“Educators engage in professional learning”- Taken from BCTC’s Professional Standards for BC Educators

During my 10 week practicum, I got the opportunity to participate in CPI Non-Violent Crisis Intervention training as my professional development for the Non Instructional Day on October 20. I was excited to participate in this training because creating a culture of safety and security in the classroom has always been one of my main goals and focuses; I felt like this training could give me more insight into how I could create this culture and maintain it even during times of crisis while still holding the care, dignity, respect, autonomy, and well-being of the student as the utmost priority. There were a few main takeaways I got from this program and one was the fact that even though I had never participated in this training before and I was a very new teacher with minimal classroom experience, I was already using many of these tactics and practices in my own classrooms and with my own students without even realizing they were a form of crisis prevention and intervention. Some of the main ideas that stuck with me and that I can see myself implementing in the classroom are

  1. There are four different types of behaviours (anxiety, defensive, risk behaviour, and tension reduction) and it is important to recognize the behaviour that is being expressed and to match your approach to the behaviour to prevent escalation of the situation
  2. Behaviour influences behaviour so it is important to be aware and remain in control of your own behaviour and to use rational detachment strategies (take a deep breath, choose your words carefully, ask for help) to deescalate the situation and increase the likelihood of the intervention being successful
  3. Not only is it important to control your verbal communication but it is equally important to control your nonverbal communication and to match this communication to the situation in which you find yourself (tone, volume, rhythm of speech, using the correct amount of personal space, using the correct posture, gestures, and facial expressions, and listen with empathy)
  4. When using personal space, body language, and touch to communicate during times of crisis it is important to think about factors that may influence how your message is conveyed including social and cultural factors, words or gestures that may be offensive, age and gender identity, the preexisting relationship you have with the person, and the person’s cognitive abilities
  5. It is important to understand where someone falls on the Verbal Escalation Continuum when a situation is occurring so you can choose the correct behaviour to deescalate the situation and not accidentally use the wrong strategy which could make the situation exponentially worse (e.g., setting limits when a person is in the release stage instead of allowing a space to vent and removing the audience or other students and using understanding and reasonable approaches both verbally and nonverbally

I learned so much from this training and I am happy I have this knowledge and I will be putting it into practice as much as I can.