Creating and maintaining a safe and orderly environment through PEBS

They’re posted in the cafeteria, just above the day’s lunch menu. They’re on the walls in the gym. They’re in the hallways, in classrooms and in the library.

They’re posters – visual reminders of expected behaviours for every area in Sackville Heights Junior High School.

Their purpose? To help create a more supportive, welcoming and inclusive environment for students.

“You can’t assume that every child automatically knows the things that we as adults value to be important,” says Nancy McNeil, guidance counsellor at Sackville Heights.

“That’s why I believe teaching – and reinforcing – positive behaviour in school is as fundamental as teaching numeracy and literacy.”

In 2005, McNeil was one of the first teachers in the Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) to be trained by the Department of Education on an approach that promotes positive reinforcement and support over punishment.

It’s called Positive Effective Behaviour Support, or PEBS. It’s now being used in all schools in the HRSB, and McNeil is part of the Leadership Team that does PEBS professional development for teachers.

After formal training, staff at each school work together to come up with expectations that are reflective of their school communities. Following that, every student is made aware of their roles and responsibilities.

Each expectation is based on four pillars:

• Respect for yourself;
• Respect for others;
• Respect for the environment; and
• Respect for learning.

McNeil says this consistency leaves no room for confusion and has led to dramatically improved behaviour. Classroom disruptions are reduced, so less time is spent on discipline. Fewer students are being sent to the office and more valuable time is spent learning.

McNeil credits PEBS for the shift.

“At one particular school, before PEBS was implemented, there were 93 office referrals in the month of September,” she says. “Exactly one year after PEBS was introduced, that number dropped to five.”

“I believe PEBS has changed the way educators do business,” McNeil adds.

Every school’s approach is different, but at Sackville Heights, students are recognized for pro-social behaviour with “Gotchas.” They’re small tickets given to students by anyone in the school. Students recognized with “Gotchas” are then eligible to win prizes at the end of each month.

At St. Catherine’s Elementary, Principal Richard Derible, also a member of the PEBS Leadership Team, uses a variety of techniques to effectively support students with behavioural challenges.

“Like many adults, some students need help being better organized,” says Derible. “For one student who demonstrated behavioural challenges during class transitions, we’ve designed an easy to read visual schedule to help him better anticipate upcoming transition times.”

Derible says the simplest of things can make a great difference in a child’s day.

“We’re not redesigning students,” says Gary Adams, a School Administration Supervisor who is also a member of the Leadership Team. “We’re redesigning the environment to help them be more successful.”

In a typical school population, about 80 per cent of students respond well to praise and positively worded expectations and rarely disrupt the learning environment for themselves or others. The other 15 to 20 per cent requires more personalized support to be successful. The PEBS approach helps educators identify those students.

While the results of having PEBS trained staff in schools continues to be positive, its implementation has presented challenges for the Leadership Team. Some staff members believed PEBS was just the latest fad in education and were reluctant to adopt the approach.

“There are teachers who believe we shouldn’t reward kids for courtesy and common sense things that they should already know,” she says. “I say it’s absolutely unfair to assume they do know these things.”

MacNeil admits it will continue to be a work in progress, but she knows PEBS is helping schools and students accomplish great things. She also says she has seen a shift in many of those teachers who were initially hesitant.

“We were housed under one roof, but there were different rules for different teachers and different classes,” says McNeil. “Now, we are working together as a team and we’re all responsible for all of our students.”

McNeil says educators have an incredible opportunity to help students succeed – academically or otherwise.

“I’m a big believer that every kid has a superstar inside them,” says McNeil. “It’s our job as educators to find that superstar – and PEBS gives us the chance to do that.”

To learn more about effective schools, click here.