May is Mental Health Awareness month. To recognize this time and offer support and information, Endominance is publishing a series of articles addressing different areas of mental health and wellness, from the classroom to the board room – and points in between, including the mental health of first responders. We are kicking off this month by taking a closer look at today’s classrooms and how understanding the mind-body connection in students is paving the way to a new form of mental wellness in the classroom.
Traditional classroom punishment
with students who exhibit frequent behavioral issues often includes detention, in-school suspension (ISS), or out-of-school suspension (OSS). The most frequently used method is in-school suspension. The main idea is to separate a student from their peers and force them to think about what they’ve done in hopes it will discourage them from repeating the same behaviors. Unfortunately, research continues to show that the ISS method is not practical.
Schools are developing alternative programs to these traditional punishments by implementing evidence-based interventions that can help reduce suspensions. One such method is using the principles of educational neuroscience and brain-aligned preventative systems. Endominance spoke to Dr. Lori Desautels, Assistant Professor at Butler University, to determine how teachers can move away from traditional discipline practices to using brain-aligned methods to help create sustainable behavioral change in the classroom.
Why Current Classroom Discipline Systems Are Limited
According to the University of Nebraska Student Engagement Project, “Traditional school discipline refers to behavior management strategies that have been used for decades in school systems. These strategies are often not backed by scientific research supporting their effectiveness. And methods that have been researched, evidence concludes they are ineffective at changing student behavior. For example, when models of ISS are associated with punitive measures, it is ineffective for most students, if not detrimental.”
The project also published a strategy brief on ISS and found, “Frequent criticisms of ISS include that students miss out on instructional time, that they do not receive remedial instruction, and that it negatively affects student self-esteem.” Empirical research also finds that “School suspension (both ISS and OSS) is generally linked with school dropout, delinquency and crime, substance use, and isolation.” The University of Nebraska Student Engagement Project brief concluded, “When a more remedial or therapeutic model is employed, outcomes can be better.” Different therapeutic models are now being designed and implemented in classrooms across the country, with many methods including critical components of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) practices and educational neuroscience. As this transition takes shape – the next question becomes, “What’s actually working?”
Embracing the Nervous System: How Schools Can Do Better
Endominance spoke with Dr. Lori Desautels on specific brain-aligned preventive methods (based on educational neuroscience) used as therapeutic techniques in the classroom. Desautels is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Butler University, a former special education teacher and school counselor, and is currently teaching applied educational neuroscience/brain and trauma to candidates in the certification program. Desautels has created webinars for educators, clinicians, and administrators demonstrating how educators and students must understand their neuroanatomy to regulate behavior and calm the brain. Her work can be found at her website revelationsineducation.com, including a link to her latest book, “Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perception of Discipline.”
When asking Desautels why current behavior management strategies are not working, she reveals, “Discipline is not something we do to children, but something we develop within them. For the last 100 years, educators have only been looking at the behavior when disciplining a student. We misunderstand those ‘behaviors’ that look shut-down, defiant, or aggressive. In reality, these behaviors are their nervous systems really working hard for them.” Desautels goes on to add, “Instead of pathologizing these behaviors [labeling student behavior], I want children and adolescents to understand that these behaviors are their sensory systems at work. This understanding allows them to feel empowered and less like something is “wrong” with them. Educators need to meet students where they are in this process. We need to discipline from a sensory perspective to come to the student with preventative brain-aligned relational practices. By doing this, we are embracing where this dysregulation comes from.”
The Road From Compliance to Connection
In Desautels’s book, Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Perception of Discipline, she states, “The developing brains of our children need to feel safe. Children who carry chronic behavioral challenges are often met with reactive and punitive practices that can potentially reactivate the developing stress response systems.” Desautels also emphasizes the need for “Relational touchpoint practices, shifting student-focused behavior management protocols to adult regulated brain and body states which are brain-aligned, preventive, and relational discipline protocols. This new lens for discipline benefits all students by reaching for sustainable behavioral changes through brain state awareness rather than compliance and obedience.”
When asked about methods educators can use to reach sustainable behavioral changes in students, Desautels tells Endominance, “I first want to explain that when a student reaches a point of no return, or their “sympathetic pathway [fight or flight]” is activated, students need space and time. When they are at that point, they cannot hear words, consequences, or rewards because the area of the brain [prefrontal cortex] that performs executive functions, where they have access to reasoning or problem-solving, can not be activated.” She goes on to say, “I wanted to share this first because to avoid this state, it’s vital to notice the signs that lead the nervous system to become dysregulated. It’s essential to notice facial expressions, posture, and gestures. Educators are not expected to always catch it, especially in a classroom of 40 students. But it’s important to be aware of these indicators.”
During our interview, Desautels suggests teaching the following practices and calming techniques to help students avoid those escalated levels.
The “Touch Points” Method
Desautels highlights the most crucial part of this method stating, “If a student is becoming upset, validate their feelings. Say, “I can’t imagine how you feel right now,” or “I can’t imagine how hard this is for you.” This verbal validation can be calming to their nervous system. Desautels calls them “Micro-moments of connection.” She also points out, “During these moments, educators also have to be mindful of their posture. For example, sitting next to a student instead of standing in front of them is less aggressive. Having your hands in your laps or on your chest when speaking to a student is also more effective than having your hands behind your back as this can result in students feeling unsafe.”
Focused Attention Practices
In an article in Edutopia, Desautels writes, “The traumatic conditions of isolation, chronic unpredictability, and physical and emotional distance over the past year are affecting everyone, but children and adolescents are experiencing these effects as they are still developing. Toxic levels of stress can wear out their nervous systems, and they find themselves in elevated states of anxiety, depression, and sometimes hopelessness. To help them find calm, I recommend regulatory activities called focused attention practices.”
When asked to offer more detail about these methods, Desautels tells Endominance, “Focused attention practices prepare student brains and bodies to create and hold a state of relaxed alertness. They deepen their awareness while promoting emotional, social, and cognitive well-being. Often, it will include breathwork and movement, such as going for a quick walk down the hall to get a drink of water or taking a deep breath.” One example she offers includes students focusing on one object in the room. Desautels explains, “After focusing their attention for 30 seconds, students can expand their gaze and create a more open vision of their environment. When students do this, their heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure will lower.”
She offers another example from a recent classroom visit where she asked middle school students to hold peppermint gum in their hands for a few moments before putting it in their mouths. She explains, ” This activity helps them bring their awareness back to the present. Feeling the gum’s texture and shape helps their brain shift focus back to the prefrontal cortex.”
Amygdala First Aid Station
As part of the focused attention practice, Desautels has educators set up “Amygdala First Aid Stations” to offer sensory tools and visualization techniques in a classroom area to help students achieve focus and calm. This area often includes items such as:
- Elliptical machines, stationary bikes, or jump ropes
- Miniature basketball hoops
- Lavender scented hand lotions, sanitizer, or cotton balls
- Soft rugs to rub bare feet on
- Hand warmers (a favorite among teen boys)
- Yoga mats or pillows with comforting textures
- Adult coloring books, crayons, markers, and journals
At the conclusion of our interview, Desautels suggests, “Students brains learn best in a state of relaxed alertness. When this happens, they can problem-solve, think clearly, and retained what they learned with increased attention. These brain-aligned behavior management strategies can help create sustainable change. Our discipline systems must begin to shift toward creating this state in students, and all school community members, for better educational and wellness outcomes.”
