Title: Understanding Behavior from the Outside In Children with Challenging Behavior: Strategies for Reflective Thinking
1Understanding Behavior from the Outside
InChildren with Challenging Behavior
Strategies for Reflective Thinking
- Linda BraultEarly Childhood Consultant
- challengingbehavior_at_hotmail.com
2Who Am I To Talk?
- Early Intervention/Early Childhood Background
- Director of state-wide training and technical
assistance programs - Parent of two children
- Passionate about ways to help ALL children
succeed
3Outcomes for Today
- Explore how external and internal factors impact
behavior and interactions of children and adults - Examine adult emotional reactions to challenging
behavior and - Hear about strategies and tools that promote and
utilize reflective thinking.
4Sharing from Opening Activity
- Research shows that the main predictor of
achievement is a childs perception of - Does the teacher like me?
5What Do Most People Want?
- One MAGIC workshop, tool, technique or strategy
to make all the challenging behaviors disappear! - Me too!
- But I havent found it
6Reflective Thinking
- Using reflective thinking can have magical
results - When you stop, think, and then act, you can
consciously and carefully apply the knowledge and
experience you have gained through your training,
education, and work with children
7Why Do They Challenge Us?
- Behavior is Communication What is the
challenging child trying to tell us? - Children challenge us in order to communicate
their needs - Primary need of all humans is to belong (fit into
the whole) and to feel significant (be unique) - We want to belong by being valued for who we are
uniquely
Based on the work of Jane Nelsen, Positive
Discipline Page 94
8Hierarchy of Brain Development
Abstract thought Logic Reasoning Attachment Cont
extual Memory Sexual Behavior Emotional
Reactivity Appetite/Satiety Blood Pressure Body
Temperature Motor Regulation Balance Heart
Rate Breathing
FOREBRAIN Cortex Executive Center
MIDBRAIN Limbic Emotional Center
HINDBRAIN Cerebellum Brainstem Alarm Center
Page 49
9Buttons in Our Brain
Analytical Response
Emotional Response
Reactive Response
Reflexive Response
10Buttons in Our Brain
Analytical Response
Emotional Response
Reactive Response
Reflexive Response
11Buttons in Our Brain
Analytical Response
Emotional Response
Reactive Response
Reflexive Response
12Buttons in Our Brain
Analytical Response
Emotional Response
Reactive Response
Reflexive Response
13What Challenges You?
- Some behaviors Push our buttons
- Behavior is in the eye of the beholder
- Not everyone has the same buttons
- Learn to use others forreflection and
problem-solving
14What Do We Know About Challenging Behavior?
- Children with challenging behavior are often our
canaries in the coal mines - Systematically examining external and internal
factors can help us understand how to address the
needs being communicated through the behavior - When a child has a disability or special need,
this may also impact behavior and/or perceptions
of behavior
15Warning Label
- There is no direct relationship between a
childs intense temperament, neuro-developmental
immaturity, and/or family problems and a childs
later behavior, but we know the more stresses
children experience, the more help they will need
to cope with the everyday challenges of growing
up. - Poulsen, M. K. in Project EXCEPTIONAL
16Any of These Sound Familiar?
- Examining routines/ schedules
- Smoothing transitions
- Behavior management
- Natural/logical consequences
- Positive discipline techniques
- Providing choices
- Teaching of social skills
- Consistency
- Using art or music
- Anticipating difficulties
- Choosing battles
- and more...
17Been There, Done That
- Jot down a few words about how you feel when all
of these good ideas dont work - Is it any wonder we often give up at this point?
- Adults often REACT out of these feelings causing
them to miss opportunities to ACT out of a deeper
understanding - Reflection can help you access your wisdom
18- Are you looking for
- Blame
- or are you looking for
- Solutions?
19BRAULT Behavior Checklist
- Behavior
- Reflect (Step back from emotions)
- Analyze (Look at external and internal factors)
- Understand (What is the behavior communicating?)
- Learn (Gather more information)
- Try something new!
Page 6 in the book
20What Can Adults Control?
- We may want to control the child, but really we
cant - What we CAN control may well influence the child
- Program Elements Environments and Curriculum
- General Relationships and Interactions
- Strategies with a Child in Mind
- Child Characteristics (what we know about the
child through observation and gathering
information)
21Looking from the Outside In
Relationships
22Program Element Environments
- Physical Environment
- Sensory Environment
- Stability of the Environment
Page 11-20
23Physical Sensory Environment
- Group Size
- Room Organization and Arrangement
- Variety and Number of Toys Materials
- Auditory
- Visual
- Tactile
- Emotional
24Stability in the Environment
- Staff turnover or number of staff that change
each day - Changes in curriculum, room arrangement, etc.
- Children leaving the group or joining the group
25Stability at Home
- Children who are experiencing a lack of stability
in their (home) environment are at increased risk
for developmental and emotional difficulties - These childrens families need help to address
these problems - And these children need positive experiences to
help them cope with the negative stresses they
cannot avoid
Poulsen, M. K. in Project EXCEPTIONAL
26Program Element Curriculum
- Developmentally appropriate, interesting and
challenging - Balances quiet/active
- Balances indoor/outdoor
- Appropriate expectations for self-help skills
- Schedules and Transitions
Page 22-34
27Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Plus
National Association for the Education of Young
Children (NAEYC)www.naeyc.org
28General Relationships
- Personal Enjoyment
- Positive Respectful Relationships with Adults and
Children - Temperament and Learning Styles
- Values and Beliefs
- Culture and Language
Page 35-60
29Neurons to Neighborhoods Sound Bites
- A childs earliest human relationships affect
later childhood relationships and provide the
building blocks to future development
30Positive Characteristics
- A consistent, nurturing, emotionally responsive
primary caregiver - An understanding of child development and how
children learn - A view of a childs behavior as an expression of
how the child copes with the world - The acceptance of the urgency of a young
childs needs - An emotionally balanced caregiver which allows a
child to predict adult behavior
Poulsen, M. K. in Project EXCEPTIONAL
31Strategies with a Child in Mind
- Group Management and Guidance
- Prevention of Problems
- Problem-Solving
- Communication with Family Members
- Support from Colleagues
Page 61-91
32Relationship Strategies
- Communication with Family
- Home/Family Connection
- Sharing Concerns
- Support from Colleagues
- Taking Time to Reflect
- Learning from Others
Page 83-87
33Neurons to Neighborhoods Sound Bites
- Culture influences every aspect of human
development and it is reflected in child-rearing
beliefs and practices
Page 52-55
34Child Characteristics
- Typical Developmental Stages
- Communication through Behavior
- Temperament and Learning Styles
- Specific Behavior
- Culture and Language
- Individual Differences
Page 93-114
35What Behavior Do We Want?
Social Emotional Skills
- Confidence
- Capacity to develop good relationships with peers
- Concentration and persistence on challenging tasks
- Ability to effectively communicate feelings such
as frustrations, angers, joys - Ability to listen to instructions and be attentive
Ron Lally
36Social Emotional Competence
- Social and emotional competence is essential for
school readiness and success - Social and emotional competence is developed
through relationships, initially with their
primary caregivers, then through day to day
interactions
Ron Lally
37Being Intentional
- Focus on what you want a child to do
- Acknowledge and encourage that behavior
- Praise is alright occasionally, however, it tends
to increase external motivation - Acknowledgement and encouragement build internal
motivation
38Identity Formation
- Each young child has a question to ask Who am
I to you? - The way the child gets responded to is how the
child gets the answer - If the child is seen as delightful, then the
child will see themselves as delightful...
39How It Feels To Be Me
- A perspective by Robyn Brault
40Forming Identity
- What messages did Robyn receive from the teachers
around her? - What can we learn from Robyns experiences?
41- How a caregiver views the child influences how
the caregiver interacts with the child which
influences who the child becomes.
42Support as a Strategy
- Support from Colleagues It takes TIME and it is
worth the time - Reflection and Sharing
- Owning mistakes
- Miss-takes are wonderful opportunities to learn
Page 115
43Behavior is Communication
- It is important that caregivers interpret
challenging behaviors as signs of stress and an
inability to cope rather than indicators of
willfulness or defiance... Children would
prefer to deal with their world in effective
ways. But children who are living with extreme
stress may not have learned easily from prior
experiences. They may need to be taught and
re-taught simple social expectations other
children learn naturally. - Poulsen, M. K. in Project EXCEPTIONAL
44Behavior is Communication
- So what is the childs challenging behavior
trying to tell us?
45Sorting Out Behavior
- Challenging Behavior Sorting it Out, Developing
a Plan - BRAULT Behavior Checklist
- Review for a child
- Share with partneror team
- Work with the family
46Take Action!
- What will you do with your new ideas? Use the
Action Plan! - Research shows that using an idea within a week
helps the information to stick - Sharing your plan helps you take action
47You must be the change you wish to see in the
world. Mahatma Gandhi
48Resources and Ideas From
- Children with Challenging Behavior Strategies
for Reflective Thinking Brault Brault, CPG
Publishing - Californias Map to Inclusive Child Care (web
links for behavior) www.sonoma.edu/cihs/CAmap - Positive Discipline Jane Nelsen
www.positivediscipline.com - J. Ronald Lally Co-Director, WestEd Center for
Child Family Studies - From Neurons to Neighborhoods Shonkoff and
Phillipshttp//books.nap.edu/books/0309069882/htm
l/index.html - Marie K. Poulson, University of Southern
California (USC) - Project EXCEPTIONAL Kuschner, Cranor and Brekken
- Resilience Net http//resilnet.uiuc.edu
- Division for Early Childhood (DEC)
www/dec-sped.org