Inevitably, one will encounter challenging behaviours in the classroom. Although there is no one rule which fits every classroom, there are many strategies which may be implemented to help manage challenging behaviours as well as acknowledge where they may stem from.
Foremostly, the classroom does not exist in a vacuum, and therefore students bring with them incredibly diverse socio-cultural backgrounds, skillsets, values, and personalities. As professionals it is our duty to navigate class dynamics and create a positive environment which fosters learning and wellbeing.
Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development may be used to consider why a student may be exhibiting challenging behaviours. The ZPD is the area between what students are capable of completing independently and what they are incapable of doing, it identifies that student are able to extend themselves with support and acknowledges students who are either bored or overloaded may exhibit challenging behaviours.
Alongside Vygotsky’s ZPD, it is essential to establish a productive class environment. On an early practicum experience in the Visual Arts classroom, I engaged a year 7 class in a collaborative game of ‘spot the difference’ to challenge their visual literacy and comprehension of the structural frame. Students were split in teams and tasked with finding the most differences between two works. At first, the task was highly engaging, all students were involved in the task, team leaders were selected as well as a scribe to record their groups answers. However, students began misbehaving at the conclusion of a task when teams were sharing results.
One team suggested the bowls in work A were different to work B and calculated this as one difference.
Another team made the same suggestion but counted each individual bowl and therefore calculated 5 differences.
Because I had not foreseen this issue and established a clear guideline, students became frustrated and misbehaved. In future, it is essential to set clear guidelines around activities particularly when engaging in competitive activities to manage challenging behaviours in the classroom.
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