El comportamiento es una forma de comunicación

(En inglés)

Behavior Is a Form of Communication

Kristin: A big key message, take-home point that we want to share today is that behavior, all behavior, is a form of communication.

Dawn: Yes, it is. And so since we all communicate our needs through behavior, young children do this as well. But for young children it looks like smiles or crying or getting closer, excitement, ignoring, hiding under a table, screaming. And all of these behaviors are developmentally appropriate.

Kristin: Our job as educators is to respond to the messages of behavior and also to support the social and emotional skills that children are developing.

Dawn: That's right. So, all behaviors have a form and a function. The form is what the behavior looks like, so crying, laying down, crawling under a table.

Kristin: Right. Exactly. Those are good forms. And then the function is what the point of the behavior is. So what is the person, or child in this case, trying to get across with their behavior? Avoiding something, escaping, or wanting something? Right?

Dawn: Mm-hmm. So teachers can practice and get skilled at observing and recognizing the form of the behavior so that they can address the function.

So, let's look at some examples.

Teacher (off-screen): Ava. Ay ya ya ya. Are you going to play pattycake? Pattycake, pattycake, baker's man, bake me a cake as fast as you can. Roll it and roll it and pat it and prick it and mark it with a B. Put it in the oven for you and you and me. Yay!

Dawn: That video just makes me smile.

Kristin: I love that video! It's so great. And when we hear "behavior" sometimes, we immediately think challenging behavior, right? That was not challenging behavior. That was trying to communicate something, right?

Dawn: Yes, yes. That child is hitting the table, is making some noise, and it gets the teacher's attention. So that's the form, right, that smiling, that hitting. The function is trying to get the teacher's attention. And the teacher does a great job of noticing that and responding to it and really engaging in a way that keeps -- lets the child know that I heard you, I saw you, and I want to play. So, all that just helps build that relationship and the secure attachment.

Kristin: Absolutely, that bond is really being strengthened there. I love that.

Dawn: And this example is a little bit more for preschoolers, but let's say you're doing

a small-group activity and there's a child that gets a little frustrated with what's happening and they get up and they leave the table. So that's the form -- the child leaves the activity. And the function is that I'm going to avoid this because I'm frustrated with what's happening here. And so, what the teacher can do is think about how to meet that need, right? So you want to help them persevere, you want to encourage them to continue, so maybe make the activity just a little bit easier.

So, if they're cutting, maybe there's less to cut and you precut some, or maybe you shorten the length of the activity. But you're identifying what that function is, and your response is to meet that function so they can be more successful at it. So, key messages here are that we all have behavior, and behavior is communication.

Kristin: Teachers can notice and respond to the form and the function of behavior in children to support children with their social and emotional development.