‘I don’t know how to properly deal with challenging and complex behaviour’: initial teacher education for pre-service teachers on behaviour management
Open accessAbstract
The education sector in Australia is in crisis, struggling to retain teachers in the profession, with dealing with challenging and complex behaviour a major concern for new teachers. Previous research has shown that Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) can assist teachers in managing complex and challenging behaviours in the classroom, however, FBA is not always employed or conducted effectively. This research employed a mixed methods approach through a pre- and post- survey to measure pre-service teachers’ perceived self-efficacy in managing complex behaviours. This was after participating in a third-year undergraduate course focusing on curriculum regarding functional behaviour and positive behaviour support. This new course was designed to offer multiple means of engagement and opportunity to develop self-efficacy in the course curriculum, including case studies, podcasts, activities, critical reflections, and role-plays, as a result of the recommendations from the recent Teacher Education Expert Panel Report (TEEP). Findings indicated that participants perceived self-efficacy were higher for managing complex and challenging behaviours in the classroom after undertaking this course. Implications for future practice are discussed.
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Addressing behavioural issues during WIL placement is an unpredictable and emotionally charged task, embedded within the complexities of evolving human relationships.
“Addressing behavioural issues during WIL placement is an unpredictable and emotionally charged task, embedded within the complexities of evolving human relationships, as suggested by Porta and Hudson (2025).”
From Mentorship in the Age of Generative AI: ChatGPT to Support Self-Regulated Learning of Pre-Service Teachers Before and During Placements (2025) · cites this paper as Porta and Hudson (2025)
In ‘Ways of working with others’ (page unavailable), participants describe worries about managing behaviour while maintaining relationships with students; ‘Concerns for oneself’ also reports fears about its effect on mental health. These passages support the relational and emotional aspects, but the paper’s findings concern a behaviour-management course and role-play activities, not specifically behavioural issues during WIL placements. They also do not explicitly characterise that placement work as unpredictable. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 46 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 4
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Nguyen (Ruby), N. N., & Barbieri, W. (2025) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci15060642 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Granziera, H. (2026) · Education Sciences · doi:10.3390/educsci16010158 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Porta, T., & Hudson, C.
- Affiliations
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Federation University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Porta, Tom
- Venue
- Cogent Education
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2025-02-12
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2331-186X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4407392778
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 3.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cogent Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Education Discipline and Inequality
- Keywords
- behavioral problems, complex behavior, behavior management, pre-service teachers, teacher professional development, self-efficacy, positive behavior support, teacher retention, curriculum development, role play, podcasts, case studies
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