rather than get hung up on the precise definition, in my job I am governed more heuristically by the following guideline:

A ‘problem behaviour’ is an act that disrupts the learning or wellbeing of others or of the agent himself.

This is a start.
With this guideline it’s clear that everybody, including the teacher, exhibits problem behaviours to varying degrees throughout the course of a day. We have thereby normalized ‘problem behaviour’ and begun to remove the stigma of ‘misbehaviour’. I always try to ask, “What is the function of this behaviour?” What is the agent (i.e. acting student, or adult!) trying to communicate?
This question is THE KEY to finding an appropriate solution. Once we know the function of the behaviour it’s a matter of fulfilling that function in a more appropriate way.

Interestingly, when I follow this process I often see that the exhibiting problem behaviour is being encouraged or ‘reinforced’ by the very consequences teachers are trying to use as a deterrent!
I'll give an over-simplified example to illustrate this:
Kristy is in grade 1. Every time she has to do journal, she takes forever to write. The teacher reminds her again and again to get to work, and Kristy grows more agitated. Eventually Kristy reaches a point where she lashes out, hurting another student. She is then sent to the office for this dangerous outburst.
In this simplistic example, the problem behaviour is Kristy’s stalling and eventually lashing out. The function of this behaviour is to avoid doing journal. The behaviour is being *encouraged* by the teacher’s response, since sending Kristy to the office as a consequence means she does not have to do her journal (for the time being at least), and thus the behaviour has successfully fulfilled its function.
The teacher’s response has served to encourage the problem behaviour, not deter it.

What’s a better response?
In this scenario, the function of the behaviour should be more precisely pinpointed: What about journal is Kristy trying to avoid? Is it too difficult for her to think up a journal topic? Does the teacher expect too much writing? Is it drawing a picture that Kristy doesn’t like?
Often there can be a simple adaptation of the assignment to solve the problem, such as decreasing the length of Kristy’s written output and scribing the remainder of her journal ideas.
(On a personal note, when a question of fairness is raised by other children I often tell students, “I am not fair, but I try to be good.” I often explain what the adage "life is not fair" means. Depending on the age of the student I try to explain further that, “fairness is not everybody getting the same thing but everybody getting what they need.” The kids I work with always understand where I'm coming from accept it.)

Here are a few additional thoughts I have about “misbehaviour”
- Not every ‘problem behaviour’ needs fixing. Sometimes kids just need the space to be their quirky selves. (I'm a little disturbed by our societal obsession with the DSM; labeling more and more 'behaviour clusters' as aberrent is an easy path to lose contact with the beauty and mystery of intra- and inter-personal human diversity).
- On this note, I will always see a person, not a label.
- Does a behaviour that bothers me really qualify as a ‘problem behaviour’? It’s easy for teachers to confuse their own preferences with genuine classroom and student wellbeing.
- Are my behaviour expectations clear to the students?
- Am I being realistic and sensitive to student diversity in my behaviour expectations? (For example some students come from homes where making eye contact with an ‘authority’ is rude!)
- I really liked Helen’s suggestion in class and again here to develop a ‘classroom expectations’ contract with each group of students. I would want to revisit this with students and let it evolve through the school year.
- I was also surprised to read Helen’s comments on forgiveness. I am in total agreement with her; I believe forgiveness is poorly understood and therefor underused by teachers. I always encourage kids to not say, “that’s okay,” when someone apologizes for hurting them. “Hurting others is not okay,” I explain. “But you can choose to forgive them.” Forgiveness means even though someone has mistreated me, I choose to continue in relationship with them.
- Students with more regular, habitual problem behaviours need to feel deeply from me that I care for them no matter what. I will always differentiate between who they are as a person I care for and what their behaviour is that I do not like.
- I am more interested to see ‘internal change’ than external or behavioural change. I am not interested in ‘fixing’ any student behaviours. I would like students to develop into the beautiful persons they are by helping them find their own valid reasons to make better behavioural choices.
- It's far more useful and empowering to help develop self-awareness and self-control in students than to impose external controls. (For example I always discuss the 'feelings and behaviour volcano' with students who exhibit habitual problem behaviours, to help them see the pattern in themselves and become aware of the 'rumbling emotions').
- I will try to speak positively about behaviours I’d like to see rather than negatively telling students not to do things I don’t want to see.

And that’s all I have to say about that for now. (Amazing I know! It has an ending!)

-Mark Northey

What is misbehavior?

Yesterday, I experienced three students misbehaving in psychology class; one of them cheated on another classmate's answer, and the other students were chatting to each other when taking a chapter quiz. Then, the professor called them and told them that their grades for the quiz would be 0. These students objected about what the professor said, but she never accepted their claims. She just explained in a calm manner that she asked us not to talk during the quiz before it happened. I was very surprised at that time. However, I was thinking about it deeply after the class and thought that the professor made an appropriate correspondence because she clearly mentioned the rules for taking the quiz before we took it. Moreover, she never compromised her rules. As my classmates commented, it is very important for teachers to tell students their expectations clearly from the beginning. And also, it is needed to stick to your own rules in order not to confuse other students. In this case, these students’ misbehavior was that they did not respect the professor or even other students. It is because they showed disrespect to the professor by breaking the rules and to others by disrupting our concentration while taking the quiz. I believe that classes make sense by having a good relationship between a teacher and students. That is why their behavior in the class was not appropriate from my point of view.

Some people say that it is important for a teacher to know why the students misbehave. I really agree with them about that because, in fact, students realize that what they did is misbehavior and intentionally behave like that. So the important thing for teachers is to understand exactly why they misbehave. Understanding a students mind is really necessary and helpful for teachers to care about students and to deal with their misbehaviors.

"What is misbehavior?"

I think the word “misbehavior” can be interpreted differently by people. What one recognizes as student’s misbehavior can be accepted by another one. But, I believe there is some attitude that are not accepted by any teacher such as turning up late to class, walking around classroom, talking loudly, or abusing verbally others. I also believe students with misbehavior can be found anywhere, even in the districts known for their height social level. According to a new international report, “student misbehavior disrupts lessons in three schools out of five.” (guardian.co.uk: “Pupil misbehavior is an international problem”)
I can imagine the waste of time and energy in the class where the teacher is obliged to repeat several times: “shut up”, “sit down”, “pay attention”, … So, in my idea, it’s important the teacher recognizes at first, the causes of his/her students’ misbehavior, to be able, then, to use some strategies to deal with them. But, I think it’s more reasonable to prevent these cases by establishing some rules with students about the class or teacher expectations from the first days. It’s crucial to develop students’ mind and understanding to make them know themselves responsible their acts. This way, I think a teacher can pretend to reach the purpose of all education that is teaching students how to live and how to deal with the reality that surround them.

What is Misbehaviour?

Misbehaviour is defined as behaving in ways that are unacceptable and disruptive to others. However, I like the question Rochelle rose on “to whom is it unacceptable?” There are a variety of social norms and cultural values that define what appropriate behaviour would be; there are also particular situations that could occur in the students’ environment that lead them to “misbehave.” The student who is calling out or distracting fellow classmates may not be getting enough attention from the teacher, and tries to seek acceptance by acting a particular way; the student might be feeling the same way at home, so decides to act on it in the classroom. Furthermore, besides through revenge—physically or emotionally hurting others—and assuming disability, wanting power is something I noticed often in the class I volunteer in. Sometimes students want to take control of the situation, so they try to create distractions by picking on other students, talking back or calling out things. This does not necessarily have to be defined as misbehavior, as the students feel the present activity is not right for them; thus, the teacher would use strategies to respond to the situation or find ways to prevent it from occurring again in the future. If teachers calmly talk to the students, explain the rationale for particular activities, and offer choices, then they may act differently and avoid the troublesome behaviour from reoccurring.

Moreover, if we find ways to create a positive learning environment for students, then perhaps we will not have students calling out or getting up and moving around. Contracts like Helen mentioned are one of the things I see all the time in classrooms, which students can refer to as reminder of what the class came up with from the beginning. If teachers develop an understanding relationship with the students and organize activities according to their learning styles, then students will be more interested and willing to do the work.

What is Misbehaviour?

                 I think it is difficult to pin point exactly what misbehaviour is, because misbehaviour can be defined so differently by all teachers. When I was reading other classmate’s blogs I noticed a similar attitude, in that many of us believe misbehaviour coincides with a specific context and I totally agree with this idea. I think a classic example of context appropriate behaviour would be noise levels in the classroom. Many teachers become ecstatic when they hear their students explore, justify, and discuss educational topics amongst their peers and a loud, talkative classroom is perceived as being a positive learning atmosphere. Nevertheless, there are times during the day where students need to be listening in order to understand concepts and instructions, and a quiet, no talking environment is perceived as being an ideal learning environment. In the latter situation, I would define misbehaviour as talking when the teacher is giving instruction, however in the first situation more talking and discussion is encouraged. I believe specific learning contexts correlate with specific behaviours. The cliché statement “there is a time and a place”, makes sense when observing misbehaviour in the classroom.

                Therefore, as educators, I believe we need to be clear when we are establishing our classroom rules. We need to ensure students understand their boundaries. Since misbehaviour is often context-oriented and is ambiguously defined, teachers need to model appropriate behaviour in its specific context. 

                During my 405 practicum in a grade two classroom, My SA informed me that being creative with classroom management is essential. She explained students will become unresponsive to monotonous classroom management techniques. I definitely noticed how receptive students became when a new method was administered. Every couple of weeks,  I was practicing a new technique and I realized certain techniques could only be used in specific situations. Some methods I used were, thanking students who were modeling appropriate behaviour, creating a traffic light in which specific colours meant specific expectations in the classroom, and asking volunteers to describe a characteristic of appropriate behaviour and share it with the class. Ultimately, I believe misbehaviour is defined through the context it is found. As educators, we need to be specific with our expectations so students do not become confused with what is expected.  

"Mis" Behaviour

Misbehaviour is behaviour that proves to be unacceptable. But to whom is it unacceptable? We each come with our own mores, social norms and ideas of what is and may not be acceptable behaviour. Many factors come in to play to make up one’s moral code. Everyone’s experiences make them who they are, and no two people share the exact same experiences. My children have had minor behavioural concerns due to personal strife, and each one of them with their different personality type has reacted differently in similar situations. Sometimes the behaviour will not have manifested until weeks, months or even a year after the fact. But the way in which they react is usually in some fashion designed to gain what they feel they are lacking in their lives; belonging, independence, mastery, generosity (Dr.Martin Brokenleg, Circle of Courage).

I personally have an issue with even the word ‘misbehaviour’ (hence why you will not see me use it in my writing). For me, it has a negative tone. If I say to my children that they are misbehaving then they immediately think they are “bad.” By telling them they are misbehaving I am not telling them what the behaviour is on which I am questioning them. I prefer to tell my children that the behaviour they are displaying is inappropriate. Then I will try to unfold or discover with them what it is that is inappropriate about the behaviour. I like to ask them what a more appropriate response may be, or have them reflect on why they think they are reacting the way they are. In fact, many times they don’t know. As a child I remember very distinctly feeling emotions that I had no idea why I was feeling them. I did not have the tools to be able to reflect on the emotions, my reactions and how they may be connected.

It is extremely important for me as an upcoming teacher to be able to help my students collect the ‘tools’ they need for recognizing behaviours and emotions in themselves. These ‘tools,’ as Lorna mentioned, are behaviour management strategies that help make these connections. We can’t expect our students to sort through their emotions if we don’t provide them with the foundation to do so. As a teacher, I will endeavour to get to know my students well enough to be able to discern from where their behaviours are stemming, try to prevent them from happening and respond in a caring, appropriate manner when there are behaviour issues that may need attention.