Title:
‘Using the Good Behaviour Game* to Promote Positive Behaviour at School’
Author:
Dr. Jennifer Austin, University of South Wales
Abstract:
One of the primary concerns raised by teachers is their lack of training on effective strategies for
managing problem behaviours in their classrooms. Without good classroom management skills,
teachers may rely on punitive strategies, as well as over-referring children for individualised
interventions or special education services. This presentation will describe an evidence-based
classroom management strategy called the Good Behaviour Game. Developed decades ago by
Barrish, Saunders, & Wolf (1969), this approach to promoting positive behaviour at school has
garnered a wealth of research to substantiate both immediate and long-term effects on behaviour.
This presentation will review some of that research, in addition to demonstrating how the Game can
be adapted to various learner and teacher preferences. (*This presentation is not associated with
PAXIS or the PAX Good Behaviour Game.)
Jennifer L. Austin, Ph.D., BCBA-D has been applying the science of
behaviour analysis to improve outcomes for children and their teachers for
nearly twenty years. Both her research and clinical work focus on how
behaviour analytic assessment and intervention strategies can be applied with
typically developing children, as well as examining what adaptations may be
necessary for making our science “work” in mainstream classrooms. She has
worked with numerous schools in the US and the UK, focusing primarily on
those in disadvantaged communities. She received her PhD from the Florida
State University and currently serves as Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the
University of South Wales, where she leads the Behaviour Analysis Unit and directs undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes in behaviour analysis. Prior to moving to the United Kingdom, Jenn
served as faculty at the University of South Florida, California State University, Fresno and the
University of Houston, Clear Lake. She is the past President of the UK Society for Behaviour
Analysis and a former Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior
Analysis in Practice.