Oppositional Defiant Behaviours and Destructive Behaviours

Programmes
Oppositional Defiant Behaviours and Destructive Behaviours

Joanna Nienałtowska-Padło

Specialist in autism spectrum support

Oppositional Defiant Behaviours and Destructive Behaviours

A practical training programme for teachers working with students who refuse instructions, provoke conflict, challenge authority and disrupt classroom routines. Learn how to understand difficult behaviour, prevent escalation and respond with clear, calm and effective strategies.

Essential

£59.00

£89.00

One-time · 12 months access

6 video modules
10 classroom materials
Certificate
Teacher's Toolkit
Full materials library
Case studies

Professional Recommended

£89.00

£129.00

One-time · 12 months access

6 video modules
22 classroom materials
Certificate
Teacher's Toolkit (97 pages)
Knowledge Booster (28 days)
4 case studies

or

Get All - from £21.00 / month

Is this for you?

You work with pupils whose behaviour goes beyond ordinary rebellion and begins to disrupt lessons, relationships and everyday school functioning.
You deal with repeated refusal, argumentation, provocation, verbal aggression, blaming others, emotional outbursts or behaviour that seems deliberately confrontational.
You want to understand when a behaviour may still be part of a developmental stage and when it becomes a persistent pattern requiring structured support.
You need practical frameworks for describing difficult behaviour clearly: not as “bad attitude” or “lack of respect”, but through observable areas, criteria and mechanisms.
You want to respond more calmly and effectively during escalation, without being pulled into public confrontation, endless “why” questions or emotional power struggles.
You need tools for individual conversations with pupils, parent meetings, staff discussions and post-incident reflection.

This programme is not for you if you are looking for a purely clinical course on diagnosis, therapy or psychiatric treatment. It is designed for teachers and school staff who need practical educational strategies for everyday work in school.

What you'll implement?

Ready to use tomorrow
- Clear escalation procedures
  
  Learn how to respond when a pupil moves from provocation or refusal into escalation, crisis or recovery. You will work with tools such as the 4-Phase Escalation Map, IF–THEN scripts and the Stop the Question Spiral protocol.
- Better behaviour observation
  
  Replace vague labels with a practical 4×4 framework: adults, peers, tasks and self - combined with criteria such as inadequacy, rigidity, harmfulness and negative emotions.
- Practical conversation tools
  
  Use structured scripts for difficult moments: post-incident conversations with pupils, parent meetings, staff discussions and short classroom responses that help you stay calm and consistent.
A different way of seeing the problem
- The student’s brain under stress
  
  Understand why defiance, refusal, provocation or verbal aggression may be a sign of frustration, fear, unmet need, negative identity or poor self-regulation - not simply “bad attitude”.
- The pupil’s brain under stress
  
  See why reasoning, moralising and consequences do not work in the crisis phase, and why the adult’s calm response is often the first step towards de-escalation.
- Authority without power struggles
  
  Learn how public confrontation, emotional reactions and repeated negative labels can reinforce the “difficult pupil” role — and what to do instead.
Learning that actually stays
- Practical tools, not just theory
  
  The programme includes reference cards, checklists, escalation maps, rapid response scripts, pupil tools, parent meeting tools, role-plays, audits and interactive HTML activities.
- A 28-day follow-up
  
  The Knowledge Booster helps you return to the key ideas step by step. It includes 10 emails sent over 28 days, each built around a short practical reminder and one task to implement in school.

What's inside this programme?

Video modules

6 modules · approx. 94 min total · one film per module

1

Introduction

3 min

Free preview

A short introduction to the programme, explaining the educational focus of the training: not clinical diagnosis or psychiatric treatment, but everyday challenging, defiant and destructive behaviours that teachers meet in school.
2

Diagnostic framework: understanding oppositional and defiant behaviours

8 min
Available after purchase
This module introduces the diagnostic background behind oppositional and defiant behaviours. You will learn how ICD and DSM classifications describe these behaviours, what symptoms are considered key, and why clinical criteria can help teachers understand what they see in the classroom — without turning the teacher into a diagnostician.

Lessons in this module
1. Classification of oppositional and defiant behaviours in ICD-10 and ICD-11
2. Types of behaviour disorders according to ICD-10
3. Diagnostic criteria for Oppositional Defiant Disorder according to DSM-5
3

Characteristics of oppositional, defiant and destructive behaviours

28 min
Available after purchase
This module helps distinguish ordinary developmental rebellion from persistent patterns that significantly disrupt school and family life. It explores frustration, emotional control, identity formation, four criteria of disturbed behaviour and four areas where difficulties may appear: adults, peers, tasks and self.

Lessons in this module
1. Symptoms of oppositional-defiant and separation-related behavioural disorders
2. Synthetic and negative identity
3. Criteria and areas of destructive and separation-related behaviours
4. Conditions contributing to difficult behaviours: the child, the environment and the teacher
4

Behavioural and emotional problems in the school environment

13 min
Available after purchase
This module focuses on behavioural and emotional problems as they appear in everyday school practice. It explains the difference between the role of the teacher and the role of the therapist, and gives practical strategies for managing behaviour here and now, so learning can continue.

Lessons in this module
1. What are behavioural and emotional problems?
2. Criteria of pupils with behavioural and emotional problems
3. Strategies for working with pupils with behavioural and emotional problems
5

Frameworks and strategies for working with challenging behaviour

15 min
Available after purchase
This module moves from understanding to intervention. You will learn structured frameworks for analysing behaviour, individual and small-group techniques for self-regulation, behaviour-modification strategies and ways to create corrective experiences that help pupils move beyond negative labels.

Lessons in this module
1. Frameworks supporting the analysis and understanding of challenging behaviour
2. Selected techniques for individual work and small groups
3. Behaviour-modification techniques
4. Effective actions: breaking labels, corrective experiences, consistency and strengths
6

Classroom management and preventing challenging behaviour

27 min
Available after purchase
This module focuses on prevention. You will learn how classroom organisation, lesson flow, teacher movement, voice, eye contact, body language and communication control influence discipline, authority and pupils’ sense of safety. The module also introduces Fontana’s sixteen aspects of classroom leadership.

Lessons in this module
1. Preventing destructive behaviour
2. A preventative approach to order and discipline in the classroom
3. Non-verbal and verbal behaviours that raise or lower the teacher’s authority
4. Aspects of leading the class and maintaining control

Teacher's Toolkit

97-page implementation guide · PDF · Professional package only

The written companion to the video training. It helps you return to the key concepts, behaviour frameworks and classroom strategies whenever you need them.

Clear explanations of oppositional defiant and destructive behaviours
Diagnostic criteria and the difference between ordinary rebellion and persistent behavioural difficulty
Practical frameworks for understanding behaviour across adults, peers, tasks and the self
Escalation phases, triggers and strategies for responding during difficult moments
Classroom management, prevention and teacher authority tools

See sample pages

The Living Library

A resource library that grows with the programme

From the start, you get immediate access to selected classroom-ready materials - printable, fillable or ready to display. Additional resources are unlocked according to your access option: Essential or Professional. Some materials are available right away, while others are added gradually according to the programme schedule. And this is not the final version of the library. It is a living, evolving space - we are continuously working on new tools, templates and classroom resources to support your everyday teaching.

22

materials total
1

free for everyone
10

in Essential
22

in Professional

Quick reference cards

3 materials
- SNAP Procedure Card
  
  A four-step routine for pausing before a high-stakes confrontation.
  
  Essential Open
- Traffic Lights Pocket Card
  
  A simple Red / Amber / Green language for recognising states of regulation and choosing the next adult response.
  
  Essential Open
- Fontana’s 16 Reference
  
  A one-page classroom leadership reference for regular teacher reflection.
  
  Essential Open
Checklists and audits

3 materials
- Daily 4×4 Self-Check
  
  A quick daily audit for one specific pupil across adults, peers, tasks and self.
  
  Essential Open
- Detect the Cry for Help
  
  A monthly observation tool for recognising when difficult behaviour may be masking unmet need.
  
  Essential Open
- Term Review Audit
  
  A teacher self-audit for choosing one area of practice to improve next term.
  
  Professional Open
Emergency procedures

3 materials
- The 4-Phase Escalation Map
  
  A practical framework for reading escalation as a process: trigger, escalation, crisis and recovery.
  
  Free Open
- IF–THEN: 8 Rapid Response Scripts
  
  Ready language for common provocations, refusals and confrontational moments.
  
  Essential Open
- Stop the Question Spiral
  
  A protocol for avoiding endless “why” questions and public negotiation.
  
  Essential Open
Case studies

4 materials
- Hiccup on Demand
  
  A Year 7 maths lesson case showing how a repeated disruption may be read as a signal, not simply as spite and how structured case analysis can change the adult response.
  
  Professional Read
- Michael Caught Being Good
  
  A case about noticing a pupil’s hidden strength, using the “caught being good” technique and understanding why warmth still needs consistency and clear rules.
  
  Professional Read
- Patrick and the Toaster
  
  A 6-minute classroom incident showing all four phases of escalation, one teacher mistake, and the repair process that helps the pupil return without losing dignity.
  
  Professional Read
- The Staring Contest
  
  A short case about quiet refusal, teacher silence, avoiding a power struggle and giving the pupil a way back without turning the situation into a public spectacle.
  
  Professional Read
Pupil and 1:1 tools

2 materials
- Pattern: thoughts → emotions → actions → outcomes
  
  A 1:1 tool for helping a pupil understand what happened after a difficult moment.
  
  Essential Open
- Behaviour Translator
  
  A staff reference card linking surface behaviours with possible underlying functions and first responses.
  
  Essential Open
CPD, games and role-play

5 materials
- 4 Areas Bingo
  
  A staff calibration game for discussing behaviour through shared categories.
  
  Professional Open
- The Question Spiral Role-Play
  
  A paired exercise for practising the Toaster Method.
  
  Professional Open
- The 4 Phases Live Simulation
  
  A group simulation for practising responses across all escalation phases.
  
  Professional Open
- What Will I Change Tomorrow
  
  A short CPD reflection tool that turns training into one practical commitment.
  
  Professional Open
- Mannerism Audit
  
  A self-reflection tool covering voice, body, language, attention and after-the-fact responses.
  
  Professional Open
Staff and parent tools

2 materials
- Parent Conversation Script
  
  A five-phase structure for difficult parent or carer meetings.
  
  Professional Open
- Pre-Parent Meeting Checklist
  
  A preparation and follow-up checklist for parent conversations.
  
  Professional Open

Knowledge Booster

The Knowledge Booster helps you return to the programme after completing the video course - step by step, without trying to implement everything at once. Inspired by Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve: short emails sent at the right intervals to help you remember and apply what you learn.

Professional: 10 emails over 28 days

1

Day 1

ODD or ordinary rebellion?
2

Day 4

Four areas of challenging behaviour
3

Day 7

The triune brain
4

Day 10

Negative identity
5

Day 13

Escalation phases
6

Day 16

Pyżalski's four gears
7

Day 19

The Competing Thought and T–E–A–R
8

Day 22

Prevention rather than firefighting
9

Day 25

Teacher authority
10

Day 28

7 things to take with you

You control when it starts. Activate from your account whenever you're ready - it won't start automatically.

Certificate of completion

Each Edutimo programme includes a short end-of-programme test. After completing the modules, take the test to confirm what you have learned and download your certificate of completion. The test is included in the programme and can be retaken if needed.

Ready? Take the test and get your certificate.

10 questions · approx. 10 min · available after completing all modules

Your trainer

Joanna Nienałtowska-Padło

Educator, psychoprevention specialist, sociotherapist and trainer, valued for warmth, authenticity and practical tools for teachers and parents.

autism spectrum support
challenging behaviors
students with SEN
parent-teacher collaboration
motivation
teaching methodology

What teachers say?

Trusted by teachers across Europe

Kamila Z.

Teacher

"Practical tips as well as theoretical knowledge. One of the best training courses I have attended."

Kamila I.

Teacher

"A training course of the highest quality. It was very easy to listen to and will be extremely valuable in my future work."

Klaudia M.

Teacher

"The way the training was delivered, the clear and understandable communication, and the high substantive level of the information shared were all excellent."

Questions about this programme

FAQ

What's the difference between Essential and Professional?

Essential includes the core programme and selected practical materials. Professional gives you access to the full implementation library, extended materials and case studies.
How long do I have access?

You receive 12 months of access to the programme after purchase.
Does the programme include ready-to-use materials?

Yes. Depending on your package, you receive templates, scripts, cards, procedures, case studies and classroom tools.
What is the Knowledge Booster?

It is a 30-day email sequence that helps you revisit the most important ideas from the programme and apply them step by step.
Do I receive a certificate?

Yes. After completing the programme, you can download your certificate of completion.