Behavior Modification
Mar 1, 2010 12:00 PM, By Randolph M. Boardman
Preventing problematic behaviors: it starts with staff training.
Professional development and training can help school staff members organize their thinking about problematic behaviors.
Professional development and training can help school staff members organize their thinking about problematic behaviors.
In a perfect world, students would never talk back to school staff and never argue or fight with each other. They would complete all their assigned tasks, and disciplinary actions never would be needed.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. Student behavior is a daily concern. Teachers continue to refer students to the office as a result of behavior problems, and disciplinary policies must be in place to handle incidents when a student's behavior creates a problem. That said, strategies exist that school staff can employ to help prevent these behaviors from escalating to a point where additional disciplinary action is necessary.
School staff members often receive limited training in how to prevent and respond to troubling behavior. In a survey conducted by Zogby International for the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), most teachers (55 percent) surveyed said they expected their school to experience more disruptive behavior. However, 80 percent of general education teachers reported receiving little or no training in preventing these behaviors.
Behavior-management strategies help staff members respond to behaviors that already have escalated. Behavior-prevention strategies are more proactive — they can prevent behaviors from occurring.
Professional development and training can help staff members organize their thinking about problematic behaviors and learn how to intervene appropriately at the earliest possible moment.
Distinguishing behaviors
The first step in behavior prevention is for staff members to realize that the behavior they can control most effectively is their own. What staff members say and how they say it often will determine whether a student's behavior improves, worsens or stays the same.
Ten tips to prevent crises and help understand how staff behavior can help mitigate a crisis:
- Be empathetic
By listening to students' concerns, teachers often can discern the real meaning and function behind the behavior.
- Clarify messages
During a crisis, messages can be misunderstood easily. Ensure that your messages are clear and that you understand what a student's behavior is communicating.
- Respect personal space
Invading a student's personal space can create anxiety and cause troubling behavior to escalate. This same concept also applies to personal belongings.
- Be aware of your body position
How you stand in relation to a student may convey a message you don't intend. Standing face to face may signal that you intend to be confrontational.
- Ignore "challenge" questions
There essentially are two types of questions staff members will hear while intervening with a student in crisis: Questions either will be asking for information or will be a challenge to authority. If a student is looking for information, provide it. When staff members avoid taking questions personally that challenge authority, they are declining the invitation to a power struggle.
- Permit verbal venting when possible
Often when students are yelling, they are just letting off steam. Why not let them vent? If they are releasing energy verbally, they are not releasing that energy physically.
- Set and enforce reasonable limits
Give clear options and choices. Options are different than ultimatums. Once you have given the student an option, give him or her time to make a choice.
- Keep nonverbal cues nonthreatening
Avoid excessive hand gestures, rolling your eyes or getting in a student's face.
- Avoid overreacting
You can't control a student's behavior, you only can control yours. Even if a student is calling you every name in the book, don't let the behavior push your buttons.
- Use physical techniques only as a last resort
Physical intervention may be harmful physically and psychologically to students and staff. When deciding whether to respond physically, ask yourself, "Is this student's behavior so dangerous that the danger of not intervening outweighs the possible dangers of the restraint?" Remember, only properly trained staff should participate in physical intervention.
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