A North Queensland school says a program rewarding positive behaviour, as opposed to punishing negative behaviour, is resulting in improved outcomes for its students.
Mackay West State School prep teacher Lexie Wykamp told ABC News the state-wide opt-in Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) program was not about punitive measures but instead, about emphasising what students were doing right.
“Rather than saying ‘you’re doing the wrong thing, this is what you need to do’, I’ll go ‘I love the way all these children have their legs crossed and are listening to me’, and it’s a bit like a chain reaction,” she said.
“That then creates that attitude throughout the school.”
Teacher librarian Margaret Spillman told ABC News the school-wide nature of the program gave students consistency in learning as they progressed through the year levels.
“I believe as an educator it’s never too young to start. You have to start somewhere and … we are starting at Prep,” she said.
“We are now in our third year and as the children move through to Year Six, we believe that our data shows that we are making a difference.
“We are absolutely equipping very young children with the tools that they will need to make them responsible and respectable citizens.”
Deputy principal Sally-Anne Rolfe told ABC News the PBL program was designed to help with children’s behaviour at home as well as at school.
“We have a matrix that says ‘this is what the behaviour looks like [at school]’,” she said.
“We also have one that goes home and says ‘this is what it can look like in the household’.
“It might be helping mum and dad set the table or it could be helping mum or dad making the bed in the morning.”