By Dr. Tim Grivois, Executive Director, TGS Educational Consulting
When schools partner with TGS Educational Consulting to implement Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), we do more than deliver professional development. We work alongside educators to create something far more powerful: a whole-of-school PBIS approach that is deeply collaborative, values-driven, and sustainable.
If you’re reading this in the United States, the phrase “whole-of-school” might sound unfamiliar. In Australian education, “whole-of-school” describes a strategy where every adult, every student, and every part of the school environment plays a role in implementing a shared framework. It’s more than just alignment—it’s a commitment to consistency, collaboration, and community-wide ownership. In many ways, this is exactly what effective PBIS is supposed to be. And it’s why our model at TGS might actually go further than some traditional rollouts of PBIS or its Australian counterpart, Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) at being a ‘whole-of-school’ approach.
The Problem with Leadership-Only PBIS Rollouts
In many schools, PBIS starts with good intentions. A leadership team attends training, learns the basics of PBIS, and is tasked with bringing it back to their staff. But even with the best leadership teams, this top-down model often leads to:
– Limited buy-in from staff who weren’t part of the process.
– Behavior matrices and lesson plans that don’t reflect classroom realities.
– Recognition systems that feel like extra work instead of part of the culture.
The result? A PBIS framework that exists on paper—but not in practice. Staff members are left wondering if PBIS is just another initiative that will fade by next year.
What a Whole-of-School PBIS Approach Looks Like
At TGS Educational Consulting, we flip the script. Our PBIS implementation model is built to include every adult from the start and ensure the framework is truly lived out across the entire campus.
– Full-Staff Training: Instead of training a small team and expecting them to lead the rest, we begin with whole-staff sessions that set a shared foundation.
– Co-Creation of Systems: Behavior expectations, recognition strategies, and support plans are co-created by staff, not handed down from above.
– Branded to Reflect School Identity: We help schools develop PBIS materials that reflect their unique values, voice, and culture—not someone else’s template.
– Student and Family Voice: Our process includes meaningful ways to listen to students and families so that the PBIS system reflects the community it serves.
Why Whole-of-School Matters
A whole-of-school PBIS approach doesn’t just create consistency—it creates credibility. When students see the same expectations reinforced in every hallway, by every adult, and in every classroom, behavior becomes predictable. When teachers see their ideas reflected in the system, buy-in becomes automatic. And when families feel invited into the process, trust grows.
PBIS should never feel like a separate program. It should feel like “how we do things here.” That only happens when every voice helps shape the work.
The TGS Difference
Whether you’re implementing PBIS in the U.S., adapting PBL in Australia, or leading schoolwide behavior initiatives anywhere in between, the success of your system depends on who gets to participate. At TGS, we believe everyone benefits when everyone participates, which is why I’m loving the term “whole-of-school” and why we will always approach the work this way.
If this article finds its way to Australia, I’d love to hear your perspective on PBIS / PBL!