Behavior is not a bad word! Defining behavior and how it can challenge or support our work as educators

The word "behavior" has become a buzzword in education, probably because of the many challenging behaviors happening across today's classrooms - more on that in a second. Unfortunately, the term behavior is often misused or misunderstood. Today, we are here to clear the air about what behavior really is (and is not) to help all educators better support all students.

​To start off, behavior is not a bad word. ​

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It's true! Too often, the word behavior is used only in a context of the behaviors we want to reduce. We discuss behavior plans, behavior issues, behavior interventions, behavior classrooms, or even "behavior kids" (cringe!). We only bring in a behavior specialist when we have emergencies and problems. While these are all accurate uses of the word behavior (other than behavior kid, but that's another conversation), they are limited in their context because, I repeat, behavior is not a bad word.

So let's talk about what behavior is.

In the most basic definition, “human behavior is everything people do, including how they move and what they say, think, and feel" (Cooper et al., 2020).

So yes, if a child throws a chair, they are engaging in a behavior in your classroom. But a child sitting in a chair is also engaging in a behavior in your classroom. Completing school work is a behavior. Raising a hand is a behavior. Learning is a behavior. Teaching is a behavior! Behavior is not limited just to children; it applies to you and me as well. Where there is a human, there is behavior!

To have a classroom without behavior is to have an empty classroom.

I've heard teachers make comments such as "I have so many behaviors in my classroom," or "Can't I get through one day without a behavior?"  While I know these statements reflect the increasing frustration with today's classrooms (which trust me - I get!), I think it's important to  be a little more specific.  Usually, what we are referring to with these comments is challenging behavior. 

Time for another definition, this one from me: I define challenging behaviors as behaviors that pose an obstacle to safety, learning, or connection in an educational environment. It is reasonable and appropriate and GOOD to want to reduce challenging behaviors in our classrooms and schools. We obviously want our students to be safe, to learn, and to be connected with others! Most behavior plans in schools are written with this goal in mind.

​On the flip side, we have supportive behaviors, which I define as behaviors that promote safety, learning, or connection in an educational environment. Rather than an obstacle, supportive behaviors give us an opportunity to achieve our goals as students and educators! These are the behaviors that we want, and we celebrate them.

Now that that's cleared up, I think we can all agree that we want students to be safe, be learning and be connected. That means we'd like to see less challenging behaviors and more supportive behaviors in our schools and classrooms.

​But as more children and teens come to school without the behavioral skills they need to be successful, the more teachers are faced with that glaring truth that most of us don't know how to make that happen. Teacher preparation and even master's programs don't thoroughly cover how to explicitly teach and increase supportive behaviors for our students who don't naturally acquire them or learn them elsewhere.

There's still hope for us, though! Remember what I said earlier? Behavior science isn't just for the "bad" behaviors. Behavior isn't something we need to be afraid of or shy away from. 

I believe that to help teachers manage behaviors in the classroom, we actually need to dive deeper into behavior science and how it works. 

If you're an educator and you're struggling with student behavior, take some time to learn about behavior science. Understanding human behavior is an incredible tool that will radically change your practice if you let it. That's why we at Braving BSEL are so passionate about sharing the science of behavior, so we can give you knowledge, tools, and strategies in your school or classroom that you'll wish you had all along.

In time, instead of seeing behavior as a bad word, you can start seeing behavior as your own professional superpower.
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Our words matter. Common language helps us communicate clearly and get on the same page. But you might come across some terms that are unfamiliar or just confusing to educators! That's why we have our Behavior Glossary series, where we're breaking down key behavior terms one at a time, to help school teams translate behavior into something they can understand. Now you're speaking our language!