ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses the difficult issue of managing and supporting pupils who have emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). The category EBD includes both those pupils who internalise their difficulties and those who externalise their difficulties. The latter group tends to receive the most attention in schools as they are hard to ignore and present a challenge to teachers' authority. Pupils with EBD can stir strong emotions among school staff, destabilising relationships and negatively affecting the expectations and well-being of those involved. The chapter focuses on the three most prevalent mental disorders, namely, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD). Behaviour analysis is the systematic collection of measurable data, specifically, the behaviour causing concern, what precedes the behaviour, and determining what keeps it going. Behavioural approaches focus on manipulating the environment to change behaviour, beginning with changing the antecedent. The desired behaviour can be taught through direct reinforcement or indirectly by vicarious reinforcement or modelling.