Teach

Coaches are the first line of support when staff members are concerned about a child’s or youth’s behavior. Because of the professional relationships you have built with staff, they feel comfortable coming to you with concerns and see you as a source of support and ideas. At times, however, you may find yourself unsure of how best to support a staff member: Are their concerns valid? Are the environments and curricular experiences appropriate? Have they built a healthy relationship with the child’s or youth’s family? Do the staff members have the skills they need to support the child or youth? This lesson helps you learn to distinguish between the answers to these questions and design plans that meet the needs of children, youth, and staff. You can find additional information on your role in supporting behavior concerns, specifically how you can support staff in responding to problematic sexual behavior in Lesson 8 of the Focused Topics course Sexual Development & Behavior of Children and Youth.

Trainers and coaches often find themselves facing several common scenarios related to behavior. You may think about this as understanding staff development alongside child and youth development.

Recently, it has become clear that bias plays a role in how adults understand, observe, interpret, and respond to behavior. A 2016 Yale University study found that preschool teachers of all races were more likely to focus on the behavior of boys—and African American boys in particular—when they were asked to watch a video that contained challenging behavior. Adults have internalized messages about who is likely to misbehave, and this affects the care children receive.

Who Are You Watching?

You can help staff members reflect on their own ideas, values, and assumptions about behavior and who “misbehaves.” Then you can help them challenge their thinking and reflect on whether they are making fair decisions.

• Whose behavior do they stop right away and whose behavior is not seen as quite so problematic?
• What kinds of roles and responsibilities do they give children or youth? And how are these roles and responsibilities associated with race, gender, or ability?
• Whose families are regularly involved in the classroom or program, and are there race, gender, or economic patterns in who feels welcome?
• Does the staff member encourage certain children or youth to explore independently more than others? Who is asked to hold the adult’s hand? Who gets called on to answer questions? Who is praised or encouraged?

In the Apply section of this lesson, you will have a chance to use the Pyramid Model Equity Coaching Guide to reflect on questions like these at each level of the behavior support pyramid. Use it as a tool to support your own professional learning and that of the staff you support.

Observing Children, Youth, and Programs

There are a variety of times you will be called upon to observe behavior. Always check with your program administrator to make sure procedures are followed and staff are supported. A coach should expect to observe:

• When a behavior has occurred that risked immediate harm: You may be asked to review closed-circuit video footage of the event with your administrator or the staff member involved. You will be asked to determine the possible antecedent (trigger) for the behavior, the observable action that took place (behavior), how adults responded to the behavior (consequence), and how the child or youth recovered from the incident.

• Prior to developing the formal behavior support plan: You will be asked to observe the child or youth in their program setting. Look for the foundational and environmental supports already in place, evidence of relationships between the youth and peers or staff, the youth’s interactions with materials or the environment, and behaviors directly observed. You should use forms provided by your program for this observation and document observations according to policy. Help staff come to understand and plan for common triggers while plans are being developed. You may find it helpful to use the questions on this form from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) to guide your conversations with staff: http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/modules/module3a/handout5.pdf The following are common triggers identified in the Army Child and Youth Programs’ Operational Guidance for Challenging Behavior (p. 5–11):

  Most Common Triggers

  Early Childhood

  When children are not sure what is going to happen:

  • Transitions
  • Change in schedule or routine
  • Inconsistent caregivers or expectations

  School-Age

  When children feel inferior/left-out:

  • Challenging or demanding tasks/activities
  • Being left out of a group
  • Feeling like something is unfair

  Middle School/Teens

  Changes in mood, energy, and thinking:

  • Strong personalities in the group
  • Too much or too little unstructured time
  • Internal stress or anxiety

• While staff implement the behavior support plan: Observe regularly while staff put a new plan in place. Collect data on plan implementation to make sure all elements of the agreed upon plan are in place. Also collect data on the child’s progress and share it with the staff. Provide feedback and modeling until the plan is implemented as planned.

Your Role in Developing and Implementing Behavior Support Plans

You are a member of the behavior support team. This means you will participate fully in observing, generating ideas, partnering with families, developing the plan, putting the plan in place, and evaluating its effectiveness. You will also provide staff with the professional development they need to implement the plan well. You may be called upon to connect the staff with the many resources available to them and the other sources cited throughout this course.PUBLIC Coaches play an important role in ensuring that the behavior support plan is reviewed, understood, and implemented by all staff members working with the child or youth.

One of the biggest sources of stress for staff can be talking with families about their concerns. Program administrators will also support staff as they open conversations with families, but you can help staff members prepare for these important conversations too. Help them gather the information they need and practice with you (see Explore activity in Lesson Six). You can teach staff members about sharing objective information with families and including positive information about the child or youth.

Model

Model Being Fully Present to Coach

When faced with concerning behaviors, staff members, may feel overwhelmed or doubt themselves. You can help a staff member “quiet the static” around themselves and be fully present with the child or with you (see Coaching with Powerful Interactions in the Resource List for more details on this approach). Take a few moments before every coaching interaction to ask yourself:

• What am I bringing to this interaction? What is going on for me personally and professionally that I’m bringing into this space?
• What do I know about this other person right now? What do I know about myself right now?
• What do I need to do to be able to listen fully?

Model Respectful Conversations About Behavior

It is common for staff members to feel some frustration around behavior, and it is also common for them to talk about this frustration with you or with one another. It is important that staff have a private place to share their concerns, but sharing should not evolve into complaining, venting, or gossiping. Model respectful ways of talking about behavior:

• 

  If you hear:

  She is out of control all of the time.

  
  

  Then say:

  It sounds like she had a difficult time with the group today. What did that look like?

• 

  If you hear:

  I'm the only one who can handle his behavior. Everybody else in the room just steps back and expects me to get hit and bit.

  
  

  Then say:

  I'm hearing you say that your teaming doesn't seem fair. Is that accurate? Why do you think everyone defers to you? How can I help your team increase their confidence?

• 

  If you hear:

  She has no idea how to get along with other kids.

  
  

  Then say:

  It sounds like she's still learning how to be with the group. What skill do you think would help her the most right now?

You can also model how to have positive relationships with families. Review Lesson Six for examples of strong family-centered conversations. Role play with staff until they feel comfortable talking to families about their concerns in supportive ways. You also can make sure families know who you are in the building. It can be uncomfortable if you are seen as someone who is only called in when there are problems. Model family-centered practices by:

• Greeting families by name in the hallways or program spaces.
• Attending or leading family events at the program.
• Maintaining a family information board and resource library.
• Listening to family stories and sharing your own.

Model Targeted and Intensive Supports

When a behavior support plan is written, staff may be unfamiliar with the new strategies they are being asked to try. You should feel comfortable going into classrooms and modeling these strategies with children or youth while staff observe. To make sure modeling is effective, follow these guidelines (Rush and Shelden, 2011):

• Make sure the staff member can actually observe you. This means that there is adequate staff in the room, and the staff member is not responsible for actively supervising other children during the time you are working together.
• Give the staff member something specific to look for. For example, you might say, “I’m going to wait 5 seconds before I give a reminder. Count to make sure I do that every time” or “Watch how the child responds when I praise him. I’m curious whether he likes praise or not.”
• Offer an opportunity to practice right away. Make sure the staff member can immediately try what they just watched you do. Observe and provide feedback.
• Use “team time outs” as needed. Feel free to call a “time out” while you are modeling. Ask the staff member what they think you should try next, or take a moment to describe why you took the action you did. Then jump back into the action. This strategy can be challenging or distracting with older youth, but it is very effective in early childhood and early elementary years.

Observe

While you are a key person in your program for children with challenging behaviors, your primary responsibility is to ensure that direct care staff carry out recommendations created by multi-disciplinary teams. Reflect on the skills and practices you implement that guide staff to best support children with challenging behaviors.