Collaborative Problem-Solving with Children

I'm sure I'm not alone in noticing that children often have the same problem over and over in different situations. (Don't we notice that pattern in ourselves, too?) As an adult, I'm sure we feel frustrated seeing the pattern and not knowing how to help. Meanwhile, imagine the child's feelings, finding themselves in the same struggle, not receiving help to exit the pattern.

Dr. Green's work is a straightforward, compassionate, and practical approach to helping children. One of the most beautiful parts of the approach is that it is collaborative, giving the child the feeling and knowledge that the adult is genuinely on their side. While I'll link to Dr. Greene's work at the end, an outline of the process follows.

Steps of Dr. Greene's Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Model (CPS)

Step one centers around changing the adult's perception of the child's challenging behavior. We may be in the habit of thinking a child's challenging behavior is the fault of the child or someone else. One of CPS's central belief steps is that children do well if they can. If a child has the necessary skills, they will use them because they also want to succeed in meeting expectations.

Step two follows after we have changed our perception of the child and their behavior. Step two is about identifying the child's lagging skills that may lead to the challenging behavior, then wording the unresolved problem accurately and using a specific language. This step is often the most challenging; what specific expectation does the child struggle to meet regarding the lagging skill?

Step three is the "action" step when we speak with the child and develop a collaborative solution. The conversation here starts with sitting down with the child in a neutral moment, voicing what you notice, and asking for more information from the child. After repeating the child's viewpoint of the problem and asking for more information if the child has any, the conversation then moves to the adult's concerns. From here, the child and adult move to come up with solutions that address both parties' needs and a plan to meet at some future point to assess the solution's efficacy.

Links to Dr. Greene's Work

I cannot recommend this approach enough. When done consistently and correctly, the happiness of the child, the parent or teacher, and the relationship increases profoundly. I highly recommend referring to Dr. Greene's work directly for all of the steps, as the nuance can be difficult to get across in a short monthly newsletter written by a non-expert practitioner!

Links are below.

• Lives in the Balance
• About Dr. Greene and his work
• Example of Step Three

-Millepede Teacher