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Louise Porter
Sydney: MacLennan & Petty (2008)
Those who work with young children will welcome the third edition of Dr Louise Porter's text, Young children's behaviour. As in the previous editions, Porter advocates a guiding rather than a controlling approach to discipline, and draws on current evidence-based research to support her thesis.
An outstanding feature of this text is that it challenges the reader to reflect on whether they guide or control behaviour. According to Porter, those who employ a guidance approach to discipline trust children and use preventative measures to teach behavioural skills. Importantly, they acknowledge that behaviour is driven by needs and accept that the adult in the child's life should be an expert and caring leader.
Conversely, those who employ a controlling approach to discipline distrust children, punish behaviour in an effort to gain compliance, and believe that control lies solely in the adults' sphere.
In her first chapter, Porter states that this edition:
presents a system for guiding children's behaviour that uses no rewards or punishments (which are sometimes referred to as consequences) to control children's behaviour, but instead teaches children to act thoughtfully, using the same skills that we would employ to teach them to read and write or balance on climbing equipment (p. 9).
The second chapter demonstrates, through a discussion of the extant literature, why the guidance approach to discipline equips children to become masters of their own behavioural interactions, and why the controlling approach fails to do this.
The disadvantages of punishment and rewards are examined within this chapter and, while the majority of what Porter has written is indisputable, I cannot agree completely with her view on the use of praise. She classifies praise as a form of reward and states that it can be ineffective because it is likely to be an automatic and often superficial response. She argues that those giving such praise will soon lose credibility in the eyes of the child. I suggest that the use of praise is a powerful strategy in guiding behaviour and that adults can be taught to use it so it is genuine, timely and effective. It is a pity that the author is rather fundamental on this important issue.
Porter does stress the need for a purist theoretical approach to discipline which is an excellent point as it requires the reader to reflect on not just what they are teaching, but more importantly, why they are teaching what they are teaching.
In this 2008 edition, just as the evidence-based research is current and useful, so are the topics under discussion. In particular, the chapter dealing with the demands of the workplace is excellent. In the chapter entitled 'Nurturing staff', Porter draws on her extensive knowledge of early childhood environments to impart practical advice on managing professional and personal demands such as work overload and developing self-efficacy.
The chapter entitled 'Collaborating with parents' is equally useful. Early childhood professionals meet most of their parents and caregivers on a daily basis, and need to be highly competent communicators. Porter's commonsense advice in this chapter relating to engaging parents' confidence and their expertise is impressive. We need to remember that parents are equal partners in the education of their children.
I must comment briefly on a matter of style that lies with the publisher rather than the author. I found it frustrating that the first references to three or more authors were in the truncated 'et al.' style, a method normally used at the second and any further reference. This detracted from the subject matter, as I constantly had to turn to the reference list. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend Porter's third edition of Young children's behaviour. It is one of those rare texts that will meet the needs of pre-service, beginning and experienced educators as well as caregivers and parents.
June Slee
Charles Darwin University
Dr June Slee has worked with early childhood professionals for many years, sharing her expertise in the field of guiding behaviour.
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Young children's behaviour: Practical approaches for caregivers and teachers (3rd edn) is available to purchase from Early Childhood Australia. To find out more, visit www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/sund38 or freecall 1800 356 900.
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Australian Journal of Early Childhood – Volume 33 No 2 June 2008, p. 58.
Don't forget, Australian Journal of Early Childhood is tax deductible for early childhood professionals
You can read more from this issue of the Australian Journal of Early Childhood now.
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AJEC is changing its name ...
To reflect its diverse readership and commitment to international early childhood debate,
the Australian Journal of Early Childhood will soon be changing its name to
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 04 June 2009 )
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