Research School Network: SUPPORT FOR ALL: MAKING ADJUSTMENTS FOR BEHAVIOURAL OUTLIERS

It can be a difficult task to balance the dilemma of how to create a school culture which supports learning and positive behaviour, but not to lose between the cracks those children who might present as ​‘outliers’ within it. ​‘Outliers’ in this sense means those who stick out in comparison to their peers in terms of the way they behave, both in school and externally.

The easiest thing would be to make excuses for poor behaviour by considering the circumstances of each child, which could include poor parenting, trauma, homelessness or any other ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience). All these things could explain why a child behaves poorly, but to view behaviour purely from this perspective would be to deny that child the opportunity to change for the better, surely something all educationalists aspire to scaffold for young people.

So we absolutely should not be excusing or accepting these behaviours, regardless of background or SEND. So what should we do? This question presents challenges for educators, but it is a challenge which should not be shied away from.

The most recent EEF guidance report on ​‘Improving behaviour in schools’ gives as their 5threcommendation to Use targeted approaches to meet the needs of individuals in your school. The other recommendations discuss embedding cultural change and systems, ensuring that there is consistency of approach when it comes to preventing poor behaviour, and herein lies the rub: how can you be consistent with all pupils, yet also target approaches to individuals?

The answer has to be that the adjustments which can be made for those targeted pupils are not public because it is key for the culture of a school not to lower expectations for any pupils. Children know unfairness when they see it, so it should not be the immediate response to poor behaviour in a classroom that is adapted (SEND reasonable adjustments not with-standing). It can be very easy for a teacher in a classroom to ​‘put up with’ and allow those most difficult pupils to ​‘get away’ with behaviours because the child response when challenged may well be difficult to handle. However, it is crucial that there is a consistent system and teachers need to feel supported by senior leaders to not reduce their expectations as this has been shown to negatively affect pupils’ achievements.

These 2 key approaches a school could take in targeting individual poor behaviour both happen outside of a lesson and away from public gaze.

The functional behavioural assessment

When considering the individual pupil, a key approach is for there to be a multi-agency approachto tackling the unwanted behaviour, undertaking a functional behavioural assessment. This is similar to a ​‘Team Around the Child’ (TAC) approach and has several stages to it:

1. Observation of the pupil and conversations with key stakeholders (teachers, parents, other agencies working with the child) to try to understand the triggers and reasons for poor behaviour;
2. Confirmation and conversation with the pupil that these are their triggers (attempting to get the child to meta-cognitively understand their behaviours and reasons – see EEF guidance report on meta-cognition https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/tools/guidance-reports/;)
3. Decisions made as to what positive approach to take;
4. Goals set with responsibilities and outcomes clarified;
5. Implement and monitor progress made;
6. Summarise and evaluate the outcomes.

You will see here the similarities with the assess, plan, do, review approach as outlined in the SEND Code of Practice – such an approach is crucial if the intervention is going to have the required impact. This is an intensive intervention and each stage could employ different stakeholders: the classroom teacher, parent, SENDCo, educational psychologist. The process can be incorporated into existing school systems which cater for the individual child, whether that be an IEP or a PSP. What is crucial is that the decision-making and review processes happen with allparties, including the child and parent (see EEF guidance report on working with parents).

The 2×10 strategy

The approach here is simplistic and should be less intensive than the functional behaviour assessment already described: for a classroom teacher to spend 2 minutes a day for 10 consecutive days talking to a poorly behaving pupil about whatever they want to talk about.

When you came into teaching, you may have done so for one of two main reasons: you enjoy the company of children and/​or you love your subject. Hopefully, it’s for both! Innately, we know that pupils seek interaction and reassurance like all of us do, and most importantly, they want to be liked. It is very easy to get into a negative rut with a poorly behaving pupil by only managing to respond negatively to the poor behaviour, but this strategy gives a clear mandate to rectify that relationship.

There are many anecdotes written by teachers who have employed the 2×10 strategy and have seen an improvement in the child’s presentation towards them in class. Look no further than Angela Watson’s blog for some of these testimonies: https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/the-2x10-strategy-a-miraculous-solution-for-behavior-issues/. It was also researched by Raymond Wlodkowski[1] in 1983, who found an 85% improvement in a child’s behaviour, plus the added bonus of the rest of the class’ behaviour improving too. Perhaps this is a positive example of peer pressure; by focusing and improving on the key negative influence in the class, the others followed suit.

There are no magic wands when it comes to reasons why some individuals behave as they do – the causes can be deep rooted and way beyond our control in the classroom. But with measures and strategies which attempt to tailor the provision to the individual, we can make efforts to mitigate against the children who are outliers in our schools becoming adult outliers in our society.

[1]Wlodkowski, R. J. (1983). Motivational opportunities for successful teaching [Leader’s Guide]. Phoenix, AZ: Universal Dimensions.