Research that benefits Children and Families

Option # 2

"Positive Reinforcement" with Children

Positive Reinforcement with children has been a topic of interest to me since I have been working in the early childhood field. I was told that rewarding a child for bad behavior is not healthy. But personally I see things differently. I believe that children who portray bad behavior at an early age should be encouraged to positive-motivate reinforcement. I’m not a researcher and I have not done a study on this particular topic, but working in the early childhood field, you come in contact with children who maybe more challenging than others; with this being said, we must find methods to work with children on all levels.

I do believe that a child who continuously shows bad behavior should not be rewarded, if this behavior has become a pattern, than other options should be seek. This child will start to realize that he/she can continue to show bad behavior and still be rewarded for it; which is not healthy.

Now on the other hand, when it comes to “positive reinforcement”, research states that you run a very hi risk of training them to just grow-up to be approval seekers who won’t be self-motivated to do things as they grow up to be adults, unless they are  highly motivated and rewarded.

The bigger problem is that there really seems to be a lot of evidence that suggests that positive reinforcement as a technique for getting a child to do something actually trains them to be extrinsically motivated… meaning they’ll grow up to be the kind of adult who won’t do anything unless they have something to gain for it.
And the evidence seems to suggest that these types of children grow up to be adults who won’t share, help, or give their all, unless they’re being compensated fairly to do so; instead of growing up to be intrinsically motivated to do things, even if there’s not an immediate payoff.

The Positive Contribution

Even though there have been some studies on positive reinforcement and the affect it has on children; my theory of positive reinforcement would be the term “favorable.” If encouraging children to do well by rewarding them with incentives such as happy face stickers, treats, and high fives than I will continue to do so. I work with Pre-school children and some are more challenging than others, whether it’s with learning or behavior issues. I encourage positive behavior with my children through stickers, favorite treats, games, and etc. I find these to be motivating and encouraging. And the children who are more challenging than others are the ones I implement this to the most. And I really see a difference. As children become adolescence, I believe they will learn very quickly that society will not be rewarded them for negative or bad behavior. This is why children should be taught early in life the does and don’ts in what are expected of them. I have had parents to tell me that they see a difference in their child abilities to do well in school and with their peers, and that their behavior has changed a great deal than before. I hope to continue to do research and studies on "Positive Reinforcement" in the early childhood field; for I believe that it is very important to understand that children and families need to know what works for their child/children to be motivated.

Natural and Social Reinforcement are to reinforcements that I highly recommend and utilize in my classroom.

*Natural Reinforcement occurs when a natural consequence for a certain behavior increases, hoping the behavior will occur in the future.

*Social Reinforcement entails consequences for behavior such as a smile, high five, and a tickle.     

Using Positive Reinforcement to increase Desired Behavior, Dr. Debra Leach EdD, BCBA

www.centralreach.com/articles/using-positive-reinforcement-to-increase-desired-behaviors/www.centralreach.com/articles/using-positive-reinforcement-to-increase-desired-behaviors/

My Personal Research Journal

The topic of interest is "Poverty" and the total affects it has on children and their families from coginitve developmental delays to social and emtional barriers. I believe this issue is so important because there are many children in America who are suffering from poverty. I work in a low-income community, and many parents are receiving some type of government assistance to help take care of their families. I feel if I can offer children and families the best quality care in early childhood education programs, than I'm helping to break the cycle of longivity of poverty. Making the difference in the lives of these children and families is what I plan on doing.

Research states that children who are born into poverty grow-up as adults in poverty. I personally feel that this is a myth. I believe the cycle of poverty can end with the help of politicians, neuroscientist, early educators and all who make important decisions in this field of study. My dream is that one day research is revised and seen as a myth. This epidemic can stop, if children and families best interest to heart is taken into consideration.

If children are introduced to high quality education taught by highly qualified teachers and teachers with many years of experience; than children would be able to reach their highest potential when entering into Kindergarten and elementary school. Research shows that children who graduate high school and go on to college are more than likely to get higher paying job that increase their salaries; so they can provide for themselves. While providing high quality education to children, I hope to be able in providing families with reliable resources within the community that they may benefit from. Some families just need a helping hand to encourage them to do better. My passion as well as my mission is to do just that.

Grasping research and understanding the importance of it to my career in early childhood field. Always staying ahead with new information/data is another way of providing the best quality care for children and families.

Sharing Resources is another way to help colleagues better understand the importance of helping to fight the cause of poverty.
The Children Defense fund a non-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., USA, that advocates on behalf of children through a variety of activities http://www.cdf.com/ is an excellent website that offers up to date information on children and familes dealing with poverty.

What have you found to be difficult?

What has help you so far with research?

Please share resources?