I'M ANGRY AND CAN'T BE TAUGHT: Understanding & Countering Behavioral Issues In School

Presenters

Raphael B. Johnson M.A., Raphael B. JohnsonFollow

Focused Area

Improving School Climate for Youth-At-Risk

Relevance to Focused Area

This proposal relates to the following focus area connected to the conference theme: Improving School Climate for Youth-At-Risk. Research shows that a vast amount of behavioral issues affecting school age students stem from the environment in which they live. Often times their environment is plagued with physical abuse, substance abuse, lack of positive reinforcement, poverty, crime or an overall cycle of dependency.

Majority of our students are oblivious to coping skills and thus the academic setting (School's Culture/Climate) becomes the breeding ground for release of frustration, stress and pain. With minimum coping skills, students have the tendency to act out based on their experience. This presentation will demonstrate to the attendees how to create a learning environment that gives the students new experiences and directly challenge thinking distortions derived from the "other 16 hours" away from the school setting. They will learn to develop within their students 1) Self-perception and 2) the ability to recognize, categorize and draw upon certain features of school/home environment to make informed decisions based on these variables. In addendum, participants will learn varying methods to reduce and effectively challenge student’s negative emotional and behavioral outcomes including anger, aggression, and loss of self-control. Lastly, several different types of anger management components that promote positive academic setting are discussed and demonstrated.

Primary Strand

Academic Achievement & School Leadership

Relevance to Primary Strand

This presentation focuses on identifying and challenging common behavioral issues that arise in the academic setting and relates to the primary strand: "Academic Achievement & School Leadership."

Recent research shows that student academic achievement in school is based on the perquisite factors of 1) school context and 2) student attitudes and behavior (Theoretical Model). Studies also indicate that student engagement can help students develop behavioral skills and habits that lead to increased academic achievement and greater involvement with school life. Jones, Richard D., (November 2008) Strengthening Student Engagement, International Center for Leadership in Education. Retrieved from http://www.cesdp.nmhu.edu/prof-learning/docs/Teaching%20and%20Learning/Student%20Engagement/Strengthen%20Student%20Engagement%20white%20paper.pdf

Engagement in schoolwork involves both behaviors (such as persistence, effort, attention) and attitudes (such as motivation, positive learning values, enthusiasm, interest, pride in success). Connell and Wellborn (1991); Johnson, Crosnoe, and Elder (2001); Newmann (1992); Skinner and Bel- mont (1993); Smerdon (1999); Turner, Thorpe, and Meyer (1998).

School Leadership can directly impact academic achievement through a well supported school-wide positive behavior support system. Positive behavior support leads to a sustained reduction in students' discipline referral rates and an increase in the percentage of students on track for early reading benchmarks. Sadler, Carol (2009 January) Effective Behavior and Instructional Support: A District Model for Early Identification and Prevention of Reading and Behavior Problems. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions January 2009 vol. 11 no. 1 35-46.

Brief Program Description

Said presentation is designed to provide teachers, principals and other education stakeholders with effective strategies that promote higher academic achievement, improve behavior and increase attendance with their students. Attendees will learn how to implement experiential education, behavior modification and conflict resolution education instruction. They will learn how to challenge and reduce students’ thinking distortions as it relates to school, the acquisition of knowledge, authority figures and community service. Furthermore, said presentation will help improve communication between students, teachers, administrators, and parents. In addendum, stakeholders will learn how to give students a forum for resolving conflicts that might never have come to the attention of adults. This presentation contains graphic violent images of students’ anger and strong language.

Summary

The I’M ANGRY AND CAN’T BE TAUGHT: Understanding & Countering Behavior Issues in School presentation provides the listening audience with an aggressive/progressive approach to regaining and maintaining a positive school culture and climate. It offers an intense and informative core behavior support and intervention training/coaching for educators working with students. Participants will learn the following:

- Understanding Demographics and the Impact on School Climate and Culture

- How to Regain Control of Your Classroom

- How to a Build Compliant School (e.g, hallways, uniform, security, social media control, etc)

- Understanding & Countering Behavior Issues in School

(Breaking the Cycle of Dependency)

- Root Causes of Misbehavior (Understanding Genetics and Environment)

- Challenging Thinking Distortions in the Culture and Climate

- Proven Models that Works on Tier One and Tier Two Students

The above said presentation focuses on the non-academic portion of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model. It is designed to help educators counter/correct the behavioral issues commenced by about 15% of the student population also known as Tier Three students. During this presentation training educators will learn skill sets in the following:

- Cultural Competencies

- Classroom Management Methods

- How to Involve/Engage Students

- How to Involve Parents

- The Power of Home Visit

- Effective Communication (Understanding the Student Lingo)

- Tools of Conflict Resolution Education

- Tools of Non-Violent Crisis Intervention

- The Common Wall of Educators

- Experiential Education Practical Approach

This presentation will also afford participators with detailed introduction and practical implementation of several models to challenge the behavioral issues that arises in the academic setting. Those models include:

- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

- Dr. Albert Ellis ABCDE Model for Emotional Disturbance

- Dr. Maxie C. Maulsby’s Five Criteria for Rational Thinking

- Question-Base Intervention Model

This presentation include two (2) case study training videos and also several handouts (ie., “take home” ) materials.

Evidence

This presentation deals with effective strategies to counter behavior issues in school. These behavior issues are almost always centered around students' anger and result in volatile tendencies. Anger management training can decrease the aggressive behavior of at-risk students in the short-term. Students trained in anger management have been found to decrease their disruptive and aggressive behaviors both at home and in the classroom, and display greater self- control. Feindler, E.L., Marriot, S.A., & Iwata, M. (1984). Group anger control for junior high school delinquents. Cognitive Therapy &Research, 8(3), 299-311. In one program, 48 at-risk middle schoolers had significantly fewer office referrals as a result of ten weeks of training in the Think First curriculum. Larson, J.D. (1992). Anger and aggression management techniques through the Think First curriculum. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 18, 101-117. A three- year follow-up study of aggressive elementary school boys showed decreased drug and alcohol involvement and improved self-esteem. Lochman, J.E. (1992). Cognitive-behavioral intervention with aggressive boys: Three-year follow-up and preventive effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60(3), 426-432. Additionally, “if an angry child is left alone to deal with feelings of hostility, the result can be: poor school performance, interpersonal conflicts, and/or verbal or physical assaults.”

The Student Success Skills model is based primarily upon three reviews of research: Masten and Coatsworth (1998), reviewed 25 years of research to determine the most critical factors associated with children and adolescents developing academic and social competence. Wang et al. (1994) reviewed 50 years of research looking at “What helps students learn” to determine the most important factors in promoting effective learning. Hattie et al. (1996) looked at 10 years of research on the effects of learning skills interventions on student learning to determine which were most effective. All three reviews found a very similar cluster of skills considered to be critical to school success. These skills include: (1) Cognitive and meta cognitive skills such as goal setting, progress monitoring, and memory skills; (2) Social skills such as interpersonal skills, social problem solving, listening, and teamwork skills; and (3) Self- management skills such as managing attention, motivation, and anger. These three skill sets were the most powerful predictors of long-term school success and seemed to separate high achievers from low achievers. Masten, A. S., & Coatsworth, J.D. (1998).The development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: Lessons from research on successful children. American Psychologist, 53(2), 205–220. Wang, M. C., Haertel, G.D., & Walberg, H. J. (1994). What helps students learn? Educational Leadership, 51, 74–79.

Recent research has linked violence to poor educational outcomes. Studies show that bullying and victimization make it more difficult for students to adjust to new schools (Craig 1998) and focus in the classroom (Wei and Williams 2004). Further, victimized students are reported to have lower grades and lower attendance than those who have not been victimized (Juvonen, Nishina, and Graham 2000), and students who witness violence are more likely to engage in violence (Albus, Weiss, and Perez-Smith 2004). Overall, not only do victimized children find themselves less attached to school (Cunningham 2007, Juvonen et al. 2000, Wei and Williams 2004), but violence in schools has been shown to have an aggregate impact, weakening the academic performance of all students in a school, not just those who are victimized (Barton, Coley, and Wenglinsky 1998). Craig, W.M. 1998. “The Relationship Among Bullying, Victimization, Depression, Anxiety, and Aggression in Elementary School Children.” Personality and Individual Differences 24(1): 123–30. Wei, H., and J.H. Williams. 2004. “Relationship between Peer Victimization and School Adjustment in Sixth-Grade Students: Investigating Mediation Effects.” Violence and Victims 19(5): 557–71.

Positive behavior support leads to a sustained reduction in students' discipline referral rates and an increase in the percentage of students on track for early reading benchmarks. Sadler, Carol (2009 January) Effective Behavior and Instructional Support: A District Model for Early Identification and Prevention of Reading and Behavior Problems. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions January 2009 vol. 11 no. 1 35-46

Professional development for teachers is a key mechanism for improving classroom instruction and student achievement. Ball, D. L., & Cohen, D. K. (1999). Developing practices, developing practitioners: Toward a practice-based theory of professional development. In G. Sykes & L. Darling-Hammonds (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 30–32). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

The Professional learning community (PLC) model gives schools a framework to build teacher capacity to work as members of high-performing, collaborative teams that focus on improving student learning and behavior. DuFour, R., DuFour, R., Eaker, R., & Karhanek, G. (2004). Whatever it takes: How professional learning communities respond when kids don’t learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Eaker, R., DuFour, R., & DuFour, R. (2002). Getting started: Reculturing schools to become professional learning communities. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.

Format

Individual Presentation

Biographical Sketch

Raphael Bernard Johnson was born January 1, 1975 and raised in the City of Detroit. He attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School for 3 1/2 years and graduated from Cass Technical High School in 1993. Raphael earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Detroit Mercy.

Raphael is the owner and President of Total Package Lifestyle, LLC which operates nationally as a provider of youth training and development, behavior modification and professional development.

Raphael is the founder of The 180 Program™ where students around the country learn real-world life skills and interventions geared at the promotion of academic achievement and improved behavior. This program that has a near 80% success rate as of 2014.

Raphael is now into his ninth season as an Expert for The Maury Show where he works specifically with “out-of-control teens” and “controlling men.” Raphael is also the 2008 national winner of Steve Harvey's Best Community Leader Hoodie Award.

Raphael is recognized across the world as the founder of the community patrol group, The Detroit 300. Before being dissolved in 2012, this group has been instrumental creating safety zones throughout the City of Detroit for women, children and senior citizens. More importantly, in its two-year run, the organization had a 100% success rate in helping to solve some of the most heinous crimes. For his efforts in this area, Raphael received The NAACP Image Award in 2012.

Raphael has authored three books. His autobiography, "To Pose A Threat: My Rite of Passage", has gained high acclaims across the world. This work was inducted into the African American Literature Special Collection at Wayne State University in 2007. Raphael is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Michiganian of The Year for 2011.

Raphael lives in the City of Detroit and is raising two children. He is currently working on his Doctoral of Education degree at Gwynedd Mercy University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Start Date

11-5-2015 2:45 PM

End Date

11-5-2015 4:00 PM

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Raphael B. M.A., "I'M ANGRY AND CAN'T BE TAUGHT: Understanding & Countering Behavioral Issues In School" (2015). National Youth-At-Risk Conference, West (2015-2017). 2.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_vegas/2015/urban/2