Introduction
The
literature (e.g. Gresham et al., 2001) suggests that although
efforts put forth in social skills curriculum are with good intentions,
for children with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD), they often
fall short in the area of generalization. Frequently, children with EBD
do not demonstrate evidence of social skills generalization, even after
much effort. One possible reason could be that social skills training
is decontextualized and carried out in a contrived setting (Gresham et
al., 2001).
In my experience as a teacher of students with severe emotional and
behavior disorders, I can see this phenomenon. Often, a student can
verbalize how to perform a social skill correctly, but does not know
how and when to use the social skill. One strategy found to be
successful in teaching generalization of social skills is to assign
work to students that will require students to use the acquired social
skill in a setting other than school. For example, give them training
in different settings, lots of examples, and train behaviors that will
naturally be reinforced in other environments (Criste
&Neal-White, 2005).
My
primary interest in this study is to explore strategies that may help
my students in generalizing social skills knowledge to real life. I
accomplished this by firsthand observation of my students’
personal set of obstacles that make following a social skill correctly
more difficult. Second, I used increased amounts of role-play of the
desired social skill in order to reinforce positive behavior in the
child, including individual role plays that will be videotaped to be
used as a coaching tool. Last, I will observe the child again
in a natural social setting such as play time and regular class time,
depending on the child’s most problematic environment, to see
if there is any change in the student’s ability to use the
desired social skill.
What
purpose does social skills education serve if students are not able put
those skills into practical use? If students with EBD are to be
successful in a less restrictive environment, they must be able to
generalize their social skills knowledge into spur of the moment, real
situations. The problem I sought to explore focuses on my classroom
population young students with severe emotional and behavioral
disorders (SEBD). Having taught these students for a year, I have had
time to witness the fact that they are very able to learn about the
social skills that are crucial for
functioning in a less restrictive environment. The
difficulty lies in the fact that these students have a great deal of
trouble putting social skills into action; i.e., generalization. Why a
student has trouble in social skills generalization is deeply
individual, with barriers to employing such skills varying from child
to child.
There
is
a great deal of research concerning children with EBD in general, and
some research (e.g. allowing for practice in multiple environments and
in different conditions, Criste & Neal-White, 2005) that
suggests the best ways to promote generalization of social skills in
children with EBD. My interest lies with my students on an individual
basis. The purpose of my study was to 1) discover situations where
personally relevant obstacles cause students to have difficulty in
applying the desired social skill correctly in real life situations,
and 2) explore the value of role-play exercises in the
student’s social skill performance. I sought to understand
what triggers my students’ inability to put social skills
into action. I aimed to put research into action and explore what
results occur, when I increase the amount of socially relevant role
play activities in my students’ social skills learning.
Literature Review
It
is not uncommon to hear
adults complain about the lack of social skills possessed by the
current young generation. But what exactly does this mean? More
specifically, what are social skills? Why are social skills necessary
to a successful education, and life after school? To what degree are
schoolchildren adept at employing learned social skills? According to
Gumpel and Golan (2000), a child’s ability to interact
successfully with their peers is a basic skill that has an impact on
the quality of other parts of that child’s life. A specific
group of children that have difficulty using social skills knowledge
correctly are children with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD). The
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Public Law 101-476,
defines EBD as follows:
A condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics
over a long
period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects
educational
performance:
-
An inability to learn that
cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
-
An inability to build or
maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and
teachers.
-
Inappropriate types of
behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
-
A general pervasive mood of
unhappiness or depression, or
-
A tendency to develop physical
symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. (United
States Department of Education, 2006).
The purpose of this literature review is three fold: first,
to determine what social skills are; second, to determine best
practices for teaching social skills in general; and finally, to
determine the best practices for teaching social skills for retention
and generalization to children with emotional and behavior disorders
Social
Skills Instruction
Both
character education and social skills training programs have become
increasingly popular in the curricula of American schools. Even after
much attention has been given to social skills training in schools,
there seems to be a great deal of debate as to how effective these
programs really are. Gresham et al. (2002) assert that
“various meta analyses of the literature suggest that social
skills training has not produced large, socially important, long term
or generalized changes in social competence of students with
high-incidence disabilities” (p.332). Obviously, if
previously used methods of social skills training has not produced
results, specifically, generalized results, then
those methods need to be examined. The most essential component for the
long-term social success of a child is that the child be able to
generalize his or her knowledge of social skills to extend to any
real-life scenario. According to Gresham et al. (2001), when analyzing
often used social skills training methods,
One
of
the most persistent weaknesses of the social skills
training Literature is its failure to demonstrate
sufficient generalization and maintenance of instructed social skills.
Two reasons have been noted for this lack of generalization and
maintenance: (a) failure to adequately program for generalization and
maintenance; and (b) the use of weak treatments in contrived,
restricted, and decontextualized settings to teach social behavior
(p.340).
Some
students, especially those with some level of emotional behavior
disorder, do not have a normal reference point for learning social
skills. Telling a child to remember to keep quiet while his hand is
raised is very much different from teaching the child how to keep
himself quiet in a “heat of the moment” situation.
When the child feels that what he has to say is very important or
urgent, it is difficult for him or her to remember a set of procedures.
In fact, Gresham et al. (2002)
have found that “The most effective social
skills training strategies appear to be some combination of modeling,
coaching, and reinforcement procedures” (p.340). Not only
does the child need to learn social skills within a relevant context,
there needs to be a direct support presence to implement modeling for
the child. The modeling should show how to carry out the skill that
they are learning, as well as reinforce the successful aspects of the
child’s social skills. Now that it is apparent that not all
techniques are successful in helping children learn social skills, it
is necessary to look at what does work. It has already been noted that
in order for the student to retain and generalize social skills
material in other situations, then the instruction must be presented
and learned in a relevant context (Criste, Neal-White, 2005).
Holsbrink-Engels and Geralien (2001) suggest that in order to develop
interpersonal skills, the students need to solve social-communicative
problems.
Developing
interpersonal skills is an integral component of being able to relate
to others on a social level, as well as being able to build and
maintain satisfying relationships. Students with emotional and behavior
disorders by definition have increased difficulty in not only learning
social skills, but also using them in their own everyday encounters
(Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, Section 300.7).
Over time, the
treatment options for children with emotional and behavior disturbances
have changed dramatically. According to Roberts et al. (2003),
“Funding restrictions and questions regarding treatment
outcomes have reduced residential or inpatient treatment, whether in
the public or private sector. Consequently, schools are the de facto
mental health service provider because school systems are mandated to
serve children” (p.522). This de
facto service suggests
that for many children, schools are a major source of their social
skills development, but “children with serious emotional
disturbances (SED) are often the most difficult for psychologists to
treat and for schools to educate and manage” (p.522).
Although students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) are often
difficult for schools to manage, it is extremely important to these
students’ education that they are able to gain the same level
of social competence as their non-disabled peers. In previous
discussions, it has been emphasized that the best practices for
teaching social skills to anyone involves using relevant contexts for
the material being taught, and that the material be learned through a
problem-solving context. (Holsbrink-Engels, 2001).
Generalization
of Social Skills
Amory, Naicker, and Vincent
(1999), purport that there is a correlation between computer games and
learning. According to their research, computer games can enhance
learning through visualization and experimentation, which can help in
developing critical thinking skills. Of course, a play-based learning
environment is much more motivating to a learner than say, drill and
practice. What if a play-based learning environment could include other
proven methods for teaching social skills successfully, such as using a
relevant context and requiring students to solve problems. Could a
video or computer game provide the visualization, relevant social
context, and problem-based scenario for the student to solve through
using social skills knowledge? According to Fontana
Beckerman, Leonard, and Adela (2004), “Interactive media can
mediate and assist the young child in the creation of a meaningful
knowledge structure” (p.50). Interactive media often gives
students a set of preliminary knowledge, which assists in the
comprehension of the game’s overall purpose. (Fontana et al.
2004). For a child with EBD, who already has a difficult time
constructing knowledge structures concerning social skills, any means
by which the student can more easily adapt social skills into their
schema for understanding interpersonal skills would be invaluable.
“Visualization and problem-solving skills are an integral
part of adventure and strategy games…visualization
strategies nurture creative problem solving” (Amory et al.,
1999, p.312). It makes sense that, in order effectively to solve a
problem, one must first be able to identify the problem. This statement
also leads into the idea that strategy and adventure games should also
have a problem-based element to them. Additionally, young
children may be changing the way they perceive problems due to the
popularity of video games in particular.
The case for using games as a
learning tool is made by Barab, Thomas, Dodge, Carteaux, and Tuzun
(2005). Barab and others first recalled the theories of Vygotsky, in
asserting that the zone of proximal development for a child is often in
a play situation, and that “in play, a child always behaves
above his average age, beyond his average behavior” (p.89).
Fontana et al.
(2004) report about a video game created specifically to assist young
students in learning social skills within a relevant context.
In their study, Fontana et al.
(2004) implemented a social skills-based video game to second grade
students with the focus of violence prevention. The characters used in
the game were basically cartoon characters. Some observations of the
students’ reactions are noteworthy. As stated by
Fontana et al. (2004),
“Young children responded that warnings featuring cartoon
animals are more believable” (p.51). The fact that the
children pointed out the cartoon animals as believable makes the point
that for warnings/talking interactions to seem real and therefore more
relevant for the students, they need to be realistic and presented
visually. According to Fontana et al. (2004), non-verbal cues
from characters could be easily discerned by even very small
children. “Young children, 6 to 7 years old, were
able to identify simple emotions such as a character’s
shyness, curiosity, puzzlement, and reluctance to do
something” (p.51). It is noteworthy that the children were
able to perceive emotions on the cartoon characters’ faces
using only non-verbal cues. For students that are EBD, a
situation such as this is an excellent teaching tool for how to
perceive emotion non-verbally, and to practice picking out correct
emotional cues from the cartoon characters in an environment that is
much less threatening or intimidating than practicing with real people.
One such video game implemented in several Florida second grade
classrooms, was designed to teach violence prevention. In The
Tunnel Funnel Game, “…students walk through a dark
tunnel and observe three conflict-ridden situations…In the
first conflict situation, a girl (who represents the student playing
the game), has the toy she is playing with grabbed away by her brother.
Gopher Peace (a character) appears and encourages the student to tell
the ‘Brother’ character how she feels, and to ask
for the toy back nicely. The ‘Foozle’ characters
encourage the student to either hit the brother or think of ways to get
even with him” (p.54). Although this scenario probably is
quite brief in the game, it is a scenario full of relevance for a young
child. The context is relevant, because for a young child, this would
be an emotionally charged event, but is simulated within the safe
environment of a video game. This would be especially beneficial for
students with EBD, because even role-playing with other peers or adults
can be extremely stressful for them.
At the close of the study,
Fontana et al. (2004) found that “significant positive
changes were found in the level of the experimental group’s
knowledge and attitudes about human behavior and in their understanding
of how to respond to potentially conflict-ridden situations”
(p.55). What seems to be the successful combination of elements in the
video game was that it was: interesting to students, especially with
the use of appealing characters, the situations were relevant to
children. The students were able to use visualization of the problem
and multiple efforts to assist them in solving the social problem.
When looking at specific
strategies for increasing generalization of social skills knowledge,
several strategies are recommended. They include, but are not limited
to:
-Training in different
settings, different people, and under different
conditions
-Give lots of examples
-Train behaviors that will naturally be reinforced in other environments
-Teach self-government skills
-Give assignments to generalize behaviors (Criste, Neal-White, 2005).
These
strategies seem related
to the above study involving video games, in that the games utilize a
strategy recommended by Criste and Neal-White. For example, looking at
the game scenario that involved a child stealing the player’s
toy, the environment is different from the school setting, and the
social skill of reporting a problem instead of fighting back, can be
reinforced with peers, teachers, and at home. So, in this aspect, the
game demonstrated strategies that would be helpful in promoting
generalization of social skills knowledge. Perhaps this might be one
contributing factor to the game’s success.
Summary
As
shown
in the literature, social skills learning is a crucial aspect of a
child’s education. Despite best efforts, the literature
suggests that much improvement is warranted in how social skills are
taught to children, especially children with EBD who, because of their
disability, have a more difficult time putting this social skill
learning into everyday use. Potential for success in helping students
use social skills knowledge in everyday situations, i.e.
generalization, seems to be an essential element of social skills
education. Without the ability to generalize what is learned, students
with EBD have a much more difficult time interacting with teachers,
peers, and adults in day-to-day interactions. In turn, without the
ability to perform social skills correctly, students with EBD by
definition have a more difficult time learning in school than their
non-EBD peers (United States Department of Education, 2006).
In looking at successful strategies for both obtaining social skills
knowledge and generalization of that knowledge, it seems that
strategies, such as much practice, relevant situations in practice, and
visualization, go far in promoting generalization of positive social
behavior. For students with EBD, who have a more difficult time
performing social skills correctly, to what degree would the above
strategies be effective? The situations in the video game seemed to be
a form of role play in that the students placed themselves in a
simulated environment and situation, and assisted the students by
providing a visual reference point for the social skills learning.
Further research will need to explore strategies that work for
promoting generalization of social skills in students with EBD, on an
individual basis. After reflecting on the literature, the purpose for my study was to explore
how an increased amount of role play interactions helps or not helps
students with emotional and behavior disorders in generalizing social
skills learning?
Methods
Because of the exploratory nature of the study, I chose to use
qualitative methods. Three students who attend Rutland Academy
participated in this study. Two were first graders, one of whom is very
familiar with the social skills curriculum at Rutland. The other child
is a Kindergarten student and has been at Rutland for less
than a year. My primary role at Rutland is the Pre-Kindergarten through
First Grade classroom teacher, so I had a great deal of daily contact
with these students. In determining what level of social skills
implementation each of the three students are capable of, I conducted
firsthand observation in the student’s natural setting: the
regular school day. The time of day that observations of the child
occurred depend greatly upon what the child’s most
problematic social skill is determined to be. Direct observation is an
appropriate method for exploring the student’s behavioral
ability, because it allows the researcher to see an accurate
representation of how the child interacts with others
socially. I videotaped my observation sessions as a
supplement to firsthand observations. I looked carefully for how the
students interact with each other, as well as with adults in the
specified time. Each student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP),
which outlines their specific instructional needs, including behavioral
goals. Based on the information gathered during the first observation
and the student’s IEP goals, a target social skill was chosen
as the focal point of the child’s role-plays based on the
student’s primary needs. Background information on the
child’s behavior and social skills abilities at school were
recorded in a daily journal and will reflect the teacher-student
interactions that I experience with these children.
The student’s ability to carry out a particular social skill
was measured against the Student Achievement Model for social skills
education. This model breaks each social skill down into steps that are
rehearsed and practiced with the students. As I observed each child, I
looked to see: a) to what degree the child is able to perform the
social skill’s steps, b) what the antecedents to the skill
occurrence are, c) what the
trigger(s) or obstacles seem
to be that interfere with the child’s ability to
perform the social skill correctly. In addition to analyzing observed
social skills performance, each child’s situation was viewed
holistically, taking into consideration how the child’s
unique point of view can shape their own social skills abilities.
According to Neal and Criste-White
(2005),
strategies that can improve generalization of social skills can include
training behaviors that can be naturally reinforced in other
environments, giving lots of examples, and training in different
settings.
After
observing the three students, I increased the amount of role play used
to reinforce correct social skills performance. These role plays
occurred for each individual child three times per week. These role
plays reflected the target social skill identified as an area of need
during the observation and review of the IEP. The steps to each skill
will be practiced with myself first, and then the child will role play
an instance of using the social skill in a relevant context. Usually, I
would suggest an instance, real or imagined, where the
child’s target skill would need to be performed correctly.
The scenarios were designed to reflect the student’s
obstacles to performing a skill, while still providing for a
comfortable and emotionally secure environment. These role plays
occurred three times per week, one-on-one with myself, the teacher.
At the end of each week, I
observed first hand the student’s ability to focus on and perform the social skill
during the pre-determined class period. I will record my observations
as anecdotal data in a journal to compare with my analysis of the
videotape data. Additionally, student point sheets which
record the frequency of both positive and negative behaviors will be
used to determine the frequency of successful and unsuccessful
instances of social skill uses for the specials time period. I will be
looking to see any degree of change in the child’s ability to
perform the social skill correctly, according to the following
questions: Are the antecedents or triggers affecting the child in the
same way? Does the child show any progress toward mastering the social
skill in a natural setting? Does the child show any regression in the
social skill usage?
There are biases evident in this study. I, as the teacher of the
students involved in this research, wish for my students to experience
success in learning these social skills. I maintained an objective
viewpoint by videotaping my observation sessions, which allowed me to
re-visit each session and examine my observations. Additionally, a
daily journal of each child’s behavior also allowed me to
examine my perceptions on a frequent basis.
Before
role play interactions could begin, each child was observed exclusively
throughout an entire school day. Observations took three days, one for
each child. During these observations, anecdotal data was taken in the
form of a journal entry for each child, focusing on what problem
behaviors occurred most frequently, what the antecedents were, as well
as the child’s general mood and interactions with others. A
decision was made as to which behavior goal the student was having the
most difficulty with. Next, a pre-role play interview was conducted for
each child. This interview involved asking the child what they knew
about their target skill, and to perform what that skill looked like,
if possible. The purpose of the interview was to indicate what level of
knowledge this child had about the social skill that was proving most
difficult for them. Third, each child participated in an
individually-tailored intensive role play that was pertinent to their
target skill three times per week. These role plays were
taped using digital video and played back to the child as a coaching
tool during each role play session. Recording the role plays allowed me
to instantly analyze with the child what they did well during each role
play and what could be improved upon. On a daily basis, observations
were made as to the child’s ability to perform their target
skills correctly in non-contrived, everyday situations throughout the
typical school day. Lastly, daily point sheets that reflected the
instances the child either performed the skill correctly or incorrectly
were analyzed and percent frequency of ability to perform the skill was
averaged on a weekly basis.
The
decision of which target social skill per child to focus on was made by
observing the child over the course of a school day, examining the
child’s point sheets to see which behavior was most
problematic, and by referring to the child’s IEP. Within the
text of this paper, I will refer to the children as follows: Kay is a
first grade female who has been at Rutland since November of 2005. Jon
is a first grade male who has been at Rutland since April of 2005.
Keith is a Kindergarten male who also has been at Rutland since April
of 2005.
Kay
has
been in my class for almost a year, so I am more familiar with her
needs than the other students. According to her IEP, she has difficulty
verbalizing emotions appropriately and using self control strategies
when upset. Her point sheets reflect this problem, showing that most
teaching interactions directed at her social skills instruction are
related to not using self control in some capacity. Over the course of
one school day, I observed 5 instances in which Kay engaged in some
degree of loss of self control; ranging from pouting and sulking to
engaging in self-injurious tantrums. The antecedent of this behavior
appears to be instances where Kay is unsure of herself, such as trying
new work or ant teacher-initiated redirection. This year, the frequency
of Kay’s severe tantrums have increased, leading me to see
that the successful use of self control strategies should be the target
skill for her.
Jon has a great deal of trouble interacting with others appropriately,
especially sharing attention with others. His problem behaviors are
evidenced in his IEP goals that state the need for Jon to remain in a
group activity in a calm and agreeable manner until the task is
finished. Per firsthand observations, Jon student often interrupts
conversations or interactions between adults by getting out of his
seat, touching/tugging on adults, or by creating a situation, such as
throwing items from his desk in order to gain attention. When
working in a peer group to complete a task, Jon will often invent
excuses to leave the group before finishing the task, throw items at
his work area, or put his head down and refuse to work. Jon appeared to
have the most difficult time sharing attention in instances where he
felt attention was being taken from him, such as another student
needing help. Based on the aforementioned information, the target skill
of sharing attention with others seems most appropriate for Jon.
Keith is diagnosed as moderate to severe Attention-Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and is five years old. At the time of
this research, Keith was not medicated for ADHD. The biggest challenge
for Keith is to focus on a task for a minimum of five minutes. He often
can not focus for more than 10-15 seconds at a time, and must
constantly be prompted to remain on task. This constant feedback for
negative behaviors causes a lot of frustration for this student, as he
expresses a strong desire to “be good in school”.
His IEP goals state that he be able to attend to a task for a minimum
of five minutes and be able to comprehend information being presented
and/or learned. This student’s antecedents to off task
behavior seem to be any noise, sight, or event that was disruptive to
him. I noticed that even small distractions that would not disrupt
others, such as the sound of a garbage truck arriving at school, were
enough of a distraction to completely absorb this student’s
efforts at concentration. Based on my observations, Keith must be
redirected every 10-15 seconds at a minimum. During more high anxiety
times of the day, such as transitions times or work that is disliked,
redirection can be as frequent as every 5 seconds. The constant off
task behavior is proving detrimental in that he is focusing all his
attentive energy on “behaving”, and has little left
over for actual academic learning. Therefore, the target skill that
would prove most beneficial to this student is remaining on task
As
previously mentioned, each role play was tailored to prescriptively
address each student’s personal needs. The flow chart below
illustrates the role play procedures and example scenarios for each
child (See Figure 1).
Results and Discussion
Preliminary
Observations
The preliminary observation of Kay occurred on a tumultuous day in
terms of problematic behaviors. Her IEP points to an inability to
request help appropriately when she has difficulty with work, discuss
emotions rather than act negatively upon them, and to use a self
control strategy when upset. On three occasions, Kay seemed to
“shut down” and pout when redirected after an
inappropriate behavior, most often neglecting to be called on before
speaking. Even though the initial inappropriate behavior was relatively
minor, blurting out, she seemed to be very embarrassed about the
redirection. After each of these three redirections, She was able to
eventually accept a consequence (point loss) but required a
great deal of my support and also a great deal of prompting that she
use a self control strategy, such as laying her head down on her desk
for a few minutes. On a fourth redirection for refusing to complete her
work, this student was not able to regain self control, and began to
walk around the room, scratch herself, and expressed a wish to die. She
escalated to the point of needing to be restrained in order to protect
her safety, and regained the ability to sit still and quiet about
twenty minutes later. The observation revealed that Kay seemed to need
a great deal of support in learning how to stay calm when upset. Three
out of four times when prompted to use a self control strategy, this
student utilized it. According to the social skill of using self
control, a student should be able to use or ask to use a self control
strategy of their own volition. Seeing that Kay is very cognizant of
her peers seeing her receive a redirection, being able to control her
anger without being told could be a powerful tool in assisting her to
avoid such emotional loss of control.
According to Jon’s IEP, working with others is his most
problematic social behavior. Throughout the day, Jon seemed to have the
most trouble when attention was taken away from him whether at the
teacher’s decision, or by another student’s
actions. On five occasions, Jon blurted out comments as soon as I or
the paraprofessional left his desk to help another student. He seemed
to accept redirection very well, perhaps because he was then getting
attention of some kind. Later in the day, this student and another one
were paired up to work cooperatively on an assignment, with a teacher
present. As soon as the teacher turned to speak to the other student,
Jon threw his work materials at the face of the other student. Again,
Jon seemed to accept his consequence without issue, but the concern
remains over his inability to interact appropriately with others. The
observed set of behaviors, an inability to work cooperatively with
others and excessive attention seeking has led me to the decision that
sharing attention with others would be the target skill most beneficial
to this student.
Keith has an IEP that focuses mainly on improving his ability to remain
on task during the school day and not to disrupt the classroom
environment. My observation on that day revealed that he is less able
to stay on task than I originally thought. Keith completed just over 25
redirections, based on occurrences recorded on his point sheet with me
concerning not staying on task during an assignment. He was able to
complete these interactions without getting angry, but I began to see
that even when this student was sitting still, he was very frequently
not engaged in learning. This was evident to me in how many times he
looked away from his work, blurted out, turned in unfinished work, or
did not hear things that were said to him. Keith seems very willing to
comply with teacher redirections during the first part of the day, but
seems to lose patience more quickly after lunch when redirected. Could
this be due to frustration at the cumulative amount of feedback given
to his inappropriate behaviors? Does he experience more frustration at
the end of the day? It appears that the social skill remaining on task
would be most beneficial in assisting this student in improving his
behavioral and academic performance.
Role
Play Performance
The first role play activity was an informal pre-test for each child.
Beginning with Kay, I asked her to tell me what she knew about using
self control when she is angry, and also how she could tell she was
getting angry. To most of the questions, she replied with “I
don’t know”, or simply did not respond. I surmised
that she either did not know the answers or was uncomfortable
discussing them. The second day of role play activity, Kay was not able
to participate, due to an emotional meltdown. After that, the first few
real role play interactions had to be heavily staged, prompted, and set
away from the class. Beginning the second week or role play, Kay seemed
more confident about participating in role play, and I was gradually
able to move the location and content in a more realistic direction.
What seemed to pique her interest more than anything else was being
able to see her role play performance instantly on the computer by
means of the digital video taken during the role play. She appeared to
be motivated by seeing herself engaging in appropriate behavior on the
digital video. This video replay element also seemed to increase how
much information was retained from one role play to the next, as this
student would often refer to her video when discussing her target
skill. During the second week, this student was able to complete role
plays on using self control strategies surrounded by the rest of the
class, and remembered to ask to use the strategy on her own by the last
role play.
Jon had a difficult time understanding why being able to share
attention with others was important. This may be partly due to the fact
that he is diagnosed with pervasive developmental delay (PDD), which
means that he is at an earlier developmental level than his peers, both
academically and socially. When conducting the pre-test, this student
had a difficult time understanding the concept of sharing attention
with others until I asked him how he would feel if his teachers did not
spend any time with him. He responded that he would feel sad, and I was
able to build the role plays based on that level of understanding. This
student seemed to enjoy the role plays, but did not seem to understand
that the digital video was to be used as a coaching tool. He became
highly excited about the novelty of the video, but was unable to talk,
even on a very basic level, about his performance in the video.
Additionally, this student missed half of the role plays due to
emotional meltdowns and absences combined. This student seemed to grasp
a very basic understanding of his target skill by the end of the second
week, being that he needed to “play nicely with other
children” and to wait his turn to speak.
Remaining on task is the social skill that best reflected the academic
and behavioral needs of Keith. When I conducted the informal pre-test
questions with Keith, he demonstrated an understanding that to remain
on task was to keep working. This student greatly enjoyed participating
in the role plays, but had a great deal of trouble staying on task for
the role play. He needed to be prompted every 10-20 seconds, but when I
asked him to show me what “on task” looked like, he
was able to sit quietly, and focus. The digital video proved to be a
powerful tool for this student’s understanding of what on
task behavior looks like for him. This student also discussed his video
performance when talking his about his target skill. There
were a few occasions where this student was able to critique his videos
himself, catching such mistakes such as feet kicking or bouncing in his
seat. Although he understands what on task behavior should be, and he
can self-correct when prompted, Keith still has a great deal of
difficulty remaining on task in actual class situations.
Application
of Target Skills
The
final step was to graph the percentage frequency of the target behavior
by looking at each child’s point sheet for that
child’s target skill for the study. The frequency of positive
points earned indicates how often a child was able to his or her target
skill in real life situations during the school day. The student earns
positive points throughout the day each time he or she is observed
engaging in appropriate behaviors. Typically, a teacher engaged in
around 50-60 of these observations with each student on each school
day, and observations for a student should occur about every 5-10
minutes. Based on how many times throughout the day the desired
behavior occurred, a percentage of frequency was derived. Again, these
target behaviors correlate directly to each child’s IEP, and
the target goal for each child is listed on the right side of the
graph. The data collection occurred between September 25, 2006 and
October 4, 2006. The data was taken by myself based on interactions
with each child recorded throughout the day on their point sheets.
Looking at Kay’s graph shows the frequency she was able to
use a self control strategy during the school day. The data collection
began the week of one of this student’s lowest
troughs, the week ending September 22nd.
The percent frequency of this student’s use of self control
at the onset of the study was at just over 60%. Throughout the course
of the study, it appears that Kay was gradually able to increase the
frequency of her use of self control strategies when upset. The perfect
frequency of her ability to use self control at the close of the study
was at about 75%, which is an increase of about 14 percentage points.
It is interesting to note that Kay was her most successful in using
self control strategies both two weeks before beginning the study and
about two weeks after the study. Kay’s highest percentage
yet, at 88%, occurred the week ending October 20th.
Figure
2: The
percentage frequency of the target behavior for Kay
Jon had a target skill of attending to a group activity until the task
is finished. As mentioned earlier, this student often has difficulty
sharing attention with both peers and adults. Learning how to share
attention appropriately with others corresponds to this IEP goal in
that this student’s reasons for becoming distracted in group
activities are that he has a difficult time remaining on task if others
are talking or receiving attention from an adult. Jon will often create
a situation such as throwing materials, shutting down and refusing to
work, or crying if he believes he is not receiving enough attention
during the activity. If this student were able to appropriately wait
his turn to talk or receive help, then he would be more able to attend
to group activities until completion. The week the data collection
began for Jon, he was at one of his highest levels of performance in
sharing attention appropriately, at 78%. One week into data collection,
the graph shows that he hit his second lowest trough this school year
thus far, at 62%. The second and final week of data collection shows
improvement at a level of 73%, and one week after the close of the
study, an upswing to the highest percentage yet, at 85% ability to
share attention appropriately with others during the school day.
Figure
3: The
percentage frequency of the target behavior for Jon
Keith
was assigned the target skill of remaining on task. Keith is
diagnosed as having moderate to severe ADHD, and was not receiving
medication neither at the time of data collection nor at the time this
paper was written. His IEP goal states that he will remain on task and
engage in learning for a minimum of 10 minutes on 80% of trials. This
student had a particularly difficult time with remaining on task.
During pre-data collection interviews and observations, it was observed
that this student was on task on average 10-15 seconds at a time. He is
given many opportunities during the day to receive feedback on his
on-task behavior due to his very short attention span. Keith
experienced very few fluctuations in the percent frequency of his
ability to remain on task for the first month of the school year. At
the beginning of data collection, Keith was at 67% ability to remain on
task during the school day. This was only increased to about 71% after
week two of data collection. It is interesting to note that one week
after the close of the study, Keith raised his ability to remain on
task by nine percentage points, to 80%, and to 81% by the following
week.
Figure
4: The
percentage frequency of the target behavior for Keith
In looking at the above data, it seems that each child’s role
play performance is related to their preliminary observations, and is
indicative of how each child’s role plays were tailored to
their needs and personal set of obstacles to correct social skill
usage. In the case of Kay, she was originally observed to be
apprehensive and anxious about redirection by me, her teacher, in the
presence of her peers. Likewise, she was very self-conscious when
performing her role plays. Once her personal obstacles were noted, I
worked on her role plays in a more secluded setting, and seemed to
increase her motivation level. Jon’s personal obstacles are
rooted in needing attention, whether negative or positive. His need for
constant attention meant that during observations, he constantly
engaged in inappropriate behaviors in order to gain attention.
Unfortunately, acting out for attention became a problem during role
play, so the times of day Jon completed role play had to be constantly
changed in order to accommodate and reinforce positive behaviors. Keith
demonstrated a large amount of off-task behavior during observations,
and it seemed as though anything that would catch his attention was an
obstacle to him remaining on task, his most difficult social skill.
Keith experienced a more stable frequency of social skill performance
than the other students, and like all three participants, seemed to
experience an increase in appropriate social skill behavior about 1-2
weeks after the close of the study. Keith was the most motivated to
complete the role play performances, and perhaps that could explain the
more consistent rise on positive social skills performance as
represented in Figure 4.
Conclusions
This
study was exploratory in
nature, so my findings have been limited in scope and in
conclusiveness. In order for any findings to be more established, much
more research needs to be conducted in this area. However, given the
constraints on time and extensiveness, I believe this study poses some
important thoughts and questions.
In the cases of two out of three participating students, the active use
of digital video in the role play activities appeared to assist with
retention of target skill knowledge, and as well as with motivation.
These two students, Kay and Keith, were more excited about discussing
and analyzing their video footage than the actual role play
performance. This shows some promise for digital media to be utilized
as an effective social skills instructional tool, given that digital
video provides visual evidence of a realistic and relevant environment
that is so crucial to social skills generalization success (Criste
& Neal-White, 2005). Additionally, the two students interested
in discussing their videos made comments about seeing themselves
engaging in positive behaviors, which seemed to boost confidence about
appearing in subsequent role play videos. I was not prepared for the
impact that the video performance would have, I simply viewed it as a
visualization tool.
Additionally, this study has helped me to see that, as a teacher,
social skills instruction should be highly differentiated. While one
student may be extremely shy and apprehensive about completing a role
play performance, as in the case of Kay, another may see attention from
the class as a motivating factor, as in the case of Jon. Each
student’s needs should be taken into account and role play
activities should be designed to meet the needs of that particular
child. Emotional and intellectual maturity also is a factor. In the
case of Jon, the digital video may not have been developmentally
appropriate for him; the task of self analysis using a video proved too
difficult because he only saw his presence on the video as a novelty,
whereas the other two students were able to critique their own
performance using teacher guidance and support. Conversely, Kay seemed
to be able to overcome her anxiety by gradually performing role plays
that more closely resembled a classroom environment. In essence, the
role play experiences needed to be highly individualized and in-depth,
perhaps more so than I was able to do in a few weeks’
time.
Based on the data collected, a few questions are raised. In analyzing
the percent frequency of target skill performance, each child gained
almost ten percentage points between one and two weeks after the study.
Does this imply that learning from the role plays was applied in a
delayed fashion, or that the role plays were ineffective and/or a
stressful event that hindered the use of the children’s
target skills? The obstacles each child dealt with are obstacles that
are ever present in a typical classroom. Some students were more able
to reconcile their unique obstacles with the role plays, including the
digital video viewing and reflection. Kay and Keith both were able to
show improvement in role play performance as observed by myself. With
encouragement, Kay gradually became more comfortable completing role
plays in the classroom with peers present. Keith demonstrated a more
in-depth understanding of what remaining on task looks like and means.
Although real-life situations requiring the use of these social skills
did not show drastic improvement in any of the three participants,
perhaps an increase in knowledge of the skill and motivation to
practice the skill will translate to future success. For Jon, his
constant need to gain positive or negative attention may have hindered
his ability to gain or construct meaning from the role plays that would
help him address his obstacle of attention-seeking behavior and needs.
For
future research, more time should be devoted to this experience,
allowing for each child’s needs to be more fully examined and
addressed in terms of social skills ability. Additional efforts in
researching the effects of role play are warranted, and would ideally
include a larger group of participants over a longer period of time.
Overall, I think that the increased use of individually tailored and
relevant role play, and well as visualization tools such as digital
video, could prove effective in promoting generalization of positive
social skills behavior.
References
Appendix
Consent
Form
I, ____________________________,
agree to allow my child,__________________________, to take part in a
research study titled, “Social Skills Role Play for Children
with Emotional and Behavior Disorders ”, which is being
conducted by Mrs. Leigh Davis, from the Instructional Technology
Department at the University of Georgia (706-549-3030) under the
direction of Dr. Michael Orey, Department of Instructional Technology,
University of Georgia, (706-542-4028). I do not have to allow my child
to be in this study if I do not want to. My child can stop taking part
at any time without giving any reason, and without penalty. I can ask
to have the information related to my child’s participation
returned to me, removed from the research records, or destroyed.
The reason for the study is to find
out if an increased amount of practice (role play) in performing social
skills correctly can improve a child’s social skills
abilities in real-life situations.
• The research is not
expected to cause any harm or discomfort. I can quit at any time. My
child’s grade will not be affected if my I decide to stop
taking part in the research.
• The study will be conducted for 2-3 weeks during the first
half of the fall semester. The participating students will practice
correct social skills behavior more frequently, and the researcher
(Mrs. Leigh Davis) will videotape students participating in the study
to assist in observations. All videotapes will be destroyed at the
close of the study.
• Any information collected about my child will be kept
confidential, and no names of children will be used in the study
• The researcher will
answer any questions about the research, now or during the course of
the project, and can be reached by telephone or by
email. (706-549-3030, or Leighed1@yahoo.com).
I may also contact the professor supervising the research, Dr. Michael
Orey, Instructional Technology Department, at (706) 542-4028.
Additional questions or problems
regarding your rights as a research participant should be addressed to
Chris A. Joseph, Ph.D. Human Subjects Office, University of Georgia,
612 Boyd Graduate Studies Research Center, Athens, Georgia 30602-7411;
Telephone (706) 542-3199; E-Mail Address: IRB@uga.edu
I understand the study procedures
described above. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction,
and I agree to allow my child to take part in this study. I have been
given a copy of this form to keep.
__I DO give permission to you to
reproduce results of my child’s participation in this study.
No names will appear on any materials submitted by the teacher, and no
names will be published with the results.
__I DO NOT give permission to
reproduce the results of my child’s participation in this
study.
Mrs. Leigh
Davis_____________________________________ ______
Name of Researcher
Signature
Date
Telephone
:
706-549-3030
Email: Leighed1@yahoo.com
_________________________
_______________________ ______
Name of Participant
Signature
Date
Please
sign both copies, keep one and return one to the researcher.
References
Barab, S.,
Thomas, M., Dodge, T., Carteaux, R. Tuzun, H. (2005). Making Learning
Fun:
Quest Atlantis, A Game Without Guns.
Educational Technology
Research and Development, 53(1),86-107
Criste, A.,
& Neal-White, J. (2005). Student
Achievement Model:
Training and
Reference Manual. Georgia Psychoeducational Network.
Fontana,
Leonard, Beckerman, &Adela.(2004). Childhood Violence
Prevention
Education: Using Video Games. Information Technology in
Education Annual,
49-62.
Gresham,
Frank M., Sugai,
George, Horner, & Robert H. (2001). Interpreting
Outcomes
of Social Skills Training for Students with High Incidence
Disabilities.
Exceptional Children, 67(3). 331-344.
Gut,
Dianne M., &
Safran, Stephen P.(2002). Cooperative Learning and Social
Stories:
Effective Social Skills Strategies for Reading Teachers. Reading
and Writing Quarterly .87-91.
Holsbrink-Engels, &
Geralien A. (2001).Using a Computer Learning Environment
for
Initial Training in Dealing With Social-Communicative Problems. British
Journal of Educational Technology. 32(1), 53-67.
Roberts,
Michael C., Jacobs,
Anne K., Puddy, Richard W., Nyre, Joseph E., Vernberg, &
Eric M. (2003). Treating
Children With Serious Emotional Disturbances
in
Schools and Community: The Intensive Mental Health Program.
Professional
Psychology: Research and Practice. 34(5). 519-526.
The United
States Department of Education. (2006, June 25). IDEA
2004
Resources. Retrieved June 26, 2006 from
http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html
