CBT, Rewards, Punishment and Classroom Management

I’ve been a certified special needs teacher since 1986. Special educators teach in different ways, using hands on and multisensory learning and individualized instruction. Discipline is different too. 

We used behavior modification. Despite its bad reputation, it’s actually very effective. It works well with young children, non-verbal and those who aren’t ready for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or REBT (rational emotive behavior therapy). Actually behavior mod works for everyone, even fully functional adults. 

In special education, we focuses on positive reinforcement over negative reinforcement (removal of positive) and punishment. We teachers learned that for every “negative” (admonishment, correction, discipline, thou-shalt-not) we should give four positive supports (praise, reward, encouragement, smiles, hugs.

This isn’t candy-coated hand-holding. Positive just plain works better. From years in general ed and homeschooling, these principles work there too. I’ve written for years about this kind of instruction. I’m writing a series on initiating special education techniques in the general education classroom. 

These are principles we should be using with all students. They are more effective than traditional educational techniques. 

Book to Movie Films for Psychology Lesson Plans

Movies, whether independent films, documentaries or Hollywood blockbusters, have a powerful impact on how we understand concepts. Whether information is accurate, exaggerated or false, if it's portrayed in movie form we tend to accept and believe it more readily. Some of the most pervasive ways movies influence information is in the area of mental illness, mental institutions and institutional behavior.

Looking for films to use in psychology lesson plans about mental institutions and emotional illness? Here are some One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (and now the Netflix spinoff "Ratched")Girl Interrupted, Shutter Island, Patch Adams, K-Pax, Sybil, The Snake Pit, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and Girl Interrupted.  

It's important to discuss, in psychology lesson plans, the sometimes inaccurate portrayals about mental illness and institutions. People are often shown as being treated cruelly in institutions. "The Snake Pit" (1948) with Olivia de Haviland, is not far off with it's depiction of institutions of that time. "Girl Interrupted" (1998) with Angelina Jolie gives a fairly accurate picture of how institutional behavior develops. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has strong merit as a mental institution expose.

Sensationalized stories can also block our vision. They take the focus off the real issues with over-dramatized, lurid depictions. "Shutter Island" (2009) is a perfect example. Viewers were prepared to be terrified by gruesome mental institution scenes. What they got was a complex, multi-layered story that poked holes in many accepted fallacies about mental illness. Some accusation of sensationalism has been levied at "Sybil" (1976). I have used and would continue to use the film in psychology classes, for Sally Field's exceptional performance and because it gives an inside-out look at the effect of child abuse. The important issue is to recognize media hype and deflect it with accurate information.