Helping Educators Persist: Using ACT to Strengthen Value-Aligned Teaching Practices

Sponsored by the Professional Crisis Management Association

In the challenging world of education, where every day brings new trials and triumphs, educators play a vital role in shaping the next generation. Teachers are driven by their commitment to nurturing young minds and making a positive impact. However, the journey is filled with moments of frustration and stress, particularly when facing behavioral challenges in the classroom.

As behavior analysts, your role extends beyond providing strategies—you must support educators in understanding their thoughts, feelings, and reactions as antecedents to behavior. The question isn’t whether educators will have emotional reactions; they will. The real question is: Does their behavior in response to these thoughts and feelings align with their values?

This is where Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) becomes a powerful tool. Grounded in behavioral science, ACT helps educators navigate these challenges while staying committed to their values, fostering a positive learning environment, and preventing behavioral escalation.

Helping Educators Know Their Values

Understanding personal values is the foundation of ACT. Educators enter the field with a strong sense of purpose, but daily challenges can create dissonance between their values and their actions. As a behavior analyst, you can help educators reconnect with what drives them. Encourage reflection by asking:

• What kind of classroom culture do you want to create?

• What values guide your approach to teaching and discipline?

• How do you want students to remember their time in your classroom?

  
  

Common values among educators include:

• Student Growth and Learning: A commitment to helping students achieve their full potential.

• Inclusivity and Diversity: Creating an environment where all students feel valued and respected.

• Passion for Teaching: Inspiring a love for learning and fostering curiosity.

• Safety and Well-being: Ensuring that all students feel emotionally and physically secure in the classroom.

  
  

When educators clarify their values, they gain a stronger foundation for making classroom decisions. But recognizing values alone isn’t enough—educators also need to understand how their thoughts and feelings serve as antecedents that either guide them toward or pull them away from those values.

Helping Educators Be Aware of Their Thoughts and Feelings

Emotions don’t come out of nowhere. They are natural antecedents to behavior that influence how educators respond to classroom challenges. Many teachers experience thoughts like:

• “I’ve lost control.” – Feelings of inadequacy when faced with disruptions.

• “Why is this happening?” – Frustration in trying to understand student behavior.

• “I can’t reach them.” – Self-doubt about their ability to connect with students.

• “This is disrupting learning.” – Concern that misbehavior is harming the class.

  
  

When left unchecked, these thoughts often lead to behaviors that educators don’t actually want to engage in—like raising their voice or withdrawing from students. Behavior analysts can help educators recognize these thoughts as triggers rather than mandates. The goal isn’t to stop having these thoughts; it’s to develop the ability to notice them and choose value-aligned behavior instead of reactive behavior.

Helping Educators Recognize Their Behaviors When Upset

Thoughts and emotions set the stage for behavior. If an educator isn’t aware of how their internal dialogue influences their actions, they may respond in ways that escalate the situation rather than de-escalate it. Common reactionary behaviors include:

• Raising Their Voice – Attempting to regain control through volume, often leading to further resistance.

• Reacting Emotionally – Showing visible frustration or anger, which can model dysregulation for students.

• Using Negative Language – Criticizing students rather than guiding them toward expected behavior.

• Withdrawing – Disengaging from students or the class after feeling overwhelmed.

• Blaming – Attributing student behavior to external factors without addressing the root cause.

  
  

Behavior analysts play a critical role in helping educators shift from reacting to responding. The first step is recognizing misalignment—when their behavior doesn’t reflect their values.

Helping Educators Align with Their Values

When educators react impulsively, their behavior may not reflect their values. A key component of ACT is teaching them to notice misalignment and adjust their responses accordingly.

Consider an example:

A teacher, feeling frustrated, yells at a disruptive student: "Stop talking loudly! You’re always causing trouble!"

This response may contradict their core values:

• Inclusivity and Diversity: The student may feel singled out or alienated.

• Student Growth and Learning: The situation may escalate, preventing learning.

• Safety and Well-being: A tense classroom atmosphere can cause stress for all students.

• Passion for Teaching: A teacher driven by student success may feel regret after the fact.

  
  

By helping educators pause and reflect before responding, behavior analysts can help them move from reactionary behavior to intentional behavior—one that aligns with their values. But to do this effectively, educators first need to develop acceptance of their emotions rather than fighting against them.

Helping Educators Accept Their Feelings

Emotional responses are unavoidable. But how educators relate to those emotions determines whether their behavior aligns with their values or not.

As a behavior analyst, guide educators in:

• Recognizing emotions without judgment – "I’m feeling frustrated, and that’s okay."

• Normalizing their experiences – "All teachers feel this way at times."

• Redirecting their focus to what they can control – "What action aligns with my values right now?"

  
  

This acceptance-based approach reduces emotional exhaustion and helps educators respond with intention rather than reflex. Once educators build this awareness, they can begin actively choosing alternative responses that promote a healthier classroom environment.

Helping Educators Replace Reactions with Value-Aligned Behaviors

Once educators recognize their thoughts and emotions, they can replace reactive behaviors with intentional, value-driven actions. Encourage them to practice:

• Maintaining Calm: Modeling emotional regulation for students.

• Active Listening: Seeking to understand the student’s perspective.

• Positive Reinforcement: Encouraging desired behaviors instead of focusing on misbehavior.

• Taking a Break: Pausing for a moment before responding.

• Problem-Solving: Collaborating with the student to address the root cause of behavior.

  
  

When educators consistently align their actions with their values, classroom behavior improves, stress decreases, and student-teacher relationships strengthen.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, behavior analysts should focus on helping educators behave well enough and long enough to contact naturally occurring reinforcement associated with their values. Just as we conduct preference assessments to identify reinforcers for students, we can think of an educator’s values as a preference assessment for what will sustain their behavior.

For example, if an educator values student learning, then seeing their students achieve—witnessing progress, engagement, and mastery—can serve as a powerful reinforcer that maintains effective teaching behavior. If an educator values well-being, then experiencing reduced stress, smoother classroom interactions, and a sense of emotional balance as a result of improved student behavior may reinforce their commitment to value-aligned responses.

However, it’s important to recognize that natural reinforcement may not be immediate. Educators may need to engage in value-aligned behavior for some time before they contact consistent reinforcement from their students or classroom environment. To bridge this gap, behavior analysts should:

• Identify and highlight small improvements early on, helping educators recognize incremental progress as reinforcing.

• Provide contrived reinforcement when necessary, such as specific praise, acknowledgment from supervisors, or structured feedback to strengthen early response effort.

• Help educators track and reflect on reinforcement history, reinforcing the connection between their actions and meaningful outcomes.

  
  

By guiding educators to persist in effective behavior long enough to contact natural reinforcement, behavior analysts help ensure that behavior change is sustainable—not just something teachers do because they are told to, but because it produces outcomes that matter to them.