Challenging behaviour is something that every teacher deals with throughout their career.
Although there are several ways to deal with challenging behaviour, many teachers like to use a simple, 5-step method to identify and correct behavioural issues.
Here, Anglicare Victoria outlines five steps to help you deal with challenging behaviour.
- Observe and record
Observing and recording poor behaviour is the first step to correcting it. Teachers often use an Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence (ABC) chart to track challenging behaviour. Let’s say Charlotte sat next to Lily and started using crayons that Lily was using, which are actually for everyone to share (Antecedent). Lily then bit Charlotte (Behaviour). Charlotte then cried and told the teacher (Consequence). It sounds simple, but recording incidents like these allows you to track typical behaviour and identify the root cause – which is the next step.
- Identify the reason for challenging behaviour
Next, we identify the reason for challenging behaviour. In the given example of Charlotte and Lily, the reason is that Lily didn’t want to share the drawing space with Charlotte. It’s surmisable that Lily behaves like this at home when it comes to sharing, and that she is likely ‘rewarded’ for it as her parents or carers succumb to her challenging behaviour.It’s important not to ‘reward’ this behaviour by letting Lily continue to use the space, and instead, make it known that sharing the drawing space is necessary.
- Develop a behaviour support plan
The behaviour plan is the next step. What needs to happen to change the challenging behaviour of the student? First, it needs to be explained to Lily that words are the way we communicate – not through physical actions. Next, Lily needs to understand the concept of sharing, and she needs to be rewarded when she succeeds in sharing.
- Implement the plan
Implementing the behaviour support plan is a slow process that should be reinforced for several weeks or months. Progress can be slow and teachers should be patient. To help track progress, teachers should record all incidents in a log which helps assess whether the plan is taking effect.
- Review and adjust
After that, it’s time to review the results, and see whether progress has been made in correcting challenging behaviour. If insufficient progress has been made, teachers should adjust accordingly.
Anglicare Victoria can assist students with challenging behaviour
If you’re concerned that a child is displaying challenging behaviour due to trauma experienced at home, Anglicare Victoria is here to help. Anglicare Victoria’s Meridian Youth and Family Therapy program provides short, medium and long term support to help assist with a myriad of student-related issues, including school withdrawal, bullying, anxiety, behavioural problems, grief and loss, social isolation and many others. Contact Anglicare Victoria if you’d like to know more about how we can help you.
