Caring and Safe Schools in Ontario

What do you want to know more about to create a caring and safe school?

I am always looking at ways to learn how to identify the range of needs of students in my school and determine how those needs influence student behaviour. 

If, like me you are seeking to understand student behaviour in the learning environment it will be helpful to keep in mind the following facts:
✦ Behaviour occurs in a context.
✦ Behaviour is learned.
✦ Behaviour serves a function for the individual. 
✦ Behaviour can be changed over time.
(Surrey Place Centre, 2008, p. 7) 

The challenge is being able to identify the cause of the behaviour. It is easy to identify what the student is doing (yelling out in class instead of raising his/her hand) but if we focus only on what the student is doing and try to stop that behaviour it is possible the another behaviour will arise. The key is determining the function the behaviour serves for the student. Thinking in context of Ross Greene, kids do well if they can, it is our job to figure out what the student is trying to communicate through the behaviour. Think in terms of gardening we know that in order to eradicate the weed we must pull out the root otherwise the weed will grow back. 

The challenge within a school of numerous educators is defining behaviour. The defining characteristics of challenging behaviour will differ from individual to individual depending on an educators cultural background, childhood experience, relationship with the student, and classroom and school policies. 

Aside from personal schema one must also consider mitigating factors. Below is a diagram from "Safe and Caring School" that suggests different needs and types of conditions affecting student behaviour. 

Some behaviour effectively meets the needs of the student, reflects the student’s interaction with the environment, and is understood and considered appropriate by others. Other behaviour may be ineffective but may occur because it is a student’s best available strategy for interacting with the environment and having his or her needs met.

So know that we know there can be a variety of factors affecting student behaviour how can we become more understanding and gain knowledge to be able to support students.

Student and Parental Voice:

Allow our students to do the the talking and the sharing. Learning from the student can be very effective. We have used student surveys to ask students what they need to be successful and what they feel when they are stressed out.

School Team Meetings:

Observation and data can help to determine the underlying cause of the behaviour. Discussion and having more heads look at the situation can be helpful when reflecting on possible scenarios.

Guest Speakers/Experts:

Bring in an expert in different fields to talk to staff about student needs and conditions that affect student behaviour. Your special education consultant, Mental Health Lead, and Government agencies (CMHA) may be willing to come in and speak about a topic.

Websites:

There is a plethora of information on the Internet that can be used to share information with staff.

Student Profiles:

Creating student profiles and sharing those profiles amongst staff can help others to reflect on student behaviour and the cause of the behaviour.