Challenging Classroom Behaviors: Overcoming Resistance…

Classroom management is a significant and critical component of a teacher’s job. Although well-trained teachers are usually equipped with skills and techniques that enable them to manage common classroom behavior issues, there are still times when even the most tried-and-true strategies prove ineffective. This is the time to reach for Challenging Classroom Behaviors: Overcoming Resistance Through Uniquely Audacious Interventions.

Written by John Maag, Challenging Classroom Behaviors recommends surprising, outside-the-box strategies for teachers who are at their wits end. Though firmly grounded in conventional and contemporary theories of behavior, the approaches Maag recommends are utterly unconventional–and surprisingly effective. They are based on the author’s professional experience as a child and family therapist, as well as his personal experience as a father of two boys. The underlying premise is that rather than fearing or admonishing resistance, teachers, parents, psychologists, and any adults who are confronted with oppositional youth should embrace it. From this resistance much can be learned about the emotional issues that underlie challenging behavior. The strategies recommended in this book rely on harnessing resistance and actually utilizing it to positively shape behavior.

For all the teachers, parents, counselors or other adults who feel like they’ve tried everything and there is no solution to a child’s oppositional behavior, don’t give up! Instead, get ready to shock yourself and your child/student with interventions that will yield positive outcomes for all.