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Strategies for De-escalating Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EBD) in Full-Service
Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Support Staff
1) Introduction
Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) represent one of the most challenging domains of
learner diversity encountered in educational settings. The term EBD encompasses a wide range of
internalising difficulties (such as anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and somatic complaints)
and externalising difficulties (such as aggression, defiance, property destruction, verbal threats, and
severe non-compliance) that significantly impair a learner's educational performance and social
relationships (Forness, Freeman, Paparella, Kauffman, & Walker, 2012). Full-service schools,
designed to provide high-quality education to all learners including those with moderate to high
support needs within a mainstream setting, face particular challenges in managing learners with EBD
(Department of Education, 2001). Learners with EBD may exhibit intense aggression, defiance,
elopement, and self-injurious behaviour that pose safety risks and disrupt learning for all students.
The problem this study addresses is the gap between the potential of de-escalation
strategies—communication, relational, and environmental techniques designed to reduce the
intensity of dysregulated behaviour—and their actual implementation in full-service schools.
Teachers and support staff in full-service schools report feeling unprepared to manage EBD-related
crises, often resorting to reactive, punitive responses rather than proactive de-escalation (Price &
Baker, 2012; Richmond, 2018). The central research question guiding this study is: What
de-escalation strategies do teachers and support staff in full-service schools perceive as most
effective for managing emotional and behavioural difficulties, and what contextual factors enable or
inhibit effective de-escalation?
This question is examined through three sub-questions:
(1) Which specific de-escalation strategies do teachers and support staff identify as most effective
for different types of EBD-related escalation?
(2) What contextual factors do practitioners perceive as enabling or inhibiting successful
de-escalation? and
(3) What training, resources, and systemic supports do teachers and support staff identify as
necessary to improve de-escalation confidence, competence, and safety?
The purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of teachers and support staff in
full-service schools on effective de-escalation strategies for learners with EBD, with a particular
focus on understanding their lived experiences, identifying enabling and inhibiting contextual factors,
and generating evidence-informed recommendations for training, resources, and systemic supports.
The study aims to inform teacher education, professional development, and school policy in ways
that improve de-escalation practice, staff wellbeing, and learner outcomes in full-service schools.
Strategies for De-escalating Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties (EBD) in Full-Service
Schools: Perspectives of Teachers and Support Staff
1) Introduction
Emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) represent one of the most challenging domains of
learner diversity encountered in educational settings. The term EBD encompasses a wide range of
internalising difficulties (such as anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and somatic complaints)
and externalising difficulties (such as aggression, defiance, property destruction, verbal threats, and
severe non-compliance) that significantly impair a learner's educational performance and social
relationships (Forness, Freeman, Paparella, Kauffman, & Walker, 2012). Full-service schools,
designed to provide high-quality education to all learners including those with moderate to high
support needs within a mainstream setting, face particular challenges in managing learners with EBD
(Department of Education, 2001). Learners with EBD may exhibit intense aggression, defiance,
elopement, and self-injurious behaviour that pose safety risks and disrupt learning for all students.
The problem this study addresses is the gap between the potential of de-escalation
strategies—communication, relational, and environmental techniques designed to reduce the
intensity of dysregulated behaviour—and their actual implementation in full-service schools.
Teachers and support staff in full-service schools report feeling unprepared to manage EBD-related
crises, often resorting to reactive, punitive responses rather than proactive de-escalation (Price &
Baker, 2012; Richmond, 2018). The central research question guiding this study is: What
de-escalation strategies do teachers and support staff in full-service schools perceive as most
effective for managing emotional and behavioural difficulties, and what contextual factors enable or
inhibit effective de-escalation?
This question is examined through three sub-questions:
(1) Which specific de-escalation strategies do teachers and support staff identify as most effective
for different types of EBD-related escalation?
(2) What contextual factors do practitioners perceive as enabling or inhibiting successful
de-escalation? and
(3) What training, resources, and systemic supports do teachers and support staff identify as
necessary to improve de-escalation confidence, competence, and safety?
The purpose of this study is to investigate the perspectives of teachers and support staff in
full-service schools on effective de-escalation strategies for learners with EBD, with a particular
focus on understanding their lived experiences, identifying enabling and inhibiting contextual factors,
and generating evidence-informed recommendations for training, resources, and systemic supports.
The study aims to inform teacher education, professional development, and school policy in ways
that improve de-escalation practice, staff wellbeing, and learner outcomes in full-service schools.
