The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme has shown positive effects on teachers’ classroom management strategies and pupil mental health. In this blog, we discuss teachers’ views on the sustainability of the programme, necessary to maintain its desired benefits in the longer term.
Rising Youth Mental Health Concerns: The Need for Preventive Strategies and Early Intervention
National survey data shows that about 1 in 5 children and young people aged 8 to 25 years old had a probable mental health disorder in 2023, with rates increasing over the past few years (Newlove-Delgado T. et al, 2023). The first mental health disorder occurs before the age of 18 years old in almost half of individuals (Solmi M. et al, 2022). Unfortunately, poor mental health in childhood and adolescence often continues into adulthood, and is associated with long-term educational, occupational, financial, and social challenges (Asselmann E. et al, 2018; Copeland W.E. et al, 2021; Mulraney M. et al, 2021). This is why preventive strategies and early intervention are crucial. Effective prevention focuses on reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors. The Incredible Years programmes are a series of evidence-based programmes for parents, teachers and children addressing multiple risk factors across home and school settings known to be related to the development of behavioural issues in children (Webster-Stratton C., 2011). The curriculum provides families and professionals with the skills they need to promote social, emotional, and academic competence, while also preventing, reducing, and treating behavioural and emotional problems in children. The parent programme was developed first, followed by the teacher programme, based on the idea that parent training programmes can improve difficulties at home but rarely improve school-based behavioural problems.
The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management Programme
At school, disruptive classroom behaviour is common and associated with some of the most prevalent mental health disorders in childhood, such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and conduct disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Disruptive behaviour impacts the quality of teaching and the academic performance of all students, and increases stress for teachers, contributing to higher turnover rates in the profession (Duesund L. and Ødegård M., 2018; Ofsted, 2014, 2019). Despite these challenges, many teachers have not received any classroom management training and do not feel confident in managing disruptive behaviour (Ofsted, 2014, 2019). The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management (TCM) programme is an evidence-based intervention designed to enhance teachers’ classroom management skills and promote school readiness and prosocial behaviour, in children aged 3 to 8 years old. The programme is delivered to teachers in the following six full-day workshops (Webster-Stratton, 2011):
- Workshop 1: “Building Positive Relationships with Students” and “Preventing Behaviour Problems: The Proactive Teacher”
- Workshop 2: “The Importance of Teacher Attention, Coaching, Encouragement and Praise”
- Workshop 3: “Motivating Children through Incentives”
- Workshops 4 and 5: “Decreasing Students’ Inappropriate Behaviour”: Ignoring, Redirecting Misbehaviour, Consequences, Teaching Time Out to Calm Down, Developing a Behaviour Plan for Individual Students with Problems
- Workshop 6: “Emotional Regulation, Social Skills and Problem-Solving Training”.
Previous research has shown positive effects of the programme on teachers’ classroom management strategies and pupil mental health, such as reductions in inattention/hyperactivity symptoms (Ford T. et al, 2019; Korest R. and Carlson J.S., 2021; Nye E. et al, 2018). However, programme implementation and effectiveness do not ensure the sustainability of an intervention (Herlitz L. et al, 2020). But what do we mean by sustainability? There are multiple definitions, but sustainability can be described as the continued use of a programme after the end of external support, with the programme continuing to produce benefits even if it has been adapted to the broader ecological context (Hagermoser Sanetti L.M. and Collier-Meek M.A., 2019; Moore J.E. et al, 2017).
“The Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme has shown positive effects on pupil mental health, and exploring its sustainability is necessary.”
The Sustainability of The Incredible Years Programme: What Do Teachers Think?
We explored the views of 25 UK primary school teachers on the sustainability of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme, through focus groups and interviews, one year after attending the training (Albajara Sáenz A. et al, 2024). Here’s what they said:
The Incredible Years approach was integrated into their teaching practice.
One year after completing the TCM training, teachers were still using the strategies they had learned, which is one of the key constructs of sustainability. They were not using all of them, but the ones they remembered from the training and those they found most effective, easier to implement, liked by their pupils and those that worked well for children with special educational or behavioural needs. TCM strategies did not clash with other mental health or behavioural programmes already at the school; instead, they complemented each other.
The positive impact of the programme in children, teacher-parent relationships and teachers themselves was sustained over time.
Teachers noticed improvements in pupils’ behaviour, academic motivation, self-confidence, and teacher-pupil relationships. The TCM approach also boosted teacher-parent communication, helping them work together to manage student behaviour. Since the end of the training, most teachers had changed cohorts, and the positive impact carried over to new pupils and parents, showing how flexible the programme is. However, children moving to classes with non-TCM trained teachers sometimes started having disruptive behaviours again. The programme helped teachers feel more confident, less stressed and create a more positive classroom environment. Although there were benefits for some children with special educational needs, the strategies weren’t always effective for highly disruptive behaviour, indicating more training or support is needed.
Adapting the TCM approach to a changing context was sometimes a challenge.
Since the end of the training, teachers had changed schools or cohorts and adapted how they used the TCM strategies for their new groups of students, who were younger, older, more disruptive, or less disruptive. This adaptability is crucial for the programme’s sustainability. However, changes at the school-level and administrative procedures sometimes made it difficult for teachers to use the TCM strategies as planned. New behaviour management policies introduced by school leaders sometimes conflicted with the TCM approach. Also, the introduction of a more demanding curriculum, new assessment methods and Ofsted inspections increased pressure and limited opportunities for teachers to use TCM strategies. Schools should strive to balance academic demands with effective classroom management, recognising that a well-managed classroom enhances academic outcomes.
Teachers shared the TCM strategies with their colleagues, but not everybody followed.
Teachers shared the TCM strategies with their colleagues through presentations or casual conversations. In some cases, this led to changes in the school’s behaviour policy, and some colleagues showed interest and started using the strategies in their own classrooms. Others were not convinced, not seeing the added value of the TCM strategies and choosing not to use them, which sometimes led to the return of disruptive behaviours. This means that the benefits of the TCM programme were sometimes limited to the classrooms of the initial cohort of trained teachers, and not spread across the school. Teaching assistants also had mixed reactions, despite their key role in managing classroom behaviour and the importance of keeping consistency within the classroom to avoid unsettling children.
Going forward: Recommendations for sustainability.
To ensure the sustainability of the TCM programme, teachers recommended refresher sessions and a whole-school approach. Refresher sessions would help them revisit the strategies and get ongoing support. They also thought the training would be useful for other teachers and school staff, including teaching assistants. A whole-school training would create a consistent approach to behaviour management across the school and within the classroom and get more staff on board.
Conclusion
Teachers continued to use the Incredible Years strategies, adapting them to new student cohorts, and still found them beneficial one year after the training. However, the sustainability of the programme depends on several factors, including the adaptability of strategies to changing school contexts and academic demands, the classroom behaviour management approach across the school, and school leadership support. By addressing these challenges, schools can ensure that the benefits of the programme are sustained on the long term, creating a better learning environment for both teachers and students.
NB this blog has been peer-reviewed.
References
Primary paper
Albajara Sáenz, A., Burn, A. M., Allen, K., Hansford, L., Hayes, R., Allwood, M., Longdon, B., Price, A. and Ford, T. (2024), Teachers’ views on the sustainability of the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management programme: a one-year qualitative follow-up study. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2024.2347005
Other references
American Psychiatric Association. (2013), Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5™ (5th edition. ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing, a division of American Psychiatric Association.
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Copeland, W. E., Alaie, I., Jonsson, U. and Shanahan, L. (2021), Associations of Childhood and Adolescent Depression With Adult Psychiatric and Functional Outcomes. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry, 60(5): 604-611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.07.895
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