Why is challenging behavior such a problem in schools?

Learners with challenging behavior may do the following:

■ have low self-esteem and poor self-image (identity and feelings);

■ lack a useful language of social interaction (capability/skills);

■ be unable to respond assertively rather than aggressively (capability and feelings);

■ lack ‘emotional intelligence’ or sensitivity to their own feelings (capability/skills);

■ have experienced a series of academic failures and have poor self-belief (beliefs);

■ have developed a set of ‘habitual’ conflict-laden behaviors (beliefs and behavior);

■ be very vulnerable and lack ‘resilience’ (despite external toughness) (identity).

They may also find:

■ a greater level of conformity and cooperation is expected at school (environment);

■ academic pressures need to be sensitively managed (environment).

O’Connor and Seymour (1990) identify how challenging behavior can affect learners’ life-long learning opportunities as well as the occasions when challenging behavior is exhibited: ‘Behavior is often taken as evidence of identity or capability and this is how confidence and competence are destroyed in the classroom.’ An incidence of challenging behavior is rarely just a matter of conflict originating solely between two people at that one moment in time. There is nearly always a range of background factors, social, educational and personal, involved. If an educator has a working knowledge of ‘possible additional influences’ in the learner’s life, then, it is suggested, there is a better chance of achieving a change in the present state from the challenging behavior to a more desirable state. Engaging the learner and others involved in the problem-solving may also be a starting point for change. Resources will always be required when finding a solution to a learner’s challenging behavior. Sometimes these may involve physical or financial support, but equally these resources may be skills, persistence (personal skills) or knowledge. This is where the problem-solving is frequently required, because the necessary resources may not always be those of the school, the system or the adult. To make the present state change permanently to a more desirable state, considerable resourcefulness on the part of the learner is necessary as well.