A new technique for dealing with behaviour difficulties in Cyprus: the analysis of critical incidents

Recently the issue of behaviour difficulties arose at the centre of the educational debate in Cyprus. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new technique for enabling schools to deal with behavioural difficulties through an analysis of critical incidents. First, the paper examines definitions of behaviour difficulties, briefly explores the causes of misbehaviour and summarizes the different theories and methods that have been used for behaviour management. It then defines the new technique by providing its theoretical background, and illustrates how the new method has been used. Using evidence from schools in Cyprus, the paper provides illustrative examples which demonstrate how certain events that happen in the classroom can be analysed in order to provide schools with useful information for developing new ways of facing behavioural difficulties.