One of the hottest educational topics is how to deal with "problem behaviour" in the classroom. While I am reluctant to label any child's behaviour as a problem, I am sensitive to the realities of the descriptors used in educational circles. I am committed to reframing our understandings of why individuals may forcibly react to particular situations, environments, and individuals. I also recognize and feel the landscape of stress behaviour that surrounds us in public education. It permutates every facet of our work, leaving many educators feeling uncertain, unsettled and too frequently emotionally or physically unsafe. I have learned that there is a way forward with broader understandings of our own behavioural responses and our own interpretations of the behaviour of others. This post is one of hope and knowledge building with human dignity at the core of our work in schools.

In the beginning of my career, I had the privilege of working in a small alternative school in England. It was titled 'a community special school' for children with moderate learning and behavioural difficulties. I worked with an amazing educator by the name of Christine (Chris) Townsend, who modelled grace, kindness and tremendous skill in all she did. She created a learning environment that was universally designed and individualized for the small group of children in our care. The school was like none that I have experienced since. It was an exclusive, separate school that was designed to provide highly specialized supports to young children with complex learning and behavioural differences. The environment was tailored to the children's unique needs with specialized spaces such as a snoezelen multi-sensory room and therapeutic swimming pool.

In my first week of working in Chris's classroom as a practicum teacher, I was the recipient of a launched metal toy truck and a split bleeding lip. Years later I can still recall that moment, along with the shock, confusion and physical pain that flooded me. One minute I was on the floor playing with the children, the next minute I being sent out of the room armed with a box of Kleenex and clear directions from Chris to go to the staff room, clean myself up and pour a cup of tea. I remember struggling to unpack what had happened. I recall my throbbing lip, a few tears falling and my heavy heart as I naively spun into a space of stewing on what did I do wrong to receive a projectile truck to the face.

This experience was the first of many future encounters with tricky human behaviour where I have held Chris' words of wisdom close to my heart and mind. In that staff room, armed with more Kleenex, steri-strips to close my open lip and fortified by multiple cups of tea, Chris gave me the best advice of my early career. She told me that I needed to learn how to 'bob and weave'. In the moment I was confused by a boxing analogy coming from this tall, elegant lady but in the days, months and years that have followed, I now understand.

The act of bobbing and weaving requires an individual to move defensively by bending and avoiding impact. In boxing, it is a technique used to dodge a straight punch. In teaching, bobbing and weaving is a euphemism for astute educators to be mindful of their surroundings and to be increasingly sensitive to the actions of others. It doesn't mean that educators are to be on the balls of feet bouncing around classrooms like boxing rings, but it does mean that we are scanning our learning environments sensitive to the energy levels of our students. Teaching in today's inclusive classroom requires nimble, adaptable and fluid educational planning whereby educators are adjusting and moving instructional designs to gracefully meet student needs. Moving past bobbing and weaving in today's classroom requires educators to learn about the triune brain and the science of stress and safety in order to thrive. Without this knowledge, educators will get stuck in cycles of punitive responses to human behaviour where feelings of failure and duress become all consuming.

I've been a fan of Stuart Shanker's research for almost two decades. I wish I knew him at the beginning of my teaching career, if only I had known about the interbrain and self-regulation then that scar on my lip may have been prevented! My introduction to Shanker was a turning point in my career. His research on the impact of the limbic system and its relationship with stress behaviour embodied what I felt but didn't have the words to adequately describe. Learning about the limbic system and its responsibilities for behaviour and emotional outputs at high and low levels have changed how I interpret the actions of others, and myself.

The limbic system is the part of the brain that spins into action when it comes to the behaviours we need for survival including our fight or flight responses. The limbic system is group of interconnected brain structures that help regulate human emotions and behaviour. Learning about the inner workings of the limbic system and the integral working relationships between the brain's hippocampus and amygdala can help educators understand the roots of anxiety, aggression, emotional memory, fear conditioning and social contagion. Learning about applied educational neuroscience disrupts practices of labelling a child's behaviour as bad or good. This is important because once we start travelling into the landscape of judgement the educational roadmap towards human dignity and respect becomes frayed.

Bobbing and weaving in today's classroom requires educators to consider the biological, emotional, cognitive, social and prosocial needs of students. Shanker describes the 5 primary domains of stress and highlights the crucial importance of considering behaviour through a lens of understanding, compassion and growth versus reactivity and punitive responses. Shanker's research around the distinction between misbehaviour and stress-behaviour has been pivotal in my professional life. I believe that the science of self-regulation and how the brain manages stress are essential understandings for every inclusive educator. Shanker's concept of limbic breaking needs to be unpacked and better understood in today's classroom.

The field of applied educational neuroscience has been exploding with research over the past decade. Leaning into this new knowledge stream can help educators find new ways forward in today's classroom. Building multi-disciplinary educational teams to include professionals such as Board Certified Behaviour Analysts (BCBAs), School Psychologists, Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs), Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) to collaborate in real time with classroom teachers is essential. Considering the impact of genetics, environmental stressors and traumatic experiences in our classrooms is critical. Bringing in responsive crisis, care based protocols such as Safety Care along with individualized positive behaviour support plans are making a massive difference in my current setting.

Human behaviour is complex. Labelling children's behaviour is a dangerous practice for all involved. Early interventions and knowledge building are crucial change makers in a time when human emotion lives close to the surface. Thinking back to that day in Chris's classroom, I realize that I jumped into an early learning environment with high energy, good intentions and little knowledge of the students' lived experiences. When that truck hit my lip, there was a very strong message being sent my way via a little four year old child's powerful throw. At the time, I didn't understand the communicative intent behind that action. I did not know about the role of the powerful limbic system in learning. I did not have the experience or knowledge of trauma sensitive educational practices to understand that my new energetic presence was possibly dysregulating and confusing for this child. What I did know I still carry forward, is that every child deserves the opportunity to be heard, seen, included, respected and educated.