So I’m confused, but maybe that’s a good thing.

This past Tuesday (Note: two Tuesdays ago now, I wrote this a while ago) we listened to Barbara Coloroso, an expert on bullying and related fields.  First off, let me say she was nothing short of inspiring.  I would suggest if you ever have the chance to listen to her speak as I’m sure she will have the same affect on you.

Surprisingly, the main messages I took from the night were often contradictory of not only my preconceived notions on the issues but also readings on behavioural exceptionalities assigned the week before.  This included new research that indicates reward systems activate “addiction” parts of the brain and the idea that bullying is not something that can be mediated as it’s a one-way attack on another individual.

I think we’ve all been given reward systems to reinforce good behaviour or even used them ourselves.  As well I know my elementary school and even high school used mediation as a tool to resolve issues such as bullying.  In some of these cases it helped, in others it didn’t.  You really can only look at it case by case.

And I guess that’s where my confusion might be a good thing.  Yes we will definitely be dealing with plenty of students with exceptionalities and a wide array of issues (bullying is only one of these issues).  Yes there is plenty of contradictory practices and research out there. However there is no textbook on teaching.  This is where teaching excites me.  This profession will never be the same from year to year, month to month, day to day, or even minute to minute.  As long as we stay proactive, use our best judgments, and keep our heads about us, even us new teachers can provide an impact in the students we interact with.  This especially includes ones who have exceptionalities, as they are the ones most at risk of succeeding in the school system:

So one thing I will take with me from all of this comes from the reading assigned from Special Education in Ontario Schools – at the very end of the Behavioral Exceptionality section. 

Taken together, the practices followed by most educatiors most of the time, could best be collected under the expression: flexible common sense.  While the term may not have definitive intellectial reverberations in the field of behaviour theory, it describes pretty much the route that is followed in the classroom: doing what is effective at the time and what makes sense at the time.

So focus on that last phrase.  Teaching is an amazingly dynamic field and as much research and as much studies that can be made it all comes down to you making those decisions in that moment.  Confusion is natural, but doing what you think is best at the time, in the end, the best we can do.