If We “Trained” Kids Like Pets

If your child’s school uses PBIS, you don’t have to imagine

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Unfortunately, we don’t have to imagine.

I’ll give you an example from right here in Manitoba. It’s called the “Good Behaviour Game”.

The “Good Behaviour Game”

The Good Behaviour Game (GBG) is described as an evidence-based classroom management strategy. The class is divided into teams, and each team receives a check mark whenever their team member exhibits disruptive behaviour, and a point for every period of time without disruptive behaviours. The team with the most points at the end wins a reward.

Why do we think we have to turn everything into a competition in order to make it fun? Why would we want to pit classmates against one another, if we’re trying to create a nurturing and collaborative community for learning? And WHY do we think students will somehow “learn better” when they’re constantly being evaluated and judged?

The outcomes for the GBG are even worse than those described previously for the Student/Teacher game.