3.1 & 3.2- Assignment (Unit 3): Describe how external and internal impacts such as biology, environment, age, gender, nutrition, education and disability can impact on social behaviour.
- Naomi Harvey
- Aug 13, 2024
- 8 min read
The behaviour we observe during our sessions in Forest school is crucial for us to try and understand, including the science behind some of this behaviour, as it can directly impact the effectiveness of the learning environment and thus having a bigger impact on the child's life.
Having a secure understanding enables practitioners to confidently and effectively ensure the safeguarding of each child, support the individual needs, encourage independence, promote positive social interactions and create an all round positive learning environment.
There are external and internal factors we need to be aware of, such as biology, environment age, gender, nutrition, education and disability that can impact on social behaviour. These factors can affect how the children in our space interact with leaders and other children.
INTERNAL FACTORS
BIOLOGY: Biological factors such as genetics can influence temperament, mental health and certain behaviours, affecting how individuals interact socially. An example is that some people may be naturally extroverted or introverted due to their genetic makeup. Hormones can also play a factor, such as oestrogen and testosterone can affect aggression, mood and social bonding, influencing social behaviour, especially with KS2/3 children during puberty and adulthood.
AGE: Age plays a critical role in social behaviour, as I am personally working with children who are younger, I will see children being generally more egocentric and less empathy shown, as when they grow older they can start to show increased empathy and understanding of social norms. With the younger children there will be more exploration with social ‘norms’ and emotions within social behaviour, we will carry out many discussions regarding our emotions and feelings and slightly analyse with the children our social interactions and if there is anything we can do to adapt our approach to certain situations.
GENDER: Unfortunately still to this day gender roles and expectations are still often shaped by societal norms, this can influence behaviour such as types of social activities a child can engage in or how emotions are expressed. Boys typically do not label their emotions or cannot express them easily, this is part of society and is generations old, therefore by influencing them to be able to speak up and talk about emotions and how they are feeling, can lessen the negative/disruptive behaviour we may see.
DISABILITY: Having a physical disability can affect how individuals participate in social activities and how others can perceive and interact with them, potentially leading that individual to feel isolated or altered group dynamic. This may have a negative behaviour attached as the child may feel frustrated or irritated that they are unable to take part in an activity that the rest of the group are taking part in, however, this is where Forest School is fantastic and revolutionary, due to it being child-led and holistic, children are able to choose their own activity, and although we may try to guide children to certain activities, there will be many groups in the session doing different tasks, therefore not highlighting when a group is completing something different.
EXTERNAL FACTORS
ENVIRONMENT: A child's family setting, including parenting style, household stability and relationships with family members can strongly influence social behaviour, shaping how individuals interact with others outside the family and within different social settings. If parents / family members are positive about the forest school education setting and activities, children are more likely to want to join in, take risks and engage with the leader and their peers. If the child is told outside of the setting that ‘Forest school isn’t structured enough, you’re not learning, you should be in a classroom’ the child will carry this with them and have negative connotations towards forest school and will show unwillingness to learn and may become disruptive.
NUTRITION: Healthy nutrition is crucial for brain development, energy levels and overall health, all of which affect behaviour. Malnutrition can lead to irritability, difficulty concentrating, and social withdrawal. Having a balanced diet can help maintain energy levels for which you need during Forest school sessions, as we are very active out all day, walking, climbing and generally moving around, have energy can create a positive mood which impacts social interactions and engagement with others.
EDUCATION: Education can provide the opportunity to learn and practise social skills, such as communication, teamwork, conflict resolution which are all essential for positive social behaviour. As covered in my previous assignments, Forest School is trying to enhance SPICES, which collectively will help social interactions, not just in a educational setting, but through their adolescent years and adulthood. Schools and education settings can often expose children to diverse peers, helping them develop tolerance, empathy and understanding of different perspectives.
Whilst we carry out our sessions and our baseline assessments, we need to take in all the information using the guidance from above, we need to think about each child as an individual, no two children are the same, even children coming from the same household will have different factors, as mentioned before, gender is a factor, quite often girls are treated slightly differently that boys and this could affect their confidence, self esteem and self worth. Forest school emphasises the importance to concentrate on each child and find what is it that drives them and what it is that needs igniting and growth.
Internal Factor | How it affects the child | How it affects others in the group |
|---|---|---|
Illness | Irritable, frustrated, easily upset, anxious, quiet, unable to concentrate and struggle to listen to instructions | Minimal to mild distraction from group, children with anxiety may show greater distraction as they may be concerned of that person being poorly or them themselves becoming poorly. |
Tiredness | Irritable, frustrated, easily upset, anxious, quiet, unable to concentrate and struggle to listen to instructions | Minimal to mild distraction from group |
Hunger | Irritable, frustrated, easily upset, anxious, quiet, unable to concentrate and unwilling to cooperate | Minimal to mild distraction from group, may cause other children to feel hunger |
Needing the toilet | Agitated, disinterested in activities as unable to concentrate, | Mild distraction to others if being loud and vocal. |
Cold Temperature | Lack of concentration, unable to express rational emotions and become vocal, unwilling to cooperate | A distraction to others, emotions may run off on others making them feel similar to the cold |
External Factor | How it affects the child | How it affects others in the group |
|---|---|---|
Lack of relationship from peers | Create a lower self esteem if they struggle to make friends, less likely to try new things, unable to handle failure, may struggle to manage and express emotions, less motivation and curiosity. May come across as angry or agitated | Distraction from activities, conflicted if they want the child to join them or they may deem them 'difficult', mixed emotions. |
Educational approach - A child not understanding the activity | May cause the child to act out instead of feeling they can ask for help during an activity, become frustrated, disruptive to the class by ignoring instructions or actively going against instructions. Create a lower self-esteem and lack of confidence feeling they are unable to complete the task. | Other children may feel higher self esteem if they feel they understand something more than someone else does. Possible distraction if the child is creating distractions, unable to follow instructions easily as they are watching someone else. Possible risk if not listening to correct safety measures. May cause motivation within this child to help the other child and fueling their catalyst. |
Parental involvement and attitude towards forest school | Positive reinforcement from a parent/guardian can affect the child's attitude towards participation and more like to communicate, engage with learning and take part in risks. | Parent's can influence whole groups by affecting the one child and enhance the overall culture within the Forest School. Watching a peer have a positive view and outcome of forest school will enhance others and create a sense of a safe space and environment. |
What can we do as leaders?
As discussed on the Wildly Educated video, there are 6 factors we need to think of when assessing and establishing what we need to do within our sessions and with the behaviours of children.
Role modelling - We need to demonstrate to our children the behaviour we expect from them but it is also important to explain why we expect this type of behaviour - we’re significant role models for learners.
Review and reflection - We must provide opportunities to reflect on experiences carried out in our sessions, allowing them to recognise their behaviour and understanding the challenges that were created for them. When they are able to review the session, they can reflect on how they coped and if they are happy with their progression and behaviour, if they are not, they are able to learn from it.
Praise - Providing praise promotes the behaviours we wish to encourage within forest schools and help carry those behaviours beyond forest school. This can include helping others, being respectful of nature, listening and putting in effort. We must not praise only ‘big’ (subjective) achievements, from our baseline assessments we are able to pinpoint individuals' challenges and therefore when we have noted they have overcome any individual challenge, this needs to be praised, therefore reinforcing positivity and self-esteem.
Group rules - Establishing our group rules such as 'no lick, no pick, be careful with that stick, and stay within the boundary' can help learners understand their tasks and the limits of acceptable behavior. I believe that having only these four rules can be advantageous. In a school day, students are bombarded with numerous rules like 'no running in class, hold your pencil this way, don’t talk during lessons.' By setting these four simple rules and allowing them freedom within these boundaries, children perceive it as freedom and can contribute to creating a positive environment. Involving learners in rule-making fosters a sense of ownership and contribution, increasing their compliance with the rules.
Self worth - Understanding that children do not necessarily understand how to show the true emotion on the outside of what they are feeling inside. They may feel a low sense of self worth,however, this may be shown as anger, frustration or lack of willingness to take part. It is important as leaders to understand that although a child may be coming across as obviously angry or frustrated, this does not mean it is how they are feeling, it just means it is an emotion they know how to show, and they may not deem themself as worthy of positive attention or unable to express their needs or desires.
Management and evaluation - As mentioned before our job is to show encouragement, enthusiasm and positive reinforcements. As leaders we need to have a distraction technique put into place, quite often when we feel a child needs to self-regulate and needs a distraction we have them help myself or another leader ‘do a job’ this could be collecting twigs, making sure spaces are safe or tidied, and by being able to give them some time out, a distraction and also a feeling of accomplishment for helping an adult and the adult praising them will raise their self-esteem and self-worth.
In our forest school we also have a few safe spaces for them to help regulate their own behaviour and still feel in control but in a safe area. We are not there to stop those emotions or combat them, but there to help the child regulate and understand those emotions. As they continue through life they will be hit with different reactions and sensations and will need an understanding of how to self regulate and that removing themselves from a situation is okay and even encouraged.
Conclusion
As a forest school leader, we are here to not only teach children the fun and exploratory education they can have in nature, but also the deeper science of emotions and how it is okay to feel those emotions. By creating these tailored challenges and moments together within our groups we are building resilient, confident and emotionally intelligent children. We are building memories and core information for them to take with them through life. Forest school can foster stronger connections among the children, promoting a sense of community and companionship. The understanding of behaviour can help children thrive emotionally, socially and intellectually benefiting the children and people around them throughout their life.
References:
Wildly educated
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