Question
Why do families resist change?
Answer
Families are going to resist change as well. Even though they may know exactly what's happening with their child's behavior, they may not be ready to hear about it from someone else. There are many reasons that families resist change, including:
- There is no relationship built between teacher/family or director/family
- They don’t feel you recognize their efforts or understand their lives (e.g., parents have challenging jobs, they work unorthodox hours or travel a lot, parents are divorced/separated, etc.)
- They feel judged
- They are afraid there may be something wrong with their child
- The behavior has not been defined objectively
- The behavior does not occur at home (e.g., if the child does not have siblings) or the parents don't recognize the behavior as challenging
- Lack of information
It is critical to provide families with information about what they can do at home with their child, as well as why they can do it, and why that change is important.
This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the course, Supporting Teachers in Addressing Challenging Behavior: A Team Approach, by Barbara Kaiser, MA.
