Building a Positive Foundation Pt. 1

Working with students with emotional and behavioral challenges relies on establishing a positive foundation, which consists of understanding 1) Coercive Practices, 2) the components of a Positive Relationship, and 3) establishing a Positive Environment.

Students who have a history of challenging behaviors and who consistently fail to meet expectations, generally experience more negative and corrective feedback than positive. This means that adults who work with students who commonly violate the rules and norms (i.e., refuse to follow directions, are verbally or physically assaultive) error on the side of providing feedback that is intended to suppress such problem behaviors. This can be a vicious cycle: The more problematic a student becomes, “negative” consequences accelerate, the students’ problem behaviors become the focal point, and a teaching and therapeutic relationship becomes impossible.

Building a positive foundation means that we avoid the adage that the “squeaky wheel gets the grease.” Research has shown that the most effective way to decrease challenging behaviors is to focus on teaching positive and appropriate behaviors and skills, of which a positive relationship depends on.

Building a positive foundation and relationship also means that we identify coercive practices that are often used to suppress negative and problematic behaviors. Coercion means that we use force, or the threat of force (either verbally or physically) to get someone to do what we want/need them to do. Once we identify coercive practices, then we can begin to choose a more positive approach, which is the foundation for building a calm, positive, and educational environment.

Building Positive Relationships Pt 1 Questions

Name

First Name

Last Name

Date Completed

YYYY

Answer in the box beneath questions

1. ________________________ is when we ask students questions that do not have a good answer to or that you already know the answer, and the student knows that you know the answer. ○ Ex: A student takes an item that does not belong to them; staff sees that they took the item and the students sees that the staff saw them take it. The staff person then asks, “Did you just take that?”

Ex: Asking “what were you thinking” questions in response to a problem behavior.

2. __________________ are when we tell a student that a negative consequence will happen (whether the negative consequence is an empty threat or actual event that will happen).

Ex: Telling a student they will lose recess if they continue to be off-task.

3. _______________ is when we try to persuade someone to do what’s right or stop engaging in a problem behavior by use of reason and insight.

4. ________________ is when we express the negative aspects of a student’s day to another person in the presence of that student.

Ex. A teacher asks how a student’s day is. The student has just engaged in problem behavior. In front of the student, you tell the teacher just how bad their day has been.

5. _____________ is when we make repeated demands of someone, in quick succession.

6. ___________expressing that hope has been lost; doom and gloom attitudes

Ex: “I just can’t take this anymore!”

7. ______________ is nonverbal behavior that signifies irritation, stress, and being frustrated with someone.

Ex: Eye-rolling, huffing and puffing, sighing loudly.

8. ________________ is when we are fault-finding and focusing on the negative in someone.

9. ________________is when we unexpectedly take away items and privileges.

10. ______________ is response to a student misbehaving or having a “bad” day.

Ex: Someone asks you how your student is doing. Your student has not had a good day. In response to the question (and right in front of the student), you say, “Oh, Jane has been having a great day!”

11. ______________________ is using bullying and/or physical threatening tactics.

12. What other kinds of coercive practices can you think of?

Arguing? is when we repeatedly try to get a student to take our point of view, or the “right” point of view, following their protests or disagreements.

Write one other that you can think of; or write out at least one that you are most familiar with:

13. What all these coercive practices have in common is that they focus on the negative behavior, are reactive (in that they are in response to the problem behaviors), and result in the student either feeling bad or mad. The critical side effects of coercion are that they result in AGE:

- Write our the word that goes with the acronym AGE -

● A_____________: where the student becomes triggered by our use of these negative strategies and becomes more physically aggressive. ● G______________: where the student seeks to get back at those who use coercion or punishment on them. ● E______________: where students do not want to work with us, or use problem behaviors to try and get away from us.

14. The other reasons against the use of coercive practices are that when used, they can serve as negative models to students, as well as damage relationships. Making an environment a place that students want to be in, and interacting with students in a way that results in them wanting to be around us and learn from us, relies on not only avoiding coercive practices but also on positive behaviors that we use to contribute to a positive relationship.

What other side-effects of coercion can you name?

Elizabeth FuquaAugust 9, 2021