ABSTRACT
In the mid-1980s, Chazan and Laing (1985) highlighted that in educational settings, teachers often appear unwilling to deal with children’s behaviour problems, suggesting that either it is not their job or the source of the problem is outside of the school and they can do nothing about it or, in the case of young children, problem behaviours will pass with time. A number of authors have argued that teachers should not be criticised for holding such views, since the nature and source of problem behaviours are complex and teachers often do not have the same level of training as specialists such as psychologists, social workers and therapists (Douglas 1989; Galloway and Goodwin 1987; Chazan and Laing 1985; Jenkins et al. 1984; Laing 1984; Davie et al. 1972). However, in dealing with large groups of children in a class or early years setting, the reality is that (i) habitual preventative behaviour management is a basic part of the duties of teachers and early years practitioners and (ii) behaviour problems increasingly raise concerns, and existing policies and regulations require that schools and early years settings have in place appropriate structures and appropriately trained and equipped staff for early intervention.
