WHOLE-CHILD DESIGN

Shared Goals (for Responding to Conflict or Challenging Behavior)

The general mindset among leaders and staff is that students should be punished for breaking rules (“otherwise there will be chaos,” “that is the only way they will learn,” etc.). It is the adults’ responsibility to keep their classrooms under control and address misbehavior, and the perception is that conflict or challenges are a sign of adult failure.

The goals for responding to conflict or challenging student behavior are getting students to follow rules, keeping things “in control” at all times, and maintaining physical safety (but not necessarily emotional safety) and respect for adults (but not necessarily for students).

Proactive and In-The-Moment Support

There are no clearly defined opportunities for students to proactively seek support for conflicts or challenges they are having. Alternatively, students may know how to raise an issue but are not confident they will be kept safe or supported to resolution.

When challenges or conflict arise, adults often struggle to provide co-regulatory support – exacerbating the situation through their own escalating tone, volume, provocations, intensifying consequences, etc. Adults may construe cultural differences in communication or students’ emotions as misbehavior (e.g., reprimanding a student for expressing frustration “the wrong way”), instead of understanding, acknowledging and validating them.

Consequences and Restoration

Discipline procedures are either highly subjective or so rigid that they do not allow for consideration of the specific student, circumstances, or what will best support the school community (e.g., “no excuses” policies). Students rarely receive additional support following a challenging incident. Consequences are often punitive, exclusionary, or intentionally public shaming (e.g., being sent out of the classroom, in- or out-of-school suspensions). This may often result in inequitable treatment of students based on implicit or explicit biases around race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, language, etc.

Students are not given authentic opportunities to take or ask for accountability, so relationships remain damaged, the impact of the incident is not addressed, and trust and community are eroded.

Adult Capacity Building and Collaboration

Adults often struggle to manage challenging situations, and they do not regularly receive collaborative support or capacity building on these skills.

This may be exacerbated by a lack of capacity-building opportunities around culturally affirming and sustaining practices, which contribute to implicit or explicit biases affecting responses to challenges with students. Adults may frequently defer to others to “handle” challenging student behavior, which may be ineffective and/or harmful (e.g., unnecessarily criminalizing student behavior by involving a school-based police officer).

Shared Goals (for Responding to Conflict or Challenging Behavior)

The general mindset among leaders and staff is that there should be predictable, logical consequences for students breaking rules, in order to maintain safety and fairness. It is the adults’ responsibility to keep their classrooms safe and address students’ challenging behavior, conflict and needs.

The goals for responding to conflict or challenging student behavior are safety and belonging – but some classrooms may be focused more on getting compliance, whereas others’ goals may be to promote students’ agency and ownership of the community.

Proactive and In-The-Moment Support

There are opportunities for students to proactively seek out conflict resolution or address challenges, and they are sometimes used, although there may be issues of trust (e.g., a peer mediation program exists, but confidentiality is not always kept). Some students have relationships with adults where they feel comfortable asking for help directly.

When challenges or conflicts arise, some adults are able to provide co-regulatory support for students, while others struggle. As a result, students experience inconsistent support.

Consequences and Restoration

A predetermined set of guidelines for logical consequences may be in place, with the intention of creating predictability and fairness. Some students may experience the same challenges and consequences many times before additional action is taken to get to the “root cause” of the issue.

There are sometimes opportunities for students to take accountability and repair relationships or community (e.g., writing an apology letter). This is usually focused on actions and experience of the “rule breaker” – not others impacted.

Adult Capacity Building and Collaboration

Some adults have the skills to manage challenging situations, while others may struggle.

There may be some capacity-building or collaborative support, but it might not be ongoing or highly effective (e.g., a single training on de-escalation).