“The important thing to remember with humans, in such cases, is that we are never dealing with concrete realities. What we are dealing with is perceptions.”
-www.educational-psychologist.co.uk/attention.htm
I once read a book called Time, Space and Knowledge by Tarthang Tlku. It explored the concept of perception and reality in depth and made me wonder, is there even such a thing as reality, or is all of life strictly perception based on what we have been told our entire life and what we “perceive” to be true?
The quote above was taken from an educational psychology website. The article was about children who seek attention through bad behavior. I suppose there are many reasons why children might act out, but I wonder if most of it, in a school setting, does come down to attention.
Up until school, a child (in ideal circumstances) is the center of their universe in many ways. Their needs are taken care of in every possible way which leaves them little to concern themselves with other than their own exploration of the world around them. This is undoubtedly perceptual- the child perceives the world as a place where there is no concerns regarding survival. School is one of first experiences of children where they are removed from that perception and become responsible for themselves. I tend to believe that survival instinct kicks in a bit with this perceptual threat to the life they have grown familiar with. It is also one of the first experiences where they are compared, evaluated and sharing space with many others experiencing similar changes in the pattern of their perceptions. Then throw in the heightened sensory awareness of children. What a confusing experience this all must be perceptually!
I have often thought that if a child was acting out in class, and I felt that it might be for attention, that a positive way to give them attention and get them involved would be to give them a special part in the lesson, such as acting out a process, holding a visual aid, writing things on the board for me, ect. I still think that in some cases, this might work, but I really didn’t consider the importance of individualized attention. Maybe some children act out because they are not only seeking attention, but are having difficulty adjusting to a social setting. I don’t mean this in reference to Asperger’s as much as I do to just the perception of transitioning to an environment where there are many people.
Children can be so shy at times around new people, and I think that this has a lot to do with the experience of socializing still being unfamiliar. Some kids might have more experience with this, but others are developing their social perception at a much slower pace. If all children require a certain level of attention, and each requires it in a different way, how- as a teacher- do you address and become sensitive to the perceptual needs of each student without throwing the entire classroom dynamic off balance?
The article on this website suggest a technique. It requires setting aside “special time” and giving several verbal cues before, during and after special time. This is supposed to register with the child, perceptually, that that their need for attention is being filled. This also has to occur on a regimented schedule in order for it to be effective- it's great if your the parent or even a nanny or sitter, and you can give methodical and regimented, undivided attention to one child. However, for teachers who have several students, curriculum standards and very constrained time, something like this isn't all that feasible- yet poor behavior for attention persists and something must be done to get it under control.
I brainstormed how this same idea of individual attention might be adapted into the classroom more easily. Maybe during a daily activity, or a transition activity, I could seek out the students who require this special attention to ask them for help with a special task. Maybe educational times can be turned into individualized time, like when doing reading assessments, I can provide something special to make the time seem personal and unique, like a princess crown or special "reading ninja" headband for a child who needs special attention, so that they feel there is something unique about their time with the teacher. I suppose there are many small creative ways that individual attention can be percieved by the child, without requiring me to have a designated block of time.
I think it’s a topic that warrants some more research…
Wow, I really think that you have something here. Not only have you shed light on why a child may be acting out, but your ideas to involove them and correct the situation are really insightful. The only potential porblem I could see is that not all teachers are going to give the student the indiviualized attention that they may have come accustomed to in your classroom.
ReplyDelete