ITAP 1 Day 1 Behaviour & relationships

Q: WHAT WERE YOUR KEY THOUGHTS & FEELINGS ABOUT BEHAVIOUR COMING IN TO THE PGCE?

A: I have spent this last year working in a boarding school, enforcing the behaviour policy there and expecting a high standard of behaviour from students. I have less experience enforcing behaviour from a teaching position, but I have had some classroom experience and leading groups of students through activities and trips abroad.

Although I do have a fear of adapting to a new school, the expectation of behaviour will be consistent across every school and this comfort begins to dispel any of my innate anxieties. I also have experience cultivating effective relationships and rapport with students, which helps to deter negative behaviour and encourage students to respect this my strict expectations from them.

Q: STARTING POINTS / BOUNDARY BREAKERS:

A: Setting and reinforcing clear expectations and boundaries allow pupils to enjoy learning within the safe spaces that environment brings. Perhaps as an introduction to the class I should present these expectations of behaviour.

I feel open to new knowledge and to practice this stricter mindset, and persevering learning in this field with a sense of intelligence and learning from my mistakes.

As I've found, I can be a strict teacher without getting upset or ever shouting at a student. my calm demeanour as I fairly and consistently enforce the behavioural policy, will in itself command respect from students.

I do expect to struggle at least at first with low-level disruptive behaviours, calling out disengagement. I hope that this training I've had in positive framing will help to refocus students to the task at hand.

I want to be kind, calm, consistent and certain about expectations within every classroom.

Q: CURRICULUM SUMMARY:

A: Research in the UK has shown that classroom climate is independent from school culture, therefore each teacher has agency to enforce different levels of expected behaviour in the classroom. However, the classrooms I will work in during my placements will have already gone through this establishing phase and so our expectations of the class will be forced to use these established frameworks as foundations for the expectations we can enforce.

Setting high expectations, creating a framework for discipline, maintaining a positive and trusting environment and being consistent; these are essential markers within the curriculum, that will create safe environments that encourage the children within it to flourish. This supports the goal of acknowledging and praising effort and deepening the understanding of each student.

Q: APPROACHES:

A: A proactive approach to behaviour can be summarised using the 3 Rs: Rules (communicating the boundaries of the class and enforcing proportionate sanctions), Routines (e.g. Entry/Setting, Beginning, Instruction phase, teacher exposition, Q&A/Discussion, Practical task, Plenary/Assessment) & Responses (...to good and poor behaviour).

Convey your orientation towards the students, an orientation of care, of kindness, interest etc.

Disciplinarian approach - 0 tolerance, children will misbehave so they must be controlled. -low expectations of behaviour. - a reminder to refresh high expectations of behaviour for every class, even if they have a proven record of consistent poor behaviour. (even poorly behaved students love to be praised)

This is the binary opposite to Proactive, strategic and rational approach to teaching.

Q:RULES, ROUTINES, RESPONSES:

A: Good behaviour encourages successful habits of flourishing academically. Good behaviour improves our mental health, well being, creativity, wellbeing and academic outcomes.

Our job is to create a culture within the classroom that optimises benefit for all children.

Children adapt to a culture by mirroring social norms. We can use this to our advantage by reminding students of what we expect in the classroom, for example encouragement and exercising authority through simple activities such as the seating plan. Its important to insist upon good behaviour and challenge poor behaviour - push back against bad behaviour.

Most of the behaviour you want in a classroom are conventional and repetitive. Routines can be social (how we debate, deal with aggression or conflict etc) but they can also be academic.

Routines save a huge amount of time in the classroom, pre-empts poor behaviour and demonstrates high expectations - enforced by belief and encouragement: e.g. "You should be on time to every one of my lessons unless you have a good reason for it. I believe you can do this, and this will really positively transform your social interactions in the world if you establish yourself as someone that is reliable and consistent".

Reinforce routines with consequences. These can Encourage, Discourage, Clarify, Support and Teach students. Sanctions and rewards are essential part of the feedback system to behaviour. No one strategy is universally effective. Sanctions must be consistent, proportionate and predictable whereas Rewards must be sincere, targeted and proportionate.

Do not reward positive relationships, this is favouritism, equally do not reward badly behaved students for small acts of positive behaviour, this is inconsistent.

Professionalism is more valuable to students than friendship. The 'cool teacher is a poor role model for excellency. Do not teach that which you are unqualified to do so, do not pretend to be a therapist etc.

Q:DEEP DIVES:

A: Sanction, but aim to reconnect and resolve and phrase the interaction in a positive way.

We can exact control within a classroom by utilising the following tactics: Physical Proximity, Causal questions (focussed on learning not behaviour), choice and consequence, tactical ignoring, structured questioning 'what should you be doing?', time off, Time out, simple direction, proximity praise, depersonalised comment, rule reminders, moving students, non-verbal signals, partial agreement, removal from class, name on board, pausing the lesson, private word.

Q:POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

A: Teaching what positive behaviour looks like at every opportunity. "This is how we do it here".

First doing no harm and modelling behavioural literacy as a teacher.

Mistakes learned from and not looked down upon, everyone given chances to succeed.

Team approach

Engaging, accessible and challenging learning curriculum.

Teacher stance of wanting them to do their best.

Support from a wider network.

FAQ

Strategies for classroom management are acquired in practice and collaboration.

Common challenges - consistent low-level disruption, challenging behaviour from particular students, addressing what might be perceived as difficult classes.

Most challenging to STs? - Learning what response to use, when and with whom & not having clear and consistent routines & enacting consequences too eagerly/ hesitating too much.

How to deal with consistently poorly behaved classes - Treat poorly behaved classes as individuals - refocus seating plans, don't be afraid to stop the class, work out ways to convey you want the best for them + bring in others when needed. Persevere and be consistent!

Refresher

Define your professional identity

- Raised as a carer. - BA Fine Art. - MA Research in the Arts. - 1 year experience working in an international boarding school. - Studying PGCE in Secondary Art and Design at UCL.

Make praise specific and meaningful. - use praise to motivate and remind students of focusses, goals and feedback pointers.

What experienced teachers do in first lessons

Student relationships with teachers is communicated organically between years at the same school.

Lesson phases/routines

Entrance

Settling/beginning

Handing out resources

Giving Instructions

Modelling tasks/ answers

On-task

Feeding back

class discussions

End of class - packing away materials.

Observations from a 'first lesson':

VIDEO ONE

resources already distributed. - exam like conditions - nothing is left to chance. - chairs facing the front.

Introduction to self

allocating seating plan

'This is what is going to happen'

'Shall we start this again' - in response to laughing and noise - refocussing the wider group

" girls. no. sit where i've asked you to sit.'

expecting silence

efficient and strict

clear tasks and expectations

consistently polite

counting down from five to bring in focus

short timeframes to accomplish simple tasks.

completing register during a set task - associating the silence with work

time to make sure that the simple tasks have been completed

reestablishing expectations

never sits down, even during register, engaged in the activity of teaching. - hierarchy

asking students to talk in pairs - room set up to facilitate this.

Homework was set at the beginning of the lesson - students focus in on what they need to learn to prepare them for the completion of their homework.

VIDEO TWO

affirming protocols - standing in the right place well done

preparing students for being filmed - expectations

caring and making sure students have had water if they need it.

clear instructions even before the students enter the classroom. "are you ready" separates inside the classroom to outside the classroom.

standing within the children, but maintaining authority.

always smiling - non verbal cues

"I'm going to uphold every single school rule that we have" however.... - separates herself from the institution - a warmer and more caring approach.

encourages students that they are in safe hands - experience and repetition

"I don't want to get your name wrong" - covers herself and shows she is committed to forming a good relationship even if she makes an error.

an act of trust - to complete a simple task while her focus is distracted

'I shouldn't tell you this' - act of trust - explains the consequences of misbehaviour. - possibly too friendly as rules are the structure for a classroom.

asks students to complete tasks together with her if she wants to draw focus - identity of community.

"Your safety is much more important than anything else".

I hope we will have two fun years. - I will make these two years as easy for you as I possibly can.

Proceeds to explain expectations - also uses this time to reassure students of any worries.

comparisons:

used friendliness/person-ability to show that she expected compliance

separated herself from the institution

builds rapport by trusting students to complete tasks and by showing care.

possibly too friendly as 'undermines her authority to enforce rules'.

notes from group discussion

- The routine of entering the class. understanding specific language 'do now' etc.

the teacher was not supervising his class, because he was looking outside his class for arriving students. In response to this, it's important to stay in supervision, authority and control of the class.

-----

#ITAP