TWELVE CAUSES OF DISRUPTIVE OR INATTENTIVE BEHAVIOR
All behavior has an origin or cause, and there are at least 12 causes of disrup- tive or inattentive behavior in classrooms (Table 10.1). We’ll take a quick look at these causes and then examine a few of them in depth. The reason for doing this analysis is that prevention and response to off-task or disruptive behavior must be done in relation to the cause of the behavior to begin with. Some of the causes of these behaviors have their origins in our choices, not the student’s faults. As we walk through each of the causes of disruptive or inattentive behavior, we point to the many tools available to address specific issues of student behavior addressed in detail in relevant chapters of this book.
All behavior has an origin or cause.
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Table 10.1 Twelve Causes of Disruptive or Inattentive Behavior
Cause 1: Poor General Management
Cause 2: Inadequate Personal Relationship
Cause 3: Inappropriately Matched or Boring Work
Cause 4: Confusing Instruction
Cause 5: Unclear Standards, Expectations, and Consequences
Cause 6: Student Not Knowing How to Do the Expected Behaviors
Cause 7: A Need for Fun and Stimulation
Cause 8: Value and Culture Clashes
Cause 9: Internal Physical Causes
Cause 10: External Physical Causes
Cause 11: Extraordinary Emotional Issues
Cause 12: Student Sense of Powerlessness
p Causes 1 to 4 all have to do with laying the foundations of management, relationship building, and solid instruction. All are related to aspects of teaching over which teachers have nearly complete control and, when well executed, can serve as preventive measures to discipline issues.
p Causes 5 and 6 are directly related to establishing authority and safety by ensuring that students know what is expected and how to do it.
p Causes 7, 8, 9, and 10 highlight characteristics that might be part of a stu- dent’s makeup or natural or learned behaviors that collide with their other- wise instinctive tendency to cooperate and participate in school.
p Cause 11 suggests the need to become familiar with seven sophisticated models of discipline for the small minority of recalcitrant or troubled students.
p Cause 12, student sense of powerlessness and alienation, is dealt with ex- tensively in Chapter 16, “Classroom Climate.”
Cause 1: Poor General Management
Competent handling of Attention, Momentum, Space, Time, and Routines forms a foundation for good student behavior. Conversely, absence of their
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Inattention to or mismanagement of Attention, Momentum, Space, Time, and Routines can leave students with downtime on their hands and distracted, frustrated, bored, and/or tuned out.
skillful handling creates distraction and fragmentation. Here are some impor- tant questions to consider in your classrooms: