Diary of an NQT
MANAGING BEHAVIOUR MANAGING BEHAVIOUR
Tackling the wilds of Chesham
THIS WEEK has had a ring of normality to it an interest in the ongoing Chess Club sufficed well
and, combined with the weather, I must say it’s a enough I thought.
welcome breath of fresh air. To be honest, it is the Duke of Edinburgh Award
However, there are inklings that this won’t be the that is the most exciting of the lot for me, and it is
case for long with many more activities and about to get a whole lot more exciting this
responsibilities looming on the horizon week.
Behaviour management
– I can all but hope though. At present I have been helping with
At the moment there are lots of some of the standard administration
cards on the table that are about and organisation, but one of the main
to be played. Friday will see the aspects is the expedition and I was
deadline for my GCSE sociology thrilled to be given the choice this
coursework. week of two trips to go on.
The normal begging for an One was described to me as
extension is coming from some “clean and easy”, the other as “rough
students, but it is falling on deaf and ready”! It was a straightforward
ears – extenuating circumstances or decision for me.
nothing I have made very, very clear. And so this weekend will see us
As much as I like this method of based at a Chesham scout camp where
assessment and the chance it offers pupils the pupils will have varied orienteering
to have more individuality with their activities to complete, while we
work, it is going to be the marking that (assisted by cars!) will guide them
will get me – around 30 minutes a along at various checkpoints.
piece for 40 pupils’ work. Initially, I had visions of
It is looking, as the pupils would hiking along the moors and scenes
say, “long”. reminiscent to An American
The AS course has picked up Werewolf in London, but it looks
speed too, and with a little bit as if the “rough and ready” option
of resistance coming from some may be much more pleasurable than
students, extra revision classes are I might have feared.
being drawn up for after school! So at last I’m actually going to be paid
Anyway, these aspects aside, after the Easter to travel, it is like a dream situation for me
break it will not be all heads in books for the (I’m sure most others wouldn’t complain).
pupils or, indeed, for me. However, we will have to wait and see
The standard question of “what can you offer whether I survive the wilds of Chesham!
the school in the way of extra-curricular activities?”
actually came up in my interview the other week, • This year, our weekly NQT diarist is Charles
and I think my commitment is good in this area. Aubeeluck, a qualified citizenship teacher who
Certainly the response I gave to the question teaches sociology and health and social care at
sounded okay – DJ club, Duke of Edinburgh, and Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in west London.
Teach it like Torno!
A kick in the teeth for us all
“When you go home, tell them of us and say, for Moreover, I want people who want to be teachers,
their tomorrow, we gave our today.” John Maxwell not those who have been made redundant and feel it
Edmonds. is something they can do until the economic climate
As many of you will undoubtedly know, these picks up.
are the immortal words that appear on numerous It is no accident that the government has announced
memorials to soldiers across the world. They should this in the current banking crisis. In reality it is a kick
also appear in every classroom, as this is also what in the teeth for all of the dedicated men and women
teachers do. who give up hours and hours of their time without
We give up our lives (voluntarily of course) so that recompense. How dare Jim Knight come out with
others may become what they want to become. This is such claptrap. If he genuinely feels that teaching
why this week I was absolutely appalled is that easy perhaps he ought to pilot the
with the government announcement scheme himself and teach for six months
that it intends to explore the in an inner London comprehensive. Once
possibility of a six-month training he has had his backside chewed he can
programme to attract some of the then pontificate on the ease with
so-called “high flyers” into the which we swan about failing and mild forms of autism are frequently mistaken for
profession. the next generation.
Former teacher
bad behaviour.
What message does that send The reality is that, yes, Time for a “true story” before we move on. Here’s
to the rest of us? Is it that we are not we do need to be serious Di Taylor an example from my career.
good enough and must be replaced about recruiting the best I started a new job as an English teacher at a school
by these techno wizards who are out there and then providing
on effective
for severely dyslexic students, 95 per cent boys. I had
clearly more up for the job than the widest possible not met any of the students prior to this. On my first
we are? Better still, why doesn’t the opportunities so that new day, I taught years 10 and 11 first – not easy classes,
government go one step further and entrants can excel.
behaviour
but manageable. However, over coffee in the staffroom,
sell a teacher training pack in the local However, colleagues, there were many nudges when I was asked which class
supermarket? Businessmen who find we must never compromise management for new I had next. It was year 9 and I could sense the smirks
themselves out of a job could buy on what we believe education coming.
one of these kits and complete their to be about. Neither must we
teachers in new schools
“You’ll find them, um, challenging,” said one
training over the weekend. They sell our souls to the business member of staff. “Don’t even start the lesson, just send
could then go to their local school world and be dictated to by EHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT them out!” smirked another. “Don’t go in,” a third
and save the children from the people who never had an interest in piped up, “…just joking! And good luck. You’ll need
rest of us incompetents. other human beings until they found it!” they added.
When they have managed to themselves in financial peril. I went in feeling like I had a rope gripping my neck
do that they can attend a half- Teaching has always been about and shoulder muscles – a feeling that never left me
day course on “how to be an relationships, and therefore the best teachers for the whole of the first term when facing this group.
effective head”. They can then connect with their students and inspire them. B
are two words that can mean the
difference between coping and not
coping for students and teachers
alike. Are we managing bad or good
behaviour, or both? Are students who
want to, given the chance to learn? There were four boys waiting, nudging each other, and
complete the job of turning our It doesn’t matter what subject the teacher This article cannot hope to kill or cure all the a pair of legs disappearing out of the (ground floor)
school communities into businesses is teaching, but whether they can instil their difficulties teachers may have to handle, but it at least window. I ignored the latter and asked them where the
and churning out meaningless figures learners with hope and self-belief. shares some ideas, and hopefully will give you means others were.
that we can all have access to and then If the government is serious about these with which to expand, experiment, and discover new “Dead,” came one reply. I could see one at least,
arrange in the form of a table for the proposals and they become reality, perhaps theories or methods. crammed under the cabinet in the corner.
numerous stakeholders to discuss (since we will see the end of teachers with genuine We all have different interpretations of behavioural This was a class of eight severely dyslexic boys,
when did the term stakeholder come educational vision and the final triumph of management depending on our own previous some of whom had ADHD too, all from broken homes,
into being? If you ask me, a stakeholder is ambition over opportunity. Education is still the experiences. Facing a new class is always a challenge, six of them boarders, and some had been excluded
a person holding up a piece of meat). one major way in which individuals can carve so before entering, ask questions and encourage teachers from previous schools. One had tried to commit
Forget about children’s life chances, this is not out a future for themselves no matter what their to be honest. If there is any suggestion that your new suicide at primary school, one had Asperger’s and was
what matters any more. What matters is whether the background. class might sport a challenge, find out: obsessional about eating (among other things), and one
next generation can speak and act in business terms. Once we begin to erode this philosophy the • Are there just one or two causing difficulties? Why took drugs. They all self-harmed.
The truth is that as a professional tutor who mentors purpose of education changes, and, as you know, is this? They were not friends as such, just schoolmates,
student teachers, I would argue that the government colleagues, the purpose of education is to change • Is the whole class misbehaving? Or the whole but they bonded against the teacher, especially as I was
needs to consider extending the training period to lives, or, at least, that is what I thought. Silly me! school? a threat – I was their new English teacher, their worst
two years to ensure that those entering the profession After you have asked these questions, you need to subject. However, I knew little of this when I walked
are as fully prepared as possible. This goes for those • David Torn is professional tutor and an advanced make a clear plan before you face the class and keep to through that door. The hour-long lesson seemed like a
seeking a second career as well. I am not convinced skills teacher at St Edward’s Comprehensive School it. Also, ensure that there is someone you can call on if year, and I could not have survived without the aid of a
that because someone has had a successful career in Essex. He is the London Secondary School Teacher things get difficult. class assistant who knew the students well.
elsewhere they can stroll into a classroom and gain of the Year 2007 and is passionate that the purpose of In addition to these starting points, remember that They did not get easier as they got older, and proved
the respect of the students. education is to change lives. He returns in two weeks. the National Association for Special Educational Needs to be the most taxing bunch I have ever had to work
has emphasised in the past that the symptoms of ADHD with. By year 11, two had been “moved on”, but the rest
8 SecEd • March 26 2009
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