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Children with Challenging Behavior
April 21, 2009
There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.
-Margaret J. Wheatley, writer
Children with challenging behavior is far and away the leading training priority for teachers identified in our current Exchange Insta Poll. And, this has been true for over five years of doing this survey. [If you want to share your views on Teacher Training Needs, you still have 16 hours to participate in the Exchange Insta Poll.] A number of reasons have been proposed for this phenomenon:
  • Cultural: Children today, from the earliest ages, are exposed to enormous amounts of violence on television, videos, and computer games and are given the message that you solve problems with aggression.
  • Societal: This theory points the finger at parents whose lives are so hectic and stressful that they are not spending enough time nurturing their children and helping them develop self control.
  • Environmental: Contaminants and additives in the air we breathe, the fast food we consume, and water we drink are polluting and impacting our children's health and dispositions.
  • Professional: In classrooms of highly functioning teachers, there is little misbehavior to manage — children are engaged. The prevalence of misbehavior in programs is attributable to low pay and low skills of our workforce.
We hesitate to select any one of these theories as the answer. But, it is clear that children's challenging behavior is an issue our field needs to address in order for children to have positive, nurturing experiences in our programs.


Exchange's Many Resources on Challenging Behavior

Exchange has a number of extremely helpful resources for supporting teachers in dealing with children with challenging behaviors:

  • Our Beginnings Workshop book, Behavior, has 24 articles written by experts in the field on how to deal with challenging behavior.
  • Ten Out of the Box Training Kits on "Positive Discipline" provide directors with all the resources you need to conduct in-house training sessions.
  • Two Exchange CEU modules, "Managing Challenging Behavior" and "Social and Emotional Development", provide credit for reading Exchange magazine articles.
  • Exchange's newest resource is the DVD Facing the Challenge (an expertly crafted video training tool).

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Comments (6)

Displaying All 6 Comments
kausar · April 22, 2009
columbus, OH, United States


I agree 100% with Gwen Morgan. Just because someone has a degree that does not make them a good teacher. Good teachers come from being able to recgonize a child's needs, educational upbringing and cultural diversity, just to name a few. Like Gwen said, placing these cerdential requirements we have precious time being put in making potfolios instead of that time being spent with the children at need.

Donna Wheeler · April 21, 2009
Katy, TX, United States


I am currently in the midst of completing a thesis on pre-k boys with "high energy" (PO). Behavior is a large part of the paper, so thank you for bringing this to us for discussion. I agree with Barbara Kaiser (and gained much from her NAEYC workshop) in that culture is not addressed as it should be, and blaming parents benefits no one. The classroom environment AND outside play time (thank you Jim Greenman) also became critical parts of my paper as did teacher training.
How can we expect teachers to know what to do, how to react unless we start discussions with them, beginning with, how they were raised. Do most teachers have the necessary training needed and support in their work with children to support the children in their classrooms? From my observations I say not.
Another point I'd like to mention is that today's children have different life experiences, and the media is to blame for much of the increase in the aggressive behavior we witness in early childhood classrooms (indoor and out).

Sandra Monahu · April 21, 2009
First Care of Wheaton
Wheaton, IL, United States


The more technology we put in our society the less time we have to interact with our kids. Parents are parenting with gestures - no more voice hell-o or let's go. Parents are on the phone, hand gestures, fingers to the lips, head shaking and nodding approval are what greets many children after a long day away from a parent.

Barbara Kaiser · April 21, 2009
Grand Pre, Nova Scotia, Canada


As the co-author of Challenging Behavior in Young Children and Facing the Challenge, I believe that you have identified appropriate risk factors, but have not defined them well.

1. The cultural issue is really about the fact that childcare and school do not respect or validate the skills and acceptable behavioral norms that children bring with them from home. Instead we alienate children who don't understand or agree with our values or means of communication.

2. Blaming parents instead of partnering with them does not solve the problem or teach anyone new skills. Some teachers work with children who live in neighborhoods that they (the teachers) are afraid to walk through. We need to understand what these children cope with on a daily basis rather than blame their parents.

3. We need to look at the environment in terms of childcare and school. We can't change the planet, but we can create classrooms where all children feel welcome and have the space and materials they require to flourish.

4. Children deserve qualified, professional and engaged teachers who have the skills to manage behavior and create a positive social climate and sense of community in the classroom. However, there is so much more involved. This bullet goes back to the age old idea that if you are prepared, relevant, know the content well, the children will leave all their problems at the door. Well, we know that just ain't so!

Cathy Barrie · April 21, 2009
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada


I would suggest that it is a combination of these factors that contribute to difficult behaviours rather than one factor. I would also like to add to that list with the idea that teachers today do not allow any sort of expressive, play especially for boys. They instead label it misbehaviour or unacceptable when children play superhero or any bad guy good guy dramatic play. If children get too excited or rambunctious it is stopped in case things should get out of hand. This prevents expression of emotions which may later come out as aggression. I have worked as an ECE since the 70's and see a difference in what play is allowed.

Gwen Morgan · April 21, 2009
Wheelock College
United States


I go with "professional," as long as we understand that professional teachers are not defined by their degrees or the children's test scores, but by their knowledge and skills in early education and caring. A good and professional teacher can read behavior, and understand it culturally, developmentally, and personally. That teacher has had experience in working with children of the age group, and of the cultural and language group. She had theoretic knowledge of child development, and she has how-to skills in teaching and relating. Our current credentials are not producing enough such teachers. When it does, we will have less mis-education of young children



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