Do Public Behaviour Charts Work?

There are many different approaches and strategies we may try when supporting behaviour. One that is familiar to many, particularly in mainstream education settings, is having a behaviour system that is displayed publicly, such as a chart on a display board in a classroom or meeting space.

Some practitioners feel these charts can be a beneficial tool for some individuals, proving helpful in offering direction and encouragement towards behaviours that we want to promote. However, one solution doesn’t necessarily work for everyone.

While our intentions for these systems are good, we also need to consider how public behaviour charts could potentially create challenges for some of the individuals we support that may reinforce or exacerbate the behaviours we seek to discourage.

What is a public behaviour chart?

There are lots of examples of public behaviour charts. These may include:

• • Tally marks of behaviour points or house points earned, sometimes including negative marks.

• • Names on pegs that are moved between different zones, such as emoji faces, weather symbols, or traffic light colours.

• • Sticker and star charts for individual or group rewards.

• • Names written on a board, either to celebrate or sanction behaviour.

• • Leader boards.

Often a behaviour chart intends to reward and praise encouraged behaviour choices. For example, when someone shows a desired behaviour, a member of staff may reward them with verbal praise and add a sticker to a behaviour chart, or write their name on a display board.

The hope is that by directly rewarding behaviour we want to encourage, the system will, in turn, prompt similar behaviour from the individual in the future. The reward also seeks to incentivise others to make the behaviour choices we would prefer.

Read more about using praise

Behaviour charts can also be used to signify sanctions, such as missing out on break time, being excluded from a reward, or having to attend a detention.

Isn’t it good to publicly praise?