SWPBS: the involvement of children in the definition of behavior expectations

During the last months, the ProW coaches from University of Porto have been delivering the training sessions on PERMA and SWPBS models to 24 early childhood teachers from schools in the Municipality of Lousada. 

After working on the definition of school values for their early childhood education settings and identifying the contexts and routines in which inappropriate behaviors were more frequent and/or disruptive, the professionals were invited to involve their groups of children in the definition of expected appropriate behaviors. The ways for significantly involving the children in this process were chosen by the participants, considering their already planned activities for the group, the ages and development features of their groups, as well as their preferences. Some of the outcomes created were drawings that children have made to illustrate the rules of their classrooms or common areas. As an example, you can check the drawings made by three children illustrating how to be responsible during lunch time, by being appropriately seated, by trying to taste a little bit of all the foods, and by keeping the food on the plates.

Without the involvement and investment of the early childhood teachers, both during the training sessions and in the activities they are challenged to develop with their children and colleagues, this transfer of knowledge and strategies to daily practices would not be possible.