causes of challenging behaviour in the classroom

4) The Brooder. Specialising in numerous areas of content, Jane has a vast writing experience and mainly works on our health & safety and mental health posts. It can also make a major difference to their mental health. It's normal for school-aged children to show defiance or sometimes lose control of their emotions while their social and emotional skills are developing. Theres often a reason behind their behaviour or it might be their only way of telling you somethings wrong. Slower pace when working. teachers and school leaders working in secondary education across the UK. Always praise for hard work, effort or a good piece of work. When a child misbehaves or makes the atmosphere unconducive to study, it disrupts the . Frustration at being told off, not being listened to or not being understood. High level disruptive behaviour cannot be ignored and must be dealt with immediately. Prof Ford stated that the more important issue is to understand the origins of their behaviour. For example, a parent may realize that a child whines and whines because this behavior forces the parent to pay the child lots of attention. With some tactful handling and a non-judgemental attitude that demonstrates concern, you often find that parents can become allies rather than adding to the problem. Likewise, a teenager who is depressed can be really irritable. Let me know how it goes. Kids with substance use issues can improve their skills. If you fail to keep control of a class and enable the challenging behaviour from disruptive pupils to dictate, none of the other class members will be able to learn and you will be unable to teach in the way you were trained for. 2022 High Speed Training Ltd. All rights reserved. Instead, use a simple glance or a directed question to let them know that youve recognised their behaviour and therell be further consequences if they continue. While this may be a difficult thing for educators to hear, it demonstrates that what teachers and teaching assistants do is really important. Prof Ford explained: Thats a really interesting question and we could talk for an hour about the philosophy of whether or not behaviour that challenges others should be conceptualised as a psychiatric problem. Now, was I trying to irritate my wife when I left my chinos on the rocking chair? Be sure to also check out the other articles in the Challenging Behaviors category of our Insights and Inspirations section. And, thinking about childrens broader mental health is there a neuro-developmental disorder like ADHD or an autism spectrum problem? Opinion is divided on whether or not challenging behaviour constitutes a mental health problem. The impact on students: Bad behavior always impacts more than the student involved. There are positive ways and there are negative ways of keeping control. Be a positive role model and behave in the same way you expect your students to. Shouting at a student in front of them will likely make them feel embarrassed about their behaviour. Although the intensity of each cause is almost different from the other cause . This series of articles is part of the legacy the year-long project hopes to leave. Kids with cognitive flexibility challenges show up in other ways, too. Pretty easy, right? Its important to explore all these possibilities before concluding that this is only a behavioural problem because it very rarely is.The importance of diagnosisWhat are the advantages of having a diagnosis for children? Thats a recipe for disaster. I think its about having a really good whole-school approach to behaviour management which is consistent.Similar messages need to be put out to the entire school. Sensitivity to sensory stimulation (e.g noise, clothes, messy play materials) High levels of anxiety about transitions. Cheating being academically dishonest or duplicitous in their dealings with others. Have a consistent, whole-school approach to behaviour management. Low-level disruption is characterised as unauthorised talking, moving around the classroom, calling out instead of raising their hand, and other behaviour that can disrupt the entire classroom if left unchecked. Common causes include bereavement, divorce or relationship break-up of parents or caregivers, moving home or school, or coming to a new country. Having a category through which we can say these children are in difficulty, she continued, seems to me very important. What are the possible causes of challenging behaviour? As a school social worker, I cant tell you how many times Ive observed a variation on the following conversation: Discipline staff: What happened at recess?, Kiddo: I hit Marcus because he was bothering me., Staff: Okay, you know that hitting Marcus is wrong, correct?, Staff: Whats something you could do next time instead of hitting Marcus?, Kiddo: I could talk to a teacher, or take a break, Kiddo: I could count to 10, or color, or just ignore him. So, for example, if you want homework to be handed in at the start of the next lesson, dont leave any uncertainty. Prof Ford continued: Its about more than just getting money for a teaching assistant or other support. Social Thinking: the ability to read the room. When my wife moved in to my home, we had a long conversation about my unflattering practice of leaving my work clothes all over our room. If you're looking for ways to stop and prevent challenging behavior from occurring in your home or classroom, understanding what actually causes challenging behavior is a good place to start. Some kids have trouble remembering the sequence of events, while others might remember, but have a really hard time doing things in the right order! Have clear, realistic targets for achievement. They also spend a good part of every day trying to . Children with autistic conditions can struggle with changes in activity, and children with ADHD struggle with sitting still and sustaining concentration.So, whenever a childs behaviour is challenging, its worthwhile stopping and thinking: why? Seriously. There are kids out there that very literally dont know what theyre about to say until the words are coming out of their mouths. Its really important that those children are identified early and if support in mainstream education is failing, that wherever possible, the move to specialist provision is planned and to support their needs. According to Unison there are 10 key tips to managing behaviour . If having a diagnosis or label would support a child to access the resources and support they need, either within school or outside of school, then thats a clear reason for having a diagnosis.Getting a diagnosis, however, is not just important from a resourcing perspective. In addition to kids misbehaving, the term "bad behavior" can also refer to students not paying attention or not doing their homework or classwork. It sets out a rationale which encourages schools to embrace a group based teacher peer-support system as part of regular school development. Ignoring the teacher's directions. For more information, see The Stella Project: Supporting vulnerable learners, SecEd, February 2018: http://bit.ly/2qY0FFV. Self-harm can be a way of communicating this frustration. Imagine someone comes up to you in this country, and issues an instruction in a language you cant understand, then rapid-fires questions at you again in the language you dont understand, and then punishes you when you inevitably get frustrated, or when you just dont respond at all. How to Handle 5 Challenging Behavior Types. Affiliate login, Food Hygiene Care And when they cant pause and take a look at their menu of options? Or is there something going on at home a divorce or a bereavement? Most people thrive on praise and many of your children may not be accustomed to being praised for anything! Exclusionary discipline practices have stigmatized and isolated these students, and these practices have provided little information about the root cause of the challenging behaviors. Simple, traditional techniques for managing behaviour can be really effective for example, having a daily report card that children take round the school with them and then take home, so its not so much whats written on the card that counts, its the fact that the child is aware that everyones speaking to each other and that it opens up channels of communication. Behaviour that challenges in the classroom calls for a considered, consistent and whole-school approach. Strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour in the classroom, Communication skills for dealing with challenging behaviour in the classroom, General strategies for improving behaviour in the classroom, Managing customer conflict in the workplace. Shockingly, around 2 in 5 new teachers quit within the first five years and although this may not be fully attributed to challenging behaviour, it is one of the most cited reasons for leaving teaching. A large number of factors are considered to be responsible for the students classroom misbehavior. However, it's important to take a step back and figure out the causes to establish a safe learning environment for everyone to succeed. However, one of the causes of challenging behavior in children, in my experience, has been the inability to 'express' emotions. Many children engage in negative behaviour to gain attention, so being taken seriously may help you get to the reason why they do it. Causes of Behaviour. Getting to understand the home situation will help you understand the difficult pupil so that you can find ways to manage their behaviour. Take the time to get to know each of your students and build relationships with them. If a child is struggling with behaving in class, talking to them and proposing a strategy together may help. Everyone can improve their skills. How much time? Type this up and display it in the classroom so students can always see it. There are likewise effective, evidence-based interventions for conduct disorder also.Prof Ford believes that having clear, realistic targets for achievement is key when teaching children whose behaviour challenges, as is making a point of giving praise for a job well done.She said: If a child gets a reputation for always behaving badly, you can get a give a dog a bad name phenomenon there may be other children who are behaving badly, but not quite so often, who just get away with it and the child with the reputation cant even breathe loudly without being pulled up all the time.If you could reverse that so that you really jump on the things they do right and give them lots of praise and encouragement, that can be hugely effective in turning the situation around because they realise that actually people notice them they notice when I come to school, they notice when I hand my homework in and they notice when I do things right.Its also good to spend some time thinking about how to reward positive behaviour for individual children, as well as on a class and whole school level, says Prof Ford: Remember, its got to be a reward for the child and not the adult. The underlying causes of challenging behaviour. Whilst you may not necessarily be able to control its causes, you should be aware of some strategies you can use for managing challenging behaviour in the classroom. You think they hear you, yet disregard directions. This paper explores how educational psychologists working in a training/consultative way can enable teachers to manage challenging pupil behaviour more effectively. Continuing her series for SecEd on supporting our most vulnerable young people, Clare Stafford seeks expert advice on supporting students who regularly demonstrate challenging behaviour, Behaviour that challenges in the classroom calls for a considered, consistent and whole-school approach. It then explores the usefulness of the Staff Sharing Scheme as an exemplar of such an . Kaiser and Rasminsky describe it as behavior that does any of the following: Interferes with children's learning, development, and success at play. Prof Ford continued: Its about more than just getting money for a teaching assistant or other support. Featured: Soft Clemmy Sensory Train #148325, Children's LiteratureCloth & Board Books, Early Learning Accomplishment Profile (E-LAP), Learn Every Day: Infants, Toddlers, And Twos, How to Help Children Develop a Growth Mindset, Why Getting Messy Is Essential to Early Childhood Development. Rather than trying to completely remove unwanted behaviour, you should focus instead on facilitating the behaviour you want. On the surface might look like hitting, screaming, running out of the classroom, ripping up materials or refusing to participate. And, thinking about childrens broader mental health is there a neuro-developmental disorder like ADHD or an autism spectrum problem?Might a teenager be anxious about something, or is there a learning problem we havent yet found out about? The challenging behaviors of some preschool children can really disrupt a classroom. Impulse control is all about taking a look a menu of options, considering the possible outcomes of each action, evaluation the possible consequences, and then choosing the option that gets us closest to the set of consequences were hoping for. The first and foremost step to keep in mind is the promotion of positive or pro-social behaviour. Im not so sure I would! Challenging behaviour in the classroom is like an iceberg. What are the situations in which things go right and might those be possible ways of understanding whats going on or perhaps even be levers for change?, It is particularly important, says Prof Ford, to find out whether the child has a mental health problem such as anxiety, depression or ADHD: For all of these there are evidence-based interventions that can help support these children and which will have an impact on their behaviour. This includes anxiety, depression and psychosis as well as difficulties that might be less surprising, like substance misuse and dependence.. Is there bullying at school? Stealing taking things that belong to others. This can be done through a variety of means through assemblies, for instance, through a consistent approach to bullying, and by having ground rules on how staff interact with each other and with students.Simple, traditional techniques for managing behaviour can be really effective for example, having a daily report card that children take round the school with them and then take home, so its not so much whats written on the card that counts, its the fact that the child is aware that everyones speaking to each other and that it opens up channels of communication.Teacher-pupil relationships: a vital linkProf Ford is firmly of the opinion that we should not underestimate the importance of teacher-pupil relationships when it comes to challenging behaviour.She explains her thinking: From the British National Survey Data of school-aged children we have demonstrated that teacher-pupil relationships, if poor, predict the new onset of behaviour problems and other psychiatric issues and they also predict exclusions.While this may be a difficult thing for educators to hear, it demonstrates that what teachers and teaching assistants do is really important. 1. Knowing what causes challenging behaviour in children is crucial for dealing with it appropriately. Lack of respect. Once you have got to know your class, a warning look or a gesture may be enough to make a troublemaker stop. Triggers: Hormonal changes may cause aggression during puberty. Talk about common interests, open a casual conversation, and always ask them how they are. Maybe youve had this conversation a lot. Recognise the importance of getting a diagnosis where relevant. With about 3.8 million kids having attended public school kindergartens in the US, it is quite tricky to lack some students that have a tendency of talking nonstop and in the process distracting their fellow students from concentrating on their studies. Sometimes children cant help themselves. However, rather than making this an area for punishment, make it an area for reflection and calming down. I dont know about you, but that feels like a lot. Here are a few positive behaviour strategies that schools can . Below are some of these factors: 1. When were talking with kids, we talk all the time about impulse control, but we do it in secret code. Some children have tantrums, others may go hide in a corner and some may even get extremely aggressive. Read FLIP IT! Transforming Challenging Behavior for more information on how you can effectively respond to challenging behavior in the classroom and at home. Copyright 2022 Kaplan Early Learning Company. Economic . It is crucial that theyre not left to fail in mainstream and then excluded so that they end up in a specialist school as a result of failure that in itself has a detrimental effect on childrens mental health. Or is this a sudden change? PreK-12 educators will: Discover the root causes of challenging behavior Learn how to implement student choices in the classroom Explore self-monitoring as a way to improve social behavior and academic success Examine precorrection as a way to be proactive in the classroom when it comes to challenging behaviors Sometimes, but not always, this can be classified as attention seeking, but whatever the underlying cause it will need to be managed in the classroom environment. Virtually every parenting manual, school discipline handbook, and residential behavior system is built on the idea that behavior is a matter of will, and that, if we want our kids to do better, we must engage in a grueling process of punishing children so that they learn to make better choices. In doing so, other children are more likely to behave positively to get a similar reaction. What are some examples of challenging behaviour? This can be done through a variety of means through assemblies, for instance, through a consistent approach to bullying, and by having ground rules on how staff interact with each other and with students. Furthermore, when a child behaves in a typically negative way, identify their reasons for acting that way instead of just punishing them. Inflexible kids may zero in on what therapists often call negative cognititions, or the little voices of self-doubt that we all feel, and may become immobilized while self-doubt washes over them. This series of articles is part of the legacy the year-long project hopes to leave. Health and Safety Getting a diagnosis, however, is not just important from a resourcing perspective. Ellies Mental Health Resource Pack for Schools, which features a School Mental Health Policy template, was shortlisted for the Teach Secondary Awards 2019. Have you ever misplaced your phone more than once in the same day? I struggled a while with this student. Impulse is our ability to filter out the really, really bad ideas for the ones that will at least keep us employed for another day. There are no easy answers but if you manage to keep control over your sometimes difficult students with firmness, consistency, kindness and calm, you will be able to provide the education they need. Sometimes 45 seconds. There is also a small number who are very vulnerable because they have a learning disability, a mental health problem, a very difficult social situation or some combination of these.Such children may never cope in a mainstream school, whatever support you put in. However, it is not all a bed of roses, and challenging behaviour in the classroom can be extremely difficult to deal with when you are new to the profession. In doing this, youre getting students involved in a stimulating activity rather than directly telling them what to do, which will have better results. Cost of living crisis: Four million children living in Safeguarding: School referrals drive sharp rise in Black and female: Adultification, bias and racism, Four ideas to ensure high school attendance, A dark winter ahead as cost of living crisis bites, BotDetect CAPTCHA ASP.NET Form Validation. Diversity and cultural differences can cause behavioural differences that can be misunderstood by the teaching staff. If its a sudden change, what has happened at home or at school that might explain that? Calling on your class to help devise this themselves with your help will help create a good atmosphere. Using the tools above, and reviewing the information collected, a hypothesis can be developed about the causes of the student's challenging behaviour. Prof Ford is firmly of the opinion that we should not underestimate the importance of teacher-pupil relationships when it comes to challenging behaviour. However, here are some of the major reasons why a child may engage in challenging behaviour at school. Children with autistic conditions can struggle with changes in activity, and children with ADHD struggle with sitting still and sustaining concentration. All children misbehave from time to time, in numerous environments, and for multiple reasons. For example, teachers may need to show students visually what they must do and use simple instructions. But self-regulation is also about our ability to exercise impulse control. For some kids, if you do a thing for them, one way, one time, thats the way it has to be done for the rest of time. Depression, anxiety or even excitement. right? Carefully set realistic expectations, and explain those expectations clearly to reduce autism behavior problems in the classroom. Children may be aggressive, engaging in fighting or biting the other pupils. It presents the causes of challenging behaviour according to the three theoretical approaches that have dominated . If you need to call someone out for bad behaviour, try not to make it worse. Kids who are non-verbal can improve their skills. Its a habit Id gotten into after, you know, 30-some years of not sharing my room with anyone else, and it definitely wasnt working for my wife. Disruptive behaviours such as being out-of-seat, calling out in class, tantrums, swearing, screaming or refusing to follow instructions. That in itself the assessment and the explanation of whats going on and where this behaviour is coming from can make a huge difference for everybody trying to work with the child and for the child themselves.Assessing and addressing challenging behaviourIn thinking about ways to support children whose behaviour is challenging, either at school or at home or both, Prof Fords first priority is a clear assessment of whats going on in the childs life: Its important to think through how long has this been going on? We know because weve seen it happen, thousands and thousands of times. According to Rachel Wagner Sperry, MSW, with the Devereux Center for Resilient Children, the ICK in a child's life can cause challenging behavior. Any kid. If word gets round that you are willing to engage in trading sarcastic retorts, it sets out a challenge that you are unlikely to win in the long run and it just wastes time as well. Or not having enough free play. This time, instead of greatest-to-least, I want you to repeat them back to mean in sequential order. Eternities, on the adult clock. Challenging the teacher on certain concepts. This could be a reason why one of your students will misbehave in the classroom. Prof Ford said: There is a really, really strong overlap between children with behaviour problems and children with reading problems about a third of the children who have a specific reading disorder will also have conduct disorder and vice-versa., In some cases, the behaviour may derive from a childs stage of development relative to their age, as Prof Ford explained: There are children who have a global developmental delay, so in other words, its not so much that their behaviour is wilfully bad, but its that they are in a situation, particularly in a school setting, where actually the expectations are just inappropriate for their developmental level.. Jane works with the CPD Online College to produce great articles and has been with us since 2019. It is important to have a discussion with the student as soon as you notice this behaviour, especially if it is out of character or a sudden change. This is a mistake. One of the clearer origins of challenging behaviour relates to literacy. Create disruptions. The kids who invoke these messages are kids who are showing us they have a really hard time taking the perspective of other people, or even acknowledging the perspective exists. Other kids just dont know how to express their emotion (or need, or concern) in a way that makes sense. Similarly, if you ask students to be organised, ensure your organisation matches it. To ensure you are up to speed on diversity training, it is crucial that you understand the background and cultures of your students. behaviour of the loads SEND Information Report 2021-22 grip/control and handwriting. There is work from the 1970s which demonstrates that, for really vulnerable children, having one interested adult which was often a teacher and a fleeting relationship can make the difference between whether or not they succeed in terms of educational outcomes. Here, we offer ten to help you do so. Behaviour that challenges is not a diagnosis and is used in this guideline to indicate that such behaviour is a challenge to services, family members, carers and the person, but may be functional for the person with a learning disability. Always ensure that you communicate clearly and consistently. Underlying Causes of Challenging Behaviour in Schools . And lets say I ask you, without writing them down, to repeat those numbers back to me in order from greatest to least: 8, 6, 4, 2. Challenging behaviour is conduct that is either a challenge for others to manage and/or puts the young person at risk. That, in turn, may translate into the provision of a person to support a child with autism in the playground or to assist a child with ADHD to sit still in the classroom and actually get some work done. Armed with this . As long as you have strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour in the classroom, and understand the reasons why it happens, you can handle it effectively and keep class disruption to a minimum. What is challenging behaviour? You get the idea. How long have you got?! These questions are not asked out of nosiness but as a way of bullying you in front of the classroom audience. Ask students to bring an item for the area, like a teddy or a picture of their pet, that they can use to bring enjoyment when theyre struggling to manage their behaviour. We all know people who speak in a way that commands respect and others who sound apologetic or wheedling. Communication and language skills: the ability to communicate your concerns and needs to other people, or the ability to interpret for yourself what your needs and concerns even are. You should aim at keeping your communication calm, authoritative and neutral. "ICK refers to the negativity or risk factors in an individual's life," explains Sperry in FLIP IT! Transforming Challenging Behavior. Causes of challenging behaviour Identifying why children display challenging behaviour is key to finding a solution. Make better choices is another way of saying use your impulse control to go through that menu and select the best option. They may throw tantrums and screaming fits, as well as destructive behaviour such as breaking equipment or spoiling other pupils work. If you feel an emotion that they feel, such as frustration, act out how youd want them to respond: count to ten and then carry on. Challenging behaviour. Some kids dont know how to express their needs, while others have a really hard time assessing their needs in the first place. As a result, theyll likely feel annoyed at you and wont want to listen to what you say next. Like sitting tight. Imagine having no way to communicate via spoken language, and then imagine the citizens of this city placing extraordinary demands on you. How about this sequence: 1, 13, 7, 28, 14, 0, 6. Kids with serious cognitive disabilities can improve their skills. You can improve behaviour in the classroom so that challenging incidents are less likely to arise and any misbehaviour or naughtiness is easy to manage. For example, a student from a broken home is likely to misbehave more than any student whose parents are still together.
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