Are you familiar with the powerful tool known as Functional Behaviour Assessment, or FBA? This technique is like a detective’s investigation, but instead of solving crimes, it helps unlock the mysteries of why students are behaving in certain ways and correct their behaviour through positive intervention.
Unfortunately, the process of conducting a comprehensive FBA for an individual student can be quite an epic adventure. Picture an FBA coach observing your classroom weekly or sometimes even daily, analysing the behaviours in the room. After each visit, they engage in collaborative consultations with you, the classroom teacher. This intricate process can span over several weeks!
But I need to manage this behaviour, NOW!
Don’t have the time or resources for a full FBA? No worries, I’ve got you covered! Follow these 3 steps and you will have a streamlined FBA inspired behaviour plan, all in the time it takes to finish your morning coffee!
The only 3 questions you need:
1. What is the challenging behaviour? (Identify behaviour)
2. What is the reward the student is trying to achieve? (Analyse function)
3. How can this reward be achieved through positive behaviour? (Intervention)
Question 1: What is the challenging behaviour?
You may be feeling overwhelmed because there is one student who is out of control and you’ve tried everything, but I encourage you to take a moment and think…
What is the specific behaviour that this student consistently displays, causing the most disruption to the learning environment?
Consider when this behavior occurs most frequently.
Examples may include: constant movement during tasks, talking or yelling during independent work time, using inappropriate language or behaving aggressively after lunch breaks, leaving the classroom, arriving late, or misusing mobile devices.
It’s important to clearly define both the behaviour itself and when it typically happens, whether it’s a specific time or during specific phases in the lesson.
Question 2: What is the reward the student is trying to achieve?
Adolescent’s brains are wired to associate specific behaviours with desired outcomes.
Think about a newborn’s instinct to cry for food. As children grow into their toddler years, they discover that tantrums equal attention or treats. Fast forward to the pre-teen and crazy adolescent years, and you’ll find that their brains, in a sense, revert to a more emotional and reactive state, just like their toddler years. This is because the temporal lobe often takes the lead, while the logical frontal cortex steps back.
“What does brain development have to do with behaviour?”
… everything…
As a teacher of Junior Secondary students, we must understand the crazy changes that are going on within our students’ brains.
Our students often struggle to express their needs when they experience overwhelming emotions. As a result, their instincts guide them towards misbehaviour as a means to obtain what they want.
We must identify that “want” so we can intervene before the student misbehaves so we can re-train their brains!
To identify the reward the student is seeking, ask: “What?” What is the reward the student is trying to gain?
Some common “Rewards” are:
– attention-seeking: the behaviour is a way to gain attention or interaction from others.
– escape/avoidance: The behaviour helps the student aviod or escape from either the classroom or a learning task.
– Obtaining tangible items or activities: the behaviour is a means to access desired items or activities.
– Self-stimulation/sensory: the behaviour is self-stimulating and provides sensory reinforcement.
3. How can this reward be achieved through positive behaviour?
So far you have identified the behaviour and the reward the student desires. Now for the fun part!
Intervention!
Your goal: retrain their brain to demonstrate CORRECT behaviour to gain their desired “reward”!
This is best described through scenarios.
Scenario 1:
Sammy constantly walks around the classroom, disrupting his peers. This normally occurs about 20 mins into the lesson. After many warnings to sit back down and complete his work his teacher would normally send him out of the classroom where there is a desk and he takes his work and generally completes it to a high standard.
After analysing the first 2 steps the teacher has identified the reward he is trying to achieve is the stimulation of walking around after sitting for the 20 minutes at his desk.
His intervention behavior plan would be: Sammy is to complete 15 mins of non-disruptive work, as a reward for this POSITIVE behaviour – provide Sammy with a task that involves movement around the classroom in a non-disruptive manner.
Scenario 2:
Georgia demonstrates extreme behaviour meltdowns during the end of the ‘we do’ phase of a lesson and just before the students independent task is set to begin. The usual consequence for her behaviour is to be sent to the Principals office.
After the analysis of the first 2 steps the teacher has identified the reward Georgia is seeking is work avoidance.
Her intervention behaviour Plan: During the We Do phase ensure Georgia has a firm understanding of the task requirements. If not, demonstrate the learning again one-on-one. A conversation with Georgia should be conducted to ensure she is aware that you will do this and that she will not be expected to complete the task independently until she can demonstrate the learning with you. Discussions and further investigation will be required to ensure that Georgia is able to work at year level, she may require differentiated or individual learning plans.
By identifying the reward the student is seeking we can retrain their brain to understand that they can achieve the reward by other means. This may seem obvious to adults and older teenagers BUT we must never forget that the brain development of a junior secondary student makes choosing the ‘right’ decision or communicating their needs very difficult. Let’s help them on their path!
