CONTRIBUTORS


“How to boss your day in the classroom”


This month, regular Education Today contributor GRAHAM COOPER, head of education at Capita SIMS, returns to examine some of the issues around classroom behaviour.


Managing classroom behaviour has become an increasingly hot topic in schools recently and is now being recognised as one of the major contributing factors impacting the mental health of the nation’s teachers. I recently read an article in response to a report on pupil behaviour


which suggested that as many as 40% of teachers feel as though they are struggling to cope with poor behaviour. This highlights a downturn in behaviour from school children and adds to the ongoing strain that teachers up and down the country are feeling. The stresses and challenges placed on teachers are, without doubt,


greater than they’ve ever been –demanding inspections, reduced budgets trimming down resources and support, as well as ever- growing workloads all mean that there is less time available to squeeze in even more tasks. It’s no wonder that teachers are struggling to cope, and many are considering alternative career options. Despite the challenges, there are definitely ways to improve what


can seem like a never ending tug of war with your class. I recently hosted a guest webinar with the pupil behaviour expert Dr


Sue Cowley, on the subject: ‘How to boss your day in the classroom’. In her presentation Sue outlined some excellent strategies for not just dealing with poor behaviour but encouraging individuals and groups of pupils to behave better. One of the key tactics she discussed was an approach that


effectively ignores the bad behaviour and rewards the good. On the surface, this might sound easy but in reality, it can take incredible patience to deny kids the attention they are seeking when playing up and instead shine a light on pupils demonstrating how you’d like them all to behave. While it’s impossible to completely ignore poor behaviour, which


often starts at a low level but can rapidly create disruption in the classroom, there’s a definite balance to be found. Schools all have their own, individual behaviour policies and it can often help to outline these from day one, both with pupils but also parents, to create a more united front. On the subject of policies, Ofsted have recently shifted their own


view on behaviour, looking to encourage schools to define and deliver their own policies, often with stricter punishments and penalties. That said, there could in turn be a risk of imposing excessively strict


codes of conduct that crack down on sometimes trivial issues, rather than looking to reinforce the positive. Finding the right balance on pupil behaviour and encouraging self-


discipline rather than enforcing a ‘police state’ will no doubt continue to be a challenge for teachers and school staff, but I’m sure that very few children arrive on school grounds with the intention of causing disruption and behaving badly. As Sue made clear in her webinar, sometimes all it takes is a teacher


who exudes confidence in their actions and consistency in their delivery to let the children know who’s in charge and where they stand.


You can still access the webinar from Sue Cowley on the subject of pupil behaviour, with a wide range of excellent tactics and strategies, by registering your details at capita-sims.co.uk/EdTodayDec18.


18 www.education-today.co.uk


Including independent learning in the classroom


This month, regular Education Today contributor KIRSTY BERTENSHAWlooks at independent learning and offers some practical tips for teachers wanting to implement it in the classroom.


There are many benefits to independent learning in the classroom, including preparing students for their futures as they continue their education. It also gives responsibility for learning to the students themselves. It equips students with problem solving skills, the ability to summarise information and to manage their own time, and allows teachers to move around the room and interact with students.


How can you include independent learning? Scaffold the activity with questions to guide the students through their learning process. Structure is vital. The more open the questions, the more independent the learning will be. Model the process of independent learning and show good examples of independently produced work to demonstrate what can be achieved. A helpful corner is already in some classrooms, or could be set up with


reference materials, dictionaries and textbooks. Often for subjects such as science, classes have to share sets of books, so they aren’t always available. If one of each textbook can be provided in the helpful corner, then students can share the resources. If possible, a computer can provide access the internet for research. Information hunts with reference material stuck around the room can


provide the information and is easily accessible for all students to see. Alternatively, information can be provided as hand outs with students needing to summarise the information or extract the facts. For particularly able students, a variety of sources can be provided to use with the question scaffold. Don’t forget a success criterion - produce a list for the students for each


independent learning task. Students can check this throughout the task. They can use this for self-assessment too!


Checking progress and achievement Trust! For successful independent learning, students must be trusted to attempt the task. Give opportunities for students to succeed! Walk around and monitor progress visually and from afar to identify students that actually do need guidance. Use a positive approach rather than reprimanding those that haven’t applied the expected effort. Encourage students with open ended questions or put the onus on them. There will always be students who disengage in the classroom, but the teacher can then focus on these students without detriment to the other students learning. It is vital to encourage refection on the activity. Students could self-


assess their work, commenting on effort and achievement. For this to be truthful process, students need to be able to be honest about it without sanctions for lack of effort. A different approach might employ learning journals. These can be completed at the end of each lesson by each student. Teachers should make it clear that these reflections are not for marking but will benefit the students themselves if completed properly. Formative feedback on the task will monitor progress and achievement,


advising students of how to improve their learning. Independent learning tasks take time to create and set up, they are a


reflective process for teachers too, needing tweaking until they are the best they can be for a class. Students will need to practise the skills multiple times to become confident with them. Don’t give up! The benefits of the skills outweigh the patience needed to include this regularly in lessons. And remember, you don’t need to be high energy teachers all the time!


Kirsty is the founder of STEMtastic, an education consultancy with a focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths www.stemtastic.co.uk


December 2018


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