Replacement Behaviour

The ABCs of behaviour explained.

The behaviours of special needs children may be unpredictable and challenging to manage sometimes, and there could be a variety of reasons as to why a child would behave in a certain manner. A change in environment, people, or objects may trigger negative behaviours that can pose a threat to both the child and others. But sometimes an adult’s response towards a child’s behaviour may reinforce it even more, further worsening the situation. Hence, in this article, replacement behaviours will be introduced to attempt to make classroom management easier for teachers. This could also be useful for parents.

The ABCs of Behaviour

Firstly, the ABC chart (Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence) is commonly used with a behaviourist approach, where antecedents are what have occurred before the behaviour, the behaviour itself, and the consequences of that behaviour (Tan Meng Yin, 2020). For instance, if a child’s toy was taken by another, that is the antecedent. Then the child hits the other child, which shows inappropriate behaviour. Then the teacher comes in to pull the attacking child away, which is the consequence. However, the issue is never resolved, and the child may attack someone else again. Hence, it is pertinent that the adult knows about replacement behaviours.

Replacement Behaviour?

A replacement behaviour is when a child has a need met in an appropriate manner, and it is maintained by the same consequences of an inappropriate behaviour, such as getting the child to say “Stop” and not hitting someone (Community Psychology Hub, 2024). That same child can be taught to use words or visuals to communicate, and even approach the teacher if the child is unable to problem-solve by themselves. Or the teacher could understand what has triggered the child and change the setting of the environment.

Strategy for Replacement Behaviour

A strategy to allow for replacement behaviours is Functional Behaviour Assessments (FBA), and it involves understanding the setting, antecedents, behaviour, and consequences, and changing things to ensure the child’s needs are met (Tan Meng Yin, 2020). There is no golden rule or one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to managing challenging behaviour. This is one strong reason why teachers can never be replaced by robots, despite what Melania Trump tried advocating for with the humanoid robot acting as an educator, because artificial intelligence has a human future (Engle, 2026).

References

Community Psychology Hub. (2024). Overview of Replacement Behaviours. Retrieved from iCAREcommunity: https://icare.cph.sg/11c-replacement-behaviours

Engle, J. (2 April, 2026). Would You Want a Robot Teacher? Retrieved from The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/02/learning/would-you-want-a-robot-teacher.html

Tan Meng Yin, E. (2020). SPE105 Management of behaviour in special education (study guide). Singapore: Singapore University of Social Sciences.

 

 

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Theories of Language Development

Language development.

How do we understand how a child learns language? Is it through the environment, the child himself, or a mix of both? In this article, language development is analysed through developmental theories.

There are three main theories in language development for young children: Behaviourist, Maturationist/Nativist, and Constructivist/Interactionist. In this article, these theories will be articulated and referenced with real-life examples.

Behaviourist

Firstly, the behaviourist understands that children learn language through the environment, be it through conditioning or reinforcements, and that children are mere learners of knowledge (Chen, 2020). John Watson and B. F. Skinner were two such proponents for this school of thought. A child learns language as he or she receives conditioning, reinforcement, and imitates others through the words and behaviours of adults in a repetitive manner (Lemetyinen, 2023). Rewards and punishments are often used in a behaviourist teacher’s classroom, so to teach writing or spelling, a teacher might give rewards such as stickers. This is a common occurrence in Singapore.

Maturationist or Nativist

Secondly, the maturationist or nativist believes that children are born with a Language Acquisition Device or LAD, that every child is capable of mastering any language and that certain milestones happen between 40 weeks and 5 years, so every child should be respected in terms of their individual growth and development (Chen, 2020). Arnold Gesell is one such psychologist who subscribed to the maturationist theory. A key difference between the maturationist and behaviourist educators is that the behaviourist puts more emphasis on the stimuli outside of the child. However, language could never be learned through external sources without internal elements, since the LAD predisposes children to learn language during a critical period, because even in poor learning environments, a child could still acquire languages (Lemetyinen, 2023). In a maturationist classroom, the teacher does not in any way force a child to do writing until the child is developmentally ready. Rarely does this happen in Singapore.

Interactionist or Constructivist

Lastly, the interactionist or constructivist theory believes that a child learns through his or her exploration and discovery within the learning environment, and as such, they are not mere passive learners but active discoverers of knowledge (Chen, 2020). Two of such well-known theorists are Vygotsky and Piaget. Constructivists understand that children create their own knowledge as they interact and experience the world around them, so the curriculum has to be more learner-centred with teachers acting as facilitators rather than givers of knowledge, while providing a rich learning environment with social interactions (McLeod, 2025). A constructivist classroom has the teacher not giving the answers but allowing children to explore and learn. Learning centres will be print-rich with writing tools, so children will explore writing on their own terms.

References

Chen, D. (2020). ECE108 Supporting communication and emergent literacy through play. Singapore: Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Lemetyinen, H. (2023, September 7). Language Acquisition Theory. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/language.html

McLeod, S. (2025, March 31). Constructivism Learning Theory & Philosophy of Education. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: https://www.simplypsychology.org/constructivism.html

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1. Influential Theorists and Theories

Children are playing in the playground.

Early childhood developmental theories go way back to the 1600s. In this post, I shall attempt to describe 3 schools of thought: Behaviourists, Maturationists/Humanists, and Constructivists.

These schools of thought will be analysed according to how children learn, the role of mistakes in development, and the role of the teacher.

Colonial times.

During the Colonial Times in the 1600s, children were treated as sinful, and girls were not allowed to study.

During this period, children were seen as weak and needed adults to shape them to the “right” path. The punishment was deemed as necessary, though there are parents who fought against that. It was during this time that Comenius stood out as an advocate for equal education for boys and girls.

Romanticism.

Romanticism began in the 1700s, two groups of people emerged: Behaviourists & Humanists/Maturationists.

Behaviourists believed children were blank slates, and that children can only learn from systematic and rote instruction. The teaching style is more nurturing. This practice can still be seen in modern preschools. John Locke, Pavlov, and Skinner were key theorists who supported behaviourism. Also during romanticism, humanists or maturationists emerged. Nature is more prioritised than nurture, and Rousseau and Pestalozzi were key theorists. Two programmes were formed from this school of thought, headed by Froebel and Montesorri. Froebel believed in gifts, and adults should guide children in symbolic learning through play. During the late 1800s, progressivists emerged also. Dewey is a key figure.

1800s.

Constructivism happened during the 1900s. Children are believed to be curious learners, not passive receivers of knowledge. Piaget, Vygotsky, and Gardner were key theorists. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory also started. Preschool models such as Reggio Emilia, Bankstreet, and High Scope were also introduced.

The 1600s: Colonial Times

The 1700s: Romanticism (Behaviorists, Maturationists/Humanists)

The 1800s: Romanticism (Progressivists)

The 1900s: Constructivism

  

	Behaviourists	Constructivists	Maturationists
Assumptions about how development occurs	Blank slate, passive recipients of knowledge, nurture supersedes nature	Children are viewed as needing to actively explore their learning environments to build their understandings of the world	Development is a biological process that occurs automatically in predictable, sequential stages over time. Development unfolds according to nature’s inner plan or timetable.
Assumptions about how children learn	Development is considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli and reinforcement	Learning and development occur when young children interact with the environment and people around them	Acquire knowledge naturally and automatically as they grow physically and become older, if they are healthy.
Role of the environment	Key to development		Biologically and genetically predetermined patterns of change have a greater impact on development than environmental influences.
Role of the teacher	The teacher is the dominant person in the classroom and takes complete control of children’s learning	Teacher to scaffold and co-construct knowledge with children- provides experiences which will promote learning
The role of mistakes in development	They don’t tolerate mistakes.	Helps them to construct knowledge, the process of learning.	Mistakes are important, give them time.
Key Theorists	John Locke, Pavlov, Skinner	Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Howard Gardner	Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi, Arnold Gesell, Montessori

I believe in both the behaviourists and constructivists. Children are blank slates, as they are waiting for knowledge to be taught to them and hence they are easily influenced by key adult figures in their lives, but they are also capable to be curious in finding out more, deeper concepts than what is already taught to them. The curriculum should be equally balanced between teacher-directed and child-directed. Jean Piaget is the theorist that impacted me the most, since my diploma days.

References

Chen, D. (2020). ECE102 Children as thinkers and meaning makers (study guide). Singapore: Singapore University of Social Sciences.

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