TEACHERS’ APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES: A MEANS OF ENSURING EFFECTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Teachers’ responsibilities are enormous for them to be able to maintain an effective classroom, conducive enough for learning. As a strategy for checking beviourial problems in the classroom, teachers require skills that they can subtly apply to ensure discipline. Teachers are trained not only to be qualified in their teaching subjects but also to build in the learners essential social and inter-relational skills that can help not only to increase pupils' academic output but also boost their self-confidence. This paper gives an insight into methods the teachers can use in the upbringing of the younger generation. A teacher can make or mar the future of the child if he does not use the requisite methods of discipline while instructing the pupils. Behaviour modification techniques are scientifically proven skills that teachers can adopt instead of the use of the cane as a means of punishment. The classroom is the meeting place for the teacher and the students who are from diverse backgrounds and exhibit a variety of characters. The techniques are aimed at cultivating in the learner desirable and socially approved behaviour. By carefully embracing different behaviour modification techniques, teachers are able to avert much disruptive behaviour in the class. Although there are many techniques, only a selected few are discussed in this paper. Knowledge gathered from the paper will assist teachers in maintaining an effective learning environment