Addressing challenging behaviours in the general education setting: conducting a teacher-based Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA)

When a student demonstrates a challenging or problematic behaviour in the classroom, the climate and the instructional experience can change dramatically for both the students and the classroom teacher. Before resorting to sanctions and punitive consequences, there is a series of steps a classroom teacher can conduct to reduce and replace the challenging behaviour with desired and positive behaviours. The Functional Behavioural Assessment (FBA) is a systematic data collection process used to ascertain information about a student demonstrating a challenging behaviour(s). Typically reserved for students receiving special education services, the FBA can assist students in the general education curriculum as well. More importantly, the FBA process can be of great use in helping the classroom teacher better understand the challenging behaviour, the triggers for the behaviour and the reinforcing consequences of the behaviour. This paper will review the fundamentals of the FBA process, advantages of the process, and practical steps the classroom teacher can use to conduct an FBA.