New tip sheets released to help ECEC teams deal with challenging behaviour

Evidence for Learning (E4L) has released three tip sheets, developed from a systematic review of research, to support early childhood education and care (ECEC) teams to respond to challenging behaviour in children aged between two and five years in ECEC settings.

 

E4L works with education systems, ECEC providers, schools, researchers, government and philanthropists to provide free, evidence-based solutions for educators and educational leaders.

 

The development of the tip-sheets was supported by the Queensland Brain Institute team at the University of Queensland, including Professor Karen Thorpe, Dr Sally Staton, Dr Sandy Houen, and Dr Laetitia, along with a number of other early childhood education researchers and educators who provided input to ensure the tip sheets were practical and translated well to ‘real world’ application. 

 

Tip sheet 1: Setting the scene

 

The Australian Early Years Learning Framework asserts that educators promote children’s identity, resilience, and agency when they ​“provide children with strategies to make informed choices about their actions, interactions and behaviours”. 

 

This tip sheet is about ​‘setting the scene’ for supporting behaviour through creating positive relationships, providing stable foundations, empowering children with skills and knowledge, and communicating expectations.

 

Tip sheet 2: In the moment

 

Educators face a range of challenging situations in their everyday practices as they support children to learn and positively interact with others. Challenging behaviours are a common occurrence and evidence identifies a range of strategies that can help educators to respond in the moment. 

 

This tip sheet describes strategies to direct, re-direct, praise and reward positive behaviour, and resolve challenges or conflicts.

 

Tip sheet 3: Re-setting the scene

 

As children learn to navigate new social interactions in ECEC settings, challenging behaviours are a common and normal part of their experiences. Re-setting the scene involves revisiting and reflecting on challenging situations after they occur. These strategies have an important role in preparing for and supporting a child’s engagement and positive interactions in the future. 

 

This tip sheet describes strategies related to ​‘re-setting the scene’ through revisiting and reflecting.

 

Insights summary: Supporting behaviour

 

This short paper provides an overview of the findings from the systematic review of the literature which underpins each of the tip sheets. It also explains how it links to the National Quality Standard.

 

Evidence for Learning also acknowledged the support of the Ian Potter Foundation. To learn more about E4L, please see here.