There is no shortage of behaviors in the early childhood classroom that can challenge educators, peers, and learning outcomes. While these behaviors are not the fault of the children who exhibit them, they can leave educators feeling discouraged about how to manage their classrooms and provide unconditional care and support.
The Devereux Center for Resilient Children, a Kaplan partner, is no stranger to the challenges children and early childhood educators face today. It works alongside industry-leading experts to develop strategies and easy-to-implement tools that help adults and children build resilience, manage stress, and remain calm, even in the most challenging of times.
In this article, you'll learn four steps that will help you transform the behavior in your classroom so that you can better support and teach young children. But first, let's discuss the term "challenging behaviors."
Is "challenging behavior" an acceptable term to use today?
For years, the term challenging behavior described actions such as hitting, biting, yelling, or running away. While these behaviors do challenge the daily routines and instruction happening in an early childhood classroom, they are not an innate characteristic of the children who exhibit them. Researchers today suggest that the term "challenging behaviors" can lead to stereotyping, labeling, and a misdiagnosis of health concerns. Due to these concerns, the term "behaviors that challenge" is a suggested replacement, which we will use in this article.
What causes behaviors that challenge?
According to the book Flip It! Transforming Challenging Behavior, there are many factors that can cause behaviors that challenge. These factors can occur due to internal beliefs, genetic makeup, positive experiences, and even the environment. The list below outlines some of the potential factors that could be the cause of behaviors that challenge your classroom:
- low self-esteem
- learning difficulties
- a medical diagnosis
- a new student joining the classroom
- unhealthy habits and/or living conditions
- divorce
- financial stress
- incarceration of a family member
- deportation of a family member
- traumatic experiences
- abuse or neglect
- the birth of a new sibling
- the addition of a new pet
- bullying
- systemic racism
- moving into a new home
- moving into foster care
- violent TV shows or games
- vibrant decor that could contribute to overstimulation
It is not always easy for children to cope with or overcome what is happening in their lives. As a result, children may respond to these factors by "flipping in" and keeping their feelings on the inside or by "flipping out" and exhibiting inappropriate behaviors for all to see and experience.
How can you help children gain control of their emotions and behaviors?
When children establish healthy coping mechanisms, it is easier for them to remain calm and in control of their emotions. For young children, this is a skill they need time and support to achieve. As an early childhood educator, there are four things you can do to help children remain calm, thereby decreasing the behaviors that challenge your classroom.
Step One. Understand the Child's Feelings
You cannot help a child remain in control of their emotions without first understanding their inner feelings. Children do not always understand their negative feelings and may "flip out" as a result. If you notice a child getting upset or exhibiting behaviors that challenge your classroom, take a moment to gently talk with that child about their day and what they may be feeling.
Listen as the child responds so that you can better understand the root cause of their behavior. Understanding the root cause of a child's behavior is the only way you can effectively help children understand their own feelings and learn to control them.
Step Two. Set Limits on Behavior
For children to learn and grow developmentally appropriate skills, they must try new things, test out ideas, and push their imagination to the limit. Often, this desire to test and explore can lead to impulsive behavior or play that doesn't align with an educator's rules for the classroom. Set limits for children regarding the behavior you find acceptable and explain that these rules are a way to keep everyone safe.
Invite children to help you create classroom limits. Children who participate in setting classroom rules are often more likely to follow them successfully.
Step Three. Use Questions to Solve Conflict
Classroom conflicts can happen for several reasons: a child grabs a toy from another child's hand or accidentally knocks over a block tower their friend was building, to name a few. These conflicts, no matter how small they may seem to others, can cause considerable reactions for young children still learning to cope with and control their emotions. As an educator, you can introduce questions during conflict to make children stop reacting and think critically about solutions to the problem.
Children who improve their problem-solving skills eventually overcome classroom conflicts without a teacher or adult intervening.
Step Four. Provide Prompts
Sometimes, asking questions to support a young child's problem-solving skills does not always lead to a solution. This is often because children feel so overwhelmed by the conflict that they aren't sure how to come up with a solution. Teacher-led prompts provide creative clues and resolution suggestions that help children effectively communicate during stressful situations.
Go one step further to improve the behaviors that challenge your classroom.
Children are not born knowing how to handle their emotions during times of stress and conflict. As an early childhood educator, you play a significant role in helping young children gain control over their emotions and solving problems effectively. The strategies in this article offer a great place to start. However, the book Flip It! Transforming Challenging Behaviors and the Flip It! Online Course 2nd Edition dive deeper into the tools and techniques you can use to improve the behaviors that challenge your classroom. Get your copies today by visiting our website. 
