Disruption or distraction is another task-avoidance behaviour that can undermine the participation of everyone in the group. A student may simply not be engaged with the mathematics, or they may be unsure or confused and not want to have their lack of understanding exposed. They may use this strategy because they have attention difficulties or are feeling frustrated with the pace or expectations of the lesson: “I never get a turn”, “I never get to answer”, “This is boring”.
Involving students in establishing the purpose of the lesson and evaluating its progress are effective ways to engage learners. Questions about the lesson itself as well as the content are important in the co-construction process. For example, draw the students into thinking about their own learning by asking: What are we learning? Why are we learning this? What would be fun to try? How are we going so far? Is this too easy, too hard, too fast, or too slow? Can we imagine doing this another way or creating another model or recording with a different diagram?
Effective formative feedback and honest praise can also reduce task avoidance. Feedback focused on the mathematical talk and work (rather than the distracting behaviours) and praise for thoughtful contributions shift attention from off-task events to the group work. Cultural practices and responses to praise need to be considered. In a culturally responsive and supportive classroom, praise can have a positive effect; however, students may not respond to praise in the same way if they do not feel culturally valued in the broader context of the classroom or school (Butterworth and Bevan-Brown, 2007; Te Kotahitanga).
Back to Resource 11: Addressing avoidance behaviours in mathematics classes