The Developmental-Behavioral Approach

Chapter 12 from The Exceptional Child: Inclusion in Early Childhood Education; Allen, K. Eileen and Cowdery, Glynnis E.; 2015

Review: 3 Core Considerations of Developmentally Appropriate

Practice (DAP)• Knowledge and understanding of child development and learning• Predictable• Sequential

• Knowledge and understanding of what is individually appropriate• Child’s individual strengths, needs, areas of interest and growth• Child’s individual development as compared to typical development

• Knowledge and understanding of what is culturally important• Expectations, values, and wishes of child’s family • Knowledge and understanding of community culture

(NAEYC, 2009)

High Quality, Developmentally Appropriate Environments

• Work for all children, including those with special needs• Is dependent on teacher effectiveness• Developmental growth is the result of several factors, including growth and

maturation (predictable and sequential), experiences and interactions, and practice of skills• Positive social and emotional guidance is highly preferable (research-based) over

a punitive approach to discipline (culture aside!)Note: Here is one of those places where it may be difficult for us to set aside what we have always done and are in the habit of doing. We must consider research-based, best practice and replace our own inappropriate behaviors with more appropriate behaviors if we are to provide the most supportive environment for children to learn appropriate behaviors.

Developmental and Behavioral Principles• Choose behavioral objectives for children based on what you know

about how children learn in general (DAP Core Consideration #1) and the individual needs of each child (DAP Core Consideration #2)• Arrange and prepare the environment to support each child in

learning the new skills• The best approach considers both nature and nurture• Gesell – maturationist (remember milestones?)• Hunt (as influenced by Piaget) – children develop naturally, but are influenced

by environment and experiences; a good match between a child’s developmental level and appropriate experiences maximize learning

Problem of Match

• Do the materials interest the children?• Is there enough flexibility and novelty that supports growth, while

remaining motivating?• Do the children learn from successes?• Is the teacher able to break skills into smaller steps as needed?• Is the learning environment conducive to the needs, interests, and

development of each child?

Note the bulleted points on p. 308 in your text.

Behavioral Principles and Practices

• Learning occurs when children are engaged, interested, and interacting in their environments• For children with developmental delays, it is especially

important to ensure that the environment is arranged and teaching plans are developed to maximize each child’s learning• All children can learn!• If a child is not learning, changes need to happen in the

learning environment.

ABCs of Behavior

• A = Antecedent; what happens before the behavior; triggers the behavior• B = Behavior; response to the antecedent; must be identified in objective

terms• C = Consequence; otherwise known as “maintaining consequence”; what

follows the behavior that either influences the behavior to recur or decrease.• Note: adults often inadvertently reinforce a behavior that they do not

want to recur. Careful observation of the ABCs of a behavior can help adults adjust responses to reinforce desired behaviors. (Remember EDU 146?)

Vocabulary to Know

• Operant conditioning• Behavior modification• Learning theory• Reinforcers• Negative reinforcement• Intrinsic reinforcement• Positive reinforcement• Natural consequences• Logical consequences

Pitfalls to Avoid!

• If choosing to withdraw or withhold reinforcers (i.e. ignore), be prepared for a child’s behavior to get worse before it gets better.• Consider the Case Study at the bottom of p. 314 in your text.• More concepts to know• Incompatible behaviors• “Catch to child being good”• Preventive discipline• Punishment – Again, look at the research (p. 316) and consider how our

culture often attempts to dispute the research. How many of you have said, “I was spanked and turned out just fine”?

Discipline vs. Punishment

• Preventive discipline sets the stage for children to learn and practice appropriate behaviors in a motivating environment.• All children need reminders, redirection, and reprimands on occasion.

Knowledge of child development keeps the expectations for behavior age and developmentally appropriate.• “Sit and watch” and “time out” are additional consequences that should

be used more rarely. If a child is in “time out” regularly, the teacher must rethink the environment and learning experiences for the child.• All consequences must be paired with opportunities to learn and

practice expectations

Task Analysis

• Step-by-step learning• Should be developed through careful observation and analysis of an

expected task• More vocabulary• Prompting• Fading• Cueing• Praise• Shaping• Observational learning (modeling)

Review

• Teachers must understand child development and the interaction of the environment and experiences on learning• Teachers must review the environment and expectations if a child is

not learning. No longer is it considered a problem with the child and his/her abilities• Understanding of the principles of guidance make classroom

environments more pleasant and more conducive to learning.• The ability of a teacher to task analyze promotes individualized

learning opportunities for children with developmental delays.