Stages 2 and 3 permit team members to focus on defining the parameters of the problem for the teacher. After the referring teacher provides a vignette of the situation and his or her concerns, team members may ask for somes pecific examples of the behaviour, such as “You find that Susan is aggressive toward other children. Can you give me some specific examples of her aggressive behaviour?”
During stage 3, team members may:
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Look for factors that may trigger or maintain a problem; identify and analyze conditions that alleviate the problem.
(“Does Mary seem to work better when you… ?”); -
Look for consequences that may maintain the behaviour. They may explore actions that are already occurring or could be instituted to improve behaviour or performance.
(“What do you do when Joe does complete all off his homework?” “What types of things does Julie really like to do?”); -
Assess other factors in the student’s environment. Significant people in the student’s environment are identified and asked questions to assess their attitudes and expectations regarding the problem. Relevant instructional variables and classroom or home routines are explored;
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Identify all available resources; identify the strengths of the child.
(“What types of things does Jeff do well?” “In what subject area is William succeeding?”)
The process of clarification helps make the problem specific enough that team members feel they understand it clearly. The facilitator provides input to pull the threads together so the team has a mutual sense of the issues causing a problem for the referring teacher.
