Supporting Social Emotional Development in Inclusive Classrooms Gail E. Joseph, Ph.D. Educational Psychology University of Washington

Today Identify the teachable moments in preventing challenging behavior supporting social emotional competence Framework for supporting young children’s social emotional competence Implementation resources

Helpful websites

Identifying the Teachable Moments

What are your behavior “hot buttons”?

How does it make you feel?

Managing Personal Stress: Thought Control Calming Thoughts “This child is testing to see where the limits are. My job is to stay calm and help him learn better ways to behave.” “I can handle this. I am in control. They have just learned some powerful ways to get control. I will teach them more appropriate ways to behave.” “I feel undervalued right now – I need to seek support from my peers and supervisor.” Upsetting Thoughts “That child is a monster. This is getting ridiculous. He’ll never change.” “I’m sick of putting out fires!” “I wonder if Walmart is hiring?”

Managing Personal Stress: Thought Control Calming Thoughts “Having him in my class is going to be a wonderful Professional Development experience.” Upsetting Thoughts “He ruins everything! This is going to be the worst year of my career”

Building positive relationships with children Play Time & Attention Home visits Share Empathy Positive Notes home Happy Grams Calling after a bad day

Child Behavior Problems at Home Discipline Difficulties Behavior Problems at Home Behavior Problems at School Parent Discouragement & Isolation from School Peer Rejection Ineffective Teaching Practices Antisocial Behavior & Academic Failure Negative Reputation Of Child within Community of Parents Parent Isolation & Depression Poor Home- School Connections Child Depression Deviant Peer Group School Expulsion Negative Reputation at School Ripple Effects For young children with challenging behavior in the absence of intervention (Webster-Stratton) Age 2 Non- pervasive Age 3-6 Age 7-8 Pervasive Substance abuse, fatal accidents, unemployment…

Positive Outcomes with a solid Social Emotional foundation tolerate frustration better, get into fewer fights, engage in less self-destructive behavior, are healthier, less lonely, less impulsive, more focused, and they have greater academic achievement.

Creating Supportive Environments Positive Relationships with/between children, families and colleagues Social emotional curriculum and teaching strategies Intensive Individualized Interventions Teaching Pyramid Adapted from Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003

Supportive Environments: The Big Picture This is a place you can trust –Safe –Predictable –Helpful –Teach positive ways to be separate and powerful This is a caring place –Respecting and relying on others –Recognizing and responding to emotions You belong here, We belong here –Uniqueness, diversity, individuality –Community, caring working together –Membership

CLASS (Pianta, Hamre & LaParro, 2008) Emotional Support Domain –Positive climate –Negative climate –Teacher Sensitivity –Regard for student perspectives Classroom Organization –Behavior management –Productivity –Instructional Learning Formats

Teaching Pyramid Observation Tool (Hemmeter, Fox & Snyder, 2008) Universal –Responsive Interactions –Classroom Preventive Practices

Membership Membership is a key feature and a goal of true inclusion. Membership encompasses such terms as belonging, acceptance, and positive relationships with other members of the classroom community. Being a member of the class is when the child is described as “just one of the kids

Creating Supportive Environments Positive Relationships with/between children, families and colleagues Social emotional learning content & strategies Individualized Interventions Teaching Pyramid The Teaching Pyramid, Fox, Dunlap, Hemmeter, Joseph, & Strain, 2003

Social Emotional Learning ( for overview of evidence-based see curricula see Joseph & Strain, 2003a) Identify feelings in self and others (Joseph & Strain, 2003b) Control anger and handle disappointment (Joseph & Strain, 2003c) Interpersonal Problem Solving (Joseph & Strain, 2010) How to make friends and learn in a group setting (Strain & Joseph, 2006)

Identifying feelings in self and others Increasing emotional vocabularies (feeling words) Learning how to recognize feelings in self and others Emotional regulation (i.e., “calm down”) Empathy training

Feeling words positively correlated with concurrent peer acceptance (Denham, Blair, DeMulder, Levitas, Sawyer, Auerbach-Major, et al., 2003,Cassidy, Parke, Butkovsky, & Braungart, 1992; Denham, McKinley, Couchoud, & Holt, 1990; Trentacosta & Izard, 2007). linked to later academic competence (Izard, Fine, Schultz, Mostow, Ackerman, & Youngstrom, 2001; Trentacosta & Izard, 2007). important mediator between individual characteristics (e.g., family background, verbal ability) and academic and social competence (Cassidy et al., 1992; Izard et al., 2001; Mostow et al., 2002 ).

Increasing Feeling Vocabularies Direct teaching Incidental teaching Use children’s literature Use songs and games Play “How would you feel if?” Checking in Feeling dice and feeling wheels

Feeling Activities

Identifying feelings in Self and others Increasing emotional vocabularies Learning how to recognize feelings in self and others Emotional regulation (i.e., “calm down”)

Relaxation thermometer Take 3 deep breaths… Adapted from Incredible Years Dinosaur School

Take a Deep Breath Smell the flowers Blow out the candle

Relaxation thermometer * *Source: Incredible Years Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

Social Stories Feeling Frustrated My name is _______________ and I am ____ years old. I go to preschool at _______________________. Sometimes kids have a hard time with their projects or activities. Sometimes, when kids have a hard time with a project or an activity, they feel frustrated. Feeling frustrated is OK. I will try to learn to stay calm when I am frustrated. I can ask my teachers or other adults for help. Teachers can help kids who feel frustrated. I can take a deep breath and try again. For tons more see headstartinclusion.org

Controlling anger and handling disappointment Recognizing that anger can interfere with thinking Recognizing anger in oneself and others Managing anger and controlling impulse (the turtle technique)

Feeling finger prints* *Source: Elias and Tobias Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton

The Turtle Technique Original research in 1960s to help adults control their anger Used in several social emotional curricula (Preschool PATHs, Incredible years, CSEFEL)

Turtle Steps Breathe 1…2 …3…I can calm down

Handling disappointment Teach (“maybe next time”) Prepare (“I can only choose one person to be my helper”) Prime (“If I don’t choose you and you feel disappointed, what can you do?”) Reinforce (“Wow, you really handled that well! Way to go!”)

Problem solving Learning problem solving steps Thinking of alternative solutions Learning that solutions have consequences (Joseph & Strain, 2010)

Solution Kit

Would it be safe? Would it be fair? How would everyone feel?

Class Meeting to Problem Solve Photo by Carolyn Webster-Stratton, Ph.D.

Types of Provider Responses to Challenging Behavior (n=1075) Time out (f=502) General talk (f=261) Redirect (f=167) Hug, hold, cuddle (f=76) Talk to parents (f=37) Ignore (f=19) Find out why (f=5) Teach… (f=4) Modify environment (f=4) Praise, positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior (f=3)

Supportive systems Administrative and leadership practices Professional development and support Supervision, evaluation and recognition

Annotated Video Based Portfolio Use VoiceThread –Each person has an account –Establish PLTs of 4 –Work towards video-based show case portfolio of 6 dimensions –Accountable for posting short video vignettes, then annotating (describing why they thing this is a good example of a specific dimension) –Each member comments on each others’ dimensions g

Positive Climate g

Final thought… It isn’t either or…it’s both