2. In today’s schools, angry and even aggressive classroom behavior
seems to be affecting all teachers equally; troubled and/or angry
students are no longer a concern just for special education
teachers. Being prepared for managing this challenging behavior
is by far the best word of advice that any teacher can follow. When
teachers are unprepared for, and easily influenced by, these kinds
of behaviors, they often mirror the angry behavior. For instance,
the child yells and the teacher yells louder. Mirroring the child’s
distraught behavior is the surest way for finding ourselves
immersed in a power struggle with the student. On this
presentation, you will find some guidelines for a safe intervention,
so that you are not caught up in confrontations and power
struggles with students.
3. Do not take the angry behavior and/or hostile remarks personally.
Students who fling foul language and threats at the teacher are
trying to get a reaction from the teacher. Simply put, the child is
doing his best to upset you.When you react angrily, you give
control of the interaction to the student. I understand that this is
easier said than done, so you have to make a conscious effort to
keep your composure. A good rule of thumb is to focus on behavior
rather than on words: calmly remind the student the behavior
expectation that he should be following at that moment. State
this once, if the child persists, you keep talking about actions or
behavior. Avoid excessive and/or unproductive talking (dialogue
that does not help in resolving the situation); the less everybody
talks, the better.
4. If the student becomes loud, you deliberately lower your voice and speak
slower; doing this usually helps in calming the child. In addition, avoid
being sarcastic and using verbal put-downs such as labeling the student.
For example, saying, “You are such as trouble maker!” or “You never
listen to anyone!” Keep your interaction with the student positive and
your messages free of damaging “contaminants.” By remaining positive
and serene, you are modeling to the child the kind of behavior that you
want from him.You do not need to tell the child that he needs to calm
down; you will get a calmer behavior from the child by showing him how
calmness and relaxation look (i.e., deep and regular breathing, low tone
of voice, slow speech rate, small hand and arm gestures, a relaxed
posture, and walking slowly). Your immediate goal while managing the
difficult interaction should be having the child mirror your behavior and
language, rather than you mirroring what the child does or says.You are
the adult in the room; lead the child into a calm and relaxed state.
5. Change language that criticizes the child’s character or
personality into language that criticizes the child’s actions
or behavior. For example:
o You are so stubborn! -Your behavior is stubborn.
o Why are you this oppositional? - Why are you behaving in
such an oppositional way?
This kind of language allows us to keep the discussion
focused on actions and on behavior.Why is this
important? Character or personality is a fixed and stable
trait; on the other hand, behavior is both changeable and
controllable. Focusing on behavior allows us to present the
issue to the child as an action that he can change and that
he can control. Keep reminding the student that he is in
control of his behavior, and that his behavior is his choice.
6. An added benefit for using choice language (e.g.,
“You can either work on your math workbook or
sit in the back of the room until we can talk. It’s
your choice”) is that, if the child remains
oppositional, because it was a choice, neither
the teacher nor the student “loses face.”That is,
you never imposed or demanded anything from
the child, so, he cannot contradict you. From the
child’s perspective, if he complies, he did it
because he chose to, not because the teacher
forced him to commit.
7. Do not force the issue, much less in front of the class or other
students.Trying to force and/or to coerce the student is an angry
strategy, with the only difference that, this time, the angry
feelings are emanating from you. Similarly, force is a power
strategy, and because of this, you are the one creating the power
struggle. Chances are that the child is going to resist your power
move, and even worse, other students may join the child in his
struggle with such a powerful opponent: you. In a verbal
confrontation, the student ends feeling stressed; the class ends
feeling stress; and you end feeling stress, so, who wins?This is
what experts in conflict management call a lose-lose solution to
conflict. By setting up your classroom discipline with force and
coercion, you are creating long-lasting feelings of mistrust in your
students.
8. Be careful to not get drawn into arguments
with the student. Make clear to the child that
you are not going to argue. Instead, calmly
repeat what you want the student to do using
behavior specific dialogue. Directly tell the
child that you are going to talk with him only
when he is calm. If necessary, move away
from the child.This simply technique will
keep you poised.
9. If the child is losing self-control, he needs clear
and specific directions about how you expect
him to behave. Present your directives to the
child using behavior specific language, for
example, saying, “I need you to sit in the back of
the room for five minutes so that you focus on
cooling down.” Encourage the student to take
some time and make clear that you will talk with
him once he feels calmer. With this statement,
you are influencing the child in believing that he
is going to feel calmer; it is just a matter of time.
10. OUR FACEBOOK PAGES
AND GROUPS
PSYCHOEDUCATION FOR
TEACHERS (Page)
https://www.facebook.com/p
sychoeducationalteacher
FREE OR CHEAPTEACHING
RESOURCES (Page)
https://www.facebook.com/fr
eeresourcesforteachers/
WETEACHTHEWORLD
(Group)
https://facebook.com/groups
/222247571474300
BOOKS IN CHILD GUIDANCE
THE PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL
TEACHER
https://www.amazon.com/aut
hor/thepsychoeducationaltea
cher/
