What do you do if you're faced with students exhibiting behavioral challenges?

Working primarily with students who exhibit behavioural challenges, the most useful tool is relationship and trust. Like adults, young people will not work or engage with people they do not like and in turn, a student knows when they are not liked by the teacher leading to the same outcome. In my AP, boundaries are set and we remind and review these boundaries on a regular basis. Consistency in your approach to challenging behaviour is also key, especially in a small group environment. Though there does need to be a varied approach based on the needs of an individual, confusion will often lead to further disruption if its evident a teachers decision differs from student to student for the same type of behaviour.

When faced with students exhibiting behavioral challenges, it's crucial to understand the underlying causes before addressing the issue. As a teacher and mentor, I believe in the principle that for every action, there is a reaction. Therefore, instead of solely focusing on the behavior itself, I strive to dig deeper to identify the root cause and provide appropriate support. For example, if a student is acting out in class, I might have a one-on-one conversation to uncover academic struggles, social pressures, or personal challenges. Understanding the causes allows me to tailor my approach, providing necessary support and guidance to help the student thrive.

You need to interview each student separately to discuss the causes of behaviour change and you may also need collaboration with psychology experts

When faced with students exhibiting behavioral challenges, establishing clear rules, routines, and essential agreements between students and teachers is essential. These agreements help set the tone for the classroom and define clear expectations that students themselves have agreed upon. By constantly reminding students of these agreements, teachers can maintain class decorum and address behavioral challenges effectively. For example, if a student repeatedly interrupts class discussions, referring back to the essential agreement on respecting others' speaking turns can serve as a gentle reminder and encourage the student to modify their behavior accordingly.

Instead of just getting mad when student(s) does something wrong, I try to catch them doing things right and give them a little boost of encouragement. Remembering what B.F. Skinner said about how we learn, it's like when you get a reward for doing something good, you're more likely to do it again. In my classroom, I focus on praising and rewarding students when they show positive behavior. By using rewards and positive reinforcement, I've managed to keep behavioral challenges to a minimum.

We need also to make sure that students can understand the rules, we can make training or simple testing to confirm that. The main challenge is when they understand the rules but overcome them this means that they do not respect these rules

All teachers need to be trained for how to respond to behaviour challenges of students, how to be calm and how to respond. One important simple way is to set calm until student finishe then try to understand the cause of this behaviour abd solve the problem

Many times strategies fail due to missing the main causes of behaviour change, we need to set with parents, interviews of student and his colleagues, psychologist help abd expert help. Sometimes, we may need a multidisciplinary team-based collaborative work to solve student problem and save his future