Category Archives: Inquiry

My Inquiry question revolves around strategies that will help me in the future when dealing with students with behavioural issues. I have been closely following a student in my class that my SA had difficulty managing. Since September my SA has struggled to find what works when managing this student. It wasn’t until recently when a behavioural interventionist came in and observed this student that my SA started to see a change. From what I have observed over the past few weeks I can see a difference in the way this student interacts with the class.

The student is not sitting directly with the rest of the class on the carpet. She had difficulty keeping her hands to herself so she sits on a wiggle cushion off to the side of the carpet area. She is told that she can re-join the class at the carpet when her behaviour improves. The student is given a stress ball to fidget with while she is in her seat. She also has her own chair that she is sent to when she physically harms another student. The behavioural interventionist has told my SA that the student needs to be sent to that chair every time she does not cooperate with the teacher or has issues with other students. No matter how many times in a day this happens, she must be sent to this char. After discussing this with my SA it was clear that the student was starting to feel some remorse when she was being sent to this chair, something she was not doing before. She wants to remain a part of the classroom activities and when she is sent to the chair it is obvious that she feels left out. Every week is different for this student, but she has come a long way since September. My SA reminds her of her good behaviour and how she must keep up with it to receive a good review at the end of the week.

These strategies, and others being used, are the first that I have seen in a classroom setting. This is probably because I have not seen behaviour like this student’s before. I am learning a lot from observing her and the reactions from my SA and the school. Everyday is different and the consistent use of these strategies will hopefully keep bringing forth some changes in the student.

Jan 19

My Question: What are some strategies that I can use when working with students with behavioural issues?  

After spending some time with my classmates that have a similar inquiry question to mine we had an interesting discussion about operant defiant disorder (ODD). I have a psychology background and I learned about this disorder in my psychopathology class years ago. From my understanding this behaviour disorder that is prevalent in children and teens is a condition where the young person displays an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, hostile behaviour towards other people. The behaviour disrupts the child’s normal daily activities and activities within the family and school. Because this behaviour disorder is listed in the DSM I always have believed it to be a real disorder.

My classmate this week talked to a mental health worker who works at BC Children’s Hospital who strongly felt that ODD is not a real disorder. It wasn’t until she told me this that I began to question my belief around the disorder. It is hard to diagnose a child at such a young age who has behaviour issues but at the same time I can see how it can bring forth some answers for parents and teachers about the child’s behaviour. Putting a label on children makes it easier for everyone to make sense of what they are going through, but there is no way to know for certain what is actually going on. Also, the child may start to identify with the disorder which could make the behaviour worse.

Behavioural issues in the classroom are not easy to deal with, as I have seen so far in my practicum class. Through my discussion with my classmates I realized that I need to keep an open mind to the youth that is diagnosed with behavioural disorders because it could be possible that I am dealing with something much bigger or something much smaller than it actually is. I do not plan on letting the disorder define the student.