On 6 August 2025 Cannons Creek Independent School hosted acclaimed professional speaker Mandy Herold who addressed staff from 15 schools about ‘Reframing Challenging Behaviour’. Although this was for staff development, much of what she had to say can be applied in all our daily lives and the relationships we hold dear.
Mandy opened her talk with the statement “Being a Teacher is harder than being a Brain Surgeon as you have 22 brains to deal with; they have one and it’s asleep!”
Herold stated that we take 22 000 breaths a day, but asked the audience how many they are conscious of; thereby reminding us that sometimes there is value in stepping back and pausing. She encouraged everyone to “upload the distress, download the calm”.
She pointed out that all behaviour is some form of communication, adding that the prefrontal cortex takes 25-28 years to fully develop which stands to reason that we should all question scenarios to decide if it involves will or skill. She encouraged us to teach a skill rather than judge behaviour, and to think if people are perhaps missing certain skills.
Mandy elaborated upon the five categories of neuro-cognitive skills: Language and Communication Skills; Attention and Working memory; Emotion and self-regulation skills; Cognitive flexibility; and Social thinking skills. She added that we live in a very regulated world, and if a person can’t regulate themselves, then they will reach for other things. She added that we often need to think about the context of the behaviours more deeply; outlining three ways to deal with challenging behaviour. She encouraged the collaborative approach, which involved empathy, through asking questions, taking educated guesses, listening and reassuring; followed by collaboration.
She ended the talk with the motivating plea of “Get curious about their behaviour”.