Problem-Solving

1. Building Resilience in Children and Young People Problem-Solving Teacher Professional Development

2. Problem-Solving • Why Teach Problem- Solving? • The coping repertoire of children and adolescents includes their problem-solving competencies and skills • Problem-solving is identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a key skill for health • It is important to help students develop their critical and creative thinking skills • Young people need to be able to think logically and predict and evaluate the consequences of various actions • They benefit from learning a range of problem-solving techniques that can be applied when confronting personal, social, and ethical dilemmas • Students benefit from applied learning tasks in which they apply their problem-solving skills to realistic scenarios

3. Problem-Solving • Why Students need to participate in problem-identification and problem-solving • People tend to resist solutions that are pushed upon them by others • They rebut arguments, highlight the barriers and end up speaking the argument against change • When the solution is imagined and spoken by the person themselves, then they are more able to take it up • When students identify positive solutions, they create the possibility of enacting these strategies

4. Problem-Solving • Activities in Problem-Solving Lessons aim to assist students to: • Recognise the needs and interests of others • Listen to others’ ideas and recognise that others may see things differently • Identify options when making decisions to meet their needs and the needs of others • Recognise there are many ways to solve conflict • Describe similarities and differences in points of view between themselves and people in their communities • Identify cooperative behaviours in a range of group activities • Practise individual and group decision-making • Practise solving simple interpersonal problems • Identify communication skills that enhance relationships for particular groups and purposes • Describe characteristics of cooperative behaviour and identify evidence of these in group activities • Contribute to and predict the consequences of group decisions in a range of situations • Identify a range of conflict resolution strategies to negotiate positive outcomes to problems • Discuss the concept of leadership and identify situations where it is appropriate to adopt this role • Describe and apply strategies that can be used in situations that make them feel uncomfortable or unsafe • Devise strategies and plans to assist in the completion of challenging tasks, decisions or problems • Identify factors that influence decision-making • Identify causes and effects of conflict and practice different strategies to diffuse or resolve it • Predict the outcomes of challenges based on problem-solving and decision-making strategies • Assess individual and group decision-making processes in challenging situations • Plan projects, applying effective problem-solving and team-building strategies • Acknowledge the values, opinions and attitudes of different groups Foundation Level 9/10

5. Problem-Solving • Models for Problem-Solving • Problem-solving can be broken down into a number of smaller steps: • Naming the problem (no blaming, no emotion, just facts) • Brainstorming options (collect many ideas) • Predicting the consequences of the options • Appraising the positive or negative features of each option • Evaluating the practicality of the various ideas (could this one work?) • Assessing what strengths and resources are needed to carry out a particular choice • Choosing the best option • Deciding what would need to be done, by whom, when • Trying out the option • Assessing the option (Did it work? If not, repeat the thinking steps)

6. Problem-Solving • Use of Stimulus Scenarios • The Building Resilience Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)lesson materials provide a number of learning activities to promote the skills of problem-solving • Scenarios are provided to challenge students to apply their thinking to the types of personal and social situations that they or their peers might encounter as part of daily life. They can be modified by the teacher to suit the needs of the class • Use of the scenarios provided permits an externalised focus and removes the need for students to disclose their personal problems in the public space of the classroom. This also protects the privacy of those others who may be involved in the students’ personal problems • Students are encouraged to use more private help-seeking pathways in the school to seek assistance with their own problems

7. Problem-Solving • Examples of problem-solving models: • Level 3-4: The Roads and Roundabouts Model • Centre of the roundabout: • name the issue or problem • Exit roads: • for different options • Destinations: • the consequences or the destination the journey will take you to • Students are asked to identify the different options and imagine the consequences before they decide which destination they will choose. • They take thinking time as they go around the roundabout.

8. Problem-Solving • Examples of problem-solving models:Level 5-6: The Daisy Model • Stem: • name the problem • Petals: • the possible options • Centre of the flower: • the chosen option • Students are asked to evaluate the different options before they decide which one to choose

9. Problem-Solving • Examples of problem-solving models:Level 7-8: The Tree Change Model • Students draw a tree outlining the following: • Trunk: name the issue or problem • Roots: multiple causes of the problem • Branches: possible options • Leaves: possible consequences of the option chosen • The ‘problem tree’ is used as a thinking tool to explore a problem and to think through the options before making a choice about what to do

10. Problem-Solving • Teacher Activity: Problem-Solving • Choose from: • Roads and roundabouts (Level 3-4) • The daisy (Level 5-6) • Tree change (Level 7-8) • Use one of the problem-solving models to work through the following scenario: • EXAMPLE SCENARIO: Overstretched • Olivia is exhausted. Corrections are piling up and she has some behaviour management problems with her class. The Assistant Principal has just asked her to go on a school camp next week in the place of a sick colleague.

11. Problem-Solving • REFLECT • How do you respond to problems in your day-to-day life? • How do you model collaborative problem-solving within your classroom? • What language do you use to assist your students in developing their ability to articulate when they have a problem?

12. 6d. Problem-Solving • Useful Links • Get Ready Drug Education Resourceshttps://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/pages/ • Catching On Early and Catching On Later (Sexuality education activities for primary and secondary schools) http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/social/physed/pages/resources.aspx • Bully stoppers www.education.vic.gov.au/about/.../bullystoppers/ • Bullying. No way! https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/secondary/pages/View.aspx?id.. • Cybersmarthttps://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/pages/View.aspx?id=4e59b848... • EsmartSchools https://www.esmartschools.org.au/Pages/default.aspx