Strengths-Based Intervention Approach

 

In the first few years of teaching, I realized that I was neglecting an incredible tool that we are all given in our teacher training…the Human Tendencies. I realized that it was considering Human Tendencies that I was completely missing when I was trying to work with children that had challenging behaviors.

Over time, I discovered that I was very good at supporting children with challenging behaviors. I was that teacher that got children from other classrooms when a behavior was too much to manage. I was also the teacher who received new students trying Montessori as a last resort because they were expelled from other programs. And yes, I'm talking 5-year-olds!

Let's talk about the strengths-based intervention approach. This is an approach where you utilize the strengths of the child to circumnavigate the difficulties that they have in the classroom. This requires an adult to really get to know the child. And I'm not talking about what their favorite color is, or their favorite kind of vehicle, or their favorite food. I am talking about listing 10 things that this child is really good at/really enjoys. And if we're absolutely honest, the children that have the hardest behaviors are also the hardest to get to know and build relationships with. Often they don't trust adults or they don't trust school. This is where we begin, building a trusting relationship. What that looks like is going to be different for everyone. We approach them with a gentle kindness that hopefully will allow them to let their guard down a little bit. If we take the time to get to know these children and to really see them for all their positive attributes, then we can support them by using a strength-based intervention approach.

Interestingly enough, this is where the Human Tendencies come into play. Do you remember what they are? When was the last time you thought about Human Tendencies? 

• Exploration
• Orientation
• Order
• Activity or work
• Repetition
• Exactness or precision
• Self-perfection
• Abstraction
• Imagination
• Communication

Really observe what a child is very good at or intensely interested in and often you will see a direct link to a Human Tendency. Our Human Tendencies are manifested in what our strengths are. This is the key! We can use these the Tendencies and the child's interests to tie in learning experiences for the child.

Here are some steps for the approach:

1. Identify the end goal or objective.
2. List some of the strengths of the child. Your goal is to list 10.
3. See how these connect with the Human tendencies.
4. Add any other observations that you see from the child when it comes to being successful at the end goal.
5. Use the information from the strengths and the human tendencies to create learning opportunities so the child can find success in areas of difficulty.

I think for this one having an example would be tremendous support! Let's say you have a 5-year-old who has incredible difficulty recalling the new sounds that they're learning. Now, this is a child who's five and out of the Sensitive Period for Refinement of the Sensory Perceptions, so tracing letters is not necessarily appealing. You've had them for two years and they have always struggled to retain that kind of information. Let's say that you also observe that this child avoids any kind of sound lesson and they're highly distractible during those lessons. If you were to list this child's strengths you would see:

• That they love the outdoor environment
• They love one on one lessons 
• They're very social 
• They are a good friend
• They are a leader 
• They enjoy staying busy
• They like music and singing
• They like art
• They have a great attitude
• Like to help adults

Clearly, this is a child that is not challenged by behavior but challenged with the retention of sound information. 

Take a look below.  First is the objective and then the Human Tendencies and Strengths. The purple arrows show how the strengths connect to the tendencies. Last are the ideas for activities. Observe how they directly connect to the strengths/interests of the child and in turn connect to the Tendencies.

These are just five ideas of where you could start just by putting together the strengths of a child, understanding their Tendencies, and getting creative! This is the beauty of the Montessori method! We can tailor experiences to meet the needs of learners.  For this child, if we make sound lessons more enjoyable by keying into their strengths, we are increasing the likelihood that they will want to engage in those lessons. They may actually be excited about those lessons and they're going to feel better about themselves while they're working.

Looking for more? Check out the Montessori Deconstructed site!