Gedragsmodifisering as bestuurstaak van die skoolhoof

• Main Author: Du Toit, Jacobus Petrus
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Behavior modification; School principals; School personnel management - South Africa
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/11628

M.Ed. (Education Management) === A notable feature of the school principal as managerial leader's task is its comprehensive and complex nature. Behavior modification is a managerial skill, that should make the principal more effective in interpersonal relations and communication in the school as organisation. In this short dissertation the focus is on behavior modification as managerial task of the principal. Behavior modification has as its goals the explanation, prediction and control of. behavior. Behavior modification as described in this short dissertation relies extensively on the psychology of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning and modelling. On managerial level classical conditioning has little or no application, consequently it will not receive much attention in this study. The use of operant conditioning is, however, discussed in detail emphasising the use of the positive aspects of operant conditioning. The principles of operant conditioning describe the relationship between behavior, and various environmental events (antecedents and consequences) that influence behavior. Although both antecedents and consequences can alter behavior, most applications of operant conditioning principles emphasize the consequences that follow behavior. In this short dissertation operant conditioning is divided into two sets of techniques to be used on managerial level: Techniques to alter unacceptable behavior and techniques or procedures for teaching acceptable behavior. Techniques to alter unacceptable behavior - punishment, extinction, saturation and counter conditioning - can all be used by the principal as managerial leader.