Hard kids, New ideas.THE COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH

ROSS GREENE, PH.D, J.STUART ABLON, PHD

Philosophical Approach 1) Kids do well if they “want to” – Motivational Approach

Level/Reward Systems Punishment produces behavioral change. Student possesses the self driven attributes necessary for behavioral change. Can be effective for non-traumatized, Tier One and some Tier Two children.

2) Kids do well if they “can” – Identification, Emotional Regulation, Skill Retention Kids are delayed in the development of the crucial cognitive skills (Executive Functioning, Language

Processing, Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Flexibility and Social Skills) and have difficulty applying them. Adults help to identify lagging skills (why?) and the unsolved problems (who, what, where, when) Proactive and almost exclusively, emphasis place on antecedent events.

http://www.livesinthebalance.org/step-one-first-video

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s)•Collaborative research between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente in San Diego•17,000 Kaiser patients participated in routine health screening•Data continues to be analyzed; it reveals staggering proof of the health, social, and economic risks that result from childhood trauma

Why does this work?Surrogate Frontal Lobe

Amygdala: emotional center of the brain.

Prefrontal Cortex: Organizing, processing, information gathering, consequence recognition (Executive Functioning)

Hard kids: Sensory Stimuli Amygdala

Majority of our students: Sensory Stimuli Prefrontal Cortex Amygdala

Your Explanation Guides Your Intervention.•How you explain a kid’s challenging behavior has major implications on how you try to help.•If you believe the challenging behavior is due to a lagging skill and an unsolved problem, then rewarding and punishing may not be ideal.•Solving problems and teaching skills would make perfect sense.

How does this work?Beginning Steps

1. Relationship; years of psychological research shows behavioral change is most directly impacted by the relationship with the person who is directing and encouraging growth. Spend some time aside from academic support and discipline to get to know the child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7hq9ujeIwM

2. Understand that challenging behaviors are highly predictable once identified. The “episodes” or challenging behaviors are a form of a learning disability.

3. Identify Lagging Skills (Thinking Skills Inventory) and choose the two most challenging to your environment.

4. Notice antecedents.

5. Implement strategy, involving the child in the process.

6. Review the Thinking Skills Inventory

How does this work?Conversations with children

Plan A: Impose Adult Will (Precision Commands)

Plan C: Drop It (Eggshell walking)

Plan B: Collaborative Problem Solving (Expectations and Solutions)◦ 1. Empathy (Genuine and specific).◦ 2. Define the problem (Both parties)◦ 3. Solution; Invitation to problem solve.

Empathy Step (Reassurance) 1. Reflective listening 2. Clarifying statements…”tell me more about that?” “I don’t quite understand.” 3.Drilling- Asking the student who, what, where, when of the unsolved problem

Define the Problem * How the unsolved problem is affecting the student * How the unsolved problem is affecting other people

Solution, Invitation to Solve the Problem•Inviting the student to solve the problem collaboratively •Restatement of the concerns•Good solutions must be realistic and mutually satisfactory

Keys to SuccessReflective listening: “Tell me more about that…” “I am hearing you say…”

A simple re-phrasing of expectations, rather than a direct command, does not cause as much opposition. “I notice you are kicking Julie under the table and it is bothering her. In our class we are expected to keep others safe.” Rather than, “Do not kick Julie.” Another example, “I notice you have not started to work on your math assignment. It is expected that we work on our math right now. I am happy to help you get started. Would you like me to now, or in two minutes?” Rather than, “Pick up your pencil and begin to work.”

Ask about what the child is thinking, rather than how they are feeling (we typically know how they are feeling…)

To address a concern that a child is not responding to having a problem with, we can simply say, “I know you are saying you aren’t having a problem with Joe on the playground, but I am recalling a few times last week when there were some major disagreements going on the basketball court…tell me what was going on there…”

Do not engage in Plan B discussions during moments of crisis. Address escalation; problem solve at a later time.

Response to InterventionHow do we monitor and track growth?

Specify Targeted Skills and Strategies using Plan B

*Skill Intervention Sheet

Goal: To reduce the frequency, intensity and duration of “episodes.”

Frequency - Episodes per day

Intensity - Likert scale measure of intensity (harm to self and others, 1-4, same rater)

Duration - Amount of time from beginning to the point of self management.

Goal: To improve expected behaviors.

*General Behavior Tracker

Examples of Data Collection MethodsSimple, short and efficientSkill Intervention Sheet

Behavior Tracker

Off/On Task Behavior Tracker

Frequency of Behavior Tracker

Duration of Behavior Tracker

References

References Livesinthebalance.org

livesinthebalance.org