Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools E-Book

Ulrike Becker

• Herausgeber: Verlag Barbara Budrich
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: Pädagogische Einsichten: Praxis und Wissenschaft im Dialog
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 211

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Auffälliges Verhalten von Kindern und Jugendlichen im schulischen Alltag zeugt oftmals von den schwierigen Lebenssituationen, in denen sie aufwachsen. Für Lehr- und pädagogische Fachkräfte stellt der Umgang mit den daraus resultierenden Konflikten die größte Herausforderung dar. In diesem Buch werden Ansätze und Lösungen für das Verstehen und Handeln in schwierigen pädagogischen Situationen in der Schule vorgestellt. Außerdem bietet ein inklusiver Förderansatz Impulse für die Schulentwicklung zur Prävention auffälligen Verhaltens.

Leseprobe

Ulrike Becker Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools

Educational Insights:Bridging Practice and Research

Volume 5

Pädagogische Einsichten: Praxis und Wissenschaft im Dialog

Band 5

Ulrike Becker

Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools

Educational Insights and Interventions

Verlag Barbara Budrich Opladen • Berlin • Toronto 2025

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Verlag Barbara Budrich. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (The German National Library): https://portal.dnb.de.

Carbon compensated production

© 2025 by Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH, Opladen, Berlin & Toronto

ISBN 978-3-8474-3107-7 (Paperback)

eISBN 978-3-8474-3241-8 (PDF)

eISBN 978-3-8474-3292-0 (EPUB)

DOI 10.3224/84743107

E-Book-conversion: CPI books GmbH, Leck, Germany

Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH

Stauffenbergstr. 7. D-51379 Leverkusen Opladen, Germany | [email protected] | www.budrich.de

86 Delma Drive. Toronto, ON M8W 4P6 Canada | [email protected] | www.budrich.eu

Cover design by Eva Mutter, Barcelona, using children’s drawings made under supervision by visual arts educator Anke Kremer.

Cover images by Annedore Prengel, Anke König, Sophia Richter, and Anne Piezunka. Typesetting by Anja Borkam, Langenhagen – [email protected].

[5] Foreword to the small series “Educational Insights: Practice and Science in Dialogue”

The series “Educational Insights: Practice and Science in Dialogue” series strives to make knowledge gained in everyday educational experiences and in scientific studies known in the education system. The series is based on the educational insight that valuable sources of knowledge are developed in both educational and scientific fields of work. They should be related to each other and made mutually accessible in understandable language. Each of the books contributes to building bridges between practice and theory.

The target groups of the series are students and teachers at universities, universities of applied sciences and technical colleges, people in administration, supervisory and sponsoring functions, teachers and specialists in educational fields of practice as well as professionals working in further education, counselling, administration and education policy.

The cover design expresses something of the aims, as the graphic elements move from practical educational contexts into the world of educational science. Patchworks of drawings by children and young people are used, which were created under the guidance of Anke Kremer, art teacher and founder of the Internet art gallery “Der rote Hahn”. We would like to thank Anke Kremer for collecting the pictures and making them available. Each cover in the series shows a different version of the patchwork. Each individual drawing symbolises freedom for personal uniqueness and intrapersonal versatility. Only in their relational interplay do pictorial elements become expressive and meaningful, visualising inescapable existential relationships. By sharing a common space, different drawings symbolise openness to plurality and mutual appreciation.

[6] The editors of the Educational Insights series would like to thank the publisher Barbara Budrich and the editor Miriam von Maydell for their spontaneous willingness to publish this book series in their publishing house and for their careful supervision of the process of creating the books. We would also like to thank the publisher’s graphic designer Eva Mutter for producing the covers using the patchworks.

Series editors

Prof. Dr. Anke König (Universität Vechta),

Prof. Dr. Anne Piezunka (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main and Hochschule für Angewandte Pädagogik Berlin)

Prof. Dr. Annedore Prengel (Contact person for the series: [email protected], Universität Potsdam i.R. and Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main)

Dr. Sophia Richter (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main)

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Education in times of social crisis

1.1 Psychosocial situation of children and adolescents against the background of social crises

1.2 School as a resilience factor

1.2.1 Classroom teaching

1.2.2 (Digital) learning at a distance

1.2.3 Closeness and distance in the educational relationship

1.3 Conclusion

2. Pupils with aggressive behaviour: Behaviour towards teachers

2.1 Theoretical considerations

2.2 Educational attitude

2.3 Cuts as solutions in everyday school life

2.3.1 Reset

2.3.2 From confrontation to closing unity

2.3.3 Paradoxical intervention

2.3.4 Redirect

2.3.5 Going out

2.3.6 Safe storage of dangerous objects

2.3.7 Place swap

2.3.8 Individual work order

2.3.9 Time Out

2.3.10 Trigger acoustic signal

2.4 Reparation instead of punishment

2.5 Conclusion

3. Pupils harm others

3.1 Theoretical considerations

3.2 Solutions for conflicts in everyday school life

3.2.1 Reactivation of sibling conflicts

3.2.2 Neglect

3.2.3 Bullying

3.2.4 Stigmatisation

3.2.5 Discrimination because of clan family names

3.2.6 Non-compliance with rules of faith

3.3 Conclusion

4. Pupils harm themselves

4.1 Theoretical considerations

4.2 Solutions for conflicts in everyday school life

4.2.1 Sensory overload

4.2.2 Separation anxiety

4.2.3 Self-harming behaviour such as scratching

4.2.4 Hyperactivity

4.2.5 Individual retreat

4.2.6 Blows to your own body

4.3 Conclusion

5. Parents who are difficult to reach

5.1 Legal framework for working with parents

5.2 Effect of parents on children’s behaviour

5.3 Hard to reach parents

5.3.1 Causes of difficult accessibility

5.3.2 Solutions for conversations with parents

5.4 Conclusion

6. Prevention of challenging behaviour and conflicts

6.1 Prevention of challenging behaviour

6.2 School policy

6.3 School rules

6.4 Conclusion

7. Learning accesses for pupils with special needs in their emotional and social development

7.1 Inclusive and exclusive currents

7.2 Transition project

7.2.1 Theoretical background

7.2.2 Study results

7.2.3 Internal school organisation

7.2.4 Exchange and dissemination

7.3 Five learning accesses

7.3.1 Temporary learning group

7.3.2 Inclusive teaching

7.3.3 Counselling in a multi-professional team

7.3.4 Counselling with parents

7.3.5 Cooperation between schools and youth welfare services

7.4 Conclusion

8. Summary and outlook

8.1 Summary

8.2 Outlook

Literature

Index

[11] Introduction

If the behaviour of children or young people at school does not meet the expectations of the adults working there professionally, it is described as challenging. If pupils’ behaviour restricts their own learning or development opportunities or endangers themselves or others, intervention is required to protect them and ensure the well-being of all those involved (Becker 2019c, Hurrelmann 2018, Luder 2019, Werning 2015).

This book is aimed at teachers and educational professionals who are confronted with challenging behaviour in the course of their work. It is intended to provide help

• for customised educational action in difficult situations and conflicts,

• for the development of school policies and school regulations for the prevention of challenging behaviour, conflicts and violence,

• for the inclusive support of pupils with impairments in emotional development.

This book brings together the author’s professional experience as a teacher, head teacher and researcher as well as findings from socialisation research, psychology and research into special needs and inclusive education. Case studies are presented that are constructed in a realistic way and describe and justify tried and tested solutions for difficult situations in everyday school life. Any similarities with living persons are purely coincidental.

The case studies show how teachers and educational professionals can approach children and young people in difficult educational situations. Some of the case studies presented in this book were selected by the Helga Breuninger Foundation for the filming of staged videos for training and further education.

The book was started at the beginning of March 2022, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic and shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine. The comments on the social background relate primarily to the period from March 2022 to March 2023. During this year, many educators were primarily concerned with the educational challenges resulting from the current social crises. That is why I have prefaced the central theme of this book, Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools, with Chapter 1 Education in times of social crisis.

Irrespective of the current social crises, teachers are particularly affected by educational situations in which they are exposed to aggressive behaviour. Chapter 2 is therefore dedicated to understanding such situations on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, ten tools are presented in the form of the Cuts, which enable difficult educational situations to be ended quickly.

[12] Chapters 3 and 4 deal with understanding cases of children and young people who harm others or themselves. In these chapters, readers are presented with case-specific solutions.

Teachers and educational professionals often have the impression that parents1 are difficult for them to reach. However, if children and young people find themselves in emotional distress, counselling with parents is crucial for finding solutions. When conducting joint counselling sessions with parents, appreciation is the key to success. Chapter 5 presents a possible process for designing appreciative counselling sessions with parents.

Chapter 6 is dedicated to the prevention of conflicts and challenging behaviour at school. It provides impulses for shaping life in the school community that can help to promote the well-being of pupils in such a way that conflicts, discrimination and challenging behaviour are reduced to a minimum. The development of a school policy, school rules and classroom management play a key role in this.

In order to support and encourage children and young people with impairments in emotional and social development, space and time are needed for relationship work. Chapter 7 presents how supportive relationships can be formed with the pupils concerned in order to support ego-integration and thus promote learning, well-being and social participation.

In 1998, the author developed the Transition project support approach, which has since been successfully implemented in Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin and individual schools in other federal states. This support approach is described in Chapters 7.2 and 7.3.

[13] This QR code takes you to the staged videos of some case studies. They each show the use of a ‘cut’. They were produced by the Helga Breuninger Foundation for the training module ’Being present and empathetic when dealing with conflict’.

[14] 1. Education in times of social crisis

1.1 Psychosocial situation of children and adolescents against the background of social crises

In recent decades, there have only been a few overall social events in Germany that have been so overwhelming that they have had an impact on the interaction between children, young people and adults (Luhmann 1988a and Nassehi/Nollmann 2016, Nassehi 2022). The coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis and wars and terror must be mentioned when listing the crises that are currently influencing the way children and young people in Germany grow up. The current war in Ukraine is an example of other armed conflicts in other countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Last but not least, the Middle East conflict must also be mentioned.

In November 2022, around 89 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from crisis regions or are refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18 (UNHCR 2023a). Between 2015 and 2017, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees registered almost 500,000 initial applications for asylum for minors in Germany. In 2018 and 2019, there were around 150,000 and in 2021 there were 73,281 first-time applications for asylum for minors. The age group of 0 to 4-year-olds dominated. An initial application for asylum was made for 38,799 children in this age group. By January 2023, around 17.6 million people had already fled Ukraine (border crossings), around one million of whom live in Germany, including around 350,000 children and young people (Mediendienst Integration 2023, UNHCR 2023a). Of these, 208,897 children and young people had been admitted to schools in Germany by 2 April 2023 (KMK 2023) Many children and young people in Germany are in a difficult life situation after experiencing flight.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on social life has been overwhelming and so drastic that it has not only changed the rules for socialising at school due to the coronavirus, but has also influenced interactions between teachers and pupils in particular. Presumably, the behaviour of all actors at school has changed in such a way that anxieties and depressive symptoms are more evident in children, while aggressive and violent behaviour is less frequently perceived by teachers (Becker 2022b). The current situation in society as a whole and the behaviour of pupils and teachers at school are examples of how the three relationships of micro, meso and macro are systemically interconnected (Bronfenbrenner 1981, Luhmann 1988a).

The coronavirus pandemic meant that schools in Germany were closed for an extended period of time for the first time since the Second World War. The results of studies conducted during [15] the coronavirus pandemic show that the suspension of face-to-face teaching has had a major impact on the psychosocial situation of children and young people (Andresen et al. 2020; Andresen et al. 2022; Ravens-Sieberer et al. 2022b). The causes are manifold and range from the restriction of social contacts to an increase in incidents of violence against children and adolescents. The results of statistical analyses and selected scientific studies on the psychosocial situation of children and adolescents are presented below.

Psychosocial situation of children and adolescents

The statistics from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA 2021, Maywald 2021) clearly show the extent to which offences against children have increased in Germany in the first year of the pandemic: 152 children were killed by violence, a third more than in the previous year. 115 of them were under the age of six. There were 49,128 cases of child abuse in 2020, an increase of ten per cent compared to the previous year. The number of cases of child abuse rose by 6.8 per cent to over 14,500 cases. The distribution, acquisition, possession and production of sexual abuse images, known as child pornography, increased by 53 per cent to 18,761 cases.

To gain initial international insights into the psychosocial situation of children and young people during the coronavirus pandemic, UNICEF conducted a study in 21 countries in 2020. 19 per cent of participants said they felt depressed and had no interest in activities. In Germany, the proportion was as high as 24 per cent of young people (UNICEF 2021).

A study by the German Youth Institute shows that 82 per cent of families in Germany with stable material and social living conditions were able to cope well with the coronavirus pandemic. In families with social or material problems and conflicts, the figure was only 47 per cent (Langmeyer et al. 2020a, 2020b).

The KIGGS study (Robert Koch Institute 2018) shows that even before the pandemic, 16.9 per cent of children and young people in Germany had mental health problems between 2014 and 2017. In the age groups of 3 to 14-year-olds, 19.1 per cent of boys and 14.5 per cent of girls were affected during this period. Children and young people growing up with a low socio-economic status were twice as likely to show mental health problems.

The COPSY study, in which a total of 2,471 children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years (including 1,673 aged 11 to 17 years) and around 2,319 legal guardians of children aged 7 to 17 years took part in a total of five surveys, provides an insight into the development of children’s well-being during the pandemic (Ravens-Sieberer et al. 2022b, Kaman et al. 2023). The results of the COPSY study found that in the period from December 2020 to January 2021, 30.4 per cent of the children and adolescents surveyed or the children of the parents [16] surveyed showed mental health problems. In December 2020 to the end of January 2021, the figure was 31 per cent (Ravens-Sieberer et al. 2022a). In the third survey period, September and October 2022, the figure was 27 per cent. In the fourth survey period, in February 2022, the respondents made statements indicating that 28.5 per cent of children and adolescents showed mental health problems at that time (Kaman et al. 2023). In the fifth survey period, in October 2022, the figure was 25 per cent (Kaman et al. 2023). The proportion was therefore higher than before the coronavirus pandemic (Kaman et al. 2023).

In the COPSY study, the periods in which the children felt a particularly high level of stress corresponded significantly with the times when there were no face-to-face lessons. The coronavirus pandemic makes it clear how important school is for the well-being of children and young people, as school is an important place for social communication and relationships. Material problems and social conflicts at home can be partially compensated for.

The results of the studies mentioned here lead to the following conclusion: “When difficult living conditions, stressed parents and children in need of support come together, existing disadvantages are exacerbated. During a crisis, the well-being of children depends even more than usual on the living conditions in the family. This is particularly worrying in the context of child protection. The influencing factors in the family increase when children – due to their own infection or due to cases of infection in the daycare centre group or class – have to go into quarantine” (Langmeyer 2020b, 1) [translated by the author].

With the start of the pandemic-related school closures, research into the learning status of pupils has exploded. In an overview published on 10 February 2021, Fickermann and Edelstein present more than 50 studies (Fickermann/Edelstein 2021). The initial results of this research during the coronavirus pandemic assumed that around 20 per cent of children and young people have pandemic-related learning deficits. For this reason, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research launched the federal-state programme Catching up after coronavirus for children and young people with funding of two billion euros. The programme started in June 2021 and the project period ends on 30.09.2023.

It can be assumed that the 20 per cent of pupils affected are those who grow up in stressful life situations. This hypothesis is supported by a Dutch study. Engzell, Frey and Verhagen were able to access a sample of 350,000 pupils. In the Netherlands, the school closure lasted eight weeks and the researchers were able to take advantage of the fact that regular national surveys on learning status were conducted before and after the school closure as part of the state education monitoring programme. The results of the Dutch study indicate that pupils made little or no progress in learning at a distance (Engzell/Frey/Verhagen 2020).

[17] To date, research has largely neglected the connection between the psychological situation of learners and the results of learning status surveys (Kamm/ Duveneck/Hoffmeister/Becker 2023). In the study by Helbig (Helbig 2021) on the learning status before and during the coronavirus pandemic, it was found that some students only completed a few tasks during the test. The author suspects that this is due to a lack of subject-specific skills and a lack of motivation to learn on the part of the pupils. Research is pending to investigate whether and how anxious and depressive moods in children and young people contribute to the fact that previously acquired knowledge and cognitive skills cannot be demonstrated in learning assessments or class tests.

Challenging behaviour at school during the coronavirus pandemic

In recent decades, teachers have observed an increasing tendency towards challenging behaviour in the classroom. Further training and specialist days on the topics of behavioural disorders, challenging behaviour or behavioural problems were in demand, and case consultations or supervision sessions were dominated by cases involving violent behaviour by children or young people towards classmates or teachers.

Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, these issues have taken a back seat. The reduction in challenging behaviour in the classroom is primarily due to the temporary suspension of face-to-face teaching. Even after returning to face-to-face teaching, teachers report that anxious and depressive symptoms tend to be more prominent in children. It can be assumed that aggressive behaviour at school will increase again a few months after the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

Challenging behaviour arises at the micro level in the interaction between teachers and pupils. Institutional effects are assigned to the meso level and influence the behaviour of teachers and pupils. Institutional effects can encourage, reinforce or reduce challenging behaviour.

1.2 School as a resilience factor

During the coronavirus pandemic, pupils temporarily learnt at a distance. This was increasingly done digitally. The results of the Ravens-Sieberer study (2021, 2022a, 2022b and 2022c) show a temporal correlation between the deterioration in the well-being of children and adolescents and the suspension of face-to-face teaching. With the increasing return of face-to-face teaching, the well-being of pupils increases again (Kaman et al. 2023).

On the one hand, the school serves to impart knowledge. However, it is also an important place for social communication and at the same time has an educational [18] mission. In this sub-chapter, I would like to address the following questions: What does face-to-face teaching do to promote the well-being and improve the psychosocial development of children and young people? What are the positive effects of digital learning at a distance?

1.2.1 Classroom teaching

The following sections explain the central functions of face-to-face teaching, which go beyond the educational mandate and primarily concern the educational mandate. The success of face-to-face teaching always depends on how professionally it is organised (Piezunka 2020).

Support and relief function

With the further development of schools into all-day schools, teachers are increasingly taking on a childcare role that enables both parents and guardians to work. In families where there are many conflicts or material poverty, the school also takes on a relieving, compensatory function for children and young people and their parents (Becker 2008, 2019b).

Supply function

Around 20 per cent of children in Germany grow up in poverty. In many poor families, the children’s diet is unhealthy or inadequate (Funcke/Menne 2023, Greiner/Batram/Witte 2019, Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder 2022). This not only has an impact on physical development but also on the learning and behaviour of children and young people. This is why the provision of food in schools is very important. In all-day schools or as part of attendance at an after-school care centre, children receive lunch.

Child protection

In 1919, compulsory schooling was realised in Germany (after a long historical precedent) (Ramseger 2019, Tenorth 2019). “With the enforcement of compulsory education for all children, the right to education based on children’s rights is applied” (Prengel 2022, 75). Shortly before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the 100th anniversary of primary school for (almost) all children was celebrated (Lindemann et al. 2020). Compulsory school attendance allows educators to become aware when children have suffered injuries due to domestic abuse, when children are guilt-distanced or show psychological abnormalities. Teachers then call in support systems or report suspected child endangerment to the relevant youth welfare office. The experiences of individual teachers show that the knowledge of this can lead to parents in need showing less abusive behaviour towards their children in difficult parenting situations.

Preparation for life in a pluralistic democracy

[19] At school, children learn that pupils have different opinions and that conflicts can be resolved peacefully. This means that children in primary school can be prepared for life in a pluralistic democracy (Becker 2016a, 2016c; Prengel 2016b, Prengel 2020).

Creating well-being in the community

Social interaction during school trips, excursions, sports activities, break times, celebrations, etc. is very important for children’s well-being. This is true for the majority, even if some may feel uncomfortable during community activities because they feel excluded or experience conflicts (Becker 2016a).

Supportive relationships

At school, teachers have the opportunity to offer children and young people supportive and boundary-setting relationships (Scherzinger/Wettstein 2022, Fischer/Richey 2021). They encourage children, strengthen their sense of selfefficacy, their enthusiasm and motivation to learn, and support them in overcoming learning obstacles and resolving conflicts. They listen to children and support them with domestic problems.

The coronavirus pandemic has significantly changed the way children and young people learn and live as schoolchildren. It initially meant that children tended to be catapulted into the role of independent actors in our society. It became socially necessary for them to observe the quarantine and AHA rules (keep their distance, observe hygiene, wear a mask in everyday life) independently of their parents, test themselves with self-tests under supervision, organise their learning independently and learn how to use the internet and social media responsibly. Due to the suspension of face-to-face teaching, children and young people were required to take responsibility for complying with important rules that had previously been imposed on them by adults. The adults at school became experts who imparted knowledge to pupils at a distance. More than in face-to-face lessons, children and young people are required to actively decide for themselves whether or not to accept the learning opportunities. This is probably also one of the reasons why teachers have observed less aggressive or violent behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic. Learners had less reason to rebel against adults at school. Lack of motivation to learn and resistance shifted to families and parents. Learning at a distance offers many opportunities to withdraw, so that aggressive behaviour as an expression of resistance is not necessary.

Digital distance learning can in no way replace face-to-face teaching with the functions described here (Tellisch/Ostermann 2021, Schulz 2021). For education in the future, it is important to optimise distance learning so that it can be used as a useful supplement to face-to-face teaching.

1.2.2 (Digital) learning at a distance

[20]