In the past, schools I’ve worked with have used a range of approaches to manage the the behaviour of their pupils, from traffic lights to rain clouds, stars in jars and so on.
Sometimes these approaches can be really effective and there’s plenty of research for and against many of them, for different age groups and key stages.
But let’s consider behaviour from a different perspective: that behaviour is communication and that our pupils are trying to convey a message through their behaviour instead of using their speech, writing, signing, symbols or other forms of communicating.
So, with a mainstream classroom environment in mind, here are some top tips to manage behaviour, from a communication perspective.
1. Remember the fundamental rule: all behaviour is communication.
I appreciate that this can be tricky to do if you’re at the receiving end of items being thrown or harsh words being said, but there’s clear information from the child that they’re unhappy about something in these instances.
2. Investigate what the communication is trying to say.
Is your pupil feeling overwhelmed, confused, anxious, unwell?
Are they seeking sensory feedback that will make them feel better and then be ready to begin working in your classroom?
Is the room too noisy/bright/hot/smelly?
Are they unhappy about something that happened with their friends at play time and they are still processing their thoughts and feelings about that?
Are they avoiding doing their work because it’s too challenging or they doubt their skills?
Once we know the WHY of a child’s behaviour we can work to resolve that underlying issue with them.
3. Check for signs of overwhelm.
For so many students, particularly neurodiverse children and young people, sensory overwhelm (or underwhelm) can be a distraction or priority to attend to over class work.
It might be that the classroom environment is too bright/noisy/smelly/full of overstimulating visual information etc, or it may be that there are too many people, each with their own sniffs, pen clicks, toe taps and other noises that need to be filtered out before your particular pupil can begin to think about their work. This can be really exhausting and a test of endurance throughout a whole school day.
It might be that their clothes don’t feel comfortable or that they are anxious about being in school or around certain people.
It may be that they didn’t get enough sleep or that their breakfast routine was different to usual and that’s ruined the whole day.
There’s so much just in the area of sensory overwhelm and unmet needs that can contribute to behaviour so it’s definitely one of my top things to consider. Check their physiological and safety needs first.
The next step in the area of overwhelm is that your pupil might have difficulties in identifying what it is that is overwhelming for them (or underwhelming too if they are leaving their seat often or seeking out sensory things).
Often students struggle to identify how they are feeling and so are unable to express their wants and needs: “my socks are lose in my shoes and my shirt is too tight, I’m hungry and I have a cold and I don’t like the bunged up feeling in my face*” that’s quite a lot of identification and expression when a facial grimace, whinge and sulk will also express their discomfort.
(*Side note, this is a genuine phrase that my daughter, aged 12 who has ADHD and sensory processing disorder, said to me this morning when she was struggling to get ready for school and was being a bit grumpy).
4. Consider a communication breakdown.
There’s a lot of language and communication processing that needs to be done in even the most simple question & answer exchanges.
From listening and understanding the words in the question, interpreting body language and tone of voice, filtering out other noises and distractions, thinking about the question and how they want to answer it, finding the right words and considering their own body language and nonverbal communication in response and then actually saying (or signing, or using symbols or another form of communication), there really is a lot to process and this all happens in such a short amount of time, a difficulty at any point of this processing pathway can lead to frustration and then sometimes snowball to outbursts.
5. Be consistent.
Whatever approach you do use in your setting, be sure to stick to it consistently for a good few weeks, at least a half term to help the children settle into the routine and understand the expectations.
Also make sure you actively model your own thoughts and feelings to help students see what these look like, e.g. “I’m annoyed today because there was traffic which made me late for work”, “I’m feeling disappointed because I’ve picked up the wrong lunch box from home and now I don’t have the food I was looking forward to eat today”, “I’m quite cross because the printer was broken so we can’t do the fun activity I had planned”.
6. Focus on emotional well-being.
Perhaps this point is a little outside of the realm of speech & language but it’s always been a fundamental aim for me to have a good rapport and positive relationship with the children I work with.
I aim to break the ice (and do a cheeky, informal part of my assessment) with a terrible joke. I also share some information about me, i.e. my favourite food (chocolate cake), what I like to eat for breakfast (milkshakes and jelly), and pics of my pets. This helps to build a positive relationship, show that I’m a person too and find some common ground that can build trust with the young person in front of me.
You can find terrible jokes and random pics of my pets on my facebook page.
7. Remember that you’re only human.
Sometimes I feel we’re expected to be impartial and manage what can really be tough situations with our pupils, especially when a child is physically and verbally abusive.
Make sure that you have support around you at work to safeguard your own mental and emotional well-being, as well as to help you complete the mandatory recording of events and regulate your own feelings about an incident.
Where to go from here
If you’re looking to understand more about behaviour as communication and the things you can do in your school or setting spot help identify underlying speech, language and communication needs that can be impacting on behaviour, my 1 hour webinar on SEMH & SLCN is a great next step. It’s all pre-recorded and available on demand.
Hi I'm Beth, a Highly Specialist Paediatric Speech & Language Therapist.
I help education and childcare staff identify Speech, Language & Communication needs in the children they work with and show them how to support those needs through my online CPD training & resources.