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Teaching Students to Recruit Positive Attention: A Review and Recommendations

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Abstract

Positive teacher attention and praise are powerful influences on student performance in the classroom. But the classroom is a very busy place, a place where important efforts by students can easily go unnoticed. In such instances, an existing and potentially effective natural contingency of reinforcement is “asleep” and needs to be “woken up.” Teaching students how to recruit positive teacher attention is one way to activate dormant contingencies of reinforcement and help students take a proactive role in their learning. This paper reviews the recruiting research to date, discusses implications for practitioners, proposes a recruitment training package including strategies for promoting generalization of recruiting skills, and offers recommendations for future research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Special Education, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

    Sheila R. Alber (Assistant Professor)

  2. Special Education Program, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

    William L. Heward (Professor)

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  1. Sheila R. Alber
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  2. William L. Heward
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Alber, S.R., Heward, W.L. Teaching Students to Recruit Positive Attention: A Review and Recommendations. Journal of Behavioral Education 10, 177–204 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012258231074

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