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Date
17 April 2024
Link
inclusive.tki.org.nz/guides/behaviour-and-learning/plan-a-response

Plan a response

When you understand the purpose of a specific behaviour, you can determine how to respond and intervene.

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Questions to consider

Questions to consider

Use these questions to support planning an appropriate response to consider which aspects of the learning and social environment are working well and which need changing or strengthening. 

Unpack what the student is trying to communicate, ­and what the purpose of the behaviour is.

  • Do my or other students’ responses to the behaviour unintentionally reinforce it?
  • What might be a better way to respond? (For example, that doesn’t give the behaviour undue attention or allow the student to avoid important opportunities for learning).
  • Do I ensure that tasks are manageable, achievable, and as motivating as possible?
  • Does the student have the necessary skills and materials to be successful at this task?
  • If not, what scaffolding, additional support, or resources could I provide?
  • Do I provide opportunities for the student to receive positive peer attention?
  • Do I ... view further questions »

Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Strategies that meet student needs

Strategies that meet student needs

The way we respond to a behaviour has a significant impact on the occurrence of the behaviour. Identify strategies to implement that meet the student’s needs and lead to positive behavioural change.

This could include:

  • removing or decreasing the antecedent event, where possible
  • encouraging the use of a personal management strategy, for example, take a walk or a break in a quiet space
  • modifying a task to prevent a particular behaviour – identify student preferences and modify a task so that it incorporates student interests
  • changing task difficulty
  • teaching alternative behaviours that meet the same purpose, for example, if the purpose of the behaviour is to avoid doing something difficult, teach strategies for managing the task or ways the student can make the task less difficult
  • changing how instructional content is presented, for example, present a variety of brief activities instead of one longer task
  • increasing opportunities for choice
  • providing predictability to reduce anxiety and stress, for example, display daily schedules on a visual calendar, model new tasks, and rehearse upcoming events.

Source: Antecedent interventions, University of Kansas (opens in a new tab/window)

Plan a response

Plan a response

Teachers can influence and interrupt patterns formed in the school environment.
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Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

View full image (11 MB) (opens in a new tab/window)

Use the guide strategies

Use the guide strategies

Use the strategies within this guide to plan approaches that enable students to participate in learning in ways that work best for them and that are responsive to their needs.

Next steps

More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Understanding how to respond to problem behaviour”:

Return to the guide “Behaviour and learning”

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Behaviour and learning

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How to use this site

Guide to Index of the guide: Behaviour and learning

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