David, Krizzia A.

BECED 3A

ECE 115 – MODULE 5-7

7. What roles does parent and teacher play in responding or addressing challenging
behaviour in young children? (Minimum 300 words)

Challenging behaviour has been defined as any behaviour that interferes with children’s
learning and development, is harmful to children and to others, and puts a child at high risk for
later social problems or school failure. Challenging behaviours can be a source of great
frustration to teachers, parents, and other caregivers. Early in life challenging behaviour is
developmentally appropriate, and all children continue to engage in it periodically as they
mature. However, some children rely on challenging behaviour as a way to get their needs met.
Such children may need individualized interventions.

Parental involvement in addressing challenging behaviour in a variety of settings (e.g.,

school, community, and at home) is an important component of significant, long-term, positive
behaviour change for students. Students will benefit from clear and consistent expectations when
parents and teachers work on the creation and implementation of positive behaviour support
techniques in the home and at school. By cooperating with school team members during the
assessment, development, and implementation of behaviour support methods across home and
school settings, parents can remain engaged in building effective positive behaviour support
strategies for their children.

When faced with a difficult situation, the best approach is to try to be patient and work to
find the right solution through to resolve the child’s issue. Though it may not seem like it at first,
with time you will be able to find a method that works for each individual child. Begin by
carefully observing the challenging behaviour, then take action to rectify it.
8. Answer the following

a. As soon to be facilitator of learning or educator, if someone in your class approach you and signify
or manifest intention to harm others, what will you do? Justify your answer?

Children sometimes experiment with aggressive acts toward other children, including hitting, slapping,
pinching, scratching, poking, pulling hair, biting, kicking, shoving, and knocking down. Since these
potentially harmful behaviours are unacceptable in the adult world, they should not be allowed between
children.

 Don’t ignore the problem

 Arrange a private time to talk, away from classmates but in a semi-public setting if
safety is an issue
 Be supportive and respectful
 Don’t get into arguments
 Don’t get caught up in their emotional state, it is not your job to counsel students
 Acknowledge their distress
 Ask how you can be helpful, provide options for the student or ask them to come up
with options
 Don’t label or diagnose them
 Assess for any possible self-harm
 Make referrals if needed – walk with them to the counselling centre if needed


b. As soon to be facilitator of learning or educator, if someone in your class approach you and signify
or manifest intention to harm himself/herself, what will you do? Justify your answer?

 Avoid judgement. Those who are self-harming may get worried that they are being
judged or assumed to be suicidal. This can cause them to shut down even more.
 Seek understanding. Genuinely be interested in understanding how this helps them,
what purpose it serves and why they do it. It might be helpful to know about the type of
injury, the frequency, coexisting mental health issues, their willingness to seek help and
their risk for suicide.
 Be supportive. Even if their actions don’t make sense to you, try to be supportive and tell
them you will be there for them.
 Don’t dismiss. Please don’t dismiss or ridicule their actions.
 Don’t ask for promises. Asking someone to promise you they will stop hurting
themselves might be even more distressing to them. This ask might also make them
 feel like they don’t have control over the action anymore. Unfortunately, if they hurt
themselves, they will end up with an additional guilt of disappointing you.

 Try to be accepting and normalize (you don’t have to tell them they’re right) how they
feel as people cope differently, and gently encourage them to seek help. You can gently
help them understand that this behaviour is not working for them and offer to get help.

c. How will you handle a learner who is indeed irate and “pasaway”?

 Stay calm and try not to take the disruption personally. 

It can help you maintain your authority in the classroom to deal with distractions in a
composed manner. 

 Decide when you will deal with the situation. 

It is often best for both you and the student to deal with a situation without the rest of the
class watching, but that does not mean that you should not deal with egregious
disruptions immediately.       

 Listen to the student and check your understanding of their situation.

 It is best to give the student the benefit of the doubt at first.  Let the student know that
you care about their situation, which is why you want to address the disruption.

 Decide how to proceed, and then follow through.

It is important that the students recognize that you will do what you say you will do.  This
advice is especially important if you had to deal with the situation in front of the class.

 Document the situation. 

Regardless of whether or not you follow through on a formal process, it is a good practice
to document what happened and how you addressed the disruption.
REQUIRED OUTPUT:
a. Brief summary on Dencio’s case.

Dencio has Cri Du Chat Syndrome (CDCS), one of the features of which is
challenging behaviour, including hyperactivity and aggressive and oppositional
behaviour. When he sees something he wants he will persistently go for it, though he can
be easily distracted. Staff have identified situations that trigger Dencio's challenging
behaviours and worked together to pre-empt behaviours when triggers were imminent.
Dencio's behaviour was managed by creating a motivating activity for him to do
immediately on arrival each morning a colour matching exercise. Team work was very
important in managing Dencio's behaviour and staff worked out how members of staff
would deal with him in particular contexts. Time-out was used as a consequence of
becoming too disruptive after a warning coupled with attempts by staff to motivate him to
reengage in a session.