behaviour assessment

Behavior assessment is an increasingly significant aspect of school life as the credit grows that behavior is a form of interaction. No matter what a child’s behavior is is sending a message. If the child is serene and accommodating we like the message they are sending and tend not to bother too much about that child’s wellbeing unless their behavior unexpectedly changes in which case it acts as a large signal to pay attention NOW. If a child’s behavior is challenging or troubling in some ways we pay much more attention right from the start. However a difficulty for many education and support practitioners is that they are not quite sure how to decode the behavior and decode the signals – it is a bit like know there is a thing called morse code, and knowing someone is conveying a series of dots and dashes in an attempt to tell you something – but not knowing what the sequence means.

This is where some kind of more formal assessment of behavior can be useful as it gives a structured way of tracking and thinking about the behavior you are seeing. These assessments can be anything from a uncomplicated log of observations about behavior over time. For example, 1.10.08 Ryan Mackenzie P4
10am shouting in class
11.03 fighting in playground
12.08 crying after being accused of lying
2.30pm kicking back of Jonny’s chair
Through to more detailed logs of behavior in different situations
Ryan Mackenzie
Classroom
Playground
School bus
These logs form assessments while they help to highlight problem areas, times or places. Maintenaining this kind of record rapidly establishes wherever and when things work and where and when they don’t. This picture can be very effective as practitioners start to ‘decode’ the behavioral meaning. They begin to be able to see that the inarticulate but robust signal always comes through after lunch, or before playtime.... That helps practitioners devise a plan to help the child begin to recognise and cope their stress hot buttons and find other ways to deal with the situation.

Occasionally, of course, the message is deeper than that and their behavior is very difficult and troubling, rather than ‘troublesome’. In these cases their behavior – such as hair pulling, rocking, inappropriate rages, incapacity to contain their tears over somewhat small incidents... - can point to mental distress. In these cases assessments are more typically carried out by trained professionals and appropriate clinical referrals made. However these acute cases are very much the marginal and for most children help and support at an early stage from people who know that behavior is a message without words can make all the difference to not getting worse and needing professional intervention.

By means of the strengths based approach is a very positive way forward for the majority of children who are just beginning to wobble. Using assessment tools that pick up on behavioral messages and give clues as to the positive meaning of these behaviors, rather than interpreting them as always being difficult, can give a child and a practitioner a new way of understanding themselves and their responses. In addition, recognising and playing to behavioral strengths rather than pinpointing ‘needs’ and only targeting them, can give a much needed breathing space to allow some maturation to take place. In many cases this maturation can sort out the ‘need’ without any other intervention being needed.

Article Source: http://www.321articles.com

If you want to know more about this approach then find out behavior assessment for children, young people or adults Ann Henshall is a psychologist and expert of the Psychology of Behaviour and Positive Attitude Change in children and staff groups. She works with a team of expert professionals in mental health and wellbeing and spends many hours each week helping clients baseline, track, assess, evaluate and monitor their support for learning programmes. Find out more on www.thesoftstuff.net <www.thesoftstuff.net> and join the community of likeminded people using strengths based approaches.

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