Meaningful Work: Changing Student Behavior With School Jobs

Meaningful Work: Changing Student Behavior with School Jobs grew from the frustration that every educator feels when faced with students who are best at being bad. These students, like all of us, are looking for an area in which to excel. Unfortunately, students who misbehave have found that they are very good at being bad. Through years of experience, the authors found that consequences for misbehaviour were necessary but not sufficient for changing chronic misbehaviour. Meaningful Work creates a sense of purpose and provides an opportunity for a student to experience success.

Meaningful Work focuses on changing student behaviour in the school environment. This positive behaviour support helps students with a history of misbehaviour and school failure become contributing members of their schools.

This book will guide you through:

• Developing a vision for how this positive behaviour support will look in your school.
• Starting small with one or two students. Learn how to select students and jobs, collect data, design a contract, teach job skills, and reinforce and correct the student.
• Going schoolwide with your jobs program. Learn how to promote staff buy-in, recruit supervisors, select students, match students to jobs, train supervisors, and teach students how to be successful in a job.
• Networking with your community.

The number of job options in a school is limitless. Meaningful Work’s Jobs Index provides a source of inspiration, including close to 100 jobs (with suggested duties, schedule, supervisor, student skills, and grade level), from Eraser Cleaner (grade K and up) to Playground Assistant (grades 4–6).

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