CHILDREN DISPLAYING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS

One of the things that schools are noticing coming out of Covid lockdowns and remote learning is an increase of aggressive behaviours displayed by students within schools. There are a number of theories surrounding the increase of such behaviours and as a school we’ll always take a restorative, respectful and dignified approach to dealing with them under the Child Safety Guidelines.

Whether at school or at home, responding to a child who displays aggressive behaviour is no easy task. Reducing challenging behaviour takes time, energy and teamwork between the child, educators and the family. There is no quick fix, but the rewards of supporting children to overcome their impulses are long lasting and can ease the transition to primary school to secondary school and beyond.

Research into aggressive behaviours in early education services has found the most frequent actions were pushing and shoving, arguing, fighting over objects, taking an item from someone else, hitting, kicking or throwing things. Around 75% of the aggressive behaviour occurs during out of class activities (recess and lunch.)

Aggressive behaviour can be a symptom of an underlying issue and by seeking to understand the causes of the behaviour, educators can learn what is driving the reaction and how to respond. Children may lash out due to frustration or because they haven’t yet learnt how to control their impulses or resolve conflicts.

Other causes may include stressful life events through to behavioural issues like ADHD, ODD, autism or a learning difficulty that challenges the child’s ability to manage and express their feelings effectively and appropriately.

Also important is the child’s environment and the relationships that inhabit it. Relationships built on warmth and mutual respect can teach children pro-social behaviour. As prevention is better than cure, creating an environment that supports children to feel valued and safe will mean negative behaviours are less likely to arise.

For children to learn to behave well at school, they need to know what ‘behaving well’ looks like. Communicating this clearly allows children to learn why certain behaviours are welcome and why others aren’t.

When teachers assess and manage aggressive behaviour in young children there are four key steps that we follow:

IDENTIFY BEHAVIOURS CAUSING CONCERN

If a child is displaying difficult behaviour teachers will usually stop and record their observations. They will note details such as when the behaviour happened, who else was involved and what happened before and after the incident. By carefully monitoring and addressing these situations, educators can begin to identify why they may be happening. This can help target strategies to manage the child’s behaviour more effectively.

UNDERSTAND REASONS BEHIND THE BEHAVIOUR

These types of behaviours happen for a reason. Educators need to look at what might lie beneath. The reasons why behaviours occur are many and varied. Social changes, frustration, attention seeking, poor role modelling, and learning difficulties are just a few. The way to identify these reasons will involve careful observation and documentation, and discussion with the family and colleagues.

TEACH APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOURS

After identifying the behaviours causing concern, it is then important to identify the positive behaviours that need to be developed in the child. Taking an instructional approach to behaviour gives children the chance to learn and practice how to behave in a learning environment. Educators can support children by identifying a small number of behavioural expectations and defining specific examples or rules of what those expectations look like across common settings or routines – such as during circle time, during learning time or out playground at recess and lunch – and by directly teaching children how to put those expectations into practice.

USE BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

Behaviour management strategies need to be moulded to the individual child and are often a case of trial and adaptation. The important thing is to try one or two strategies for an extended period of time to allow the child to respond, and to most importantly to have consistent measures and practices in place with other teaching staff and carers.

When faced with challenging behaviour at school, here are some key strategies that we use to help build the understanding of children and improve the partnership of learning;

Create a predictable environment

The classroom environment plays a central role in encouraging positive behaviour. Create a predictable, orderly learning environment to maximize structure and predictability.

Minimise and plan transitions

Transitions can be a particular concern related to young children’s behaviour and frequently impact how orderly the classroom environment is. Teachers can support positive behaviour throughout transitions by planning for them ahead of time, alerting children before transitions occur, and providing a clear signal at the beginning of each transition.

Model the behaviour you expect

Be a positive role model. A controlled tone of voice and a calm attitude should be adopted by the educator in all situations. Children learn from observing adults working together and collaborating and modelling positive behaviours. This encourages children to move towards considerate actions that support an understanding of inter-dependence.

Recognise good behaviour and achievements

Providing children with specific, positive feedback helps them learn what appropriate behaviour looks like. Verbally commending appropriate behaviour as it occurs is an essential tool for classroom management. Educators can create opportunities for more formal recognition of positive behaviour such as sending home a certificate or messaging a parent when they see children demonstrating positive social behaviour.

Give specific and timely feedback on negative behaviour.

Explain to children what they are doing wrong and offer them options to change and lay out the consequences of such behaviour.

Use positive language

Empathetic or reflective language is a subtle way of providing positive messages to a child. It conveys to the child that you are seeing them, trying to understand them and acknowledging any feelings they may be experiencing. For example, using words such as ‘Perhaps’, ‘Maybe’ and ‘Sometimes’ in interactions enables children to agree or disagree if they want to, rather than the adult deciding how the child may be feeling and why they are behaving negatively.

Provide emotional outlets

Children get stressed and frustrated so plenty of opportunities to express this in a safe and appropriate way will decrease the chance of these emotions bubbling over. Put on some music, paint, draw, play, construct. Stomp around like angry monsters or go for a run outside. Soothing music or a quiet space can help reduce tense or anxious feelings, also play is important to teach emotional regulation, problem-solving and social skills.

Talk about feelings

Encourage emotional articulacy in your class by discussing feelings. Use ‘social stories’ to help children understand expected behaviours, work through interpersonal issues, practice conflict resolution skills and help them understand new perspectives. Say how you would feel too. This will give children confidence and a structure to talk about how they feel.

Be firm when needed, help organise feelings

Children need the security that comes with knowing there are limits and that when they need help with their behaviour they will get it. Children need adults to set reasonable boundaries and help them to organise their feelings and responses. Educators can support children to focus on the outcomes of being considerate to others while searching for a fair and equitable resolution, that supports learning.

Involve families

We will always keep open the channels of communication with parents and keep them in the loop when their child has misbehaved or is struggling in the classroom. Educators play an important role in helping families support and guide their child’s behaviour in positive and effective ways.

The most important thing to remember is that the emotional social physical and academic and spiritual development of all children at St Ita’s is a partnership between teacher, student and parent. If you have any concerns relating to your child and aggressive behaviours that they may be showing at home, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher as a first point of call. We are here to help and support all our children.