Primary TAs: Anger Management
0001 10:00:00:01 10:00:02:14
(narrator) In any
boisterous playground,
0002 10:00:02:14 10:00:06:01
it's easy for tempers to flare up
and for anger to spill over.
0003 10:00:06:01 10:00:10:12
Managing children's anger
is a critical skill for all staff.
0004 10:00:11:12 10:00:13:15
Often it's down
to teaching assistants
0005 10:00:13:15 10:00:15:19
to sort this out
in the heat of the moment,
0006 10:00:15:19 10:00:18:02
whether in the playground
at break times
0007 10:00:18:02 10:00:21:14
or in the class so
the teacher can continue teaching.
0008 10:00:21:14 10:00:26:01
In this programme we'll follow
Jackie Roberts and Valerie Vassell,
0009 10:00:26:01 10:00:30:00
two teaching assistants
at KingswoodSchool in South London.
0010 10:00:30:00 10:00:32:03
They're going to explore
some techniques
0011 10:00:32:03 10:00:34:23
for helping children
manage their anger.
0012 10:00:34:23 10:00:38:23
All behaviour is difficult to deal
with because you go in blind.
0013 10:00:38:23 10:00:41:01
You could have a child
that's hungry.
0014 10:00:41:01 10:00:43:20
If you're hungry,
you're going to be angry
0015 10:00:43:20 10:00:45:16
because you can't think straight.
0016 10:00:45:16 10:00:48:20
Maybe they've been fussing
and fighting with their siblings
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or they went to bed late last night.
0018 10:00:50:22 10:00:55:06
Some children might just not feel
like being in school today
0019 10:00:55:06 10:00:59:16
and display behaviour
that is not appropriate for class.
0020 10:00:59:16 10:01:04:06
As a TA, my role is to really
remove the child from that class
0021 10:01:04:06 10:01:06:13
and to try and deal with it.
0022 10:01:08:22 10:01:10:17
(narrator) Valerie and Jackie
0023 10:01:10:17 10:01:13:11
have come to talk to
the learning mentor at the school.
0024 10:01:13:11 10:01:15:21
- You all right?
- Yeah, thanks.
0025 10:01:15:21 10:01:17:24
(narrator) Sarah Harris
is experienced
0026 10:01:17:24 10:01:20:10
in helping children
manage their anger,
0027 10:01:20:10 10:01:22:21
and they've come to see
if any of her techniques
0028 10:01:22:21 10:01:25:16
can be adapted
for their work as TAs.
0029 10:01:25:16 10:01:28:08
The carpet is the worst time.
0030 10:01:28:08 10:01:31:06
There's prodding on the carpet,
there's whispering,
0031 10:01:31:06 10:01:32:16
especially after play
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when they've brought in
issues from the playground.
0033 10:01:35:18 10:01:39:10
Someone's just suddenly erupted
for no apparent reason
0034 10:01:39:10 10:01:41:20
and then you've got someone crying.
0035 10:01:41:20 10:01:46:19
So you've got four things,
four little people depending on you
0036 10:01:46:19 10:01:50:12
to deal with all these issues
all at the same time.
0037 10:01:50:12 10:01:53:20
Which is more important?
And they want justice now.
0038 10:01:53:20 10:02:00:14
Sometimes they don't know
how to explain how they're feeling.
0039 10:02:00:14 10:02:05:18
Then I find it difficult to explain
to them because I don't know.
0040 10:02:05:18 10:02:08:14
Often the mistakes I've made
when dealing with anger
0041 10:02:08:14 10:02:11:13
is the language
I've been using with children.
0042 10:02:11:13 10:02:16:04
When you walk into a situation and
assume you know what the problem is
0043 10:02:16:04 10:02:18:09
before you've actually tried
to find out.
0044 10:02:18:09 10:02:21:19
I've told children off,
told the wrong child off,
0045 10:02:21:19 10:02:25:03
then I'm, "I'm really sorry."
0046 10:02:25:03 10:02:29:19
It's not about you having to know
what's going on with the child,
0047 10:02:29:19 10:02:33:14
it's about them identifying
their own feelings
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and going, "What choices
do I have to make to cool down?"
0049 10:02:39:03 10:02:43:00
And you support them,
you walk alongside them, I suppose,
0050 10:02:43:00 10:02:45:20
because... I don't think
we're mind-readers.
0051 10:02:45:20 10:02:50:11
(Sarah) Anger's healthy
because everybody gets angry.
0052 10:02:50:11 10:02:54:13
And it's no different for children.
Children get fed up with each other.
0053 10:02:54:13 10:02:59:13
I think if we ask children
to restrain from showing that anger
0054 10:02:59:13 10:03:03:11
they start to bottle it up and
that's when you get a big explosion.
0055 10:03:03:11 10:03:05:14
Anger management, what you're doing
0056 10:03:05:14 10:03:09:03
is you're allowing children
the space to be angry,
0057 10:03:09:03 10:03:11:19
but you're helping them
to channel that anger
0058 10:03:11:19 10:03:15:13
into something that's going to be
a lot more positive.
0059 10:03:15:13 10:03:17:15
(Valerie) "Are you a volcano?"
0060 10:03:17:15 10:03:19:17
This we could definitely
have done with
0061 10:03:19:17 10:03:21:22
- because he was...
- He was impossible.
0062 10:03:21:22 10:03:24:08
He was awful.
0063 10:03:24:08 10:03:30:07
- (Jackie) We're laughing, but...
- Biggest eruption ever.
0064 10:03:30:07 10:03:33:20
(narrator) They will look
at some techniques that Sarah uses
0065 10:03:33:20 10:03:37:03
to see how they can be adapted
for teaching assistants to use
0066 10:03:37:03 10:03:39:23
in their day-to-day work.
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They will look at three aspects -
0068 10:03:42:00 10:03:44:24
the physical symptoms of anger,
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some boundaries
for anger management,
0070 10:03:48:05 10:03:51:11
and different strategies
for expressing anger.
0071 10:03:51:11 10:03:53:09
(Sarah) We've got
some pictures here.
0072 10:03:53:09 10:03:56:24
On my first picture, what do you
think is going on in that picture?
0073 10:03:56:24 10:03:59:01
The boy's angry with his dad.
0074 10:03:59:01 10:04:01:10
(narrator) Valerie and Jackie
observe Sarah
0075 10:04:01:10 10:04:04:05
working on a one-to-one basis
with a pupil,
0076 10:04:04:05 10:04:06:14
exploring the physical symptoms
of anger.
0077 10:04:06:14 10:04:09:20
(Sarah) Can you describe
what they're doing and show me?
0078 10:04:09:20 10:04:12:08
They're going like...
0079 10:04:12:08 10:04:14:21
Their faces are really red
and they go...
0080 10:04:14:21 10:04:15:24
(Sarah) Mm.
0081 10:04:15:24 10:04:20:07
Siobhan is a child who used to have
severe anger-management problems.
0082 10:04:20:07 10:04:25:22
Her anger used to manifest itself
in the form of shouting,
0083 10:04:25:22 10:04:30:20
not listening to adults trying
to talk her through her anger,
0084 10:04:30:20 10:04:34:00
getting very wound up
in the playground, hitting children.
0085 10:04:34:00 10:04:37:16
Is there anything else about
her body that tells you she's angry?
0086 10:04:37:16 10:04:40:24
The girl won't let the other girl
play with her toys
0087 10:04:40:24 10:04:43:04
and she's shouting
at the other girl.
0088 10:04:43:04 10:04:47:08
Can you show me what she's doing
with her face? Can you show me?
0089 10:04:47:08 10:04:49:10
She's shouting, isn't she? Yeah.
0090 10:04:49:10 10:04:52:16
Is there anything in these pictures
that seems familiar to you,
0091 10:04:52:16 10:04:55:06
that you might do that's the same
when you're angry?
0092 10:04:55:06 10:05:00:13
Shouting and my face gets red
and I'm frowning.
0093 10:05:00:13 10:05:02:13
And I clench my fists.
0094 10:05:02:13 10:05:04:07
What the children have to do
0095 10:05:04:07 10:05:08:17
is identify what parts of their body
are affected when they feel angry.
0096 10:05:08:17 10:05:11:13
Some children might get
really hot in their face
0097 10:05:11:13 10:05:14:02
or some children
really clench their fists.
0098 10:05:14:02 10:05:17:08
Children who have difficulty
controlling their anger
0099 10:05:17:08 10:05:21:16
quite often don't make the link
between, "I'm angry",
0100 10:05:21:16 10:05:23:21
and, "My body feels different."
0101 10:05:23:21 10:05:27:05
We're going to write this
on our piece of paper.
0102 10:05:27:05 10:05:29:13
But we get to add
a bit of colour to it.
0103 10:05:29:13 10:05:32:08
For a hot face
what colour might we think of?
0104 10:05:32:08 10:05:33:23
- Red.
- Red, yes.
0105 10:05:33:23 10:05:36:24
It's nice for them to have
this picture in front of them -
0106 10:05:36:24 10:05:39:16
and they can add colour to it
and they can label it -
0107 10:05:39:16 10:05:42:15
of what happens to them
when they feel really angry.
0108 10:05:42:15 10:05:46:23
When we know how our body feels
when we're feeling angry,
0109 10:05:46:23 10:05:49:00
then we can start to deal with it.
0110 10:05:49:00 10:05:51:02
(narrator) Having watched
the session,
0111 10:05:51:02 10:05:53:18
Valerie and Jackie
are going to try these techniques
0112 10:05:53:18 10:05:57:07
with a small group of children
from their different classes.
0113 10:05:57:07 10:06:01:10
Both of them regularly run
small circle-time groups.
0114 10:06:01:10 10:06:03:12
They've devised
some icebreaker games
0115 10:06:03:12 10:06:06:09
to start the children thinking
about anger in general
0116 10:06:06:09 10:06:11:10
before exploring their own anger
and its physical manifestations.
0117 10:06:11:10 10:06:16:08
So who can tell me first
what they think anger means? Neesa?
0118 10:06:16:08 10:06:18:15
When you're not happy
with something.
0119 10:06:18:15 10:06:20:17
(Valerie) When you're not happy.
0120 10:06:20:17 10:06:22:00
Nishka.
0121 10:06:22:00 10:06:27:01
Anger means when you're,
like, physically sad
0122 10:06:27:01 10:06:29:11
and not feeling well.
0123 10:06:31:06 10:06:38:04
Anger means when you're getting
ready to punch someone in the face.
0124 10:06:38:04 10:06:39:24
That's what anger means.
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There's all different kinds
of anger,
0126 10:06:42:11 10:06:46:18
but the main anger is when you
really want to beat someone up.
0127 10:06:48:03 10:06:52:18
I think anger
is when you lose your cool
0128 10:06:52:18 10:06:56:21
and when your emotions have risen
to the top like a volcano.
0129 10:06:56:21 10:07:01:08
Siobhan, show me your facial
expressions when you're angry.
0130 10:07:01:08 10:07:04:11
(Sarah) It's important children
can recognise their anger
0131 10:07:04:11 10:07:08:04
because if they don't know
what's happening to their body,
0132 10:07:08:04 10:07:11:00
they don't know the link
between that and feeling angry,
0133 10:07:11:00 10:07:13:16
then you can't work with them
on strategies
0134 10:07:13:16 10:07:16:11
they can use
to calm themselves down.
0135 10:07:16:11 10:07:19:21
When I get angry I explode.
0136 10:07:19:21 10:07:22:04
When I get angry I squeeze my hands.
0137 10:07:22:04 10:07:25:03
When they recognise
"When I'm angry...",
0138 10:07:25:03 10:07:27:08
say, a child
who clenches their fists,
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if they know that's what they do,
you can teach them to just let go.
0140 10:07:31:02 10:07:35:22
On this we're going to label
the different parts of the body
0141 10:07:35:22 10:07:41:13
that will tell us about
the way we feel when we're angry.
0142 10:07:50:07 10:07:54:08
If you were really angry
or anybody in your class was angry,
0143 10:07:54:08 10:07:57:08
what do you think
some of the rules should be?
0144 10:07:57:08 10:08:02:01
That they don't fight back.
Be tolerant.
0145 10:08:02:01 10:08:07:09
OK, so we put "No fighting." Yes.
0146 10:08:07:09 10:08:09:21
Janai is a child
I've been working with a while.
0147 10:08:09:21 10:08:13:11
He's also a child who had
difficulty controlling his anger
0148 10:08:13:11 10:08:15:21
and his anger came in the form
0149 10:08:15:21 10:08:18:12
of he used to get very upset
when he felt an injustice,
0150 10:08:18:12 10:08:22:07
he felt like somebody
had told him off
0151 10:08:22:07 10:08:24:19
or he had been in trouble
and it hadn't been him.
0152 10:08:24:19 10:08:28:21
He would get angry by kicking
his chair or getting very upset
0153 10:08:28:21 10:08:31:03
and crying about what was going on.
0154 10:08:31:03 10:08:34:15
- What about your chair or table?
- Yeah, I banged my chair.
0155 10:08:34:15 10:08:37:05
When I was pushing my chair back,
I banged it in.
0156 10:08:37:05 10:08:38:22
So you banged your chair in.
0157 10:08:38:22 10:08:42:05
Is there a rule
that we might need to put in there?
0158 10:08:42:05 10:08:43:16
Care for equipment.
0159 10:08:43:16 10:08:46:19
So we could treat equipment
with care.
0160 10:08:46:19 10:08:49:10
Anger rules
build on the first lesson.
0161 10:08:49:10 10:08:54:05
Children now know what physically
happens to them when they are angry,
0162 10:08:54:05 10:08:56:10
and by introducing the rules
0163 10:08:56:10 10:08:59:11
they know that then there's
boundaries to their anger.
0164 10:08:59:11 10:09:02:24
It doesn't take away from them
that they can't feel angry
0165 10:09:02:24 10:09:05:19
because they know it's OK.
But then if they have rules
0166 10:09:05:19 10:09:08:18
then they need to find strategies
to deal with their anger,
0167 10:09:08:18 10:09:11:18
or solutions that keep to the rules.
0168 10:09:11:18 10:09:14:02
- Does talking about it help?
- Yeah.
0169 10:09:14:02 10:09:16:22
- It does help?
- It brings your stress down.
0170 10:09:16:22 10:09:19:13
It does. It brings
your stress down, doesn't it?
0171 10:09:19:13 10:09:21:23
(narrator) Valerie and Jackie
get their group
0172 10:09:21:23 10:09:26:03
to come up with
their own anger rules in pairs.
0173 10:09:26:03 10:09:29:02
Now we're going to feed back
to the group
0174 10:09:29:02 10:09:32:12
our ideas on anger. So, Janai?
0175 10:09:32:12 10:09:34:24
Don't hurt property.
0176 10:09:34:24 10:09:37:19
- Not to slap them.
- (Jackie) Try not to hit.
0177 10:09:39:14 10:09:42:17
Don't hit other people
and think about what you're doing.
0178 10:09:42:17 10:09:45:12
(Jackie) Think about your actions
before you do it.
0179 10:09:45:12 10:09:48:05
- I like that one.
- Do talk about it.
0180 10:09:48:05 10:09:51:21
Talk about your feelings, is that
what you want to say, Siobhan?
0181 10:09:51:21 10:09:57:01
Talk to someone
before you hurt them.
0182 10:09:57:01 10:10:00:04
(Sarah) It might be possible
for a teaching assistant
0183 10:10:00:04 10:10:02:00
to refer to the anger rules
0184 10:10:02:00 10:10:06:04
when they're working with a child
who has come into school
0185 10:10:06:04 10:10:10:08
and you can see that the anger is
building and an explosion is coming.
0186 10:10:10:08 10:10:13:23
The rules allow you to be proactive
rather than reactive.
0187 10:10:13:23 10:10:16:21
When they know the rules,
you can move on to the solution.
0188 10:10:16:21 10:10:20:02
Never take your actions on anyone.
0189 10:10:20:02 10:10:22:15
Marvellous. I love that one.
0190 10:10:22:15 10:10:25:11
Because we do that so many times,
don't we -
0191 10:10:25:11 10:10:28:22
take our anger and our frustrations
out on other people?
0192 10:10:32:19 10:10:35:24
If we were to come up
with some things that happen to us
0193 10:10:35:24 10:10:38:10
when we're angry,
that are not the nice things -
0194 10:10:38:10 10:10:40:17
the things we do
that are not so nice,
0195 10:10:40:17 10:10:42:16
what kind of things would you say?
0196 10:10:42:16 10:10:46:12
- Beating someone up.
- OK, beating someone up.
0197 10:10:46:12 10:10:49:10
The difference between
dirty and clean anger
0198 10:10:49:10 10:10:53:22
comes from either anger that breaks
the rules, which is dirty anger,
0199 10:10:53:22 10:10:56:11
and anger that keeps the rules -
clean anger.
0200 10:10:56:11 10:11:00:01
So examples of dirty anger,
they might kick the chairs,
0201 10:11:00:01 10:11:03:24
or they might punch another child,
or they might shout at an adult.
0202 10:11:03:24 10:11:07:09
And that breaks the rules
because they are hurting property
0203 10:11:07:09 10:11:09:08
and they're hurting other people.
0204 10:11:09:08 10:11:12:23
If we had to come up with some ways
that we could be angry
0205 10:11:12:23 10:11:15:00
but we were following
the anger rules,
0206 10:11:15:00 10:11:18:05
what kind of things could we do?
0207 10:11:18:05 10:11:22:06
- Don't fight back.
- What could we do instead of that?
0208 10:11:22:06 10:11:26:07
- Go to the teacher.
- OK.
0209 10:11:26:07 10:11:30:20
Clean anger might be going for a run
around the playground at lunchtime,
0210 10:11:30:20 10:11:35:15
or talking to their friend about it,
or ten deep breaths.
0211 10:11:35:15 10:11:39:05
So they're things that allow
the child to calm down
0212 10:11:39:05 10:11:42:01
and they also stick
to the anger rules as well.
0213 10:11:42:01 10:11:44:19
Sometimes it's hard
to talk about our feelings,
0214 10:11:44:19 10:11:49:10
but when we write it down,
sometimes we can make sense of it.
0215 10:11:49:10 10:11:52:10
Yeah. The last one
could be counting to ten.
0216 10:11:52:10 10:11:54:15
Counting to ten. Fantastic.
0217 10:11:54:15 10:11:57:14
(narrator) This session
lends itself well to role-play,
0218 10:11:57:14 10:12:00:19
to get children to think about
managing their own anger.
0219 10:12:00:19 10:12:04:22
- Hey, stupid.
- Hey, fat pig.
0220 10:12:04:22 10:12:06:24
Hey, fathead.
0221 10:12:06:24 10:12:10:01
Get out of my face.
0222 10:12:10:01 10:12:13:21
- Get out of my face.
- (Valerie) Thank you.
0223 10:12:13:21 10:12:19:18
Now I'm going to choose two children
to show us what they could've done.
0224 10:12:19:18 10:12:22:14
Right. Nathaniel and Janai.
0225 10:12:24:10 10:12:26:22
- What are you doing?
- Do I know you?
0226 10:12:26:22 10:12:29:20
Yes, you do know me.
Why were you fighting me last night?
0227 10:12:29:20 10:12:32:06
- (Nathaniel) I didn't.
- I want a fight.
0228 10:12:32:06 10:12:34:17
- Well, I don't want a fight.
- Well, I do.
0229 10:12:34:17 10:12:36:17
Well, I don't.
0230 10:12:37:24 10:12:40:07
Excellent. Well done.
0231 10:12:40:07 10:12:43:17
And what do you think
the best choice you made was?
0232 10:12:43:17 10:12:46:09
- I walked away.
- You walked away.
0233 10:12:46:09 10:12:48:21
That's absolutely excellent.
0234 10:12:48:21 10:12:51:11
(Sarah) It's important
to give children choices
0235 10:12:51:11 10:12:53:11
because you involve them
0236 10:12:53:11 10:12:56:15
in the management of their own
behaviour and their own anger.
0237 10:12:56:15 10:13:00:15
And that's really powerful, because
if you were to tell them what to do
0238 10:13:00:15 10:13:02:22
they're less likely to do it.
0239 10:13:02:22 10:13:06:02
How did it work when you put it
into the group situation?
0240 10:13:06:02 10:13:08:19
Did you find the strategies
were useful for you,
0241 10:13:08:19 10:13:11:00
moving from one-to-one into a group?
0242 10:13:11:00 10:13:14:05
I found it lot easier
than I actually thought
0243 10:13:14:05 10:13:19:08
because they fed off each other
when it came to different ideas.
0244 10:13:19:08 10:13:23:08
I thought also getting them
to role-play was very good for them,
0245 10:13:23:08 10:13:26:19
because sometimes when you
put them on the spot they freeze up.
0246 10:13:26:19 10:13:30:00
But they really got into
their roles, didn't they?
0247 10:13:30:00 10:13:33:17
Another thing I learned
was I'd always said to a child:
0248 10:13:33:17 10:13:37:24
"Why are you angry?
What do you have to be angry about?"
0249 10:13:37:24 10:13:39:22
I'm always saying that to them.
0250 10:13:39:22 10:13:43:17
But I learned today that,
yes, it is all right to be angry.
0251 10:13:43:17 10:13:48:00
It's not, "Why are you angry?" it's,
"How are we going to be angry?"
0252 10:13:48:00 10:13:50:15
I learned a lot
about those children.
0253 10:13:55:17 10:13:58:15
Visiontext Subtitles:
Katherine Appleby
0254 10:13:58:15 10:14:00:15