Handling Aggressive Emotional Behaviour on Children

Handling emotions is an essential part of dealing with children. 

Teachers have an important role to prepare relevant learning experiences and opportunities for the children to apply their skills in social interaction, goal setting and self-discipline (Vialle, Lysaght, Verenikina, 2000). Children have unique experiences, emotional reactions and behaviours. Adults should always be ready to act appropriately. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, manage and assess emotions (Cherry, 2012). 

According to Goleman, there are five domains of emotional intelligence:

1. Recognizing one’s emotions 

2. Handling emotions accordingly

3. Motivating one’s self through emotional self-control such as delaying gratification and preventing impulsiveness

4. Empathizing with others

5. Dealing with relationships

Children need to communicate their emotions properly because this capability creates self-esteem, leadership and interpersonal effectiveness. Adults help provide this learning through good responses to children’s needs (Charlesworth, 2004). 

A basic principle of emotional intelligence is a supportive relationship which builds the basis of every real and lasting learning process (Ciarrochi, Forgas, Mayer, 2006).

There was a Kindergarten student who demonstrated aggressive behaviour when she suddenly hits her classmates for no apparent reason. The teacher observed this behaviour whenever she sits or stands close to anyone in class. When the teacher asked the reason she hits her classmates, she would not respond. She was asked by her teacher if she would like her classmate to hit her too. She replied that she does not want that to happen. The teacher reminded her about the golden rule to not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.Then every time she would sit or stand still without hurting anyone, the teacher showed appreciation of her good behaviour through verbal encouragement. The child was encouraged by the positive feedback and repeated the desired social behaviour.

Reinforcement theory

The theory that describes the teacher’s experience of an aggressive student and the one in the given case study is the reinforcement theory which was developed by B.F. Skinner. Skinner claimed that behaviour is an effect of its consequences.  The desired behaviour is repeated if positive reinforcement follows it. Positive reinforcement or rewards can include verbal encouragement (Dunn, 2002). 

Reinforcement encourages a positive change in a child’s behaviour. Challenging behaviour cannot change if good behaviour is not verbally recognized. Reinforcing good behaviour is an effective and natural way of developing it and improving a child’s self-esteem (Morgan, 2009). 

Positive reinforcement builds intrinsic motivation. Verbal encouragement enhances people’s feelings of competence. Intrinsic motivation happens when an activity fulfils the basic need for competence. It is accomplished for its own sake rather than as a means to an end (Sansone, Harackiewicz, 2000). 

Praise children for the values that allowed them to behave in a positive way or made them think of the right decision. It can be used to help children develop skills and suitable behaviour (Morgan, 2009).

Law of Effect

Another similar theory is the Law of Effect which was developed by E.L. Thorndike. Vialle et al. (2000) showed that the law states that a behaviour or response is more likely repeated if it is followed by a pleasant experience or reward but less likely to be repeated if it is followed by an undesirable consequence or punishment. 

Aggression among pre-schoolers can be prevented when teachers are able to analyse its cause, give verbal encouragement when the desired social behaviour is seen and focus on important values through role playing or storytelling.

Aggressive behaviour strategies

Aggressive behaviour strategies are situational. When a child specifically hits another child, the teacher should separate them both from each other because one child might be provoking the aggressive behaviour. There can also be untoward incidents when children feel crowded. 

The teacher must form small groups of children with different teachers. A low teacher-student ratio allows the teacher to give more guidance and attention to the students. If the situation requires the children to be in a large group, the teacher should let them sit in a circle to let everyone see each other. When a child hits others when his or her frustration level becomes high during an activity, the teacher should facilitate the child in the activity or the teacher must make the activity simpler. 

If a child’s aggressive behaviour is caused by lack of attention, the teacher should encourage and support the child more to help build a positive self-esteem. When stress causes aggression, the teacher needs to prepare a calm and comforting classroom environment. It is helpful for the teacher to keep track of the aggressive behavioural incidents to formulate prevention strategies and to inform the parents about it.

References:

Charlesworth, R. (2004). Understanding child development. (6^thed.). New York: Delmar Learning.

Cherry, K. (2012). What is Emotional Intelligence? Definitions, Histories and Measures of Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved July 20, 2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/emotionalintell.htm

Ciarrochi, J., Forgas, J., Mayer, J. (2006). Emotional intelligence in everyday life.(2^nded.). New York: Psychology Press.

Dunn, L. (2002). Theories of Learning. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsld/resources/briefing_papers/learning_theories.pdf

Morgan, N. (2009). Quick, easy and effective behaviour management ideas for the classroom. USA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Sansone, C., Harackiewicz, J. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance. USA: Academic Press.

Vialle, W., Lysaght, P., Verenikina, I. (2000). Handbook on child development. Australia: Social Science Press.