Why Aren't You Using It?
(in a better way)
The Good Behavior Game
Have you heard of it? If you haven’t, you’re in good company.
Few educational professionals are aware of this concisely structured and easily implemented whole-class behavior management system. Fewer still know how to go about making use of it. It is the rare educator who has implemented it.
That absence in the schools is rather surprising, given that it is among the most research-supported entire-classroom behavior management processes available to us. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is not just “evidence-based” (developed to be in alignment with research findings). Today, the GBG is fully recognized as being “research-supported” (meaning that data-based investigations were conducted on this particular practice) with almost two score of investigative studies since the 1970s. (For those of you who didn’t research what Abraham Lincoln meant by “4 score and 7 years ago…” in his Gettysburg Address, a score is "20".)
Indeed, “Few interventions… have been researched as much, as often, and across as many diverse settings as the Good Behavior Game.” (Elwick & Casey, 2011, p. 36) The GBG has been replicated with different age groups, special needs populations, geographic areas with different population densities, and internationally, thus “…increasing the likelihood that the GBG will work in almost any setting, with any age group, and with any population.” (Elswick & Casey, 2011, p. 37)
While most of the research has been conducted with elementary/primary school children ages 5 to 12 years), rigorous investigations reveal its effectiveness with learners from ages 4 to 18 years (Elswick & Casey, 2001). The Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy (no date) lists the GBG on its list of “Social Programs that Work”. In essence, the Good Behavior Game is a proven motivational system that can be implemented for a large part of the day in primary/elementary schools, class periods in secondary schools, or specific activities during which you wish to have your students engage in cooperative teamwork.
In its original version, the GBG promotes appropriate behavior in learners via a penalty system in which team points are removed from their collection if a member of that group acts inappropriately. A variation of the game involves creating a collection of demerits by administering penalty points for misbehavior. In either version, the goal of the team is to avoid exceeding the limit placed on team penalties.
The approach first became widely recognized in research published in 1969 (Barrish, Saunders, & Wolf, 1969;). Other research investigations (Harris & Sherman, 1973; Medland & Stachnik, 1972) quickly followed, further confirming the GBG’s effectiveness in decreasing inappropriate actions and/or increasing the frequency of appropriate and on-task behaviors. Reviews of the research (American Institutes for Research, 2013; Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, 2012; Embry, 2002 & 2013; Flower, McKenna, Pedrotty-Bryant, & Bryant, 2014; Flower, Bunuan, Muething, Vega & McKenna, 2014) conducted on the Good Behavior Game tell us that it is highly effective in reducing off-task, disruptive and aggressive behavior… with the entire class!
The extensive research findings boil down to this reduction: The Good Behavior Game has the ability to tame disruptive classes and save the careers of struggling teachers. Yes, it is THAT powerful… for pupils from pre-Kindergarten up through the end of secondary level schooling. Indeed, The Institute of Medicine Report on the Prevention of Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (2009) cited it as one of the most powerful procedures that classroom teachers can implement.
I don’t know about your level of attention right now, but I certainly sat up and took notice when I first heard about it. I trust that your curiosity has been aroused, so I’ll continue.
Elswick & Casey (2011, P. 43) assert that “…the GBG produces significant improvement in the behaviors of the students within the classroom. The GBG is an effective tool to implement as a means of decreasing unwanted classroom behaviors of students.” They go on to say that the GBG “…is applicable to the classroom setting due to its ease of implementation, minimal effort by the teacher, minimal preparation before initiating the intervention, and accessibility of the intervention for all teachers in all areas of the world.”
There is no contention with their assertions, BUT the GBG can be modified to create better and longer lasting results. This article explains how to bring about that desirable outcome.
In Part 1 of this article, you’ll find a description of the traditional principles behind the GBG, and procedural steps for its planning and implementation. Potential problems with the recommended procedures are identified with a superscript number (3). You’ll find an explanation of these possible pitfalls in Part 2 of this document. In Part 3 of this document, you’ll find tips and modifications that will prevent the problematic aspects from surfacing, and thus further enhance the effectiveness of your Good Behavior Game sessions.
PART 1: The Usual Please… The Traditional GBG Format
An Introduction
All of us desire for our young scholars to be enthusiastically and productively engaged during our lessons & activities, showing socially appropriate and on-task behaviors… And not solely for the sake of their academic achievement… for our sense own sense of personal and professional satisfaction as well. You and I both know the demoralization that weighs down upon us when our pupils are disengaged and disruptive. The Good Behavior Game promises to make us more effective in capturing and maintaining student attention and cooperation.
The GBG makes use of an “interdependent group contingency”1. That’s behaviorist jargon for “teams of kids work together to attain a goal or reward”. More specifically, each student in an assemblage of learners receives a reward IF (and when) the group as a whole has attained a certain level of performance with regard to appropriate behavior.
Although a number of variations have been documented in the professional literature, generally the group wins or loses as a team. Everyone in the group obtains a reward, or no one receives it. Generally, the team with the fewest penalties wins a whole-group prize.
Essentially, the GBG is a group version of the Premack Principle, also known as Grandma’s Rule(“You have to eat your vegetables before you get dessert.”) In other words, students must engage in activities that are less desirable to them (focusing on the assigned task and being compliant) in order to earn desired objects and/or privileges.
Note: The name of the game can be deceiving: Rather than positively recognizing appropriate behaviors as its name implies, in reality it reinforces withholding of “bad” (inappropriate) actions which, if we are fortunate, then results in the display of behavior that we teachers desire2. (Remember: The behavior is “bad”, not the pupil. The student made a poor choice. We’ll strive to help him/her make better choices.)
In the traditional implementation of the GBG (and most of its variations), certain principles and procedures apply:
- The pupils in the class are split into two to four groups.
- A group “wins” by:
- (Two groups version) Having had fewer points (of 5) removed than a limit set by the teacher.In one version, both groups can win if they both beat the limit. In another version, even if both teams avoid going over the allowed limit, the one with the most remaining points (least number deducted from the total) wins. In a third version, if teams are below the limit on point removals, and equal in the receipt of the number of penalties, they split the reward in half.
- (Three or more groups version) Staying below the limit of point removals designated by the teacher: At the conclusion of the game, any team that has kept its penalty deductions below the predetermined total wins a reward. Teams that have exceeded the designated limit, “lose”. (They do not receive a reward.)
- When the game is underway, students are expected to restrain inappropriate behavior during the learning experience (instruction, independent work, group activities, etc.). The goal of each team is to limit its combined rates of the disturbing, disruptive, destructive, inattentive, or otherwise errant actions that have been identified as being “inappropriate”. (Did you recognize this limit setting as being somewhat akin to a group version of “differential reinforcement of lower rates of behavior; DRL”?)
Visit Dr. Mac's web page on Differential Reinforcement procedures to view the videos
(scroll down that page to the DR procedures)
- When a disallowed action is witnessed, the teacher responds to it3 in a matter-of-fact, unemotional manner. The youngster who committed the breach of protocol is neither chastised nor given individual penalties. Rather, that violator’s team has a demerit recorded against them4 as the teacher removes a point from the tally marks remaining under the name of the group.
Planning and Preparing to Use The Good Behavior Game
Introducing the Good Behavior Game into your classroom is a rather straight-forward procedure. In this section, you’ll find the steps for placing the GBG into practice in your classroom.
Productive alternatives to concerns with the usual practices (identified by superscript numbers) are found in Part 3 of this report. As you consider the steps found below, recognize that you can place them in a different order than shown here if that rearrangement would make more sense for your classroom.
- Decide when to engage the game.
Consider when you most want your students to display appropriate on-task learning behaviors. Typically, it is during an instructional session led by you that is then followed by student activities. For example, the game would be appropriate during instructional sessions for reading or math, times when content instruction is presented, and periods of independent or small group work.
A period when disruptive behavior is often displayed might be your choice for implementation, or you might engage the first session during a period when student behavior is better, so that the class experiences immediate success with the game, and you gain experience in administration of it.
- Determine the rewards that can be earned by team members.
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OH NO! You've reached the end of the free excerpt from Dr. Mac's comprehensive article that takes the Good Behavior Game to the next, and more positive level.
The system, while research-proven, is coercive and tends to bring about refusal to participate in the students whose behavior is of most concern to us. You'll want to read about how to "tweak" the usual implementation to better meet the needs of all your students (and you). You'll find that valuable information through the offer below.
For just $29.99, you can implement the improved version of the most research-proven whole class management program!
The Good Behavior Game engages kids IF it's done right!
You'll learn about the enhancements that give you that ability.
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Really... Consider what you receive for only $29.99:
- The entire 33 page what-to-do & how-to-do it article!
- In-text hyperlinks to Dr. Mac's materials that further explain suggested procedures and modifications.
- A how-to-do-it video describing the program and the positive modifications that improve it immensely!
- A listing of inherent problems with the Good Behavior Game and sure-fire solutions for them!
Even more reasons to assure that you use the GBG in more positive & effective ways!
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(From an e-mail to the BehaviorAdvisor B-List group)
G'Day Fellow B-Lister!
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A while back, I sent a ditty about The Good Behavior Game (GBG); that powerful, but rather flawed procedure for motivating kids to engage in the lesson and actively participate. A good number of our B-List group decided that it was right for their classrooms, and that's no wonder; It's supported by MASSIVE research evidence demonstrating it's effectiveness, and was rated as a “Top Tier Intervention” by The Coalition for Evidence Based Policy (although they describe a highly-modified version of it).
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So why read my article? Certainly, if you were interested in implementing this powerful practice, you could search the internet and read the research reports.
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I did so, and as I found out, there are BIG problems with the GBG.
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So how was this highly structured system able to be so effective? First of all, the studies implemented the practice in the classrooms of ineffective behavio(u)r managers. Just about any structured system would probably have yielded the same or better results. (The GBG has never been contrasted to other systems in order to compare effectiveness.)
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Additionally, while the researchers report on the effectiveness of the strategy in their studies, they gloss over or fail to mention the numerous flaws in the system. For example, it works well with most kids, but fails miserably with kids whose behavior is of persistent concern.
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The researchers' recommendation? ...Change the system for those kids in a manner that violates the very premises on which it is based. The researchers usually tried to re-engage these difficult-to-reach students by lowering demands and upping reinforcement, thus invalidating the group game structure in a badly formed attempt at differentiation.
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Oh... and those premises on which the GBG is based; They violate the principles for effectively changing human behavior for the better! For example, the GBG focuses on negative reinforcement, i.e., obey me because you fear my power (a power we don't have over some of our errant kids, and don't need to exert over others to gain their cooperation).
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We know that cooperation, motivation, and self-management are built via actual training in appropriate behavior, and positive reinforcement for effort and progress. Kids who have behavioral issues need instruction in appropriate actions, not solely punishment for misbehavior… more of what already isn’t working with them.
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In my article, I've tweaked the GBG system to be much more in line with recommended practice, creating and maintaining engagement in our charges, and removing the chances of rejection on the part of our learners who face behavior challenges.
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So if you haven't already done so, give the article a reading. You'll find the revised version of the Good Behavior Game to be just the thing that is needed to engage kids for certain activities or whole class sessions.
Warm regards,
Dr. Mac
A note from a reader of the article:
For more information, contact Dr. Mac at: DoctorMac@BehaviorAdvisor.com
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