PROBLEM SOLVING
BEHAVIORS
CHAPTER 10
CONFLICT
• Disagreement over an action,
verbal or physical, one or more
parties has taken.
• With children this usually involves
property, location or privilege.
DECISION TO INTERVENE
• We need to remember to chose our battles
• When do we intervene?
• Safety
• Professional teacher versus the technical
teacher
• Personality of children and teacher
• Mood of the classroom
• Frequency of the actions
• Entire group or isolated case
MARGINAL MISTAKEN BEHAVIORS
• Bossy Behaviors
• Ask yourself is this behavior bothersome
only to the teacher or the other child, to
the entire group?
• Try to let nature take its direction, many of
these will be resolved without our
intervention.
• Level One Mistaken behavior
(experimentation)
LEVEL ONE: EXPERIMENTATION
• The child is learning through full
engagement in the experiment of life
• Much as the name experimentation
states, the children are trying out
behaviors, words, and responses and
then seeing how these play out in the
world of the classroom.
• This can be very different depending
upon the personality of the child
LEVEL TWO: SOCIALLY INFLUENCED MISTAKEN
BEHAVIOR
• This is actually learned behavior that the
child has tried before and got the result the
child was looking for!
• The child is reacting to the influence of
others, repeating behavior that is modeled,
or suggested,
• Children are reacting to the authority of
persons important in their lives
• Both intentional and unintentional behaviors
result
LEVEL THREE: STRONG NEEDS
MISTAKEN BEHAVIOR
• Most difficult to see
• Child has experienced their
environment as a dangerous and
painful place over which they
have little control.
• The behavior patterns tend to be
rigid and exaggerated. Protection
is of utmost
FIRMNESS OF INTERVENTION
• First degree: inviting choices (I need some
strong helpers to put away the blocks)
• Second degree: requesting choices (As
soon as the blocks are picked up we can go
outside)
• Third degree: commanding choices
(Children you are using loud voices and
pushing, take a deep breath and let it out
slowly and then we can discuss what is
going on once everyone is calm)
CHOICES
• In choice the one the teacher hopes the
child will select
• The “out Choice” is the less preferred option
that the child might select. We need to be
sure that we are OK with either choice or we
are being dishonest.
• Life is all about making choices and living
with the consequences of the choices
FOUR QUICK INTERVENTION
STRATEGIES
• 1. Negotiation reminders
• 2. Humor
• 3. Nonverbal Techniques
• 4. Brevity
NEGOTIATION REMINDERS
• Telling the child “I understand
that bothers you, can you use
your words to tell him?
HUMOR AS TENSION RELIEVER
• Remember not to make fun of the
child or the situation,
• Smile, laugh and relate with the
children
NONVERBAL TECHNIQUES
• Body language can be used to
remind the children without calling
attention to the child while we are
communicating and hence
helping the child save face and
make choices and ultimately learn
to control their own behavior.
NONVERBAL SPECIFICS
• Eye Contact
• Eye Contact with gestures
• Physical Proximity
• Proximity with gentle reminder
• Proximity with direct comment
BREVITY
•Brief comment, don’t go on
and on and on…. They stop
listening!
BEHAVIORS REPORTED BY OTHER
CHILDREN
• Tattling
• We need to ask ourselves are we
encouraging this, do we love to hear the
scoop from other adults… some people
“eat” this up and children pick up on this,
and will continue
• Also is this the only time that we really listen
to the child
• Does the child not know what to say and
this is the way they communicate with us?
REFLECTIVE LISTENING
•Really listening and
hearing what the child
and children are really
saying….
RECONCILIATION
• Essential often over looked step in any
guidance situation, we need to help the
child re enter the group after an episode.
• Need to help them save face, don’t make a
spectacle of the child…
• Do we want them to say I’m sorry, or does
this merely teach them to lie, and saying I’m
sorry gets them out of trouble,
CODE OF ETHICS
•Refer to page 384
•Kansas Early Learning
Standards as well
BUILDING COOPERATION WITH
PARENTS
• Parents and teachers have different perspectives
when it comes to a child‘s behavior
• We need to join forces, not compete or berate the
parents
• Understand our own emotional feelings toward the
family, we may disagree but we all are interested in
the child
UNDERSTANDING PARENT
DEVELOPMENT
• Parents can and do grow and
mature!
• We can be a positive influence
in the family's life and
development
WATCH OUR CHOICE OF WORDS
• Carefully select words that we use,
avoid judgmental condemning
words
• Watch body language
• Respect the culture
• Respect parent’s feelings and past
experiences
PROBLEM SOLVING WITH PARENTS
• Ask for their input,
• See what works for them
• Respect their answers
• Discuss pros and cons of each
solution