From the Psychoeducation for Teachers Series

1. Self-Management Training for
Children
From the Psychoeducation for Teachers Series

2.  We can teach children to verbalize
their thinking and to use these
verbalizations to guide their own
academic and social behavior. Using a
self-instruction procedure, students
learn to self-verbalize statements,
questions, directions or instructions,
and even their own cognitions (their
thoughts and the way they interpret
events) to influence and to change
their performance.

3.  In the cognitive literature, self-instruction is
also called behavioral self-management
training, self-instruction training, or behavioral
self-control. With minimal variations, all these
procedures train children in how to talk to
themselves, first aloud and then silently, in
order to guide their own behavior. Children
learn to use self-statements (words or
phrases) to interrupt themselves before they
perform an inappropriate act (e.g. leaving
task, fighting, or blurting out
answers).Through this internal private
speech, children bring their behavior back to
their control.

4.  Self-instruction deals mainly with
academic and behavior problems such
as inattention, hyperactivity,
impulsivity, organization skills
(scheduling), and anger management.
It is also an essential component in
teaching children the problem solving
steps. The cognitive literature
indicates that self-talking influences
the behavior and academic
performance of students with
emotional and/or behavioral disorders.

5.  Behavioral self-control is the ability to direct and
to change own behavior. When teachers help
troubled and anger-prone students identify the
negative things they say to themselves (e.g., “I’m
dumb!” “I cannot do anything right”; or “This is
too hard. I will never get it”), and we assist
children in changing these self-defeating
statements into positive thoughts (e.g., “This is
hard, but I will try my best”), we give students an
effective cognitive tool that enables them to
influence their own behavior and actions. This
new, positive self-talking also helps in developing
a more optimistic perception and interpretation
(cognitions) of social problems and troublesome
events, ultimately, leading to more optimistic and
better-adjusted children.

6.  Some of the things that children can do while
using self-management procedures are:
 Giving themselves self-instructions about
what to do in a specific situation, for
example, talking through the steps
 Asking self-questions about:
A. The nature of the problem
B. The most effective approach to a task
C. The relevant information
D. Accuracy of their performance
E. Quality of their performance
 Giving themselves corrective feedback

7.  The more comprehensive self-instruction or self-
management training includes a set of procedures
designed to help children develop the ability of self-
regulating own behavior, making students managers of
their behavior. Self-management training is a student-
centered strategy that aims at decreasing problem
behaviors in the classroom, like leaving task, out of seat
behaviors, inattention, impulsivity, and poor anger
control, while at the same time increasing the student’s
independence by making children responsible for their
own behavior (Vanderbilt, 2005). Self-management
training, then, aims at developing self-control, or the
ability to manage own behavior, based upon the
information that the child receives while he or she is
applying the different self-management phases or
steps.

8.  Although with some variations from author to author,
basically, self-management training consists of:
 Self-monitoring, self-observation, or self-assessment.
The child learns to respond to an external cue (for
example, the ring of a bell or clock) to determine the
presence or absence of the target behavior. In other
words, the child learns to discriminate, or being aware
of, whether the target behavior (e.g. talking out of order
or out of seat behavior) happened or not.
 Self-recording, where the child registers the results of
own behavior in some pre-established form, for
example, tallying how many times the target behavior
took place. For instance, on a note card, the student
records one-tally mark each time she is on task.
Children can record specific features of their behavior
like frequency or duration.

9.  Frequency self-recording. The child records the number
of times the target behavior happened, e.g. words
spelled correctly, raising the hand, or staying on task.
 Interval self-recording or time sampling, where the
student records whether she engaged in the target
behavior during a specified period. Here, a block of
time, for example, half an hour, is split into smaller
intervals (e.g. six mini-intervals of five minutes each),
and, at the end of each mini-interval, the student
records whether the target behavior happened. For
example, on a note card, at the end of each five-minute
interval, Casey wrote “Yes” or “No” to answer the
question, “Am I on task?”
 Duration self-recording is used when the length of the
behavior matters. Using a wristwatch or clock, the
teacher or parent records how long the behavior lasted
(e.g. tantrum).

10.  Self-evaluation, or determining the adequacy or
inadequacy of a response by comparing the results to a
criterion level or standard. For example, to the question,
“Am I on task?” Casey wrote four “Yes” and two “No”
which indicates that, during the half-hour recorded, the
target behavior happened four out of six times. If the
goal for Casey is five out of six times, this means that
the child is close to reaching the standard. With tantrum
behaviors, a decreased length in time (e.g. from 18
minutes to 12 minutes) can be used as a measure of
progress.
o One example of self-evaluation is self-rating, where the
child rates herself every specified amount of time
according to how well she performed the target
behavior. For example, 0= not well, 1= fairly well, and
2= really well.

11.  Self-reinforcement, where the child self-awards points
for performance based upon her own judgment or a
pre-determined criterion. The child chooses and
administers her own reinforcement, for example, extra
computer time or a small toy. The child also decides the
schedule for receiving the reward, for example, at the
end of the day or every Friday afternoon.
 Self-instruction. This is the only step that requires oral
language. This step is all about saying the instructions
to the steps, first aloud and then silently or whispering.
For example, the child recites the directions for solving
a three-step word problem or the relaxation steps to
defuse angry feelings. Alternatively, the child can
verbalize affirmations (e.g. “When I do something
wrong, I try to think of all the things that I do right”), do a
neatness check (e.g. “Did I complete all the steps?”), or
check accuracy.

12. It is well known that just recording the
frequency of a problem behavior is
often effective in reducing the problem
behavior. This is because recording
the frequency helps develop
awareness of the behavior.

13.  At the beginning of a self-
management training the teacher, staff
member, or parent may have to point
out each time the target behavior
appears until the child is able to
recognize the target behavior
independently. To train a child to
recognize a target behavior, we can
use matching, that is, both the coach
and the child record the behavior, and
the coach rewards the child every time
they agree.

14.  Self-monitoring works best when we incorporate
a cueing system, like a gesture or a signal, into
the system, so that we regularly prompt the
student to self-record. To strengthen the
student’s awareness and to reinforce the child’s
self-evaluation skills, we can train him to use a
behavior diary. Each time the target behavior
appears (e.g. tantrum or cursing), on a note pad,
the child writes the circumstances or triggers
surrounding the behavior. The behavioral diary
helps the child find patterns in the disruptive
behavior, such as the time of the day, what the
student was doing (activities), and the people
who are regularly present. Finding triggers and
patterns of behavior also help in developing and
implementing preventive measures.

15. Rewarding the Student
 The teacher or coach can administer the
rewards, or the teacher can train the
student in self-administering rewards.
Always keep in mind that a self-
administered reward is often more
effective than a teacher-administered
reward. Some examples of teacher-
administered (verbal) rewards that we
can use are:
o A positive or verbal comment
o Praising the child
o A nonverbal gesture like smiling to the
child or winking

16.  Vanderbilt (2005) identifies effective
teacher-administered rewards (verbal
praise) like saying the student’s name,
stating the correct behavior that the
child performed, and giving positive
feedback. A simple comment like,
“Nicki, I noticed that you checked all
the items in your neatness list before
turning in your paper. You are doing a
great job” can be extremely rewarding
to a child.

17.  Our words of praise and encouragement are
rewards to our students. Whenever we use
words to express a positive feeling (e.g., “This
makes me very happy”), we are giving a reward.
When we say, “Thank you for sharing,” we are
giving a reward. When we pay attention to the
child or spend time with him, we are rewarding.
When we say, “I like the way you are working on
your spelling workbook. Keep up the good work!”
we are rewarding. When we say, “Your math is
improving everyday” or “That is good thinking,
Joel,” we are rewarding. The point is that our
words can be both therapeutic and rewarding to
children. Cultivate the habit of saying nice things
and giving rewards with your words.

18.  Some examples of student-
administered self-reinforcement are…
o Complimenting themselves
o The child awards himself points for
_____
o The student uses a self-reinforcing
statement to recognize success

19. Reference
 Vanderbilt, A. A. (2005). Designed for
teachers: How to implement self-
monitoring in the classroom. Beyond
Behavior, 15(1), pp. 21-24.

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