Dealing with distressed adolescents is a major teaching stress, but the incidence of behaviour flashpoints can be reduced if you focus on supporting good student wellbeing, says Viv Trask-Hall.
Difficult and challenging classroom behaviour is an unpleasant experience for any teacher. But while a zero-tolerance approach to transgressions may sound sensible, it can, in fact, be counterproductive.
In many cases, challenging behaviour for any child or young person is the smoke that pours from the fire. It is a way of communicating an unmet need. So working on identifying and addressing the emotions that can bring about such behaviour, rather than focusing on the behaviour itself, will ultimately deliver a greater impact.
Adolescence can be especially complicated. Adults may feel quite tentative about addressing the emotional issues that affect adolescents because they don’t want to be wrong. Instead, they may be more likely to shut the behaviour down as quickly as possible.
It might, for some, feel like a no-go area but, ideally, we need to be there for our students in an emotionally present way. As a society, we are still very early on in our journey to talk more openly about wellbeing and mental health. Some adults may struggle speaking about feelings, even though, as an innate part of human experience, we all have them, and to be healthy, we need opportunities to express them. Thankfully, younger generations are far more comfortable talking about mental health. That bodes well for the future and the present – and we adults can learn something from it.
Teachers can make a big difference by creating a supportive environment in which to talk about mental health and wellbeing with students.
Adopting a Thrive Approach, where schools become places of compassion and understanding rather than where young people are punished for behaviour that is not a conscious choice, can help. Delegates who attend Thrive courses are enthusiastic about whole-school strategies that support and sustain pupil wellbeing.
Delegates who attend Thrive courses are enthusiastic about whole-school strategies that support and sustain pupil wellbeing, but from time to time, there will be a small percentage who will show resistance to addressing this area, often because it touches on something difficult for them, is out of their comfort zone or requires a new way of being that is unfamiliar.
When we focus on the unmet need that is causing the behaviour issue, that is when young people make a shift from feeling that everyone is against them, to a realisation that they should move on from emotional outbursts or confrontation because they are valued and have adults alongside them that they know are supporting them.
Here’s a short list of Thrive-led prevention strategies and quick wins that I think will help:
• Set the emotional tone you would like adolescents to present with. A calm and friendly welcome into the classroom helps. It’s a small, seemingly insignificant act, but it is a way of showing young people what healthy relationships feel like through the way you relate to them.
• Use structures and routines in the school day to promote connection and positive relationships.
• Provide young people with an emotional education so that they understand themselves and others better. Teach young people a range of strategies that support their mental health and emotional wellbeing.
• Adopt a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing, with consistently applied practice that is evidence-based and widely understood. Ensure policies and procedures take into consideration mental health or emotional wellbeing needs.
• Consider staff wellbeing and how this may impact on levels of stress and interactions with students.
• Use pastoral times to support young people to have a trusted adult and safe space, when needed. Support tutors to understand how best to develop secure relationships with young people.
• Provide training on the neuroscience of adolescence and how this impacts adolescent engagement, participation and behaviour. Develop a strategy to harness this as a time of opportunity.
• Ensure methods for the early identification of need are in place, to prevent needs from escalating quickly – move from reactive to responsive and proactive.
• Communicate with parents on how they can support their young people at home.
• Make good mental health and emotional wellbeing part of the culture and ethos of the school community. The more it is talked about, the less stigma or shame there is around these subject areas and the more awareness we have about them.
• Remember that no two young people will respond in the same way to traumas, challenges or difficulties in life. Meet them where they are, rather than drawing upon preconceived ideas or assumptions about what they are experiencing.
Viv Trask-Hall is Head of Product and Innovation at Thrive.
The Thrive Approach is a developmental model that supports the social and emotional well-being of children and young people. The team have created a tool called Thrive Online, which helps educators assess, develop and track the social and emotional skills of children and young people.
Discover more on the Thrive Approach website.