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Everyone can fill their human potential when provided with a nurturing environment
Need to provide an environment that conducive to growth and true maturation of children
Growth is the result of 3 processes: Adaptive (resilience), emergent (ability to function independently),
integrative (togetherness but separate)
Resilient, adaptive person is made, not born.
Most influential factor is social environment in which child is raised
Supportive social networks vital for both the child and the guardian It takes a village to raise a child
mindful that many children come emotionally armoured due to chaos, neglect, violence
understand the role of the human brain in protecting feelings that are too overwhelming
focus on developing qualities and creating conditions that contribute to a sense of belonging and
connectedness, while promoting positive mental health
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
5. Preventing or Intervening in Challenging Behaviour lens of connectedness - Pg. 45
Encourage the formation of community of learners, wherein a social curriculum is emphasized as much
as the academic curriculum.
Teachers act as role models
opportunities for students to engage I cooperative learning to practice social interactions
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
when trust is lacking, student achievement suffers. Conversely, when schools build a culture of calmness,
collaborative problem-solving and connectedness, student aggression decreases
6. Crisis Development: Connectedness Model Pg. 54
Behaviour Level
Staff attitude/approach
A. Unrest
B. Alarm
Important considerations:
Under severe stress, everyone becomes less rational, less empathetic + more impulsive - Internal states
generated by alarm + threat profoundly affect ones capacity for thought and control over one's behaviour
Threat pushes us to rely on lower, more primitive regions of the brain.
Level of arousal affects ability to make good choices
Persistent stress alters the biology of the brain
Remove a child's stress by being respectful, patient and understanding.
Crucial to teach kids how to relate
Empathy is the foundation of pro-social behaviour it produces kindness/calmness, both which create safety.
Understanding this arousal continuum reveals a lot about how the world works. If we want a kinder, more caring
society, people need more experiences and places in which they feel safe. If we want to be kind to others or have
others respond with empathy toward us, we need to minimize unpredictable and highly tense situations and maximize
our ability to deal with ordinary stress (Page. 55)
Developing compassion starts with YOU, the teacher, in your classroom. Your attitude, in particular, and the words
you choose can determine the outcome of an interaction, and escalate or de-escalate the situation.
Handle them carefully for words have more power than the atom bomb - Pearl Strachan
Power of words:
can communicate hope, possibility and optimism
positive emotions feelings of gratitude and joy
difference between 'sit down' and 'would you please take a seat'
evokes welfare, safety and security
** Questions to ask yourself as a teacher page 56 **
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
A person's world is only as big as their heart - Tanya A. Moore
7. Understanding the Child from the Inside Out (Pg. 60)
Children are meant to depend on adults they need to rest in our care
If care is lacking, they may look elsewhere for it as a result, other behaviours may kick in
Internal states generated by alarm and threat profoundly affect one's capacity for thought and control of one's
behaviour when calm we are more creative and productive.
Reactions are driven by the cortex and neocortex, allowing us to respond to flexibly, nurturing and enriching
approaches and even plan for the future under threat, solutions are more reactive and regressive.
Brain Research
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
Expose them to developmentally appropriate enrichment experiences, such as rocking and being held in a
respectful caring manner,
use music, dance and massage to stimulate lower brain regions that contain key regulatory
neurotransmitter systems involved in the stress response.
Provide opportunities for them to have a sense of control over who they talk to and what they discuss, and
to process at their own pace, in their own ways.
Decrease chaos and stress levels in the classroom, as well as sensory overload
Reconnect them with those things that provide a sense of connection, aliveness and safety
Teach them alternative coping skills and promote relaxation in the classroom.
Teach them about the brain and that outbursts are often prompted by frustration, a sense of rejection and
feeling misunderstood.
***Many children grow up with underdeveloped limbic and relational neural systems that limit them to shallow,
superficial relationships. This faulty relational neurobiology explains their inability to derive pleasure from healthy
human relationships, their lack of interest in people and their lack of empathy. Because their brains are still
developing, young children are at greater risk of suffering lasting effects of trauma.
Story of Jonah - I am walking home
Story demonstrates how human connection can reduce sense of aloneness and terror
Demonstrates power of being deeply and safely connected to caring adults, which, children to feel their
feelings especially the tender, vulnerable ones so they can be moved to caution rest and growth.
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all
8. Soliciting a child's good intentions Pg. 70
One day sitting in the office with his teacher, Lis, and says I am going to fix your portable
Since his language was limited, she didn't have a clear sense of what he meant
Next day at recess, she noticed that he had gathered a couple of friends and they were kicking the side boards
Another teacher ran up and yelled at them for destroying school property she then ran into the building
looking for the school prinicipal
Lis asked what the boys were doing and student E explained they were kicking away the rotten boards so that
new boards could be put on.
He smiled and said he knew what he was doing as he had watched his father fix things around the house.
Principal came out and the situation was explained by Liz. The next day they had a carpenter come out to fix
the portable and asked student E to help.
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
I do not need anger management, I simply need to be understood
10. Understanding the Emotional Roots of Behaviour Pg. 86
FBA Functional Behavioural Assessment
Purpose:
insight and clarity into reasons for challenging behaviour
understand structure and function of behaviour
promote effective staff responses so behaviour can be eliminated/modified to facilitate healthy behaviours
individualize and structure students' learning environments to support educational needs
maximize effectiveness and efficiency of behaviour support.
Staff identifies factors antecedents (triggers/predictors) and consequences (results)
Behaviour described: what it looks like, how often it happens, how long it lasts + how severe or dangerous it is.
Behaviour Intervention Plan
identify preventative practices and replacement behaviors that can be implemented
provided proactive strategies that allow students to access appropriate educational environments
identify positive and negative consequences + practices for maintaining positive behaviour
value the uniqueness of each child as well as strengths and weaknesses
**FBA focuses on problematic behaviour and teaching replacement behaviour missing emotional component and
important goal of realizing human potential**
Realizing Human potential Pg. 88
ability to simultaneously handle togetherness and separation and to function independently. Comprised of
three elements in the maturation process: Adaptive, Integrative, Emergent.
FDI Functional Development Inventory (Ogilvie & Kroeker, 2009) Pg. 89
Examines emotional impediments to maturation
context of relationship, not behaviour
growth/development result of being in deeply fulfilling relationships with adults
Emergence
child being able to stand on his/her own two feet viability as a separate being
not an inevitable process
depends on child's relational needs being met
gives rise to many attributes: sense of responsibility, accountability, uriosity, interest, boundaries, respect for
others, individuality, personhood.
Integrative Functioning
Social integration, taking into account the perspectives of others
Mixing of elements to create a new whole
Mixing produces perspective, balance and emotional/social maturity
Mixing without blending - togetherness without loss of separateness
Adaptation
Resilience learn from mistakes, benefit from failure, changed for the better
coming to terms with something that cannot be changed
Understanding--Empathy--Compassion--Welfare--Safety--Encouragement--Sincerity--Connectedness
Being Vulnerable and Finding Compassion:
connecting with children brings us face to face with our own emotions, impulsiveness and inner conflict
necessary to feel our sadness and disappointment when things do not go our way
risk become emotionally hardened if do not face/feel sadness
find compassion for ourselves and accept that sometimes frustration will get in the way
Amid mixed feelings, it is possible to achieve clarity, balance and perspective
Softening our hearts as teachers
Students emotions behind misbehaviour
Feeling undervalued
Feeling overwhelmed
Despair
Anger
Being misunderstood
Disappointment
Inadequacy
Frustration
Disengagement
Hurt
Sad
** Defending against vulnerability is a protective mechanism involving emotional and perceptual filters that screen out
information that the person would find to wounding or painful**