Positive Is The Way To Go!

Everybody has their different opinions on the use of positive and negative reinforcement in an early childhood classroom. Let’s all take a minute and think about what kind of reinforcement we tend to use more of. In my current field placement, I have been paying extra attention to the effects that positive and negative reinforcement have on the students. My current field placement is in a Pre-K classroom, so as most of you know these students are constantly needing some type of reinforcement.

My Observation

While observing these two types of reinforcements that happen at some point during my time at this placement, I noticed that the students in the classroom do not respond well to negative reinforcement. When the teachers at my placement force kids to sit on the steps instead or participating in recess because of their behavior, I noticed that during this time they usually only get themselves into more trouble instead of thinking about what they did wrong. Another thing I observed is, one child in my class always calls out during circle time so the teacher makes him sit at a table by himself. During this time the students is missing out on learning opportunities. The child will also cry which is disruptive to the rest of the students.

Question???

After observing this during my time at this field placement, it has brought me to ask one question. What are the effects on using positive reinforcement in the classroom?

 

While reading an article on this topic I have found many positives that come out of using positive reinforcement. One positive that the article talks about is it builds a relationship between the teacher and student. This is very important to have with a young child and many times when negative reinforcement is used it ruins that relationship. Another thing that the article talks about is it builds a positive learning environment. It is not a secret that students strive in an environment where they feel comfortable and safe. Why wouldn’t we want to use positive reinforcement if it achieves this goal? In conclusion I feel as though teachers should try to use positive reinforcement whenever they can and eliminate negative reinforcement to the best of their abilities. I understand that there are going to be times where it is needed, but all I ask is to try to think about the type of reinforcement you use in situations and how it might affect the students in the long run.

 

References

Jenson, W. R., Olympia, D., Farley, M., & Clark, E. (2004). Positive psychology and externalizing students      in a sea of negativity. Psychology in the Schools41(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.10139