Introduction to Collaborative and Proactive Solutions Nora McNamara MD

Disclaimer I am not a certified trainer in this model, developed by Dr. Ross Greene This lecture serves only as an introduction Those interested in further exploration are encouraged to read Dr. Greene’s book, “Lost at School” and to explore his website at

Assumptions Children do well when they can Children who do not do well are not unmotivated to do well; they actually have a deficit in the skill set that would allow them to do well. Punishments and rewards do not help teach lagging skill sets.

Older form of CPS Plan A : Adult concerns, non- negotiable Plan B: Child and Adult concerns, negotiable via collaboration Plan C: Child concerns, no need to negotiate at this time

ALSUP Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems Hard copy available for download on Dr. Greene’s website Montessori Guides are particularly well suited to this tool because of our observations that are part of our work Get permission from your Head of School/Parents before using this tool

CPS Conversation Overview Invite child during calm period “What’s Up?” question after statement of what was observed Child tells story/adult mirrors it back Empathy statement “You didn’t like that.” Adult states the adult’s concerns/needs Invitation to support child to generate new or different responses in the future This may need to be revised! Child may/may not test this new response Future CPS Conversations help the child refine initial solution

Empathy “Fake it till you make it” actually works Empathy step is imperative for successful implementation of the model Easy to practice out in the world until it becomes easy/automatic/natural

Invitation to the Conversation Dr. Montessori used to refer to presentations as “conversations” rather than “lessons” I am available to support you to find a way to solve this problem. We will be thinking about other ways to solve this problem in the future so that it is fair to you and to “X” I trust you and I believe that you are clever enough and caring enough to find a new way when this happens next time.

Observe! Stay out of the way! Take brief notes when you observe the child’s response to the next problem situation! Child may forget and use old response Child may try new response, but it doesn’t work Child may try new response, and it is more successful

Follow up Conversations Acknowledge situation. Use same format/approach as in initial Conversation(s). Follow up conversations will either serve to acknowledge successful solution to previous problem and introduction to next unsolved problem, or to refine approach to initial problem

I don’t have time for this! Initial conversations can be quite lengthy, 15 minutes or longer Later conversations are shorter as the relationship between child and adult is stronger and child becomes more adept at generating solutions Ultimately, this will save the time involved already in redirection and Plan A problem solving work