How can educators recognize and intervene when student behavior is escalating?

Transcript: Acceleration Phase

Teacher: Please close out of that site and begin working on your project.

Ava: I was looking at videos to research for your stupid class.

[Ava drops the tablet onto her desk.]

Teacher: Hey, we need to have a chat. [Motions for Ava to follow her.]

Class: Ooooohhhh!

[ Johanna Staubitz commentary ]

In this clip, Ms. Harris more directly instructs Ava to stop using the tablet. So note that the reprimand is phrased in terms of what Ava should stop doing rather than what she should do. And Ava is defensive and she calls the class stupid. She calls your class stupid, Ms. Harris. And Ms. Harris then reacts and escalates the situation to a full power struggle by saying publicly while walking away so she has to speak louder so more people can hear it that Ava and Ms. Harris need to have a chat. That implies that Ava needs to get up and follow. And so now she’s put this demand out there where both parties are going to have to dig in if they want to look like they’re in control. It’s important or it’s clear that that’s important to Ava. And we know that’s important to Ms. Harris as a teacher. But unfortunately, being put in this position, Ava’s choice between digging in and not following instructions and publicly following Ms. Harris’ directive, there is kind of a recipe for trouble. Ava, remember, is very competitive, very concerned with winning and coming out on top. So that just particular way of thinking or set of preferences is definitely at odds with a teacher strategy of saying we need to come have a chat, implying that they should go do so. So now her escalation has more to do more to it than simply the difficulty of that transition from high preferred activity to low preferred activity. Now she’s in a relatively public power struggle with Ms. Harris.

Transcript: Acceleration Phase with De-escalation Strategy

Teacher: Hey, I see what you’re doing. Please close out of that site and begin working on your project.

Ava: I was trying to research for your stupid class.

[Ava drops the tablet onto her desk.]

Teacher: Hey, Ava, I see that you’re getting a little frustrated. Is there anything that I can help with?

Ava: We went from a fun game to this. I’m bored.

Teacher: Yeah, I understand. I like the review games too, especially when I have such a great student as a champ. Let’s look through your list of people so that we can see who you have, and honestly, some of these people have some pretty cool stories. And because you’re so creative, I think that you’ll do a really good job coming up with something.

[ Johanna Staubitz commentary ]

This time though Ava is still demonstrating behavior associated with Acceleration saying “stupid class,” tossing the tablet aside. Ms. Harris steps in in a more effective way. Instead of moving away from Ava, Ms. Harris moves in closer so that she could speak to her in a way that is much more private. Again all, you know, all students are perceptive to their peers’ perceptions of them and are sensitive to that. But this is particularly important at the secondary level. got to protect students’ privacy if we want to help them manage their emotions in a situation like this. So it’s really nice that Ms. Harris moves in closely. And she listens to what Ava says also. And at this point, Ms. Harris realizes what the trigger was. And she made an empathetic statement saying that kind of transition can be hard for her too, which it’s nice. Validate your students’ feelings when they share them or even validate what you think may be their feelings if you’re making an observation because then they know you’re on their team and you recognize what it is they’re experiencing. And this can just de-escalate their emotionality, which is a big part of their escalation of their external and observable behavior. So after that, Ms. Harris offers a suggestion like, “Hey, there are some people on this list who have some pretty cool stories. I think you actually might be into it.” So now they’re kind of they’re on the same team and she’s encouraging Ava and framing up this assignment in terms of what’s going to be good for Ava about it, which is really smart.  “These are cool stories. You like cool stories and you’re really creative.” So she also highlights some of Ava’s strengths, as she reiterates what the task demand is before moving on.

Transcript: Kathleen Lane, PhD, BCBA-D

Without any kind of awareness training about the acting-out cycle whatsoever, this is typically the stage when teachers would begin to know for sure that there’s a problem. And this is when the student is trying to take you on as a teacher. And oftentimes in this phase of acceleration, the students are trying to engage you in an argument, and it might come across like, “This is so boring,” or, “I can’t believe I have to do this again,” and they’re intentionally trying to provoke you or capture your attention. Your typical response might be to say something like, “You need to do this because I told you this is what needs to be done.” And then you might find yourself engaged in an argument with a fifteen-year old. But at this point, it is critical that you not engage in sarcasm that way. And instead, we want to reach deep, and we want to show empathy towards them and find a constructive way to move that conversation forward without embarrassing them. So you might say something like, “I know you’re really upset right now, but I really need you to start these problems.” And maybe your intervention at that point is as simple as taking a highlighter and then underlining the first three problems. And then you can say to them, “When you get done with these first three, go ahead and check them with a partner and I’ll be right back to check on you after that.” Even if they make a comment when you start to walk away, that is still not the ideal time to take them on. You’re giving them an opportunity to save a little face there. And this is one of those situations where you’re going to lose the battle to win the war type of a thing. Because if you attempt to engage them, then you’re likely to propel them into that next stage. And instead, when you start to walk away and they make somewhat of a snide comment, just keep going.

Another thing that will show up during this time is that for many students, they will engage in what’s called partial compliance. So if you tell them to do an assignment, they’ll do it in a very, very sloppy or rushed way and just turn it in and think, “Okay, that’s good enough.” And sometimes as a teacher, this is hard to do, but the ideal response might be to say something like this: “I appreciate your turning that in. However, as I’m looking over this last one, I simply can’t read it. Could you go back and redo just this one so I can make sure that I can give you full credit if this answer is correct.” But if you were to go back to them and say, “I need you to redo this whole thing” at that very moment, you would likely push them over the edge and they may move even further up the acting-out cycle into that peak behavior. So in summary, the best way a teacher can interrupt the acceleration phase is to offer a prompt and then walk away. In other words, make the request known and then give them an opportunity to get back on track. And then as soon as they do get back on track, that’s the time you want to give them immediate acknowledgment or reinforcement. As simple as “I really appreciate you getting back on track, that’s awesome.”

Transcript: Pamela Glenn

I think some of the most common mistakes that new teachers make is getting in a power struggle with a kid. Don’t do it. You’re not going to win. It’s not productive at all. There’s something about knowing when to not speak and let the child get it out. And then wait for the child to have completely depleted themselves [laughs] and then move in. I’ve seen more teachers: Child gets angry, teacher gets angry. And it’s just a spiral of a disaster. My biggest advice is do not get in a power struggle with a child, you’re not going to win. When they are talking and they’re talking back, you’ve set your expectation. That’s when you have to be calm. “This is not the behavior that I expect.” And you’ve got to give them a minute, because if you think about it, when you’re upset, you can’t rationally think through what’s going on to respond in the moment. I know I need a minute to calm down. Especially if they’re in front of their friends, they’ve got to save face. “You need a minute. Go take a minute. I’m not going back in for an argument with you. So just take a minute.” And then afterwards we address, “That’s not how you talk to me.” So, we always address the behavior. Then we look at why were you behaving like that? It’s never a case of “I can throw a chair, and she’s not going to do anything.” We’re going to talk about it. The other thing that I think is also a common mistake that teachers make is we have a lot of preconceived ideas about what a certain type of student is going to do. I think sometimes we’ve already decided in our minds ‘This student is going to do this. I’m going to treat them like this.’ The student’s been treated like that. They lash back and then it’s a never-ending cycle of what is expected or how they’ve been treated. I think everybody just has to judge the child based on who they are in the moment and set the expectation. The children will rise to the expectation if you help them.

Transcript: Janel Brown

As a new teacher coming in, you really cannot take anything personally from your students as far as behavior, lashing out. These kids, they go through so much, and they just don’t know how to express themselves properly. You have to understand your kids’ background, where they’re coming from, what they’re dealing with. Some are dealing with homelessness. Some of them are dealing with not having enough food to eat at home. Dad’s missing, Mom is missing, drugs, just all types of things. The best thing that you can do, as a new teacher coming in, just let a student know that “I’m here for you. If you ever need to talk or anything, I’m not going to force you to talk, but if you ever feel that you want to tell me what’s going on, I’m here to listen. I’ll try my best to do what I need to do to get the help that you need for whatever your issue is.” Just have compassion for the students. If Johnny did something yesterday, don’t hold it against him tomorrow. You give him new grace and new mercies. Just like we get new graces and mercies every day, we have to extend that to our kids as well. Love them. But if you’re constantly just fussing and yelling, and Johnny can’t ever do anything right, this child may be going through this at home. And then at school, which is supposed to be his safe place, he’s getting the same thing. He’s just at a loss. So, yes, grace, mercy, compassion. Don’t take it personal.