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STOIC Framework and Its Benefits That a Future Special Needs Educator Can Derive

9th April 2020

The development of the young learners can take some significant time and might involve the application of a number of methodologies. One such methodology is the STOIC Framework, which is avidly put into application by the special needs educators in order to teach the students with special needs. In the following lines, we will have a look at the breakdown of the STOIC Framework and how it helps in the development of the learners of the Autism courses online as they look forward to make a mark in the sphere of special education in the near future.

What is the STOIC Framework?

The STOIC framework empowers general educators, special educators, and related services professionals with behavior improvement strategies for the whole school. STOIC can be effective with students of all ages. Both the students who have special needs and the educators who are looking to guide them towards the successful conclusion of the course curriculum can benefit from the apt utilization of the STOIC Framework as it can help them create a better atmosphere conducive for the development of the overall teaching-learning procedure.

We will have a look at the components of the STOIC Framework and how it works in the following lines.

The main purpose of the STOIC Framework is to assist any student with chronic misbehavior who has not responded to simple interventions in the classroom and can be extremely beneficial for the development of the students with special needs and should be inculcated by the future SEN educators, who are currently pursuing the Autism courses online.

There are five basic categories of variables you can modify or manipulative to influence student behavior within the STOIC framework.  

It is appropriate to use STOIC when misbehaviour is chronic and all other early interventions have failed. The educator needs to make sure the function of the behaviour been identified. Chronic behaviours happen when the student lacks the ability or awareness to exhibit the expected behaviour. These behaviours also happen when the student with special needs is trying to get something or he/she is trying to avoid or escape something.

Now let’s have a look at what the letters S, T, O, I and C in the STOIC Framework stand for.

1. S- Structure

The learners of the Autism courses online should be well aware of the fact that they need to ensure that the classroom structure is properly maintained for the development of the students with special needs. In this respect, there are a few points that a future special needs educator needs to keep in mind, where he/she should-

• Organize the classroom to prevent misbehaviour
• Identify and modify variables that positively influence student behaviour
• Identify any changes in physical arrangements, scheduling procedures, supervision patterns, and other factors that may have a positive effect on behaviour
• Change assigned seating away from peers or closer to teacher
• Change work requirements by breaking down work into smaller units
• Change expectations or procedures to fit the student’s needs and flexibility
• Assign a duty or responsibility for a student who wants or needs control such as passing out papers or tutoring another student
• Provide two or more choices such as work location, what work to complete when, or, a self-initiated short break

However, there are certain questions that a future special needs educator should consider regarding this. They are as follows-

• Is the room arranged so that he/she can get from any part of the room relatively efficiently?
• Can the special needs educator and his/her students access materials and the pencil sharpener without disturbing others?
• Does the schedule create consistency, variety and opportunities for movement?
• Does he/she have effective beginning and ending routines?
• Has he/she defined clear expectations for instructional activities?
• Does he/she have standard routines and procedures that students can count on?
• Has he/she defined clear expectations for transitions between activities?

2. T- Teach

It is the basic job of every educator to teach and it sometimes can be a challenge for the SEN educator to eradicate which they have to inculcate the following nuances.

• Reteach classroom expectations for activities and transitions
• Teach the positive opposite of a problem behaviour
• Teach the student how to stay focused or how to get back on track
• Teach social skills such as manners, being polite, how to make friends, etc.

There are certain doubts that might naturally arise in the mind of the future SEN educator. Here they are as follows-

• Has he/she created lessons on expectations and explicitly taught them for classroom activities?
• Has the future educator created lessons and explicitly taught expectations for classroom routines and policies?
• Has he/she provided teaching and reteaching as needed?

3. O- Observe

One of the important qualities that a future special needs educator, who is currently pursuing any of the comprehensive Autism courses online, is to observe his/her students and identify the drawbacks that they have and teach them according to their strengths. There are certain things he/she needs to keep in mind while educating the special needs students, which are-

• Circulate the classroom frequently away from your desk and near the targeted student
• Increase frequency of scanning, especially near the targeted students
• Look for positive behaviours to reinforce
• Collect data and analyse the results so that he/she can make data-driven decisions

The obvious questions that circulate this nuance are as follows:

• Does he/she circulate and scan as a means of observing/ monitoring student behaviour?
• Does the educator model friendly, respectful behaviour while monitoring the classroom?
• Does he/she periodically collect data to make judgments about what is going well and what needs to be improved in your management plan?

4. I- Interaction

It is essential for the SEN educators of tomorrow to learn how to positively interact with the students. In the following lines, we will have a look at the nuances that he/she should keep in mind to make a fruitful conversation with the students with special needs.

• Building relationships with students by greeting and showing an interest in them
• Provide positive feedback on behavioural and academic efforts when students are meeting the expectations of the educator, following your procedures, and engaging appropriately in academic tasks

There are, obviously, doubts, which need to be curtailed. They are as listed below:

• Does the educator interact with every student in a welcoming manner (e.g., saying hello, using the student’s name, talking to the student at every opportunity)?
• Does he/she provide age-appropriate, non-embarrassing feedback?
• Does the special needs educator strive to interact more frequently with every student when he is engaged in positive behaviour than when he is engaged in negative behaviour?

5. C- Correct

Every educator is liable to help out the students with problems and correct them as much as possible. Following are the nuances that the learners of the Autism courses online need to keep in mind in order to make the correction in an appropriate way.

• React to misbehaviour calmly, briefly, consistently, and immediately
• Pre-plan responses so your reaction does not interrupt the flow of instruction and can be delivered immediately
• Consequences should be something you can do each and every time the student exhibits the problem behaviour. Thus, mild consequences work best such as verbal reprimand, redirection, time owed, timeout, positive practice, etc.)
• Be consistent, as consistency can’t be a part-time goal
• Be brief and calm – don’t talk more than 15 seconds and keep your cool
• Tell the student ahead of time which misbehaviours will ear which consequences
• Avoid power struggles that distract from the instructional activity, and as soon as possible after the student begins behaving responsibly, begin interacting positively with that student

The questions that encircle this particular nuance of the STOIC Framework are as follows.

• Does the future educator correct consistently?
• Does he/she correct calmly?
• Does the educator correct immediately?
• Does he/she correct briefly?
• Does he/she correct respectfully?
• Does he/she have a menu of in-class consequences that can be applied to a variety of infractions?
• Does he/she have a plan for how to respond to different types of misbehaviours fluently?