Supporting Children with Behaviour Difficulties

A Guide for Assistants in Schools

Glenys Fox

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781136607301
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This practical guide is written to help assistants in supporting children who have behavior difficulties. The author provides a description of the role of the assistant in working with the class teacher to enable children to learn good behavior in schools, a clear description of the range of behavior difficulties, and information on strategies that work in managing behavior. The book is relevant and useful for any assistant working directly with children, as all assistants in the course of their work need to develop a repertoire of effective strategies for managing behavior. It is particularly helpful for assistants who work routinely with children who present behavior problems as it guides understanding and provides a helpful framework for knowing where to start, what to do and how to do it. The book is also an invaluable resource in the training of assistants.

Chapter 1

The role of the assistant in giving behaviour support

Supporting children whose behaviour is difficult to manage is one of the most challenging roles which assistants take on. These children may arouse in us a range of feelings such as hopelessness, annoyance and helplessness. However, these pupils can be very rewarding to work with as, in giving support, you will be helping them to develop coping skills for life. As you will see later in this book, assistants are in a unique position to be a positive influence and the good news is that there are particular skills which you can learn to help you in fulfilling this role effectively.

What are my responsibilities?

In your work as an assistant you will be working as part of the learning support team in the school and you will usually be managed by a teacher with particular responsibilities, who in turn is managed by the head teacher. If you work in a junior, infant or primary school, it is often the Special Needs Coordinator (SENCO) who will guide your daily work, but it might also be the class teacher with whom you work most closely. In bigger schools or in secondary schools, again the SENCO might be your manager but it could also be a head of year or a head of a subject department if you work in one subject or curriculum area. (In some schools the SENCO has been re-named the Learning Support Coordinator or the Inclusion Coordinator.) In giving support you are providing additional help over and above what children get from the teacher alone. Teachers, by the nature of their work, give learning support to all pupils and they have the responsibility, delegated by the head teacher, for delivering the learning programmes to all children, whatever their abilities, aptitudes and learning needs. This also applies to the management of behaviour. Teachers are responsible for managing their classes in such a way that children are able to learn. In order to do this and to be effective they must be effective managers of behaviour.

It is important for you to remember that assistants are not teachers and that there are clear boundaries within which the assistants' responsibilities are set. If you are working with pupils who have emotional or behavioural difficulties, then the teacher who manages your work has the responsibility to ensure that appropriate behaviour and learning programmes are planned, followed and monitored and that you yourself are well-supported in your role. Pupils whose behaviour is difficult to manage over a period of time will usually have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and /or an Individual Behaviour Plan (IBP) or a Pastoral Support Programme (PSP) if they are at risk of being excluded from school. These plans will provide you with guidance about what is being done to help the pupil and will often detail your role in giving behaviour support. In some situations, you might be involved in drawing up the plans, together with the child or young person and the teacher. Sometimes this will also involve the parents or carers.

In your daily work as an assistant you will be working under the guidance of a class teacher or several teachers if you work in a secondary school, to meet the needs of the pupil. There may be occasions when you have to work on your own with the pupil, or with a small group outside the classroom. When ‘out of range’ of the teacher, you need to work as a responsible adult in ensuring the wellbeing of each child. You will also need to be clear about your role in implementing the school behaviour policy.

In particular lessons there will be specific routines to follow and for children whose behaviour is difficult you will need to be particularly vigilant at lesson changes. Breaktimes and lunchtimes can also provide 'stress points’ for such children as there is not as much structure as in lesson times.

What might I be asked to do?

It is important that you know what your duties are from the start in relation to different pupils. You need to know whether you are working mainly with one pupil or with small groups or sometimes with the whole class.

One of your most important roles, as identified in the University of Manchester research (Balshaw et al. 1999), is to ‘foster the participation of pupils in the social and academic processes of a school’. This means helping the pupils to take a real part in school life both through positive friendships and achievement in learning. For this to happen effectively the pupil must feel included in school life, so it is important to give support to enable the pupil to remain as a part of the full class group for as much time as possible. This means that withdrawing the child from the class group should be avoided if possible and should only happen if there is disruption to the child's learning or the learning of others if he or she remains in the class.

It is sometimes necessary to work with the pupil as part of a small group, again this should happen within the classroom if possible but sometimes you may be asked to work with a small group outside the classroom. Chapter 6 on managing groups gives practical advice for effective group work.

More rarely you will be asked to work on a one-to-one basis with a pupil. Particular arrangements discussed in the Chapter 7 on managing individual children will help you, should you need to do this. How you might support children is shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Supporting children (source: Lorenz 1998)

1. As members of the whole class:

(a) responding to individual requests;

(b) managing behaviour;

(c) providing praise and encouragement.

2. As members of a small group in class:

(a) keeping pupils on task;

(b) explaining task requirements;

(c) supporting written work.

3. As individuals in class:

(a) acting as a scribe;

(b) delivering a structured programme;

(c) emotional or behavioural support.

4. As members of a small withdrawal group:

(a) delivering differentiated or structured curricular materials, e.g. corrective reading;

(b) discussing problems;

(c) delivering specific group programmes, e.g. social skills activities.

5. As individuals on a withdrawal basis:

(a) delivering structured learning programmes;

(b) delivering specific therapy programmes or medical procedures;

(c) individual counselling.

In secondary schools assistants sometimes work with individual pupils, sometimes they are attached to curriculum areas and sometimes to year groups. In terms of behaviour support, the individual or year group arrangement is better as it aids the building of relationships.

Establishing a good relationship with the pupil

In the role of assistant it is extremely important that you work to develop good relationships with the pupil or pupils you support, especially if their behaviour is difficult to manage. These children are sometimes disliked by their classmates and excluded from social groups. Every child needs to be valued but exclusion works to make children feel worse about themselves rather than better. If you can build a positive relationship with the pupil, and encourage others to do so too, then you will be fostering their participation in the social aspects of school life.

You can build this positive relationship by:

• Showing an interest in the child's interests.
• Greeting them by name each day.
• Noticing when they seem upset or worried.
• Giving encouragement for effort.
• Finding something positive to say about them each day.
• Expecting that their behaviour will improve.
• Trusting them with responsibilities.
• Using humour to engage their cooperation.

KEY POINT

Every child needs to be valued. You need work to develop positive relationships with those children who find it hard to behave or settle to learning.

Here are some examples of what your role might include:

• Settling the child into school by having a quiet chat beforehand.
• Sitting close by so you can spot potential ‘banana skins’ and prevent difficulties from arising.
• Ensuring the child has all the equipment they need so that they can get on without a fuss.
• Giving positive attention to keep the child ‘on track’.
• Reminding the child of the behaviour targets they might be working towards.
• Observing the child's behaviour so you can get an idea of what is causing the problem.
• Recording good or bad behaviours.
• Resolving conflicts between pupils.
• Calming situations which are becoming heated.
• Monitoring or tracking a child through their day.
• Providing a ‘listening ear’ for pupils who need to talk about their problems.
• ‘Catching them being good’ and providing encouragement for good behaviour.
• Reporting back to the teacher, especially problems or successes.
• Contributing to planning meetings or reviews about the child.

Sometimes the job can seem a little daunting and you may feel ‘thrown in at the deep end’ but advice and support are available to help y...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. The role of the assistant in giving behaviour support
• 2. Understanding children's behaviour
• 3. The importance of self-esteem
• 4. Describing, observing and recording behaviour
• 5. Behaviour management: a framework for understanding where to start
• 6. Managing group behaviour: strategies that work
• 7. Managing the difficult behaviour of individual pupils: strategies that work
• 8. Teaching good behaviour and new skills
• 9. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)
• 10. Autism and Asperger's Syndrome
• 11. Some ‘What ifs … ?’ and what to do
• Key points to remember in helping children to manage their behaviour
• Some final comments
• Physical restraint
• References