PBIS: If It Grows Like a Weed

I will be eternally optimistic about our collective capacity as public educators to evolve into the kind of system that is needed for a prosperous future.  But, the speed and way in which PBIS has spread like wildfire throughout our state makes me nervous.  Originally when I understood it to be a system for common language, instruction, and clear expectations for pro-social behaviors I was supportive. As I have heard, more often than not, that this instruction is connected to tiered positive reinforcement, I'm worried.  


Even without the positive reinforcement system, PBIS is still potentially problematic because it gives us, as educators, permission to use something other than an engaging task to get students to do what we want them to do.  It superficially reinforces skills that are critical to students' future success:  the development of moral and performance character.  It rewards "compliance" to authority.  While that might sound like an ideal scenario for a classroom with a ratio of one teacher to 20 or 30 students, it's dangerous.  


There are a number of reasons why PBIS is bad for our system but one reason has the potential to significantly impede progress in our schools:  If students are not engaged in the work that they are being asked to do or are unable to see purpose in demonstrating positive behavior (beyond "character tickets"), it's our fault. Implementing PBIS creates another system that students don't need and stalls our work toward figuring out what they do. 


Over Christmas break, I was asked by a parent to talk with his son's Boy Scout troop regarding current school structures, the importance of doing your best, and the history of public education.  Because I'm no historian, I had to do a little research prior to my time with the Boy Scouts to prepare.  As I was finding some internet resources to share with them, I ran across this passage from pbs.org about Horace Mann.  Talk about "Nineteenth Century Skills".  Are we unable to learn from our past?  


"[Horace Mann] lived at a time of tremendous social change when immigrants were pouring into the Northeastern states, farmers were leaving rural areas to work in factories, and cities were growing rapidly with crime and poverty on the rise. Some historians believe that Mann and other reformers were alarmed by the upheaval, and promoted state regulated public education as a way to bring order and discipline to the working class in this rapidly changing society. Threatened by the growing population of urban poor, Mann and his fellow reformers placed a major emphasis on “moral training”, standardization and classroom drill."