Collaborative and Proactive Solutions: Part 1

1. Collaborative and Proactive Solutions:Part 1 Laura L. Fuller, Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry University of Iowa

2. Objectives Participants will • Identify challenging behaviors in the classroom & become familiar with options for managing them • Learn about an alternative approach for managing challenging classroom behaviors • Be able to state the core philosophy of CPS • Become familiar with the 3 parts of a proactive problem solving conversation • Be aware of additional resources regarding CPS

3. Introduction of presenter

4. You will learn a lot of things in college…. …but there may be some things that aren’t explicitly taught, too, like….

5. What to do about challenging classroom behaviors?

6. Stories? My story about the kid who had lost everything

7. Who usually ends up managing the problems? School discipline

8. Who are our “frequent flyers” in accessing school discipline?

9. What are the traditional approaches to managing challenging behavior? From Mother Jones July/August 2015: How we deal with the most challenging kids remains rooted in B.F. Skinner's mid-20th-century philosophy that human behavior is determined by consequences and bad behavior must be punished. (Pavlov figured it out first, with dogs.) During the 2011-12 school year, the US Department of Education counted 130,000 expulsions and roughly 7 million suspensions among 49 million K-12 students—one for every seven kids. The most recent estimates suggest there are also a quarter-million instances of corporal punishment in US schools every year. Did you know? 16 U.S. states still allow corporal punishment in the schools.

10. Are there problems with how school discipline is working in some places?

11. School to prison pipeline

12. School-to-Prison Pipeline From the website of the American Civil Liberties Union: The ACLU is committed to challenging the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse, or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished, and pushed out. “Zero-tolerance” policies criminalize minor infractions of school rules, while cops in schools lead to students being criminalized for behavior that should be handled inside the school. Students of color are especially vulnerable to push-out trends and the discriminatory application of discipline.

13. Dan Losen, J.D. M.Ed.Explaining the School to Prison Pipeline http://vimeo.com/106500808

14. Another option: solve problems collaboratively

15. The core philosophy of CPS: Kids do well if they can

16. Contrast Kids do well if they can With Kids do well if they want to

17. In other words, Lagging Skills vs Lagging Motivation Your interpretation guides your intervention If you think it’s Lagging Skills, you teach skills If you think it’s low motivation, you motivate

18. Exercise

19. Exercise: identify which are nouns, verbs and adjectives • Gesund • Haus • Trinken • Schlafen • Brot • Mager • Bier • Hut • Niedrig • Dunkel • Alt • Geld • Spazierengehen • Haben

20. Changing your lenses is the 1st step Viewing challenging behavior as the result of lagging skills is much different than viewing the child as “ornery” “attention seeking” or “manipulative”

21. Changing Your “Job Description” Might be Another Way to Think About This What is your goal? Teachers who aim to control students' behavior—rather than helping them control it themselves— may undermine the very elements that are essential for motivation: autonomy, a sense of competence, and a capacity to relate to others.

22. What are my options? Use your knowledge of the student and the situation to help you decide what “Plan” to use

23. Plans A, B and C for handling challenges Whose concern is addressed What it sounds like Plan A- adult’s concern is addressed (unilateral problem solving) Plan B- both adult’s and child’s concerns are addressed (Collaborative Problem Solving) Plan C- child’s concern is addressed “No” “You must” “you can’t” “Let’s think of a way that we can (address your concern) and (address my concern)” “OK” (or adult says nothing at all)

24. How to have a problem solving conversationoverview Part 1: Empathy- clarify the child’s concern Part 2: Defining the Problem- get adult’s and child’s concerns on the table Part 3: Invitation to Problem Solving- ask child to brainstorm ideas with you

25. The importance of being proactive In Crisis: The brain is not ready to problem solve And if you don’t solve problems proactively they are likely to come up again, and again, and again…. Calm: The brain is ready to problem solve

26. How to have a problem solving conversation Part 1: Empathy- clarify the child’s concern • State what you noticed in a neutral manner • Ask “what’s up” or something similar • Use reflective listening • “Drill down” until you are clear about the child’s concern

27. How to have a problem solving conversation Part 2: Defining the Problem- get adult’s and child’s concerns on the table • Once you are clear about child’s concern, restate it, and then say “My concern is..” • Adult concerns are often about learning, relationships, or safety

28. How to have a problem solving conversation Part 3: Invitation to Problem Solving- ask child to brainstorm ideas with you • Can you think of a way we can (address child’s concern) and (address adult’s concern)? • Solutions need to be mutually satisfactory and realistic

29. What will Part 2 be about? Very brief review More in depth discussion of core philosophy and “changing your lenses” Practice the parts of a Plan B Conversation See video examples Talk more about available resources

30. Positive experiences with CPS “The Maine project” and some of the impressive data they have gotten so far

31. Durham Community School K-8

32. Durham Community School K-8

33. Durham Community School K-8

34. Central School, South Berwick (PK-3)

35. Central School, South Berwick (PK-3)

36. Morse Street School, Freeport, PK-2

37. Morse Street School, Freeport, PK-2

38. Kennebunk Elem., Kennebunk, K-3

39. Lisbon Comm. School, Lisbon, PK-5

40. Further resources: • Lost and Found by Ross Greene, Ph.D. • Lost at School by Ross Greene, Ph.D. • The Explosive Child by Ross Greene, Ph.D. • Raising Human Beings by Ross Greene, Ph.D. www.livesinthebalance.org • Katherine Reynolds Lewis , What if Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids was Wrong? Mother Jones, July/August 2015. • Greene, R.W. (2011). Collaborative Problem Solving* can transform school discipline. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(2), 25-28. • Greene, R. W. (2010). Student behavior problems: Time to rethink and retool. Our Children, The National PTA Magazine. 11-12. • Greene, R.W. (2010). Calling all frequent flyers. Educational Leadership, 68(2), 28-34.

41. Objectives- did we meet them? Are you now able to: • Identify challenging behaviors in the classroom & identify at least 3 options for managing them • Describe an alternative approach to managing challenging classroom behaviors • State the core philosophy of CPS • Describe the 3 parts of a proactive problem solving conversation • Find at least 2 additional resources regarding CPS ?

42. Discussion/Conclusion CPS is an individualized, proactive, skill-building approach to working with kids who have challenging behavior (or any situation where there is conflict) CPS has been found to be effective in the schools at reducing challenging behaviors and disciplinary actions, and increasing desired behaviors There are high costs for punitive and adversarial discipline approaches and a much higher rate of negative outcomes for kids who are suspended, etc

43. Questions/comments