Resolving Behaviour Problems in your School

A Practical Guide for Teachers and Support Staff

Chris Lee

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9781412924146, 9781412924139
• eBook ISBN: 9781446235645
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

?Lee is sensitive to the challenges that face both staff and pupils and gives many ideas for challenging and changing what we do in school. He doesn?t shy away from the difficulties involved in confronting established values, offering to ?shine light? through structured staff discussion on our preconceived ideas and prejudices...this book will prove to be a useful additional reference for many working at all phases of education? - Special

?Chris Lee?s book ably balances well argued and developed theoretical and practical approaches to behaviour policy and practice. There is also a consistent emphasis - a crucial emphasis- on the need to develop a collegially supportive culture in the management and support of student behaviour in schools. Again, Chris sets out useful, credible and practical guidelines for such support. I commend this book to teachers and school leaders to enable an informed, serious and grounded review of behaviour management?- Bill Rogers, Education Consultant, Author, Lecturer and Adjunct Professor of Education at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.

Dealing with difficult or inappropriate behaviour in schools can be a daunting task for any teacher, regardless of experience. This book provides insights into contemporary issues that inform better behaviour management in schools and practical advice on how to enhance it through policy and practice.

Taking a whole-school policy approach, it:

-looks at how the behaviour of adults,

children and the school itself affect pupil

behaviour

- provides a framework for schools to

follow, showing them how to generate

their own Behaviour Policy

- contains practical activities to use with a

variety of staff as part of

INSET/Professional Development

- takes a whole staff approach and

includes advice for teaching assistants

and as well as teachers

- offers suggestions for ways to

disseminate best practice throughout the

school

A must read for teachers, teaching assistants and other professionals who work in schools.

Chris Lee is Principal Lecturer in Education and Head of the School of Continuing Professional Development at the University of Plymouth.

1

Policy outlines, processes and principles

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This chapter examines the nature of a behaviour management policy and advocates that it should inform positive relationships in schools. There are suggestions for ways in which it can be constructed, reviewed and evaluated. Emphasis is placed on the importance of a range of staff being involved, if not all staff, and the process of discussion and debate that needs to be engaged with before any final written version is published.

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The issue of behaviour management in schools constantly comes to the forefront of the concerns of school professionals. Discussion and debate in various arenas, especially the media, fail to arrive at any kind of consensus, other than to suggest that it is serious and that the behaviour of young people, not only teenagers but also young children, is often deemed to be getting worse. The debate is often characterised by two sets of opinions which appear polarised. On the one hand, there are those for whom the only answer is sending children with behaviour difficulties to special schools or centres so that ‘teachers can get on with their job’, which is seen as delivering the curriculum. On the other hand, there are those who believe that teaching is about helping young people to change and mature to take their place in a highly complex society and that this is best achieved through countering the negative pressures that exist for children by providing inclusive environments and stable, positive classroom climates. There was a recent case in the UK of a media debate in which the two positions rehearsed their arguments with increasing heat and lack of respect for each other’s positions. As the debate became ever more acrimonious the participants displayed the kinds of behaviours that all parties were bemoaning such as constant interruption, belittling others and presenting views in an aggressive manner. The debate crystallised around a single case study of a teenager who had sworn extensively at a member of staff. One solution was immediate exclusion and the reply was that, given fair and equal application of the rule, such a response, if applied universally, would lead to a sharp decline in student numbers and a massive special unit building programme! There was no resolution of the conflict and no solution arrived at and, although mention was made of the fact that schools are caught in traps from which there appear to be no release buttons, it did not foster a more understanding approach.

The motivation of a school to continue to work with pupils whose behaviour is difficult is often a mixture of the altruistic and pragmatic. In the case of the former it is a professional desire to keep working with the pupil and looking for ways to bring about change. In the case of the latter schools often need to keep pupils on their pupil register because their funding is linked to pupil numbers, therefore exclusion leads to funding decline. However, schools are also driven by a standards agenda and know that difficult behaviour can impact on learning and pupil achievement. They lose if they keep pupils and they lose if they do not, but most teachers and teaching assistants want to work with pupils with behaviour difficulties and seek to help them to change and achieve in schools. School often represents the best opportunity to break into what is perceived as a downward spiral. This positive attitude is encapsulated in a statement that sets out how the broad areas of pupil behaviour will be approached – the behaviour management policy. What follows is about that policy, its framework, the values that underpin it, its aims and the practice that it seeks to nurture or counter.

What is a behaviour policy?

At its simplest the function of a policy on behaviour, or indeed a policy on any aspect of a school, is to ensure that all interested parties know the ideas and practices that will underpin day-to-day life in the school. But a policy can be more than a document that mirrors practice; it can be a statement of aspirations and represent a direction that is forward and dynamic. It is here that the message of respect and dignity emerges. McNamara (1999) identifies three levels in the management of pupil behaviour. Level 1 is a pupil management policy, Level 2 looks at classroom practices and Level 3 at individual pupil management strategies. All three are covered in this book but, although separated as chapters, they link together and are part of a single coherent policy that permeates much that goes on in an effective school.

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STAFF DEVELOPMENT EXERCISE

SDE 1.1 WHAT IS A BEHAVIOUR POLICY?

In small groups, answer questions a–c.Then, a whole group discussion, examine your own school’s statement or seek to create one.

a Which statement below do you relate to most and why?

b Which statement is the best description of the behaviour policy in your school?

c Create your own description of a policy you would like to see in your school. Begin with:‘It is a policy that …’

1 It is a document that describes our practices and sets out clearly what is expected of pupils.

2 It is a document that states what kind of school this is, what rules are in place, what rewards we offer and what sanctions apply if rules are broken.

3 It is a document that represents the ideas and values that we hold to be true about our school, informs the standards of behaviour we expect and sets out aspirations for the development of positive relationships in our school.

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Resolving Behaviour Problems in Your School, Paul Chapman Publishing © Chris Lee 2007.

A crucial word in the third statement is ‘we’. ‘We’ may be the senior managers of the school, even the senior manager given the task of writing the document over a cold weekend prior to potential inspection, which is both cynical and regrettably has been known. ‘We’ could be staff who, after extensive discussion and deliberation, have reached agreement about their beliefs, hopes and practices. ‘We’ could also represent staff who, after extensive discussion with pupils, parents and governors, have reached consensus about best practices and aspirations. Whatever ‘we’ stands for, effective policy is linked to collaborative approaches, shared school based research and a recognition of the value of the process of devising policy and not about imposed solutions, instant fixes and simple prescriptions for success. If the argument against this is ‘we do not have the time to develop policy in this way’, consideration might be given to the time lost through ineffective approaches, disagreement and demoralisation of staff, dealing with parental problems and stress related illness in staff. The value of the journey cannot be emphasised enough.

Writing a policy never really starts with a blank piece of paper because much is already decided, if not made explicit. The experience and values of the authors of the document, the framework that they are working within such as any previous documents, the school structure and the requirements of external inspection and internal governor groups all contribute to the starting point. One possible starting point would be to gather data from a variety of parties including governors, parents, other schools, all staff and, of course, pupils. In terms of application of policy it might circumvent future problems if the policy is endorsed by parents or their representative groups, or, even better than endorsement, if parent groups feel that they have made a contribution to the construction phase. In seeking parental opinions the school not only receives their views but is also able to raise awareness about key issues and generate a two-way flow of information. When confronted by disagreements later in the school year from individual parents, to have the support of general parental opinion helps counter potential conflict.

Before moving on to consider the structure and range of policies one key theme needs to be elaborated on – consistency. Throughout this book the significance of consistency is emphasised. This means that the application of policy and the procedures developed through it should be the same for all. It is the promotion of a view that pupils believe in fairness and wish to see it applied by and modelled by staff. However, it does not mean that teachers and teaching assistants respond robotically and chant the mantras of policy metronomically. Staff bring variety of personality and professional skills to the classroom and pupils sense this. In the case of personality, a sense of humour, perhaps eccentricity or passion for subject, can all be attractive for pupils and the plea for consistency herein does not inhibit any of these. In terms of temperament, everyone has off days, including pupils, and relationships in classrooms are the better for them as this reflects social norms. The consistency referred to here is about processes, ideas and mutual support. Individuality is essential as long as it does not undermine the work of colleagues.

Contemporary thinking, advice and legislation often lead to a formula for a policy that results in statements of values and expectations which are linked, rules and sanctions for breaking rules, the rights and responsibilities embodied within them and how they influence relationships. Often included are the procedures that support practice, and show how the policy was devised and what action is required should it be deemed necessary. Procedural statements help pupils, staff and parents understand what to do, who to contact and who is responsible for particular aspects. Sometimes a policy is designed around or makes reference to specific theories that influence or support practices. In this case, compatibility of theories is essen...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of staff development exercises
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Foreword
• Preface
• How to use this book
• 1 Policy outlines, processes and principles
• 2 Theory that guides policy and practice
• 3 The positive framework of the school and classroom
• 4 The negative side: punishment to restoration
• 5 Influence in the classroom: the skilled adult
• 6 Interventions: principles and practices
• 7 Some final thoughts
• Appendix: Planning sheet for Staff Development Exercises
• Bibliography
• Index