CPS Introductory Course - Session 1 of 2 - Ross W. Greene, PH.D

 Moving From Power and Control to Collaboration and Problem Solving (and Meeting Kids Where They're At)

Risk Factors

Being a Girl,  a boy, LGBTQ+, white, black or brown, caregiver mental health, decline of religion, high-stakes testing, neurodivergent, home and family life, politics and social media

As teachers or leaders, we can be highly aware and empathetic toward our students because of the many risk factors. Then adjust our interactions accordingly.

What should the protective ecosystems look like?

Paradigm Shift / Key Themes #1 - emphasis is on problems rather than on behaviours.

Concerning behaviour is often best thought of as a frustration or distress response. Behaviour is the signal the child communicates that they are having difficulty meeting certain behaviours.

• Concerning behaviours can be "lucky" or "unlucky"
• Less emphasis on unmet needs ...
• You're improving their behaviour by solving the problems that are causing it
• An unmet expectation is still an unsolved problem, even if not shown concerning behaviour
• We will require different assessment practices
  

In this model, we are the problem solvers, not the behaviour modifiers!

Paradigm Shift / Key Themes 2 - the problem-solving is collaborative, not unilateral (Ask the kid).

• Something you are doing with the kid rather than to them
• even if the kid can talk, but isn't or aren't talking because they can't
• Engaging kids in solving the problems is more effective at holding them accountable. Not as accountable when they are passive recipients of adult-imposed consequences
• T-I-M-E

To hold kids accountable, have them engaged in the process

Paradigm Shift / Key Themes #3 - the problem-solving is proactive, not proactive. (Don't be late)

• These kids are highly predictable, if we answer two questions proactively

1. Why do some kids respond so poorly to problems and frustrations? Answer - struggle with skills that are involved in responding to frustrations (flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, problem solving, emotion regulation)
2. When do kids exhibit concerning behaviour? Answer - when they're having difficulty meeting certain expectations

• Once skills and unsolved problems are identified, intervention can largely be proactive.

Set Up to Be Late

• Give the kid a break
• Send the kid to the calming corner
• call for crisis managers
• Teach coping strategies - 90% should be helping kids anticipate and solve problems before they're frustrated
• de-escalation, restraint, seclusion
• Discipline referral, detention, suspension, expulsion
  
  

Thought - reframe the structure in the school to be a strength-based approach to ensure we are early with a child, not late?

Teaching coping strategies is generally for those who are not coping when they are frustrated. 

Paradigm Shift / Key Themes #4 - kids do well if they can

If kids could do well, they would do well - not kids do well if they wanna! Doing poorly does not work out better for the kid!

Not true: 

Attention-seeking - the kid has the skills to seek attention the right way, but chooses the wrong way cause it makes their life go better - not true, why would they? If behaviour were a lucky response, would they still be attention-seeking, or would they get comfort?

Manipulative

Coercive

Unmotivated

Limit-testing

Once we have a closer look using the assessment tools, we can see what unmet needs or skills they need support with.

Paradigm Shift / Key Themes #5 - Doing well is preferable

Solved problems don't cause concerning behaviours .... only unsolved problems do

Key Skills - flexibility/adaptability, frustration tolerance, problem solving, emotion regulation 

Enhancing skills takes longer than solving problems

Identifying skills and unsolved problems helps make the intervention proactive rather than reactive

Solve problems collaboratively and proactively - promotes a partnership, engages kids in solving the problems that affect their lives. 

Assessment of Skills and Unsolved Problems (ASUP 2024)

Step 1: 16 skills moved past the 4 global skills

The ASUP is a discussion guide, not a checklist or mechanism for quantifying.

ASUP helps us focus on what we can do to support the child

We are not trying to explain how the behaviour comes about - circle of control, what we can influence and what we cannot influence.

Guideline for Wording Unsolved Problems 

• free of concerning behaviours
• Unsolved problems start with the word "difficulty" followed by a verb
• eg difficultly getting started on ...

• free of adult theories -because we want to believe our theories are always right
• Our theories are often wrong
• assumption-free living - when not assuming gives you the power to ask instead of guess

• split not clumped
• Micro, not macro, e.g., difficulty being safe, getting along with others, following instructions
• "preferred" and "unpreferred" are clumped (and are also theories)

• as specific as possible
• Asking "w" questions (who, what, where, when ... not why!) Why means 20 minutes of assumptions of why they do something.
• Asking "what expectation is the child having difficulty meeting?"

A few more guidelines

• verb selection is the hardest part - use these - (completing, getting started on, participate in, get along with, going to, coming back from.
• "Upstream" unsolved problems are better than "downstream" unsolved problems.
• Desired behaviour is OK ......... concerning behaviour is not. Eg concerning behaviour - calling out to ask a question - desired behaviour - Difficulty raising a hand to ask a question.
• The wording of unsolved problems should be kid-friendly
• The unsolved problem is the "conversation" .... it's the "entry point".
• Even if the kid sometimes meets an expectation but not others, any expectation that a kid has difficulty reliably meeting is an unsolved problem.

Unsolved Problem Example

Nigel has difficulty getting started on keeping his workspace tidy.

The Core Philosophy: "Kids Do Well if They Can"

The fundamental shift is moving from the belief that kids do well if they want to (motivation-based) to the belief that kids do well if they can (skill-based). If a child is struggling, it isn't because they are manipulative or unmotivated; it is because they lack the skills to meet a specific expectation.