7 What are the Benefits and Challenges of Precorrection?

There are many benefits to using precorrection in your classroom. As noted previously, one of the most important benefits is that it is a proactive rather than reactive strategy. By making contextual changes to activities or settings that traditionally occasion problem behaviors, we can prevent problem behaviors from occurring. This means less stress for teachers and more time for instruction. Also, in terms of teacher well-being, it certainly feels better to spend time reminding students of expected behavior than responding to challenging behaviors that arise in the absence of precorrection! Additionally, precorrection can be implemented at varying levels of intensity depending on the specific situation. At one end of the spectrum, teachers can provide students with a brief reminder of the expected behavior at the outset of an activity (e.g., “Class, remember that we need to walk quietly on the right side of the hallway as we are going to the library”). At the other end, however, both antecedents and consequences may be manipulated within a seven-step precorrection plan (see Colvin et al., 1993).

There are also challenges involved in using precorrection that need to be considered. First, utilizing proactive strategies like precorrection often means a shift in thinking. Traditionally in schools we have used reactive ways of addressing challenging behaviors. By this, we mean that adults often wait until challenging behaviors arise and then address them through punitive means (e.g., reprimands, punishments). Use of precorrection requires a mental shift from reacting to problems in the moment to trying to anticipate and head off problems before they occur. Additionally, to use precorrection effectively, it is necessary to have some knowledge of a given setting. This level of knowledge is needed to anticipate when (i.e., during what parts of the daily schedule, which routines) challenging behaviors may arise and implement precorrection proactively. Fortunately, in schools implementing Ci3T, expected behaviors are defined in the Expectation Matrices as well as in the validated social and emotional well-being curriculum taught schoolwide.