How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Seite 306

second.[4] The major differentiating factor appeared to be each teacher's
expectations.
Grubby Day
Many schools have "dress-up days," where, for example, students can
dress up for Halloween, Spirit Day, Pajama Day, or Fifties Day. In one
high school, they had a "Grubby Day." As you can imagine, on this
particular day, the student behavior was less than outstanding. The
administration received more complaints about student behavior on this
day than on any other. The dress code set up certain assumptions, which
further set up certain expectations. Then, of course, the expectations were
fulfilled by the bad behavior.
Littering
We know that children tend to put their trash directly on the floor. In one
elementary school, students were given individually wrapped pieces of
candy. Of course, most of the wrappers ended up on the floor and not in
the garbage can. Over the next two weeks, the teacher frequently
commented on how neat and tidy the children were. On a visit to the
classroom, the principal remarked to the children that their classroom was
one of the neatest and cleanest in the school. Even the custodian wrote a
note on the blackboard telling the children how clean and tidy their
classroom was. At the end of the two weeks, the children were given
individually wrapped pieces of candy again. This time, most of the
wrappers ended up in the trash can.[5]
Parental Expectation
One thing you notice with toddlers and small children is that they behave
according to the expectations of their parents. When I was single, I
noticed that when children fell down or bumped their heads while running
and playing, they would look at their parents so they would know how to
react. If the parents showed great concern and pain in their eyes, the
children would start to cry in an effort to get the attention they wanted.
This would happen regardless of whether the child really felt pain or not.
One of the techniques my wife and I tried as new parents was the exact
opposite of this approach. We changed the expectation, and it has worked
great! When our children hit their heads or get a small scrape, they look
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