This document describes the collaborative problem solving (CPS) process and provides an example of how it was applied with a student named Juaquin. CPS is an alternative to top-down decision making that aims to build independence by engaging collaboratively to solve problems. The example shows how Juaquin was initially reluctant to write in his journal, but through empathetic conversation the underlying problem was identified as hunger. Offering a quick snack proved to be a mutually agreeable solution that addressed both the student and teacher's needs in a sustainable way, unlike coercive approaches that only solve short-term compliance issues.

1. COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CPS)
Assignment 1

2. TWO SIDES TO CPS
• CPS the Process
– Steps that can be
followed in
supporting
challenging behaviour
by focusing on
specific unsolved
problems
– Process can be time
intensive and is
therefore used with
challenging behaviour
• CPS the Philosophy
– The philosophy that
top down decisions,
punishment and
authoritarian styles do
not change behaviour
in the long term
– Instead, we choose a
collaborative process
that builds
independence and
accountability

4. PART I: DESCRIPTION
Juaquin is a very active grade
5 boy who was reading about
Social Studies on the iPad.
Junaquin can't read
independently yet and that's
ok. He's very young. The good
news is that he sometimes still
gets excited about reading
with an adult. The iPad works
well because it allows him
some autonomy while it reads
to him. Plus it's interactive
which is great because it keeps
Juaquin engaged. (Please note
that the iPad does not replace
reading with an adult -- it
merely supplements).

5. After he finished the
book, I showed him how
to take screen shots of
his favorite parts of the
book. He placed them in
Keynote and, with some
assistance, he wrote a
couple sentences that
explained what was
happening in the
picture.

6. After three pictures and
three text boxes,
Juaquin made it clear
that he was ready for a
break, so I sent him for a
walk down the hall.
When he came back I
had him choose a little
journal for him to keep. I
asked him to write down
his name, the date and
something about what
he did this morning.

7. All of a sudden, Juaquin crossed his arms, knitted his
brow, hung his head and huffed. It took me all of a half
second to see something was wrong. It's at this point
that too many adults engage in Plan A. Plan A is where
the adult places an expectation on the child and when
the child doesn't comply, the adult imposes their will to
make them comply.

8. PART II
In Juaquin's case, my problem was that I wanted
him to write in his journal but he wouldn't. Plan
A might take any number of forms including
threats, bribes, punishments, consequences and
other forms of manipulation and coercion.

9. Plan A solves the problem, right?
Well, sort of but mostly no.
Plan A does solve a problem. Plan A is the best
way to solve the adult's problem while almost
always completely ignoring the child's problem.
Because Plan A never bothers to engage the
child, the best it can ever gain us is short-term
compliance. We gain expediency and efficiency
at the cost of sustainability. This is as
unacceptable as it is ineffective.

10. Plan B is where we engage
collaboratively with the child
to solve problems. Here are
the steps:
1. Identify the lagging skill and
unsolved problem.
2. Engage the child in an
empathetic conversation in an
attempt to gather information
about their perspective of the
problem.
3. Identify both problems
(yours and theirs).
4. Invite them to come up with
solutions and agree on one
that is mutually satisfactory
and durable.

11. Here's what Plan B looks like for Joaquin:
After I resisted Plan A, I quickly identified
Juaquin's lagging skill: he has difficulty handling
transitions and shifting from one task to
another. The unsolved problem here is that
Joaquin is having difficulty starting his journal
writing after reading on the iPad.

12. Here's how I started the
conversation:
Hey Joaquin, I've noticed
your having difficulty
starting your journal
writing, what's up?
I waited.
Joaquin avoided eye
contact.
I waited some more.
Joaquin still looked away.
I waited even more.

13. Then Joaquin shifted in his
seat and dropped his
crossed arms. He wasn't
avoiding me. He was
thinking. It was really
important that I say
nothing so that he could
think. Joaquin then said
something that made me
go aha!

14. I'm hungry.
This aha! moment made
sense. It was 20 minutes
to twelve and even I was
getting hungry.
There is only one person
in this world who could
provide me with this
invaluable piece of
information, and that
person is Joaquin.
If I don't take the time
and effort to engage in a
conversation with him,
then I guess I could
hypothesize and theorize
why he's having difficulty
(he hates writing or me) --
or I could skip all the
speculation and just ask
Joaquin for what's up
(he's hungry).

15. If I speculate about what
Joaquin's problem is, I'm likely
to unilaterally impose a solution
which will likely solve my problem
while ignoring his which will likely
lead to more unsolved problems,
leading me to impose more
unilateral consequences. In other
words, Plan A begets Plan A.
Once I had my aha! moment, I
asked Joaquin:
I wonder if there is a way for you
to write in your journal without
being hungry.
I waited.
He said nothing.
I waited longer.
After I watched him think in
silence, Joaquin said:
I can wait until lunch.

16. Sometimes kids are great at telling us what we want to hear.
Sometimes this is true because they have grown accustomed to
having their needs trumped by adults. Keeping this in mind, I decided
that Joaquin's suggestion was neither mutually satisfactory (I don't
think he really believed he could wait) nor sustainable (I didn't really
believe he could wait) so I said:
That's an idea, but are you sure you can wait? What if you got a
super quick snack now and then came back and wrote in your
journal? His smile told me all I needed to know about whether this
solution was mutually satisfactory. And it was proven durable when
three minutes later he returned from his snack and went straight to
his journal.
For those who say this sounds like too much work, I'll say this: while
it's true that learning how to do Plan B takes a long time, this post
took me longer to write than my actual interaction with Joaquin.