Mention classroom management these days and quite often the link will be made to the phrase ‘managing behaviour in the classroom’. Of course, the term is wider ranging than this, but the issue of behavior (positive and negative) is a key element of the topic and deserves to be considered in detail.
For the sake of this article, let’s call it ‘behaviour management’.
There are several approaches to this, and I’ve seen three of them in operation in a number of schools throughout my career and my observations have been that the one that seems hardest to implement, that seems to run contra to all our beliefs, is the most effective.
Let’s begin with the two I’ve found to be least effective – again, comments welcomed on this as always!
- School Rules/Class Rules
Whereas once upon a time these were written in stone and set out like the Ten Commandments (funny how there were always ten rules?) nowadays, students are encouraged to create their own rules for the class and the school based on what they think is acceptable behaviour. The idea being that if they are part of the process of creating the rules, they are more likely to follow them. This idea is great in principle, but if it is not created in conjunction with, and operated within, a strong culture of the school then, by operating in a vacuum, it is destined to fail.
In my early days of teaching, I’ve stood in assembly when the head teacher or head of pastoral has read out the list of school rules to the assembled body of students and looked around me. A good number weren’t listening, almost all wouldn’t remember them and the firmly delivered punchline ‘Do you all understand?’ was greeted with muted agreement and more than a little disdain.
2. Rewards for not being badly behaved
Whilst promoted as a good system, the idea of rewarding students for what often should be an expectation, is counter to most people’s idea of a fair way of ensuring good conduct in a school. I’ve seen children rewarded for doing nothing more than not hurting others or disrupting lessons or damaging school property whilst the majority of students, who wouldn’t dream of doing any of these things, watch on incredulously, wondering why they never get stickers, extra playtime or rewards.
So, what is the answer? Schools that have had the greatest success in maintaining good conduct have a strong and visible culture. Having high expectations and developing relationships, built on mutual respect, at all levels across a school, is paramount. The respect on all sides needs to be earned and not considered ‘a given’ and is achieved by valuing what each member brings to the school community. Students who feel valued and respected as individuals in a school where there are high, but realistic, expectations rarely step out of line. Alongside this, the behaviour expectations need to be skewed heavily towards the positive; praising and rewarding students for going above and beyond the expected.
Non-verbal communication and use of body language can be used by teachers to enforce expectations and is often effective in diffusing situations that may otherwise become confrontational and help maintain a positive classroom environment.
Additionally, through their monitoring of teaching and learning, schools need to ensure that lessons are consistently well-planned, varied, engaging and allow students to meet academic expectations. Well thought out lessons that are differentiated to meet the needs of all students, including those with learning differences, and incorporate creative approaches to teaching and learning, are less likely to result in difficulties with classroom management. To achieve this, it’s important to invest in professional development and build in opportunities to share good practice which will ultimately have a positive impact on levels of engagement in the classroom.
My earnest wish is for the leadership of all schools to look closely at the conduct of their students, where it is excellent, identifying what has made it so and sharing that information with other schools. I would also encourage the leadership of schools where classroom management and conduct outside the classroom is less than acceptable, to look behind the poor behaviour and consider its wider causes, then address them in a positive manner. Then, and only then, will outstanding learning take place.
