I love flowers, and over the years I’ve built a garden that serves as my private sanctuary. Each spring, as I plan which annuals to include, I worry that some won’t make it. While disappointing, the loss of a few plants doesn’t diminish the garden's overall beauty. Over time, I’ve realized that thriving gardens depend less on individual plants and more on the conditions that support growth.
Just as I’ve cultivated my personal sanctuary, I’ve worked to create school environments that serve as a sanctuary with systems in place to support students and educators. My work with one district began seven years ago with conducting functional behavior assessments and supporting intervention planning for individual students. While that remained important, I increasingly focused on shaping the conditions that allow more students to succeed without individualized supports.
Making this shift from fixing individual students to building sustainable systems requires intentionality and centers on four key practices.
Understanding the Environment
Systems change begins with understanding the environment in which behavior occurs. During my first year in the district, I prioritized understanding the broader system by using referrals to learn about the environments in which behavior occurred.
I asked questions such as:
I asked questions such as:
- How are students responding to the curriculum?
- Do you feel you have the resources needed to support your students?
- What additional skills would be helpful for your team?
These questions arose organically during a discussion of challenges to behavior change. I made a point of validating concerns while also identifying patterns across classrooms and schools. In time, I learned that many challenges were not isolated to individual students, but instead reflected gaps in systems, training, and resources. This shift allowed me to move from solving individual cases to identifying opportunities for broader, systems-level change. Once patterns became clear, the next step was not to act alone but to engage others in addressing them.
Brenda Bassingthwaite, PhD, BCBA
Grow Collaborative Relationships
Brenda Bassingthwaite, PhD, BCBA
Develop System Champions
Lasting systems change depends on individuals who stand up for and sustain the work. As I collaborated with other providers, administrators, and teachers, I identified individuals who could become champions for a shared vision. After working with a few students in one elementary school, a principal approached me about expanding support. She wanted to know how she could get more time with my team and, specifically, how the school could receive more professional development from my team. She took her request to the administration, and they approved a plan to dedicate my team’s time across three schools to provide training and coaching. Without her endorsement, this new project would not have occurred. With this project, we were able to improve outcomes through our professional development, consultation, and coaching of staff. Administrators continue to stand up for expanded services.
Not everyone is influenced by data alone. For some, stories of success will build momentum for change. Collect stories from teachers, paraeducators, other providers, and families, and find a way of sharing the stories or encouraging them to share the stories. Nominate an educator that you worked with who implemented strategies successfully for a “shout out” award or something that draws attention to the benefit of changing one’s practice. Promoting others who are doing desired work can further help build momentum.
Sharing examples of how strategies improved outcomes helps others see the value of changing practice. Over time, administrators, educators, and other providers became catalysts who extended the reach of behavior analytic practices beyond my direct involvement.
Brenda Bassingthwaite, PhD, BCBA
Be a Successful Consultant
Consultation is challenging at both the individual and systems level. If we want to influence practice beyond a single student, we must demonstrate results that matter to educators and teams.
Strong consultation relies on communication—assessing perspectives, identifying challenges, and collaboratively determining next steps. These skills often require intentional development. Communication frameworks (e.g., Crucial Conversations, Fierce Conversations) can support learning how to listen effectively, ask meaningful questions, and share perspectives in ways that keep conversations productive.
I learned an important lesson early in my work about the impact of poor communication. I was observing in a classroom while also being prepared to assist as needed. A student escalated, and I stepped in to offer support to the teacher and the security guard. I later learned the teacher was upset that I assisted. She felt my actions undermined her authority. While I intended to help, the impact was different. Despite efforts to repair the relationship, trust was never built.
This experience taught me that effective consultation is not defined solely by our intentions but by how others experience our actions. Without trust, even technically sound recommendations will not take hold. If we want our work to scale, we must prioritize relationships, clarify roles, and ensure our support feels collaborative rather than corrective.
Not every approach will resonate with every educator, but when consultation is grounded in respect, communication, and shared goals, it creates conditions for practices to spread. Like a garden, not every plant will thrive under the same conditions, but the overall ecosystem can flourish.
Summary
Just as a thriving garden depends on the conditions that support growth, sustainable change in schools depends on the systems that support students and educators. While individual consultation remains important, the greatest impact comes from shaping the environments in which behavior occurs.
This work requires patience. Systems change is gradual and often uneven. With consistent effort, strong relationships, and attention to conditions, meaningful change is possible.
As behavior analysts, we are uniquely positioned not only to support individual students but to partner with others to build environments where success is more likely for everyone. When we shift our focus from fixing individual ‘plants’ to cultivating school environments that serve as sanctuaries, we create conditions where all students and educators can grow and thrive.
written by
Brenda Bassingthwaite
Brenda Bassingthwaite, PhD, BCBA, is an associate professor, licensed psychologist, and licensed behavior analyst at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, where she is a Program Coordinator for the Integrated Psychology & ABA training program.
Dr. Bassingthwaite leads initiatives to build school teams' capacity and supports educators through behavioral-analytic consultation, professional development, and innovative training methods. She is passionate about preparing professionals to apply behavior analytic practices in schools to create supportive environments for students and educators.
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