Challenging Behaviour - a brief guide to De-escalation.
As young people's needs relentlessly expand (or we as the professionals around them get better at identifying, analysing and diagnosing) the number of young people or students presenting with or displaying traits of a conduct or behavioural difficulty is ever increasing.
From SEMH to ODD to ASC the acronyms can be overwhelming but whether your working with a recognised and statemented behavioural condition or simply disengaged and/or volatile students your class can sometimes feel like a never ending battle of wills. If every day feels like stepping into a hostage situation (where your Lesson Plan is the hostage) it can be exhausting!
Whatever the cause challenging behaviour can reach a point where you, as the mediator and adult, need to bring the situation back under control before negotiations break down completely. This is where de-escalation skills come in handy.
Although there are some underpinning techniques that will make de-escalation much easier - which we will get on to later - it is important to remember that, like any other skill, de-escalation needs to be practiced. With every situation tackled you will develop a greater understanding of your young people, yourself and what does/doesn't work.
Young people may reach this moment of crisis at different speeds, for different reasons and need very different approaches to calming them down. For this reason it is so important to know your young people, document incidents accurately and learn from them.
KNOW - Being aware and observant of how your young people 'normally' behave, present and look will make spotting the signs of emerging issues or brewing incidents infinitely easier.
DOCUMENT - Every organisation will have an expectation as to how incidents are recorded but beyond this it is crucial that you can track, analyse and reflect on incidents after they occur.
LEARN - Tweak, explore or re-invent your classroom management, group profiles and de-escalation skills by learning. I use ABC for incident reflection and analysis - Antecedent, Behaviour, Consequence - what happened before, during and after the incident.
So... those techniques:
STAY PROFESSIONAL! - You're not there to fight, point score, prove anyone wrong or run away, you're there to be teach, lead and role model.
Intervene early - the longer behaviour persists the harder it is to defuse.
De-escalate don't reason - anger can make reasoning impossible at first, aim to reduce the agitation through de-escalation and leave point proving and lengthy dialogue till later.
Avoid being swept in to an argument - they may have had a lot of practice at this... If they can make you angry too it gives them permission to continue and justifies their behaviours.
Use body language to role model your expectations - over 55% of communication is through non-verbals alone so try to appear calm, don't 'front up' to the young person and avoid closing them down - maintain appropriate personal space.
Use your tone of voice to have an immediate impact - at least 38% of communication is through the tone and inflection in our voice so try lowering it, to encourage the young person to listen more intently and avoid sounding shocked, appalled or scared - develop a 'poker voice' as it were.
When employing these skills we are, in essence, trying to promote calm even when others are not necessarily coping. At the very least your demeanour will distract the young person from their anger (it's very hard to shout at someone who refuses to shout back) giving you just enough time to start rationalising the situation for them. At most it will completely fly in the face of what they expected you to do - what their parents or friends might have done or even other professionals in their lives which have let them down. This shows the young person that, unlike others, you can handle their chaos and contain their needs which, if consistently modelled, will make that young person feel safe, respected and in turn calm. This is the first building block, hurdle number one, the first ingredient in the recipe - to starting a rapport with your young people. Step over this mark and you're half way there.
Crucially, you will never overcome challenging behaviour by dominance, consequence and punishment. This only serves to justify and escalate their behaviour further. The classic saying of 'Don't smile till Christmas' is stupid.... fact.
The above techniques only offer a foundation to de-escalation and some will work well with your young people and some, invariably, won't. Try things out and be brave - the rewards are massive.
For more information look at the Department for Education's useful Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools Guidance or SEND Code of Practice.
