Explicit Interpersonal Skills Instruction¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Some students — particularly those with a history of behavior disorders — have had little real opportunity to learn basic social skills. Simple courtesies (remembering to say please or thank you) and body language (eye contact, sitting attentively rather than slouching and looking away) may not be entirely unknown to the student, but unpracticed and treated as unimportant. The core design challenge is teaching these skills in a way that doesn't become part of the student's punishment, doesn't come across as "preachy," and doesn't shame the student in front of classmates.

Several concrete vehicles accomplish this. Modeling through literature or story: reading or assigning books and stories whose characters model good social skills, calibrated to the class's age or grade level. Modeling through games: structured games that require courteous language to succeed (e.g., "Mother, May I?", Sullivan & Strang, 2002) turn skill practice into play rather than instruction. Mentoring relationships: pairing an at-risk student with an older student or community adult, as formalized in programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (Tierney, Grossman, & Resch, 1995; Newburn & Shiner, 2006), gives the student a lower-stakes relationship in which to practice social behavior. Behaviorist practice techniques: positive reinforcement, extinction, and generalization are especially effective once a student has recently learned a skill but still feels awkward or self-conscious using it (Algozzine & Ysseldyke, 2006); contingency contracts — explicit agreements between teacher and student specifying exactly what work will be done, how it will be rewarded, and what happens if the agreement isn't met (Wilkinson, 2003) — add precision and clarity that reduces both misunderstanding and the teacher's own need to respond with frustration when infractions occur.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• A vehicle (story, game, mentoring relationship, or behaviorist practice structure) that lets the student rehearse the target skill without it reading as correction or punishment
• Enough consistency in expectations (especially under a contingency contract) that consequences are predictable and unsurprising to the student

Constraints¶

• Framing skill instruction as an extension of punishment, or delivering it in a way that shames the student in front of peers, undermines the entire approach — the vehicle matters as much as the content
• Behaviorist practice techniques work best once a skill has been recently learned and the student needs low-stakes rehearsal, not as the initial teaching method for a skill the student has never been shown

Target Learners¶

• Students with a history of behavior disorders or limited social-skill practice opportunity, for whom basic courtesies and attentive body language are genuinely underdeveloped rather than willfully withheld

Target Learning Goals¶

• Functional social skills (courtesy, eye contact, attentive posture) practiced enough to feel natural rather than self-conscious
• Reduced disruptive behavior stemming specifically from social-skill gaps rather than from other triggers

Instructions¶

1. Identify the specific social skill gap (e.g., interrupting, avoiding eye contact) rather than treating the student's behavior as a general character problem.
2. Choose a low-pressure vehicle matched to the student's age and context: modeling literature, a skill-requiring game, or a mentoring relationship.
3. Where the skill has already been introduced but remains unpracticed, add behaviorist reinforcement (praise, extinction of the competing behavior) to build fluency.
4. For students needing more structure, establish an explicit contingency contract specifying expected behavior, reward, and consequence, agreed to in advance.
5. Deliver all of the above in a way that keeps the interaction from reading as punishment — the same tactic delivered punitively will undermine the skill-building goal.

Related Strategies¶

• Behavioral Feedback for Correct and Incorrect Responses
• Token Economies
• Implement programs to improve students' classroom behavior and social skills

Examples¶

Key Sources¶

• Sullivan, A. K., & Strang, H. R. (2002). Bibliotherapy in the classroom: Using literature to promote the development of emotional intelligence. Childhood Education, 79(2), 74-80.
• Tierney, J. P., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. L. (1995). Making a difference: An impact study of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Public/Private Ventures.
• Newburn, T., & Shiner, M. (2006). Young people, mentoring and social inclusion. Youth Justice, 6(1), 23-41.
• Algozzine, B., & Ysseldyke, J. (2006). Teaching students with emotional disturbance: A practical guide for every teacher. Corwin Press.
• Wilkinson, L. A. (2003). Using behavioral consultation to reduce challenging behavior in the classroom. Preventing School Failure, 47(3), 100-105.
• Arduini-Van Hoose, N. (2020). Behavior disorders. In Educational psychology. Retrieved from https://edpsych.pressbooks.sunycreate.cloud. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.