Challenging Behaviors: Investigating the Reasons

 During class this week, I was tasked with looking into reasons why students present challenging behaviors. I am a general education teacher, so obtaining this knowledge is very insightful. I honestly think many general education teachers lack the training and knowledge on how to identify reasons behind challenging behaviors. Looking back on my years of teaching, there were a few times when I had students who had challenging behaviors, and I wish that I knew then what I know now. I had a student who sought attention any way he could. He purposely avoided his work, and he would break down and get extremely angry and aggressive when his answers were wrong. He would shut down altogether. No one wanted to work with him because he brought little to the table. Any encouraging or praising on my part made him temporarily happy, but he would revert to being angry again. It got to the point where we had to have a meeting with his parents which included all his teachers, his parents, an administrator, the school psychologist, and the school counselor. Warnings were given, but other than that, nothing else was done. It has been five years, and if I could go back, I would look deeper into the reasons why the student acted the way that he did. I knew that he sought attention because his father was never around. He was the youngest child and the only boy in the household so his dad gave him everything he wanted. His mother was absent from his life, and his step-mother did not appear like she wanted to be responsible for him. He had very low academics, and poor social skills. His emotions fluctuated depending on the circumstances and what made him angry. Looking back now, I know that he lacked self-management skills in behavior, emotions, and the social aspect. Self-management skills are are defined as the effort or ability of an individual to regulate or discipline cognitive functions, such as emotions and behavior (Claro & Loeb, 2019). He struggled with regulating all three skills, and he did not have any coping skills to fall back on so he often lashed out as a response. If I could go back in time, I would provide him with intervention where I would work together with our school psychologist to create an intervention for him where he could develop his self-management skills and academia. There, he could learn how to regulate his behavior, emotions, and develop his social interaction skills through role-play, scenarios, and real-life opportunities in the classroom (Steedly et al., 2008). I truly believe that he would have benefited from it. Now, I can only use what I have learned to become a better teacher for my future students. I really hope that future general education teachers are provided with challenging behavioral trainings so they are able to look past a misbehavior and see a child who is crying out for help. 

References

Claro, S., & Loeb, S. (2019). Self-management skills and student achievement gains: Evidence from California’s CORE districts. EdWorking Paper, 19(138), 1-35.

Steedly, K. M., Schwartz, A., Levin, M., & Luke, S. D. (2008). Social Skills and Academic Achievement. Evidence for Education. Volume III, Issue II. National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities.