“Many children without
disabilities exhibit challenging behavior, and many with disabilities do
not. If a child with a delay or
disability is exhibiting challenging behavior, it is not necessarily linked to
their delay or disability” (Brillante, 2017, p. 49) How can administrators support teachers working
with children that have challenging behaviors and difficult classroom situations? How do you coach teachers to “read” the
reasons why the behavior is occurring? How
do you coach teachers to meet group and individual needs? What curriculum planning strategies are
effective? What community resources are
available?
Oh my do I have a lot of experience with this one! Part of the reason is my personal ethic code. I would not and have not ever asked a child to leave my program for behavior or any other reason. I believe behavior is communication and that child is trying to tell us they need help in meeting that unmet need. I teach my staff to be detectives in finding out why the behavior is occurring. This gives them a key role and something to do about reaching a solution. They need me to support them. I do this by coming into the classroom when I hear it escalating. As recent as a month ago I was, kicked, hit, bit and spit on. This is tough stuff and no teacher can or should handle this alone. I also support my staff by connecting with the parents and develop a team approach to solving this together. I guide parents through the process of “let’s rule this out.” I keep in mind the parents need as much support as the child. It’ so hard being the first outside the family to care for a child with undiagnosed needs. We tread very gently with the families. Sometimes it isn’t time for them to face that something is wrong. We continue to build trust and a relationship with them until that time is right.
ReplyDeleteSupporting my teachers, daily if needed, supporting the parents daily if needed is my approach. There are times we have to expand our in house team to the special needs team at the local public school. Use the district the child lives in and do your research. Help the families access this. Help them draft a letter requesting an evaluation and in what areas. Attend the summary meeting with the families. You can be there to support them and represent yourself as a professional in the community.
Make an action plan. The worst thing a staff member can feel is thtat you choose to ignore the challenges they are facing daily.
Hi Theresa,
DeleteI'm delighted that you are professional and ethical. It sounds like your actions support the
Code of Ethical Conduct: Supplement for Early Childhood Program Administrators
Adopted July 2006, Reaffirmed and Updated May 2011. You are a supportive administrator and you consider the needs of the children, families, and your colleagues.
Some programs may not have the resources to provide care under any circumstance. I'm not proud of it; yet when I was an administrator, I terminated care for some children with needs beyond the resources the program could provide. I used the Code of Ethics to guide decision making. My obligations to children and families include:
P-1.1 We shall place the welfare and safety of children above other obligations (for example, to families, program personnel, employing agency, community).
P-2.6 We shall develop policies that clearly state the circumstances under which a child or family may be asked to leave the program. We shall refuse to provide services for children only if the program will not benefit them or if their presence jeopardizes the ability of other children to benefit from the program or prevents personnel from doing their jobs.
P-2.7 We shall assist families in finding appropriate alter¬natives when we believe their children cannot benefit from the program or when their presence jeopardizes the ability of other children to benefit from the pro¬gram or prevents personnel from doing their jobs.
P-2.8 We shall apply all policies regarding obligations to families consistently and fairly.
P-2.9 In decisions concerning children and programs, we shall draw upon our relationships with families as well as each family's knowledge of their child.
There were times when I needed to refuse to provide services for children because the program did not benefit them and their presence jeopardizes the ability of other children to benefit from the program and prevented personnel from doing their jobs.
Have others wrestled with this ethical decision making?
Sue
Hi Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. It’s essential that we work together with parents to promote a child’s development. If we develop a wide variety of ways to communicate with them, such as newsletters, documentation of learning, emails-both group and individual, and resources or articles, sharing sensitive information at a parent conference is more likely to be received in positive manner. It’s also important for parents to understand what we do and why we do it. This includes helping families to become familiar with our assessment tools so that we can both be on the same page when helping a child to develop a certain skill.
One thing that we do at our center is to offer parents workshops on particular topics and this helps the parents to connect with others who may have similar concerns about their child.
As you mentioned, supporting staff is also a big part of this. We have to make them feel that they are supported and that their needs are being met. Sometimes it means bringing in outside professionals and sometimes it doesn’t, but working with a challenging child is physically exhausting and we need to make sure that one teacher isn’t taking on those challenges alone. If it means taking over for them at certain times of the day, being in the classroom during transition times, or meeting with the team to develop an approach for working with the child, then it’s a director’s job to make those adjustments.
As I stated in the other comment section that communication is the key. You have to build that relationship/bond with your families and children. They all need to feel comfortable, and makes communication much more easier in times of trouble or happiness. Sharing something special that the child does makes a parent feel secure and comfortable. That their child is very special to us as well. Keeping the professional supports are key. JRI out of Taunton is life saver for us. We have them come out to support our teachers and families, and child. It is the whole package. We also utilize a behavior consultant that I work with on our CFCE grant. She helps support teachers and families. Workshops, advise, meetings with families. The support goes on and on. We work as a team to get the best goals set up for the individual child.
ReplyDeleteThis quote is so true. It makes complete sense. I’ve seen so many children who are not technically diagnosed but have problems. Problems that left me thinking there’s something that does not simply make sense. How do we solve this problem? Observation is key. Teachers being aware of the situations and circumstances that lead to a child’s specific behavior is important. Then the teacher can work on how to help the child in that specific area by either eliminating the situation or making it easier for the child . For example if a child has separation anxiety in the morning and if the teacher observed that it’s worse when the parent lingers in the classroom then the teacher can suggest the parent to leave and assure that the child will be okay. It’s important to give an input to the parent as to how the child did better when the parent left sooner so they’ll continue to cooperate with the teacher.
ReplyDeleteAnother example : I used to do this in my room. This child had extreme separation anxiety to a point where he would run out the door into the hallway chasing his mom after drop off. I realized he loved to dance . So around the time he would enter my room I already had the music going from his favorite CD. Boom!! Problem solved! He got busy dancing and forgot about chasing his mommy. Documentation is another important tool. Where we can’t remember everything that happened that day or that week it’s very helpful when we have something to refer to and discuss and eventually solve. Documentation is also sound proof to help the parent understand that we really do have a problem at hand that needs immediate attention.
Adding “ small groups” to “ work time” in classrooms has greatly helped me spend one on one with a small group ( 4-5) of kids. One can do a simple activity like bingo games or sorting/ counting depending upon the need of that group . Specific skills can be worked on and it’s easier for the teacher to know the progress of each child .
Hi Jeeva,
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you agree with Theresa who said, "I believe behavior is communication and that child is trying to tell us they need help in meeting that unmet need."
I agree that documentation is critical not only for families. Sometimes we need to communicate to colleagues and may not have a change to talk when staffing transitions occur. I wonder how a communication log would work in your program.
A child's behavior often is a red flag for problem in the home . We often have a meet and greet asking the parents if they see this savior at home and how they handle it. If not then we often recommend a visit to doctor to rule out health issues. A school we shadow and try a behavior sticker chart and often have the public school psychologists advice and often observing and offering classroom suggestions and parenting classes
ReplyDeleteMary macdonald
DeleteI think this may be the spot to discuss the importance of assessment. We need to place things on paper and to collectively document what we see. I have a system that works pretty well. We teach as a team and will have 2 to 3 teachers in my one larger classroom at a time. We have children attending different days in different groups. I assign each teacher a group of children for her to be the advocate for. They are responsible for completing the assessment for their group. They also speak for that child’s needs and those of their family, to all the staff involved. It makes for a smaller group experience within a larger classroom. Through the process of regular assessments that are developmentally appropriate the needs of each child can be documented. The next piece is to share those assessments with the parents at key times throughout the school year. This helps in preparing a parent for a possible referral down the road. I found that taking a requirement and crafting it to really work for us is worth it. Assessment is your friend especially as you prepare a family to seek outside intervention.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your words of wisdom. I agree!
ReplyDelete