Running head: READY TO LEARN 1

Ready to Learn

Rhonda Schmidt

Drake University
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Abstract

There is a notable increase in the prevalence of conversations amongst educators about the rise in

challenge behaviors being demonstrated by students. Additionally, there is an increase in

conversations about the social and emotional development of students. While these two issues

are often discussed in isolation from one another, in reality they are closely intertwined.

Educators are still learning how social and emotional factors can result in students demonstrating

challenging behaviors. While learning about social and emotional development is becoming

more widespread, many schools have been enacting a system for responding to behaviors from

students in a manner that promotes positive behaviors. While having such a system in place to

respond and intervene to behaviors has proven beneficial for some students, it has also proven to

not be effective for all students. In considering what next steps might be in order to support all

students, there are recommendations that attempt to take a collaborative and inclusive approach.
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Ready to Learn

Various versions of the essential question “Do you believe all students can learn?” have

become an indicator of the culture of learning in many schools. While this question sparks many

larger conversations, a follow up might be, “Do you believe all students can learn all of the

time?”. While it would be predictable that many educators would scoff at this, and tersely reply

with “Of course not!”, unpacking the responses to this question may provide many insights into

how educators interpret the social and emotional readiness of students. It would not be

productive for this conversation to result in the generation of a list of excuses to justify why

learning might not take place. Rather, this question should serve as an opportunity to discover

and consider all of the aspects of a child and their life that comes into play, which sets the stage

for when a student enters a school. These often invisible influences can contribute to whether a

child is ready to learn or may be on a path that could lead to them demonstrating challenging

behaviors. While we don’t expect all students to be ready to learn at all times, we could spend

more thoughtful time considering when and why our students may not be ready to engage in

learning and how we meet them in this space. Considering the question “Are all students ready to

learn all of the time?” serves as a driving force in exploring the social and emotional factors that

can result in students demonstrating challenging behaviors.

In a survey released by Microsoft at the beginning of this year, seventy-nine percent of

educators worldwide believe that positive emotions are “very” or “extremely” important for

helping students to achieve academic success (“Emotion and Cognition in the Age of AI”, 2019).

This report brings to light what many educators have felt is true for a number of years, but it

doesn’t lead us to know how to take action. The emergence of positive behavior interventions
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and supports (PBIS) from the reauthorizations of The Individuals With Disabilities Education

Act (IDEA, 2006) gave educators a common construct to approach behavior. Bateman and

Bateman (2014) outline how the implementation of PBIS provides a continuum of supports with

the focus of prevention through tiers, which have the aim of supporting all students, regardless of

their academic or behavioral needs (Bateman and Bateman, 2014, p. 122).​ ​With this being said, it

is a construct designed and intended to be multifaceted. As with any multifaceted construct,

simply stated, it’s complicated. If we’re talking about all kids, it means we have to think about

what works for all, what works for some, what might work for a few, what works some of the

time, and what is needed individually. These lens might be applied individually, but we may

even apply them in tandem or collectively. Through such conversations, a kaleidoscope of

shifting needs and supports for students and staff alike begins to emerge. For many educators, we

may be in the habit of engaging in these multi layered conversations when it comes to instruction

or content, but consider it rather new territory to have these discussions within the context of

behavior or in reference to the social and emotional needs of students.

In No More Taking Away Recess,​ Cassetta and Sawyer (2013) not only highlight the

negative effects of taking away recess, but also assert that rewards for behaviors can undermine

the development of independence in students (Cassetta and Sawyer, 2013, p. 17). While this may

seem contrary to the intent of PBIS, it merely illustrates that PBIS can’t be about the “things”.

Whether we’re rewarding students or applying consequences, if we’re taking action without

consideration of how it contributes to a students autonomy, we’re missing the mark. As

educators we have to go beyond the surface level of behaviors in order to better understand our

students. Through the work of Payton et al. (2008) five social and emotional skills that teachers
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can help students to develop have emerged. These include self-awareness, self-management,

social awareness, positive relationship skills, and responsible decision making (Payton et. al.,

2008). These skills are vital given the stark reality that students who are able to interact and

engage in socially and emotionally appropriate ways perform better in school (e.g., Caprara et

al., 2000; Wentzel, 1993).

Having taken the time to consider the current reality of behaviors in many schools, and

how we got here, we must contemplate where taking action with all of this knowledge might lead

us as school systems. Bateman and Bateman (2014) outline the importance of conducting

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs) in order to determine the function of student behavior

(Bateman and Bateman, 2014, p. 124). If new to this process, the educator needs to learn more

about how determining this function is done in manner that goes beyond identifying if a student

is attempting to avoid or seek specific items (i.e., tangibles, attention, work, etc.). In reading ​Lost

at School​ by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. (2014) he directs to go past the “first pass” definition of

function. In this, he explains that the “first pass” definition assumes that the behavior a student is

demonstrating is working in order to get them something they desire or want to avoid. In going

further Greene (2014) proposes that the function of the challenging behaviors is to communicate

a lack of a skill needed in order to respond adaptively to a specific problem (Greene, 2014, p.

202). In shifting the understanding of the function of a behavior, the response to these behaviors

must also shift. Greene (2014) proposes that with this shift, there must be a shift in response

from it being about informing a child to collaborating with the child to find solutions (Greene,

2014, p. 202).
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A moving assertation by Greene’s (2014) is that kids with social, emotional, and

behavioral challenges lack important thinking skills (Greene, 2014, p. 10). He goes on to outline

the contrast that exists between the perceptions of “kids do well if they want to” versus “kids do

well if they can”. At first blush this might seem like a matter of semantics, but if you really

digest the implications of these statements, the results are very different action steps. When you

can apply the age old lenses of skill versus will to challenging behaviors, they begin to come to

light in a whole new regard. It is powerful to be able to articulate an understanding that a child

knows not to hit or yell, yet may not have the skills in order to handle a situation differently. This

shift in perspective allows us to see challenging behaviors not just as actions we want to avoid,

but rather as an indicator that there are other skills a child needs help with. All behavior is

communication, if we are taking the time to interpret it in this regard. Instead of being reactive to

the behaviors, a path emerges to take going forward to proactively support the development of a

student’s social and emotional skills. As Greene (2014) explains, we are able to assess the factors

that are interfering with skill acquisition and then provide specialized instruction to teach them

the skills they’re lacking in increments they can handle (Greene, 2014, p.8).

It is worth noting that in adopting the change in approach outlined by Greene (2014),

there will also need to be consideration for possible cultural diversity. In determining the desired

behaviors within a building, Wilson (2015), points out that “​school administrators may be more

likely to select behaviors associated with their own Eurocentric culture” (Wilson, 2015). In some

instances, there could even be cultural difference in the interpretation of behaviors which are

creating a fundamental divide. Communication with students and families has to be approached

in a manner that can take account for possible cultural differences. Wilson (2015) also warns that
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within a PBIS hierarchy, students must demonstrate what is interpreted as maladaptive behavior

in order to receive mental health services (Wilson, 2015). When considering the social and

emotional issues some students may be facing due to cultural differences, it is easy to see how

students may not be able to articulate challenges they are feeling. The potential associated

feelings could certainly result in a wide range of behaviors from students. This is a powerful

perspective to keep in mind when analyzing not only student behaviors, but their articulation of

their actions and feelings associated with behaviors. Wilson (2015) notes the importance of

adopting a perspective of valuing healthy abnormality. PBIS is not, nor should it be about

conformity. Any response to challenging behaviors can not be driven by a desire to conform

students to one cultural norm. As educators we must be supporting students in a manner in which

their social and emotional growth as an individual is embraced. This may require learning and

adapting from educators, so that they are encouraged to understand students behaviors beyond

their own personal perspective, experience, or culture.

Some educators might feel like all of this work might not be “fair” to ask of them or that

this sounds like something more to “do”. To the first point, Greene (2014) acknowledged that

teacher have always taught nonacademic skills to students (Greene, 2014, p. 103). Whether it is

intentional or not, lessons on handling life’s social, emotional, and behavioral challenges are

embedded into our classrooms on a daily basis. As to the second point, it may be worth

countering with the question, what is more important to “do” than to prepare students in this

regard? Besides, if you’re not supporting students in their social and emotional learning, it would

be predictable that you’re spending a lot of time responding to behaviors, communicating with

parents about behaviors, reaching out to others for support in responding to behaviors, and all the
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while feeling stressed and frustrated yourself. As, Daniel Pink (2009) stated, “Control leads to

compliance; autonomy leads to engagement”. If we want engaged students in our classrooms, we

need to go beyond compliance to expectations to teach them how to be drivers in their own

learning. This includes teaching them how to handle situations that are challenging or that cause

them to feel frustrated. When students and teachers alike are able to focus on learning rather than

dealing with challenging behaviors, there is actually a lot less for teachers to “do”.

When considering the changes that need to happen, some of them are at the classroom

level, but they certainly don’t stop there. As with almost all impactful change, it needs to be

embraced by building leadership as well as the teachers in the building. Certainly informing and

communicating with the community and parents of the school would be important as well. Going

forward, Greene (2014) explains it is necessary to make some dramatic shifts:

Three massive shifts are required: (1) a dramatic improvement in understanding the

factors that set the stage for challenging behavior in kids; (2) creating mechanisms for

helping these kids that are predominantly proactive instead of reactive; and (3) creating

processes so people can solve problems collaboratively. (Greene, 2014, p. xiv)

As you can imagine, these shifts will only happen through a lot of learning for all involved. By

being able to see the lifelong impact that could be made by supporting the social and emotional

learning of our students, it makes it easy to see the value in engaging in learning more about this

topic for ourselves. Thankfully, the ongoing desire to learn and improve is what brings us

together as educators. For many educators, this is only the beginning of a learning journey

around this topic. The students that come into our lives in the future will pave the path going

forward into the specific topics that would best serve us in supporting them. Learning should not
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be limited to what we imagine it should be, but rather should be a result of what will best serve

others. With this end in mind, it is worth considering the quote from William G. Spady, “All

students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way.” It is our responsibility

to reach out to those that we serve, to meet them where they are at, to learn about them and the

journey they have been on, and to support them as they go forward.
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References

Bateman, D. and C. Bateman (2014). ​A Principal’s Guide to Special Education​. Council for

Exceptional Children.

Caprara, G., C. Barbaranelli, C. Pastorelli, A. Bandura, and P. Zimbardo. 2000. Prosocial

Foundation of Children’s Academic Achievement. ​Psychological Science​ 11: 302-306

Cassetta, G. and B. Sawyer (2013). ​No More Taking Away Recess and Other Problematic

Discipline Practices.​ Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Emotion and Cognition in the Age of AI (2019). ​Microsoft​, ​The Economist Intelligence Unit​,

info.microsoft.com/ww-thankyou-Emotion-and-Cognition-in-the-Age-of-AI-whitepaper.

html?LCID=EN-US.

Greene, Ph.D., R. (2014). ​Lost at School: Why our kids with behavioral challenges are falling

through the cracks and how we can help them.​ New York City: Scribner.

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. §§ 1400 et seq. (2006 & Supp V. 2011).

Payton, J., R.Weissberg, J. Durlak, A. Dymnicki, R. Taylor, K. Schellinger, and M. Pachan

(2008). The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to

Eighth-Grade Students: Findings from Three Scientific Reviews. ​Collaborative for

Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.​

Wentzel, K. (1993). Does Being Good Make the Grade? Relations Between Academic and

Social Competence in Early Adolescence. ​Journal of Educational Psychology​ 85:

357-64.

Wilson, A. (2015). A Critique of Sociocultural Values in PBIS. ​Behavior Analysis in Practice,​

8(1), 92-94.