How a picture book helped a troubled student find her way

At an interview for a Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education position as a behavioral intervention specialist teacher earlier this year, Jang Se-ra, a veteran elementary school teacher of 23 years, held a well-worn book in her hands.

The book, titled “Try It Like Ji-woo!,” had helped bring about a remarkable transformation in just two to three months in a 13-year-old student, identified by the pseudonym Ji-woo.

Jang had created the picture book herself, making Ji-woo, whom she had taught the previous year in an inclusive classroom at Haneul Elementary School in Seoul’s Mapo District, its main character. The experience gave her a firsthand appreciation of the power of behavioral intervention to change both students and schools.

Whenever Ji-woo, then a sixth-grader, traveled between her inclusive classroom and the special education classroom, everyone at the school could tell she was on the move. Ji-woo, who has autism spectrum disorder, repeatedly shouted, sat down on the hallway floor and cried.

When Jang became her homeroom teacher, Ji-woo displayed similar behavior. She threw objects, overturned desks and even hit her classmates.

Despite her extensive experience,Jang felt she might not be able to handle the situation alone. She sought help from Kim Sun-woong, a behavioral intervention specialist teacher at the same school.

Kim suggested using “social stories,” one of the behavioral intervention methods taught in special education training programs. The approach is designed to help people with autism spectrum disorder and others who struggle with social interactions understand everyday situations and learn appropriate ways to respond. Using illustrations, it explains the context of social situations, how others might react and what outcomes can be expected.

Jang immediately put the idea into practice. Using artificial intelligence (AI), she created a picture book featuring Ji-woo as the main character. The book depicted six or seven situations Ji-woo repeatedly struggled with, such as eating in the cafeteria and riding in an elevator. Jang made several copies and distributed them to Ji-woo’s parents, a special education teacher and paraprofessional, asking them to read the book to her regularly at home and at school.

Although Ji-woo tore up the book as soon as she received it, she gradually became curious about the story in which she was the main character. She started asking adults around her to read it to her.

The changes became apparent within just two to three months. Ji-woo’s challenging behaviors gradually decreased, and by the time she graduated in December, she was able to eat meals alongside her classmates. She finished elementary school having undergone a transformation that even her parents had never imagined possible.

One teacher’s expertise, another’s commitment to action

Kim and Jang’s experience illustrates how even a single behavioral intervention specialist teacher at a school can help share and expand positive behavior support among fellow teachers and throughout the school.

At Kim’s suggestion, Jang applied to join the third cohort of behavioral intervention specialist teachers and was selected as one of 10 candidates. Now working at Seongseo Elementary School in Seoul, she has been receiving training since March, as well as taking on the role Kim performed at her former school by supporting colleagues who feel overwhelmed by challenging student behavior.

“Through my studies, I was able to systematically organize things I had previously overlooked as a mainstream classroom teacher and things I had only understood vaguely,” she said.

“My goal during my five years at this school is to change how teachers view children and establish a schoolwide positive behavior support system that connects each school year with the next.”

She plans to ensure that useful data is passed on to teachers taking over a student’s care in the following academic year, while also using that information to provide counseling and behavioral intervention for parents.

“It’s about reducing the time teachers spend going through trial and error,” she said.

For individual teachers’ experiences with behavioral intervention to become an accumulated resource for the entire school, institutional support is essential. In reality, however, the system continues to rely heavily on individual teachers’ enthusiasm and dedication. Critics point out that behavioral intervention specialist teachers at mainstream schools are part of an education office initiative rather than an established institutional program, making stable operations difficult to guarantee.

In fact, the legal basis for assigning behavioral intervention experts and supporting specialists under the Act on Special Education for Persons with Disabilities is limited to students eligible for special education and special schools. This means that students who are not formally classified as requiring special education but would still benefit, as well as those who qualify for special education but attend inclusive classrooms at mainstream schools, may or may not receive specialist support depending on the local education offices and individual school circumstances.

“These days, we should assume that around 10 percent of students at mainstream schools are experiencing emotional or behavioral crises, yet behavioral intervention specialist teachers still feel as though they are fighting these battles individually,” Jang said.

According to a recent analysis by the Good Teachers Movement, a teachers’ organization, data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service show a total of 280,270 children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 received treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or depression last year, up approximately 16.4 percent from the previous year.

That figure represents 4.4 percent of the population, meaning that more than one student in an average classroom is receiving treatment for ADHD or depression.

Unpredictable budget allocations have also affected recruitment. The first cohort in 2024 included 10 behavioral intervention specialist teachers, but the number was cut to five in the second cohort. The fourth cohort, whose selection is currently underway, is expected to recruit 15 teachers, a modest increase from last year.

Even including the latest recruits, the total number will reach just 40 — nowhere near enough to assign even one specialist to each school. Seoul has 2,092 kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools, including special education schools.

A separate program recruiting retired teachers as positive behavior support specialists stalled after its launch in 2024, when 45 people were selected.

These specialists observe students during classes taught by teachers who request intervention and prepare reports based on their observations. Because they focus exclusively on behavioral intervention, they play an important role in easing the workload of behavioral intervention specialist teachers, who also have regular teaching duties.

Kwak In-hee, a positive behavior support specialist at Haneul Elementary School, said, “When I was an active teacher, I didn’t realize the extent of these problems, but observing schools from the outside has revealed many situations that can make people develop negative views of the teaching profession.”

“What’s important is having an expert like a behavioral intervention specialist teacher or positive behavior support specialist stationed at the school, rather than relying on outside professionals. Someone who understands the school and classroom environment, has observed the student over a long period and can provide teachers with consistent, ongoing support,” she said.

Cases like Ji-woo’s, in which behavioral intervention produces results within a short period, are rare in schools. For most children, repeated attempts at behavioral intervention, along with setbacks and failures, are inevitable before an effective approach is found. Behavioral intervention is no magic wand, making proactive intervention backed by schoolwide cooperation and institutional support essential. Experts consider age 10 the “golden window” for behavioral intervention, when it can be most effective.

With this in mind, Rep. Kang Kyung-sook of the Rebuilding Korea Party introduced an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in September that would provide a legal basis for assigning specialized teachers to mainstream schools to work with students experiencing emotional and behavioral crises. The proposed amendment calls for the placement of dedicated teachers and support specialists, as well as the establishment and operation of behavioral intervention support teams at district education offices.

“Over the past three years, we have confirmed that behavioral intervention specialist teachers are best positioned to understand and provide the support needed by teachers and students struggling with challenging behaviors in schools,” said Kim Ye-ri, a behavioral intervention specialist official at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.

“However, there are limits to what can be achieved through the dedication and efforts of a handful of individuals. Legal and institutional support is essential to establish a sustainable, schoolwide system,” she emphasized.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.