A) After observing concerning behavior in a toddler, the writer researched child development and family situations. Some studies suggest children from separated families may experience more problems, while others found separation less damaging than constant family conflict. The writer introduced a positive reinforcement system using tokens exchanged for rewards, based on B.F. Skinner's work. This token economy approach, which had proven effective for emotionally disturbed youth, improved the toddler's behavior.

1. Reflective Writing: which example is better and why?
A) After feeling a great deal of concern about toddler X’s behaviour, I began
to research into children’s behaviour. Given the parents’ situation, there
could be a chance that they could be experiencing this conflict at home.
Rodgers and Pryor (1998) suggest that‘children of separated families
have a higher probability of behaviouralproblems and under-performing
in school.’ However, Jon Bernardes’ (1997) study concluded that
separation may be less damaging than living with parents in constant
conflict. Contingent to this, I was keen to introduce an activity that
would deter bad behaviour which also avoided judgmental punishment.
Skinner’s approach of ‘positivereinforcement’ (e.g. giving a reward)
increases the probability of that behaviour being repeated (cited in
Dwyer et al, 2010). To adapt this approach, I setup a token economy
system, whereby toddlers would be rewarded with tokens for
appropriatebehaviour that can be exchanged for privileges or other
rewards. Hogan and Johnson (1985) showed thattoken economy was
effective in increasing appropriatebehaviour in emotionally disturbed
youths (Dwyer atal, 2010). By applying the samestrategy to this much
younger child, I started to observein an improvementin their behaviour.
B) As a resultof the teacher intervening, I was able to push the higher
abilities and give them a more complex activity to do. ‘If thesetting has
realistic expectations, the children are more likely to meet expectations’
(Daly, 2009). Notbeing awareof the ability of children in this topic as a
result of me not being present on Monday and nobody thinking of telling
about whatto expect, showed me that communication is important. This
incident made me feel that I was notdoing my job but I learn from this
and through coaching, the teacher was able to tell me whilst I was
teaching, so I was able to input another activity for the children that
would cater for their individual needs. I now know that our mentors
need to keep us informed so we can plan better lessons for the children.