One of my favorite holiday movies is The Elf (link) with Will Ferrell. Buddy (the elf) had great intentions but was often misunderstood. Without knowing that he was raised by elves at the North Pole, people misinterpreted his attacking a “fake” Santa Claus and pouring syrup on spaghetti as a sign of instability.
Like Buddy’s behavior, people can take parts of schoolwide models (link) out of context. Without understanding the entire framework, staff may misconstrue the intent behind interventions. This lack of knowledge leads to frustrations and misunderstandings. Implementers often start with good intentions, but their final results may not accurately reflect the actual model.
For example, one of my undergraduate student teachers was in a school where staff believed implementing positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) meant not correcting students’ problem behavior. While a cornerstone of PBIS is not relying on punitive practices, the framework includes prevention strategies and effective corrective procedures (more just than punishment) to change student behavior.
Just as people were put off by Buddy’s behavior, the staff were frustrated by misconceptions of PBIS. Without addressing these limitations, the staff became resistant to any mention of PBIS over time. We don’t have to leave staff with these misunderstandings.
Here are a few suggestions for helping staff when they have misunderstandings about PBIS:
- Know the Model: Make sure you are familiar with the framework’s components. For example, the Center on PBIS has an excellent resource on the key elements of PBIS (link). Check this document with your understanding of the framework.
- Check Your Work: Use a fidelity tool explicitly developed for your schoolwide approach to see which parts are implemented effectively and which are missing. A great tool for this purpose is the PBIS Tiered Fidelity Inventory (link). If you want to start with a focus on tier-one practices (link), you might review the Team Implementation Checklist (link).
- Bust the Myths: The Florida PBIS Project (link) has a great document called “Myths and Facts” about PBIS (link). You can share this document with your team and discuss understandings of the PBIS framework. For example, here is how the guide’s authors responded to the myth, “If we implement PBIS, we will no longer punish students for inappropriate behavior.”
- PBIS does not ignore inappropriate behavior. Consequences are more than “punishment” and serve to either increase or decrease inappropriate behavior.
- PBIS focuses on developing and consistently implementing effective consequences to alter students’ inappropriate behaviors. Schools develop a plan that matches consequences to the severity of the inappropriate behavior to maintain consistency across campus. (p. 1)
Like Buddy, the intentions behind schoolwide approaches are good, but may be misunderstood. Successful implementation takes more than wanting to be positive (or drinking syrup). Staff need to know the model, re-assess their work using a tool or guide, and address misunderstandings of the framework.
For more information about misconceptions about PBIS, check out “Ten Common Misses in PBIS Implementation” in the journal Beyond Behavior (link).
For more information on myths about rewards, check out PBISApps Podcast: Ep. 43: Mythbusters – Rewards Don’t Work to Improve Outcomes (link).
I would love to hear your thoughts on how you address misunderstandings of PBIS in your schools. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion below.