CPS stands for Collaborative and Proactive Solutions. This is the model of problem-solving that is used in my school. As the name suggests, the model encourages proactive problem-solving. Having a plan in place to ensure that problems do not arise, rather than just scrambling to react after difficulties have arisen. The model also ensures that solutions are arrived at collaboratively. CPS language states that the problem is solved between the individual who owns the expectation (usually the teacher) and whoever is having difficulty meeting that expectation (usually the student).  While CPS is a tool designed to help kids who lack the skills to come up with effective problem-solving solutions on their own, it is widely used outside of that scope. Couples, coaches, sports teams, and friend groups can all use this model to effectively solve any problems they may encounter.

Now, before I get any further, I need to state that this model is not the be-all and end-all of problem-solving. There are absolutely people involved in CPS who believe that it is but I am not one of those people. I have, however, witnessed firsthand how following the steps of the CPS model can help to eliminate caustic classroom behaviours as well as address a number of difficulties before they even come up, and so I absolutely do see its value.

In fact, it is the success that I’ve had with this model that has led me to ponder this question, “What would happen if I use the CPS model to address sin in my own life?” As I thought about this more, I realized that there are a number of ways that the CPS model can be applied to my life and my relationship with God. I have found those applications useful, and so I thought it would be worth sharing them with you.

The first major step in the CPS model is completing an Assessment of Lagging Skills and Unsolved Problems, otherwise known as an ALSUP.  In a school setting, this is usually done with a team of everyone that interacts with the student in question. Think homeroom teachers, P.E. teachers, the principal and resource teachers. Through the ALSUP, a list will be generated of all the difficulties a student has trouble with throughout the day. An example portion of an ALSUP would look like this:

The Student has

• Difficulty saying, “good game” while shaking hands after playing floor hockey in P.E. class.

• Difficulty sitting down at his desk after the playing of “O Canada”.

• Difficulty placing his math facts worksheet into his binder at the end of math class. 

• Difficulty placing his Daily Journal into his ELA binder at the end of ELA class.

• Difficulty using soap while washing his hands before lunch. 

• Difficulty washing his hands for 10 seconds while washing his hands before lunch.

Notice that the language of the ALSUP is very specific. The “when” of each difficulty is stated in the point itself: “After O Canada”, “end of math class”, or “before lunch”. All of these statements indicate when the student is experiencing each specific issue. This is an important part of the problem-solving process.

Note also that the similar difficulties are not clumped together. This is important, because while our minds are often quick to see connections, in reality, the reason a student has difficulty putting his daily journal into his ELA binder may not be at all the same as the reason that student has difficulty putting his math work into his math binder. While both actions seem to be the same kind of procedural difficulty,  the root of the problem could be very different in each circumstance and it is only by looking at them individually that the root of both issues can be addressed. For example, maybe the ELA binder has a zipper that sticks, while the math binder may be an issue with time. While it is true that often solving one problem does in fact solve others, it doesn’t always, and so you must begin by treating each issue as a separate difficulty in order to suss these different problems out.

Finally, note how the expectation of each statement is stated clearly. By reading this ALSUP, you know exactly what I expect of my student. I once sat down with a student to work on the point, “difficulty washing your hands before lunch.” The student simply looked at me and said, “I do wash my hands every day before lunch.” And it was true! He turned on the water, placed his hands under the stream, quickly rubbed them together and was done all of one second later! It was I who wasn’t clear on what my expectation were and as a result, my student didn’t know that he wasn’t meeting my expectations. After re-stating my expectation and being specific with my language, this was a very quick and easy problem to solve. 

So how do I think the ALSUP can apply to our Christian lives? Well, think about how it can help us identify and address sin that may stand in the way of our walk with the Lord.

I love playing chess. I play both over-the-board chess as well as online chess as often as I can. I can say without any hesitation that I display great sportsmanship when I play over-the-board chess. I wish my opponent good luck and I acknowledge and compliment great moves, as well as I shake hands and say good game whether I win or lose. That is when I play over-the-board. When I play online chess, however, I do not display this same level of sportsmanship. Instead, I get extremely frustrated with my opponent when I misclick or make a wrong move. I become frustrated to the point of being irate when I lose consecutive games in a row. Becase of this, I have often straight-up cursed and swore while playing chess online. I love playing chess online, but I also know that it has put stress on my relationship with God and others. How it causes me to struggle, has led me to sin.

So let’s apply ALSUP to this problem. How do I state this online chess difficulty that I have in a way that can be addressed? As we have discussed, to do this, I need to do the following:

1. I need to be specific. I feel its with the “difficulty with swearing” that my sin lies. It is something that I, and many, many others struggle with. However, stating the problem as “Difficulty with swearing” doesn’t begin to get down to the broad reason behind the cursing. The reason why I curse when I’m hurt is different from the reason why I curse when I lose at online chess, and so according to the CPS model, I need to be specific in order that I don’t accidentally conflate these two problems. And so, “difficulty with swearing while playing chess,” moves us closer to our goal.

2. I need to avoid clumping. Even though saying I have “difficulty with swearing while playing chess,” is much closer to my actual issue, there are plenty of things inside playing chess online that might get my blood up, some more triggering than others, and each of which should be addressed in different ways, so this statement on its own still might not encompass where my true issue lies. And so, switching the language to instead say that I have “difficulty with swearing after losing to an opponent in online chess,” allows me to pick specific instances throughout my day where I know that I am struggling most.

3. Finally, I need to phrase the difficulty in a way that states what it would look like if I were to overcome this problem. If we look back to the sample ALSUP I provided, one of the statements was, “Difficulty sitting down at his desk after the playing of “O Canada”.” This is a real example that came up when I was helping another teacher complete an ALSUP for one of their students. This teacher had said, “NAME is always wandering around out of his desk. He’s always out of his seat.” I asked some questions to help her get more specific as to when this was a problem and finally what we came up with was “NAME is always wandering around after “O Canada”.” After writing this down, I then posed another question to the teacher, “What is your expectation? What are this student’s classmates doing while he is walking around after O Canada?” Her response to me was, “they are sitting down at their desk.” And so then we knew what the student’s true difficulty was. He was having difficulty sitting down at his desk after the singing of “O Canada.”

   So I ask myself, what is the expectation on me when I lose a game of online chess? I know that the expectation is, “not to swear”, but what does it look like when someone meets that expectation? I think it looks like someone saying, “good game” to their opponent. As such, if I can only say, “good game” when I lose at online chess, then I think Ill have got to where I need to be.

So, after all of this, on my hypothetical sin ALSUP, my unsolved problem is this:

Linden has

• Difficulty saying ‘good game’ to my opponent after losing a match of online chess.

If I can address this difficulty as it is stated, with the help of God, I will have dealt with this specific sin in my life, and my walk with the Lord and my relationship with those I am around and playing against will be all the better for it.

I struggle with swearing. I know that it is something that I need to work on as it affects my relationship with God. But like for many, it is something I have struggled with for years. From experience, I can say that it is enough of a problem in my life that just stopping cold turkey will not be met with much success. Spending more time in prayer and in God’s word so that I can be more Christ-like is the main advice I’ve received to help me conquer this sin. While this advice is good as a change of heart is always needed when addressing sin, as if you do not have the desire to confront sin why would you ever try to do that, nevertheless just like the students in the CPS model, I have found that I simply have lagging skills when it comes to addressing my difficulty with swearing despite my desire to do so. In this way, I have found that the CPS model along with the ALSUP, has helped. It has helped me to reduce concerning behaviours by shedding light on the problems that have caused those behaviours in the first place.

I invite you to investigate whether the CPS model can help you to reduce sin by solving the problems that lead to that sin in the first place. To begin this journey, the first step is to clearly state what your difficulty is, to which the ALSUP can help provide a structured and thought-through way of doing just that.

Join me next week as we continue on applying the CPS problem-solving process to other aspects of our personal lives and walks with the Lord. I have found there is much value to be found.