Educator Impact on Emotionally Disturbed Students

Introduction: Inclusion and the Challenge of Emotional Disturbance

The inclusion of disabled individuals in the general social, educational, and occupational contexts that welcome mainstream populations is a goal which appears to parallel the progressive orientation of our culture. Modern education shows evidence of a trend toward change, facilitating the increasing integration of individuals who are physically, emotionally, or learning disabled into public and private schools. This trend has been a decidedly positive one, with legal, economic, and educational strategies coming together to produce an effective and productive shift in the way we address disabilities.

Inclusive education practice holds that educational institutions should be responsible for creating accommodations that assimilate disabled students into mainstream classroom settings and for providing them with the supportive, differentiated instruction needed to succeed therein. This approach presents a number of challenges and opportunities for educators with respect to special education. Among the greatest of these challenges is the combination of learning disability and behavioral abnormality. Students who are categorized as emotionally disturbed carry specific obstacles to the reach of educators, typically manifested in disruptive, inappropriate, unstable, or sometimes violent and dangerous behavior.

This paper investigates the role of the educator in establishing control over negative behaviors, elaborates the strategies that can aid the educator in intervening with such behaviors, and considers the broader impact on the classroom of the presence of an emotionally disturbed student. The intent is to highlight the best response mechanisms for educators attempting to positively impact emotionally disturbed students.

Classroom Management and Behavioral Strategies

The reality of special education is that students with learning disabilities and those with behavioral problems are frequently categorized similarly. The latter group often possesses distinct learning or cognitive disabilities that may be related to the behaviors suggesting emotional disturbance. Where this is not the case, emotionally disturbed students are still frequently grouped with students who have special learning needs or even with general populations. As Ogonosky (2009) argues, this places a pressing burden on the instructor to achieve control over the classroom — both to enhance the emotionally disturbed student's opportunities for learning and to minimize the threat of disruption for other students.

Ogonosky warns that such disruption can take many forms and that a special education or inclusion classroom teacher must be prepared to confront it appropriately in all of its manifestations. While disruptive or inappropriate behavior should never be accepted or tolerated, it is anticipated that an educator working with an emotionally disturbed student will nonetheless encounter these behaviors, perhaps with some regularity. As Ogonosky notes, "tantrums, defiance, aggression, poor academic progress, poor social skills and passive noncompliance of requests (such as putting heads down on desks) can present a challenge. But educators can have success with children who have emotional disturbances if they get support from co-workers and consistently implement behavioral strategies and classroom management techniques." (Ogonosky, 1)

Among the practical strategies Ogonosky recommends is the posting of a clear set of behavioral and social rules applying to all members of the class. By emphasizing the importance of these rules, explaining them positively, and displaying them in a visible location that all students can always observe, the instructor establishes a continually present awareness of what is expected. For the emotionally disturbed student, it will be appropriate to spend additional time evaluating the consequences of inappropriate behavior while also focusing on the rewards for good behavior. This latter strategy is particularly important, as the emotionally disturbed student will generally require a different approach in terms of penalty and reward. An overly punitive response to behaviors that may in some way be inherent or instinctual in the student can provoke fear, resentment, and a damaging disconnect in the necessary relationship between student and educator.

IEPs, Triggers, and Positive Reinforcement

First and foremost among Ogonosky's recommendations is the demand placed upon the teacher to understand the unique qualities of an individual student's emotional status and behavioral needs. This means achieving a full recognition of the behavioral patterns the student has tended to exhibit, an awareness of the intervention strategies that have proven successful with that student in the past, and an effective avoidance of the events and interactions considered "triggers" to inappropriate behaviors (Ogonosky, 1).

Ogonosky highlights the practical and legal demand on teachers to acknowledge and adhere to the intervention and trigger-avoidance strategies described in the student's Individualized Education Program (IEP) or in what Ogonosky calls Emotional Disturbance eligibility reports — documents intended to provide an overview of the special exceptions and diagnoses characterizing a student's behavioral profile. Plans for education and intervention established therein are essential to the educator's familiarity with the student and ability to build a positive rapport. Ogonosky further advises that "when reviewing information on the student, ask questions regarding implementation of written behavioral plans. If you are unsure of the proper implementation, ask for clarification or training from the staff who developed the plan." (Ogonosky, 1)

This is why Ogonosky places particular emphasis on maintaining a positive framing of the learning experience for the emotionally disturbed student. Responding affirmatively when good behavior or academic performance is exhibited can have an invaluable impact. As Ogonosky explains, "when a teacher gives positive feedback and reinforcement to the ED student it breaks the chain of negative behaviors. Classroom management strategies that focus on negative forms of attention such as reprimanding and excessive prompting can help maintain inappropriate behaviors." (Ogonosky, 1) The effective teacher will therefore attempt to motivate the student toward positive action rather than relying on the threat of punishment for negative behavior. This is not to suggest that no punishment or reprimand should ever occur. Rather, disciplinary strategy must balance the necessity of defining limits and demonstrating consequences for exceeding them with a steady focus on how proper behavior will be correlated to positive outcomes — a lesson that will transcend the classroom and become a valuable life skill.

The Ogonosky article also notes that many resources are available to educators working with emotionally disturbed students. Among the most important is the student's support team, which includes staff, therapists, parents or guardians, and other faculty connected to the special needs field. This underscores a recurring theme in the research: educators working with students who exhibit symptoms of emotional disturbance will experience greater workplace stress, higher workloads, and significant pressures arising from the curricular complexities of special education.

Conclusion: The Educator's Role in Student Development

The reality of special education is that students suffering from emotional disturbance often constitute one of the lowest priorities for administrators and budget-makers. A set of persistently low expectations has long prevented school districts from developing the proper tactics for helping the emotionally disturbed not just succeed behaviorally, but to actually learn as well. This is the crucial formative impact that an instructor can have on a student who has exhibited patterns of behavioral abnormality or who suffers from severe emotional disturbance — providing the student with a supportive confidence in his or her capacity to demonstrate growth, to grasp educational concepts, and to achieve these within the framework of acceptable social and behavioral conditions.

This resolution is underscored by a set of key recommendations for realizing this impact. Central among them is the importance of positive reinforcement. Without question, students who suffer from emotional disturbance to the point of exhibiting clear behavioral problems will have been frequently exposed throughout their lives to reprimand and punitive responses. Centering the student's experience on the expression of positive support for positive behavior — and, simultaneously, for positive academic performance — can help remove the underlying emotional triggers that tend to provoke uncontrolled episodes and inappropriate behaviors. The ability to achieve this impact will depend heavily on the educator's capacity to establish a real, trust-based relationship with the student, to access all available resources and support system members, and to maintain the crucial individual attentiveness that every special needs student requires.

Works Cited

Gresham, F. M. (2005). Response to Intervention: An alternative means of identifying students as emotionally disturbed. Education and Treatment of Children, 28(4), 328–344.

Harris-Murri, N., King, K., & Rostenberg, D. (2006). Reducing disproportionate minority representation in special education programs for students with emotional disturbances: Toward a culturally responsive response to intervention model. Education and Treatment of Children, 29(4), 779–799.

Ogonosky, A. (2009). Emotionally disturbed students. Association of Texas Professional Educators.

Rush, S. (2005). Improving education for students with emotional disturbance. Knowability.