Shepherd/Linn, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom
Chapter 14
Social Skills Training
Features of Social Skills Training
• Social skills training programs are often overlooked components of behavior and
classroom management plans because teachers generally feel that it is not within their
purview to teach social skills.
• Social skills training is an intervention used to increase the social skills and social
competencies of students with behavior difficulties.
• An important concept related to social skills training is the difference between social
skills deficits and performance deficits. A student who has a social skill deficit may not
have the ability to perform a certain social skill, and may not even know which social
skill is appropriate for a situation. A student who has a social skill performance deficit
has the ability to perform the social skill but chooses not to do so.
• Many social skills training programs are based on developmental theories that explain
behavior and provide practical applications to improve student behavior.
• Most social skills training programs have the following objectives:
1. To promote skill acquisition
Assessing Social Skills
• Teachers need to determine what social skills students are deficient in before they can
design specific interventions to teach or increase those skills.
• Teachers can conduct functional behavioral assessments, conduct functional behavior
Shepherd/Linn, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom
Components of Social Skills Program
o In direct instruction of a specific social skill, the teacher introduces the skill to
students and explains the benefits of the skill to their lives.
o Once the teacher has introduced and explained the relevance of the social skill, she
teaches the steps to performing the skill. The teacher goes through the steps one by
one and provides examples for each step.
Modeling
o Once students fully understand the steps for exhibiting a specific social skill, the
teacher reinforces the skill through guided practice. Modeling is one of the best
methods of providing guided practice for social skills.
Rehearsal
o Once students have learned the steps of a specific social skill, they need to practice
the skill. They can do this by rehearsing the skill in a safe environment after the
teacher models the skill.
o Rehearsal continues until the teacher is confident that the students have acquired the
skill.
Performance Feedback and Reinforcement
o Positive feedback and reinforcement are used to improve students’ performance of
social skills.
Generalization
o Providing students with opportunities to practice acquired social skills in different
settings and situations is instrumental in maintaining and generalizing these skills.
Shepherd/Linn, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom
Social Skills Programs and Strategies
• A number of social skills programs and strategies are available for teachers to increase
students’ social skills and social competencies and decrease problematic behaviors.
Skillstreaming
o Skillstreaming program is designed to meet the needs of children at three
instructional/developmental levels: early childhood, elementary school age, and
adolescence.
o A Curriculum for Children’s Effective Peer and Teacher Skills (ACCEPTS) is
designed to teach social competencies essential for inclusive school settings.
o ACCEPTS can be used effectively with students who are at risk for behavior
difficulties at the elementary school level. The curriculum groups 28 skills into five
content areas: classroom skills, basic interaction skills, getting along, making friends,
and coping skills.
Stop & Think Social Skills Program
o The Stop & Think Social Skills Program is divided into four developmental levels.
o The program uses the five components of social skills training: direct instruction of
social skills, modeling, rehearsal, performance feedback, and generalization.
Shepherd/Linn, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom
Replacement Behavior Training
o Replacement behavior training (RBT) is a social skills strategy in which competing
problem behaviors are replaced by prosocial behaviors that serve the same functions.
Competing problem behaviors interfere with, or block, the acquisition of appropriate
social skills.
o The first step in implementing RBT is to identify the function, or purpose, of the
inappropriate social skill.
o Social stories are short scenarios written for students to teach them appropriate
behaviors in specific situations.
o Social stories generally contain animal characters that illustrate particular social
situations, and the skills are taught through role-playing.
Videotherapy
o Videotherapy uses movies and television episodes to allow students to identify with
characters similar to themselves and discuss their own behaviors and situations
through the safe distance of the characters.
o Videotherapy involves the guided viewing of a specific movie or television show.
After viewing the movie or show with students, the teacher leads a discussion of the
Social Skills and SWPBS
• Social skills programs are natural interventions and strategies for a school-wide positive
behavior support program.
Shepherd/Linn, Behavior and Classroom Management in the Multicultural Classroom
• Social skills training might be used as an intervention for all students at Tier 1, or at Tier
2 for students who have poor social skills and social competencies.
Culturally Responsive Social Skills Instruction
• Relevant and proactive culturally responsive social skills instruction (CRSSI) is essential