Challenging behaviour in young children, its strategies & teachers perspectives

Research topic:

Challenging behaviour in young children, its strategies & teachers perspectives

In the context of Early Childhood education, especially in the preschool age group (3 to 5 years age), recently we have been encountering with high rate of challenging issues. It is imperative for educators to actively guide, use multiple strategies, collaborate with families and professionals to ensure a holistic development for children. Early Childhood research is based on four main research methodologies, i.e., positivism, interpretivism, structuralism, and poststructuralism. In this literature review, I will be addressing and reviewing literatures relevant to my research topic (Rolfe & Siraj-Blatchford, 2020).

Recent research has highlighted that persistently challenging behaviours (PCBs) especially from preschool to early primary can lead to academic retention, specialised education or intervention referrals and socio-emotional challenges in the child. Children who exhibit consistently disruptive behaviours may have socio-emotional deficits that affect their ability to play, regulate their emotions, and engage socially with their friends. Such abilities limit their capacity to work in a school setting (McGuire & Hedda, 2022).

I believe that when we are working with children with high behavioural challenges, it is imperative for us to also understand where children come from, their background, home environment or any issues they might be dealing with (AGDE, 2022, V2.0).

According to Bronfenbrenners ecological theory, there are several intricate layers of surroundings that have an impact on the growth of children. He emphasizes that a childs development is fuelled and guided by the interplay of elements in their biologically growing environment. This is true, and I believe that any conflicts or changes in one layer will have an impact on all the other layers. This theory links to NQS quality area 3,5 & 6 (ACECQA, N.D). Thus, we could incorporate play-based learning approaches to further enhance childs learning CITATION Boy14 l 3081 (Boyd & Bee, 2014).

In my perspective, we need to share our knowledge, skills and tactics with our fellow colleagues and seek solutions from one another. Often, educators tend to get shy or might not seek assistance from each other but practically having that transparent communication and training each other does help a lot. It is not just about educating colleagues but subsequently assists for welfare of the children and creating meaningful learning experiences (ECA Code of Ethics, 2016).

This article states that children who demonstrates persistently difficult behaviour can nevertheless be greater performers in school and achieve better results if their teacher has the capacity to foster a socially inclusive educational setting. I strongly believe this as fair and active involvement in social interactions with classmates stimulates mutual respect and positive relationships (AGDE, 2022, V2.0).

To comprehend and effectively oversee the social context of the classroom settings, I strongly believe that we must have a solid grasp of the children (Farmer et al, 2018). In a stimulating an engaging learning environment, children will automatically be social. We might assist when children navigate an issue in an increasingly respectful way. For example: a child wants a specific toy while his peers are using & demonstrates aggressiveness at that instant. I believe we must demonstrate proper social interactions, and step in before leading to an unpleasant situation (McGuire & Hedda, 2022).

As stated by National Law & Regulation 113 and NQS Quality Area 3, the way rooms & resources are used is determined by how environment is set up, furnished, and arranged. It is our responsibility to adhere to this quality area so that we can optimise childrens participation, their degree of pleasant experiences and their ability to form inclusive friendships within an inclusive setting (NQS Quality Area 3, N.D).

Within an inclusive early childhood setting, a researcher in current study used pyramidal training which is a technique wherein one or more people are taught a specific ability or series of skills by a professional which then goes on to pass along the same skills to other people .I believe that we can implement this in our settings and learn from our colleagues (Thompson & MacNaul, 2023).

Using pyramidal training, a researcher in the current study trained four educators to apply practical communication skills to reduce one students aggressiveness towards peers. Following the coaching session, all educators managed to conduct the plan alongside the instructor at a fidelity of 80% while undertaking the students personal training, their abilities increased to 100% fidelity. Aggressiveness of the student dropped to zero and effective interpersonal skills were elevated (Thompson & MacNaul, 2023).Top of Form

I would like to emphasize this fact that even though we usually function as the first line of defence for behavioural and emotional wellness intervention initiatives, educators who work with children possessing challenges, frequently lack the expertise and training needed for coping with challenging behaviour. I have observed that numerous educators feel uncomfortable or have for self-efficacy when they first start working with children who exhibit behavioural issues. However, we need to act upon the best interests of each child and enhance our skills (professional development) to support challenging behaviours (ECA Code of Ethics, 2019).

According to a survey of more than five hundred educators come other greatest area requiring guidance was challenging behaviour. Unfortunately, obstacles including a lack of funding and administrative, or staff assistance hindered educators access do proper training and abilities to resolve effectively. Thus, it is necessary we use modern instructional techniques that are dependableand successful in training educators toimplementfunction-based interventions, like pyramidal training (Thompson & MacNaul, 2023).

According to Aksoy (2020), a study on challenging behaviours used the qualitative research methodology. Ten distinct preschool teachers who work with children between the ages of four and five within a mid-south region of United States formed the research group. The investigator conducted individual interviews with educators to gather information and it was then examined using content analysis. Findings of the study demonstrated that challenging behaviours which preschool teachers encountered initially fell within categories of living condition problems, lacking discipline, lack of social behaviours and low levels of competence skills (Aksoy, 2020).

Additionally, we must assure that children are continually and fairly engaging in activities (Woodgate et al. 2019). It involves routines including literacy and numeracy games, exploring play-based learning, sports and playing in groups. In contrast to solitary play, equal and proactive engagement involved children with Persistent Challenging Behaviour (PCBs) participating in social activities at an amount equivalent with their classmates via cooperative play, considering what stage of development they are in (McGuire & Hedda, 2022).

We might accomplish this by meaningful communications promoting & modelling prior to, throughout, and afterwards. We might encourage equal an active involvement prior to social activities by using role playing and social skills which aligns with Vygotskys theory emphasizing zone of proximal development CITATION Boy14 l 2057 (Boyd & Bee, 2014).

The studys findings demonstrated that preschool teachers mostly used a variety of beneficial approaches. It was reported that the strong discipline technique was hardly used, while the behaviour modification-based disciplinary approach. Instructive and efficient communicational approaches were both primarily applied (Aksoy, 2020).

In accordance with the ideas of B.F Skinners behaviorist theory, the behaviour modification-based discipline approach highlights how behaviours form by the relationship that is formed between the stimulus and behaviour CITATION Nut14 l 2057 (Nutbrown & Clough, 2014).

In conclusion, in National Quality Standards, and my perspective, we need to critically reflect on our practice and as per the quality area 5, it is our duty of care to build that strong & respectful connection with children, being responsive especially when children display challenging behaviours. (ECA Code of Ethics, 2019).

Bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority. (N.D). ACECQA. Quality Area 6 Collaborative partnerships with families and communities: https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-quality-standard/quality-area-6-collaborative-partnership-with-families-and-communities

Australian Government Department of Education [AGDE]. (2022). Belonging, Being & Becoming/ The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0. ACECQA: https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-01/EYLF-2022-V2.0.pdf

Aksoy, P. (2020).: The Sample of United States. Participatory Educational Research, 7(3), 79-104. https://doi.org/10.17275/per.20.36.7.3Boyd, D. G., & Bee, H. L. (2014). The Developing Child. Edinburgh : Pearson Education Limited.

Early Childhood Australia A Voice for Young Children. (2016). ECA Code of Ethics. Early Childhood Australia: https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ECA-COE-Brochure-web-2019.pdf

Macnaughton, G., Rolfe, S. A., & Blatchford, I. S. (2020). Doing Early Childhood Research: International Perspectives on Theory and Practice: Vol.2nd Edition. Routledge.

McGuire, S. N., & Hedda, M. (2022). Social Inclusion of Children with Persistent Challenging Behaviors.Early Childhood Education Journal,50(1), 61-69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-020-01135-4

Nutbrown, C., & Clough, P. (2014). Early Childhood Education: History, Philosophy and Experience . Sage Publications Ltd 2nd edition.

Rolfe, S. A., MacNaughton, G., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2020). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice. Routledge. (Chapter 5)

Spivak, A. L., & Farran, D. C. (2012). First-grade teacher behaviours and childrens prosocial actions in the classroom. Early Education and Development, 23(5), 623639. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409 289.2011.566164.

Thompson, C., & MacNaul, H. (2023). Using Pyramidal Training to Address Challenging Behaviour in an Early Childhood Education Classroom.Education Sciences,13(6), 539. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13060539

Woodgate, R. L., Gonzalez, M., Demczuk, L., Snow, W. M., Barriage, S., & Kirk, S. (2019). How do peers promote social inclusion of children with disabilities? A mixed-methods systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638 288.2018.1561955