Contract with a Student
Monica Kochar
Educational Strategist| Instructional Coach| Humane Maths| Ex IB Teacher| USCC Math K8 Expert|
Contract with a Student
Having a contract with a student at times helps. For which age would this be useful? A girl named A in an IB school, grade 6 Maths. According to her data received from parents and previous teachers, she has never been able to do any Maths.
My Observations and concerns
1.???She sits very listless in the class.
2.???She generally does not attempt anything.
3.???If she does attempt anything, it is half a problem.
4.???If I call out to her she shrinks.
5.???If I move to her seat quietly, she just says “ma’am” in a tone that tell me “go away”.
Outside the class she is very friendly. Whenever she sees me, she comes for a hug (very common in India for students to seek hugs. Times are changing now though and teachers are asked to be careful of physical proximity). Her hugs are very warm and she holds me for a long time before letting go. I am extremely confused with her “inside negative and outside positive” approach. Plus, I can see just how dainty she is emotionally inside the class and am very gentle while approaching her. I don’t talk about maths outside the class for I do not wish our relation to be affected. But I am worried. She is in grade 6 and hasn’t learnt much.
Behaviour to modify
I use Skinner model “Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence ”. The behaviour I would her to develop to reach there is - start attempting the work assigned as CW and HW – and not give up in the middle out of any reasons.
My planning and justifications
I notice her love for colours and that gives me an idea. She carries in her bag everyday a big box of colours and I saw her caressing it once and just checking the colour pens. ?I have caught the behaviour that can lead me to bring her to Maths. I also notice her love for being on her own and that gives me a set of 2 reinforcers to work on her.
My consequence(s) for her: (My plan before the contract)
For her work she can use colourful pens. I will do away with the mandatory blue or black pens inks. And I will also do away with my own red pen. We let her choose the colours of her notebook. I will get the permission from the head of the school. Keeping in mind that this may wear off its novelty after a time, I kept a schedule of variable reinforcements for her.
I thought of withdrawing my hugs, but then decided against it as that may collapse everything and that is not the goal at all! This contingency reflects the Premack Principle of providing the opportunity to engage in a more-valued activity (experiments) as a reinforcer for engaging in a less-valued one (completing chapter questions).?(Schunk, page 92). ?I decide to use the “variable-ratio::variable-interval ” way as she is so emotionally volatile at the mention of Maths. I want to break her habit of ‘giving up without trying’ but I don’t want to lose my relationship with her. So I have to be watchful of the threshold of stimulus that I give to her. (Guthrie’s model, Schunk, pp 86-88)
?Our contingency contract
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The behaviour I would like her to develop to reach there is - start attempting the work assigned as CW and HW. This behaviour needs to be broken into several steps for her as it is too much to tackle straight away.
Keeping in mind that this may wear off its novelty after a time, we also decide a schedule of variable reinforcements for her.
And hence her 3 reinforcers are:
The punishment for not trying a single problem is that her box of colours stays closed. She uses the mandatory blue and black and I use the red! It is up to her how to spend the 40 minutes in the classroom.
?Expected response (To be assessed by actual responses)
This is to watch out how the contract goes in order to evaluate with data in week 5-She starts solving Math problems on her own in the class and at home.
?It worked!
Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories: An educational perspective (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.??
www.humanemaths.blogspot.com
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A rising artist, capable of painting in various styles (classic and postmodern, watercolor and pencil)
3 年A very interesting approach. A perfect example of "from theory to practice".
“ Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying “ -Roy T. Bennett
3 年It’s so important to be connected to the learner’s and understand their needs . Great approach .
Creating Awareness around Business Agility
3 年I'd like to acknowledge Amy Edmondson's work on psychological safety and Sharon Bowman's work in helping us learn better ways to connect with learners. Sharon's program Training from Back of the Room (TBR) is being widely adopted in corporate trainings in the recent years.
Creating Awareness around Business Agility
3 年Monica Kochar, Guess contracts with students a new concept for many, thanks for introducing the concept. While, there is so much more that you're bringing to the foreground by way of creating this construct. There is deep science working in the background in the whole of this idea, i.e., building psychological safety net with the learner (child). I'd easily relate your approach with how Amir Khan worked through his way in the film "Taare Zamin Par" with Ishan. First step is to be willingness to see the possibility of a future that did not exist (Generative in nature) to work with the learner. Then identifying the strengths of a learner to leverage as means for path to green. Your plan to allow the child to explore the math concept by ways of colours was novel in creating a space to experiment with. While we might also need to explore how could we practitioners support the learners in failing early in their learning, celebrating this step by acknowledging and taking the feedback to reinforce next step to succeed. It has become slowly an imperative in the domain of learning to create such positive atmosphere to usher the successful learning for learners (be it children or an adult).
Freelance Maths Educator?? Experienced in CBSE, ICSE, Cambridge, O level and? IB curriculum??CTET and UPTET both level qualified
3 年Amazing approach to get a wonderful outcomes ??