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Pincer Movement - Working with Parents to Change Behaviour

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:21:00 +0100

First published in Teach Nursery – July '11

Handing over a child at the end of the day with a detailed crime sheet seems like a responsible act. The trouble is that many young children struggle to recall what happened 5 minutes ago, let alone the paint splattered hair pulling struggle that kicked off at lunchtime. As the parent (through slightly clenched teeth) thanks you for the information they try to hide their embarrassment from others. Whisking their child away you can see them wondering how to correct the litany of paint, poking and poo crimes remotely. The truth is that parents can't remotely control their children and unless there is a well-communicated, focused and agreed plan the crime sheet will make a daily appearance.

The old metaphor of the child as a three-legged stool supported by nursery, home and community is still relevant today. Take a leg away and the child starts to wobble. Work out how to communicate effectively with and engage parents and you can give stability back to the wobbliest children.

For children who struggle to control their behaviour a clear, simple and practical agreement must be in place with the home. One that fits with the approach at nursery and that is targeted to change one behaviour at a time.
Conversations at the door can elicit defensive reactions from even the calmest parent. Meet in private to discuss behaviour. When you meet resist the urge to reveal the entire catalogue of crimes. The meeting must be a genuine request for support. Ask questions, refuse to discuss other children and keep the collaborative atmosphere irresistible. Criticise the child and parents can infer personal criticism. Gently negotiate the level of rewards and sanctions that might be appropriate. In some homes sanctions still result in physical punishment, in others rewards are over inflated. Be specific and negotiate small rewards and small sanctions. It is not the size of the sanction or reward but the speed and manner in which given.

Sharpen the lines of communication and try a very simple practical approach. With paper wristbands that you will have seen at swimming pools or festivals you can communicate discreetly with all parents and sustain a consistent approach. For each child note down the 5 key daily activities on the wristband. All parents now have a chance to have an insight into what their child has been doing and to have an informed conversation at the dinner table. This clarity means that parents can ask their children about the day rather than rely on the child telling them . For children who need support with their behaviour you can agree a subtle coding so that the parent knows not just what happened but when it happened and what the child was doing. Try different colour pens to code it or small dots to indicate good behaviour and ticks to identify problem areas. The quality of the conversation at home, the ability to recall and the willingness to discuss are immediately enhanced.

Start with the good stuff....

You will find that starting communication with parents with positive news about the behaviour of their child is a much easier way in. It also makes them more disposed to support you when there are problems. If you contact parents for the first time with bad news they will make assumptions about how you deal with behaviour. If you open your discussion with the crimes the response may well be defensive. Send some positive notes home early in the new term and you will get parents on side quickly. Let the parent know the good stuff first so that you can set the poor behaviour in context. When they realize that you recognize the good behaviour first they will be more disposed to listen and act on the bad news.

Now agree with the parent a simple rule to focus on for the first week. This is not to say you are going to ignore other behaviours but that one will have a strong emphasis. It is this behaviour that will be discussed at home, reviewed over breakfast and reinforced on the journey in. It is this behaviour that is the focus for rewards and sanctions if necessary. With parent, child and NN all trying to adjust a single behaviour the chances of success are vastly increased.
The children get to choose different coloured wrist bands, parents enjoy subtle communication and the behaviour can be monitored by the home as well as the nursery. At the same time there is a consistency in the language and the message. Parents and NN can encourage positive approaches while matching consequences. Behaviour in the nursery starts to echo through the home.
Of course if the children are wearing wristbands you might want to include information that may be useful to other members of staff as well as the parents. Smiley face stickers to indicate that the child has been to the toilet a note to say Dad is doing the pick up or a reminder of allergies that we need to be aware of. Analogue paper solutions may not be very 21st century but they are simple enough to work, are easily sustainable and can be used immediately.
The management of parents is often far more tricky that managing the behaviour of the children. Tempting Carly out from behind the coats seems like a walk in the park compared to meeting with her mother. With strategies for both mother and daughter you can create a consistency that ripples through the classroom and the home.

Meet the Parent

Try not to dive in with the conversation that you want to have. Diffuse the parents anxiety before you discuss their child's behaviour or the two may become one.
Ask for help and advice. Try not to tell the parent how to manage their child's behaviour but search for collaborative approaches.
Make notes during the meeting so that you can send the parent a record of what you have discussed.
Try to understand the style of parenting and the common approaches at home.
Make small agreements that last a week and are then reviewed.
Don't discuss the behaviour of other children or the attitude of other parents during the meeting.
After the meeting refer to any agreements made between you in private and not in front of other parents.
Describe incidents by presenting the facts and not your judgment on what has happened or your emotional response. If the parent feels that the child is being judged or labeled any negotiations will be an uphill struggle.

Start with the good stuff...

Watch out for...

Becoming too familiar and informal with parents - certainly in the early stages of the relationship they may interpret your throwaway remarks as an indicator of your level of professionalism and commitment to their child. Keep your conversation friendly but always professional and don't take risks by being indiscreet or flippant.
Making assumptions about the domestic circumstances of a student. Your complaints about punctuality may seem trivial when you discover just how many people are living in one house or that there has been a recent bereavement in the family.

Punishment Road

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:05:00 +0100

First published on the Guardian Education Blog in January 2012

Most behaviour systems are based on the Punishment Road. The idea that for every behaviour there is a punishment to fit the crime. A punishment that is severe enough to give the child experience a road to Damascus and change their ways. For children who won't ‘do as they are told' the solution is to punish them, in increments of severity, until they will. Walk to the end of the Punishment Road in the criminal justice system and you will find segregation, removal of possessions and pain. How we treat young people who won't do as they are told hasn't changed much in the last 100 years.

For children who are scared of the Punishment Road it can be an effective deterrent. Yet for children who are behaving differently because of emotional trauma suffered at home or because they have communication and learning difficulties the Punishment Road heaps pain on problems. Delivering increasingly severe punishment on vulnerable and damaged children is not just unfair, it is cruel. These children are not scared of punishment. What they are coping with in their own lives far outweighs any threats that school can issue.

There is a reason why we have the highest reoffending rates in Western Europe, a reason why sticking children in silent detentions or imprisoning them in isolation cells doesn't solve anything. Damaged children need people, not punishment. It is time that we gave them what they need to succeed not simply what we feel they deserve. Many teachers recognise this but are stuck with a system and philosophy that insists punishment is the answer. School behaviour systems are structured around the punishment road. Children are given what they deserve for their ‘crimes' with scant regard for what they need.

During the riots in the Summer I heard an interview with a Hackney resident that cut to the heart of the matter. "They took away the people. We have the buildings, (youth clubs, advice centres, etc) but they have taken away the people!" The youth workers, support teachers and mentors were the ones that the young people were invested in. There is no excuse for rioting but you can perhaps understand the feeling of abandonment. Young people who have been let down by adults before are asked to trust again and then let down again. It doesn't take long to be convinced that everyone is giving up and to sense that your options are narrowing fast.

Sculpt your behaviour policy around the control philosophy of the Punishment Road and it affects every conversation on behaviour. It taints every interaction. When the intervention reaches an impasse, the ‘big sticks' are brought out and threats of punishment increase. The labelling begins as children receive increasingly severe punishments and (unsurprisingly) do not respond. We stopped calling children who couldn't read properly ‘stupid' a long time ago. We stopped standing them in the corner and laughing at them. Yet we still call damaged children ‘naughty', ‘challenging', ‘bad', give them a label and pretend punishment with make them better.

Paul Dix "Like Bill Rogers and Michael Mcintyre on speed!"is touring the UK with his transformative keynotes, seminars and INSET for schools and colleges.

www.pivotaleducation.com

@PivotalPaul

It is not the quality of your carrot that counts but the skill with which you dangle it!

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:35:00 +0100

As a newly qualified teacher I would spend part of most weekends spending my ‘hard earned' on rubbers, pencils, creme eggs (ah...remember when sweets were an acceptable currency) and assorted material rewards. I wanted to show my appreciation for pupils who were making a real effort and assumed that what mattered to them was what I could afford to buy. Working in a mobile classroom in Newham, East London in an area of socio economic deprivation, I was surprised to learn that what my pupils really valued was my time, my attention, a positive relationship and the chance to work in an atmosphere that was relentlessly nurturing. Instead of spending my money I spent my energy. Instead of trying to reward them from my own pocket, I made use of the resources I had around me; colleagues, other children and most importantly perhaps, the people at home.

For me the catalyst to understanding rewards was the positive note and phone call home. Positive notes home connect home and school and have impact on a number of different levels. Parents see that appropriate behaviour ought to be rewarded, that their child's teacher is taking action to encourage good choices and for some that their child is capable of controlling their behaviour. The wording is important. With a positive note you can shift the responsibility for material rewards where it should be, to the home:

‘Trevor has made a great effort to behave well today. I am so pleased with his positive attitude to work and school. If you would like to follow up with a reward at home it would be well deserved.'

Once earned, Trevor is able to use the reward in different ways; firstly as a bargaining chip ‘Please can I go to the cinema/buy a book/play on the computer/kick my little brother, look this note from my teacher says I am doing really well in class', secondly as a counter balance to the less welcome letters that begin ‘Dear Mrs Trevor, I am sorry to have to tell you that Trevor has been involved in vandalism/bullying/racketeering/small arms dealing etc', and finally as something just to keep under the pillow, look at and smile.

Parents would often berate me at parents evening ‘You are the bloke who has covered my fridge in purple notes; it's costing me a fortune in Spiderman accessories!" Then they would smile and tell me how much they appreciated knowing when things were going well. How they enjoyed receiving positive phone calls on a Friday evening (a great start to the weekend) and how they had noticed an improved attitude in their child towards me, the work and the school. The parents also recognised how their child was becoming a skilled negotiator and how the positive contact had a currency in the home.

The rewards that have a lasting impact are those which, like positive contact, mark moments, those that make the day stand out from the others, those that cannot be ignored
by the child: Positive referral (‘Please go and show this work to Mr Glover, he will be so impressed at the detail and creativity of your story'), private and sincere verbal praise acknowledgement, pointed positive reinforcement, certificates and merit assemblies and yes, if you choose to use it, appropriate reaffirming touch.

Wanted: Stop and praise on sight

In your staff briefing on a Monday morning try nominating one or two pupils who have made a determined effort to make good choices in their behaviour over the past week. Display their photographs so that everyone can recognise them, then ask every member of staff, teaching and non teaching to stop them and congratulate them when they see them around the site that day. Such a high level of personal, sincere, verbal praise can make a lasting impact, make the day stand out and sweep away negative preconceptions or damaging self imposed labels. It also allows staff to openly admit that they discuss the behaviour of pupils in the staff room!

Raffle madness

Many schools choose to hold up larger prizes to try and motivate pupils. The idea is that the larger the prize the greater the motivation to stay on the right path; cue headlines, ‘Bikes and iPods for naughty children' in the Daily Mail. There can be many ways to earn a raffle ticket for such a lottery. Sometimes this is connected to behaviour, attendance, achievement or all three. Yet the raffle is an exclusive lottery which serves to reward only one child, albeit very heavily! Children who have come to school every day, rain or shine, cold or cough and achieved 100% attendance are rewarded with a 1 in 300 chance of ‘The Golden Bicycle'. Those whose parents sleep in or who keep them at home are excluded. Those who are struggling to control their behaviour are left watching at the sidelines, those who get frustrated by learning wonder why they cannot join in. In a raffle, every child does not matter.

In schools where reward systems are successful they are consistently applied, finely tailored, beautifully served and universally valued by teachers and pupils. It is less important what reward system you use; marbles in the jar, stickers on the chart, tallies, names on the board, merit points, credits, stars, house points. The system is not the determinate but how the reward is applied; quiet moments of acknowledgement for some, public praise for others, or the gentle smile of the appreciative adult accompanied with praise that is nurturing, affirming and meaningful. ‘Kaylea you must feel fantastic about your design, you worked so hard on the accuracy of your lines, beautiful, can I use it for the display?' rather than ‘Well done, here's your raffle ticket'.

When rewards are given for appropriate behaviour and then taken away for poor choices, you can encourage too much negotiation. ‘Oh please Miss, I know that I set fire to Constantine but if I am good for the rest of the lesson can I still go out to play?'. Efficient reward systems do not mix rewards and sanctions; they co exist in the classroom just as
they do in life. Imagine driving to work, get caught speeding and then in the next moment stopping to let a school group cross the road. Two choices result in different consequences, the sanction of the fine and the smile of the accompanying parents. One does not cancel out or reduce the other.

Can pupils get sick of carrots?

With so much debate focused on rewards many teachers wonder if it is possible to reward too much, if overuse of praise and reward can have a negative effect. We can certainly appear insincere and unfair if our rewards are disproportionate, ‘Trevor the way that you have managed not to stab Chloe that much in the last few minutes is remarkable. Have an all expenses paid trip to Flordia for your trouble', or if we reward children for skills that they have already mastered,' Luqman, you have written you name so neatly on your book, your letters are lovely, and you have spelled it correctly,' ‘Thanks Miss but I am in the top literacy group....and in Year 6'. However I believe that we should only worry about overusing sincere and meaningful praise when we hear the children complain about positive teaching styles the way that they complain about those who are more hostile ‘I am fed up with Mrs Jackson, she is always praising me and giving me rewards. Yesterday she got right in my face and told me how lovely I am!'

Differentiating rewards

The skill in delivering rewards is through your differentiation. Younger children need rewards that are more immediate, older children can keep sight of rewards that are delayed until the end of the day, week or half term. For children who have learned negative or disruptive behaviour patterns smaller rewards may need to be given more often while a new pattern of behaviour is being established. This should be a temporary adjustment and instead of rewarding them with a whole merit you might want to split the merit into 5 tallies or cut a post it note into 5 sections so that your differentiation for one does not become unfair on the rest. Children with low self image and low self esteem can find it difficult to accept praise in public or in private. The drip, drip of your consistent reinforcement will gradually (over a week, month, year for some children) dissuade the child of their limiting self belief. At the point at which the child asks you why you keep telling them that they are intelligent/able/skilled the door eases open to the possibility that your judgement may be right. A new behaviour cycle is learned and the old one nudged into obscurity, a new expectation is established and a better relationship promoted.

Whatever ‘carrot' you choose it is not a true reward but a token that represents something far more important. Material rewards offer brief pleasure but not lasting satisfaction. For the rewards that pupils value above others are relational, the good opinion of their peers, teachers and parents, gentle smiles of appreciation, a quiet word for some, public praise for others. These rewards are the foundation for an inspirational relationship with a teacher that offers satisfaction today, tomorrow and for a lifetime

7 Relational Rewards

Acknowledgement
Positive reinforcement
Private, sincere verbal praise
Positive referral (internal)
Positive note home
Positive phone call
Merit assembly

10 Favourite Ideas for Rewards

Wanted posters in the staff room: ‘If you see this child, stop and praise'.
Coded merits for different types of appropriate behaviour
Peer feedback that requires 3 positive observations before giving a critical opinion
Showcase work of small groups of children on school website
Random rewards given by SLT on ‘walkabout'
Photographs of students on the display next to their work
Allowing a student to be the teacher for a lesson
Having lunch/playing a game/reading with my teacher
Pupil CV's where their best work is filed
Specialist advisor status - pupil is released to give help to others during the lesson

Sweary Mary or ‘Did she just say what I thought she said!?

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 11:01:00 +0100

First published in Teach Nursery Magazine

Context and why it is happening

Children have always been attracted to the power of words to cause a disproportionate reaction. The prevalence of swearing in daily life means that it is hard live in a swear free bubble. Tolerance of swearing has increased significantly on broadcast media. On social media and the internet, censorship is at the discretion of the user. Some parents have given up trying to keep the air clean for their children. In some homes there is a mist of blue as swearing punctuates every exchange. Unfortunately children bring this punctuation into the nursery. What do you do when your otherwise perfectly behaved 3 yr old starts swearing like a bricky?

Before we run away with the idea that the frequency of swearing is uniquely British, it is worth remembering that in many countries the attitude towards swearing is very different. I remember attending an end of term performance in a Spanish primary, where the assemble parents were told to F******ing shut up by the headteacher in front of a stage full of children. No one batted an eyelid. They barely looked up from their lunchtime wine and Fortuna cigarettes (really). Before we imagine that we are on a sinking ship of bad language it is important to retain some perspective!

Low key response

Your response to children swearing should be swift, private and low key. It is always safer to address swearing directly rather than ignore it and hope it goes away.
Make a public spectacle of the child and you confirm that the word has power; encouraging similar behaviour from the rest of the group. Children are keen to language that has an effect, language that holds hidden powers. They are not interested in the meaning, it is the power that attracts. The last thing you need is to have ten 3 year olds running around practicing the f-word to see what reaction it creates!
Remove the child to a quiet spot. Your response will depend on how you judge the situation. Sometimes swear words come out by accident and are not intended. Other swearing is reported, ‘My Dad says you are a right ....". Some is only in context; some is used for effect. The accidental swearing might be smoothed over and ignored the first time (partly because you question if you actually heard it!) but twice requires a plan of action.
If you judge that the child is using the word deliberately (obviously without knowing the meaning) then instigate an immediate, discreet sanction. Try using a warning card with clear icon/image, take a minute out or move them to a different place.
I know that it is tempting to use your redirection and distraction skills, but if the swearing is never actually addressed it can become normal, accepted and imitated. There comes a time when children need to be cognisant of their behaviour, to begin reflecting on it and taking responsibility for it. Of course the root cause is nothing to do with them, we can only correct the symptoms.

When you speak to the child, separate the behaviour and the child. Criticise the language and not the child's character. Through your conversation refer back to the agreed routine, the ‘way we do it here' and encourage ‘beautiful words'.

Coach the child into better uses of language

At the same time as managing the behaviour, make a plan to change the behaviour. Make time to speak to the child about their language. Set the language in context - bashing your finger with a hammer, not getting chosen for the treat, dropping your ice cream on the floor. Write down with the child the words they might use. Filter the responses as necessary! Suggest a new and exciting word that they can use to substitute the words used at home. Model it, use it, repeat it, agree to use it yourself and praise the child when they use it spontaneously. Make a clear distinction between words for home and words for nursery. Show the child that there are words that work in your room. There are words that have power to make people stop and smile, words that are fun, words that provoke a more positive reaction.

Home words v nursery words

It is hard to tackle behaviours that have been normalised in some homes. Most children are kept away from swear words others are exposed to them every @34***%$ day. You can't criticise or judge what happens at home. You can barely influence it. You can, however, challenge the behaviour and teach new behaviours that acceptable at nursery. The message is clear, ‘When you are here, these are the behaviours that we need to see". Keep your focus on what happens when the children are with you.
Conversations on swearing are rarely productive with parents. Few will admit that the language comes from them even though you hear them openly swearing at collection time. A defensive response is to be expected, usually ‘I don't know where she gets that from' or ‘That'll be her father/mother/the tv/other children/state of the nation etc..' When you speak to parents make sure that you do it without judgement, ‘I heard Chianti mutter ‘b*****ks when she spilt her yoghurt I have spoken to her, maybe you could do some work with her on this'. Let them know the problem but don't necessarily expect them to be part of the solution. After all, this is learned behaviour and learned from home.
As children grow they realise that there are different behaviours that are appropriate for different situations. Teaching new behaviours, new words and new responses is an opportunity to reinforce the idea that behaviour changes according to context.

Acting quickly, decisively and with forethought in response to swearing will give you a chance to change the behaviour before it becomes engrained. Young children don't swear to be nasty, they swear because of the role models that surround them at home. Your own model may have to be more controlled, more obvious and definitely less blue!

Changing Sweary Mary into a Model Mary

Identify the words for children who repeat swear words as ‘adult words'.
Teach and reinforce use of substitute words that are more fun and get a more positive response.
Initiate a praise board for the room with pictures of the children who appear on it when they speak politely. Catch the children when they get it right.
Keep your interventions calm and subtle in front of the other children.
Differentiate between accidental swearing and deliberate, repeated use of a word they have learned from home.
Tread carefully when speaking to parents. Be quick to listen and slow to judge.
Take care not to criticise what happens in the home, instead make it clear the behaviour and language that you expect when the children are with you.
If you feel sanctions are appropriate make them small, immediate and reflective quick, consider swift removal from the group for short time and using the same routine every time.
If the child has many words that are undesirable tackle 1 or 2 at a time. Be specific or the message will be lost or confusing.

Friendly but not friends: Balancing formal and informal relationships with pupils

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:33:00 +0100

First published in Independent Schools Magazine in 2009.

Building a lasting professional relationship that meets the needs of the teacher and pupil is a balancing act that requires the skill and experience of a high wire act.

Any fool can befriend a pupil at the expense of their own dignity, ‘Call me Bob'; at the expense of other members of staff, ‘I don't much like him either'; or at the expense of their own pocket ‘Take this golden ipod as a reward/gift/bribe for your efforts'. A relationship that is based on a pseudo ‘friendship' can jog along quite happily until the moment where the frustrations of learning need to be addressed, when deadlines must be kept and when behaviour wobbles. Most of us accept our friends for what they are without attempting to draw the boundaries for them. In a learning environment boundaries must be drawn and friendship blurs the boundaries sending mixed messages to your pupils.

Mutual trust and respect are earned not bestowed. It is not about trying to get ‘down with the kids'. Get the image of the teacher in a baseball cap, skipping up to a gnarled group of year 10 pupils with a, ‘Yo, dis new Phil Collins is safe man', out of your head. It is certainly not what I am suggesting although it would be fun to watch. There are learning and behaviour boundaries that you expect your students to adhere to. So it goes with teacher/pupil relationships.

‘Parent on the shoulder' is a useful guide to check that your conversations with students are appropriate and the relationship professional one. Imagine that, regardless of the context in which you are in, your conversations can be overheard by the child's parent. With this level of self awareness you will not go far wrong. More importantly you will not go too far or divulge too much. Some children do not understand why there must be such boundaries, some are just excited to get to know you better, some deliberately try to overstep the mark and gain information in order to achieve an advantage. Revealing too much about your personal and social life may score some cool points with Trevor in year 9, but can be easily misinterpreted and misreported. In an increasingly litigious society where child protection is uppermost in the minds of parents you do not want to risk being misinterpreted.

For some pupils you will need to define your boundaries and expectations of a professional relationship. This is particularly pertinent on school trips and visits where the expectations can change as more of your personal routines are revealed. In a digital context, where more private communication is the norm, these boundaries may need to be drawn with a thicker line. Myspace, Bebo and Facebook are for friends, not for teachers and pupils.

Building mutual trust with pupils is not just a core responsibility of the teacher but is the foundation for the forth R, Rapport. Seasoned professionals know that the key is to be friendly and not friends, to be honest but not reveal personal lives and to be open but not transparent.

The 30 Second Intervention

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:42:00 +0000

First published Times Educational Supplement (TESPro magazine) January 2012

Strip out all the ‘magic' systems, reward catalogues, funky behaviour data tracking software and general frippery that now seems to accompany behaviour in many schools and you are left with what really matters - real conversations with angry children at the point of crisis. It is these moments that lie at the heart of good behaviour and relationship management. It is these moments that are the difference between calm and chaos, confrontation and compliance, inclusion or exclusion. When children dig their heels in and tell you with passion that ‘it's shit, I won't do it and you can't make me', it is not just your behaviour management skills that are being tested. It is your values, your emotional resilience and your humanity that is under the microscope. Interrupt and disrupt thought patterns quickly and efficiently you become expert at diffusing behaviour bombs that others allow to explode.

The longer each negotiation around behaviour takes for the few, the less time you can give to the many. Children who behave badly in class will inevitably need more of your time outside of lessons. Don't give it to them in class too.

Limit your formal one to one interventions for poor behaviour in class to 30 seconds each time. Get in, deliver the message, ‘anchor' their behaviour with an example of the child's previous good behaviour and get out. With your dignity in tact and the child's dignity in tact. That is the ‘win, win'. The 30 second intervention demands careful often scripted language. The idea is simple. The performance takes practice. 30SECi is not designed to force the child to play ‘good puppy', beg for forgiveness and turn their life around before break time. It is carefully planned, utterly predictable and safe way to send a clear messages to the child. ‘You own your behaviour, your poor behaviour does not deserve my time, you are better than the behaviour you are showing today (and I can prove it!).
The moment you deliver a sanction is the moment that confrontation/complaint/protest will emerge. Counter this defensive response in your 30 second intervention by immediately reminding the child of a previous example of their personal discipline ‘Do you remember yesterday/last week when you: helped me tidy up/led the group/gave me that excellent homework? Remember Mum's face when she got the note? That is the person I know, that is the Chelsea I need to see today'. Then use ‘Thank you for listening' as an excuse to move away and leave the child to their choice. Walk away. Don't be tempted to ‘loom' over the child waiting for them to decide what to do. Walk away. Don't turn back. Even if you have just perfectly performed the 30SECi perfectly the child may need time to make a choice, time to get back to work and yes time for other children to turn their attention away.

As you walk away Chelsea will be busy baiting a hook to fish you back. Her bait box box is full of tasty teacher triggers, a loud sweary mutter, perhaps the classic ‘finger' or the utterly disrespectful teeth kissing coupled with quietly insulting murmurs. Don't be tempted to take the bait. Keep walking. The rest of the class will realise that you didn't let it go soon enough. If you rush back in to confront the secondary behaviours you pass over control to the child. You have lost. A full blown confrontation is the ultimate reward for the child who likes to provoke. All your hard work is soon undone as the emotion accelerates to sweary door slamming report writing segregation cell nastiness.

Of course as you walk away your first job is to write down, discreetly, what just happened so that you can you can speak to the child when everyone is calm. You might prefer to wait until the cold light of the morning to share the note you made with the child. In my experience a blurry faced teenager gives apology and shows regret with more ease. Fully awake and fuelled with sugar/caffeine/stimulant of choice can be trickier beasts. In time the certainty of your ‘follow up' soon ripples through the rest of the class "He'll get you, he won't do anything now, but he'll get you".
A pointy finger, looming presence or sarcastic tone will undermine the technique. Everything about your physical and tonal approach must scream "I HAVEN'T COME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT!" Pull up a chair or get on your knees. Take away every nuance of anger, every drop of anger fuel that some children crave. Strip out the negative reinforces and leave the child feeling that they can have control of their behaviour themselves.

With a 30SECiyou no longer need to improvise. The script is set, the pace predetermined and the arc of the intervention fine tuned. The brevity of the intervention affords no time for the gradual crescendo of the improvised castigation. Neither is driven by big sticks and heavy punishment. It leaves the child thinking about their actions, knowing that someone important believes they are better. At the pivotal point of behaviour management you can address difficult behaviour while leaving your relationship perfectly in tact.

Performing the 30SECi well is truly skilful behaviour and emotion management. It takes a great deal of self control to stop your emotion creeping out. Reminding children of their good behaviour in the middle of dealing with their poor behaviour takes practice. Matching humility and certainty takes some emotional resilience on your part. Yet when everyone sees that poor behaviour is no longer rewarded, that interventions are quick, efficient and predictable the classroom becomes safer and less explosive place to learn.

Exclusion

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:01:00 +0000

Originally published on Guardian blog in December 11.

The pupils we permanently exclude from school are very often damaged children. You know the ones. Not the children who test the boundaries a little, but the ones who regularly burst with anger, the ones who tell you to ‘fuck off', the ones who run away, the ones who throw stuff at you. Their trust with the adult world has been broken at home and they bring the symptoms of their fractured childhood into school with them.
We used to call children who couldn't write ‘stupid' and stand them in the corner. Now we give them what they need to succeed. We used to call children who have been damaged by raw emotional trauma ‘bad' and then tell them that they don't belong. We still do. Some schools prefer to imprison children in ‘isolation booths' and make them feel that they are alone with their problems. I meet children who have spent more than 30 days a year in isolation. Children who need to talk to someone are silenced or shunned.

How is it that a headteacher in Speke in Liverpool for 23 years never excluded a pupil and another school in the South is running at more than 350 fixed term exclusions per year? Certainly the Head had to work hard to win the arguments in the wider community. To convince parents to take a risk and convince teachers that even the angriest child was better off in school than running with street gangs. But where are our common values? Where is the consistency?

Exclusion is not just a postcode lottery, it can be the school next door that is chucking them out while you are trying to keep them close. I travel the country working with PRUs and schools who want to improve behaviour. It is obvious that for some schools exclusion is simply the next step on the punishment ladder. The deregulation of schools and alternative provision only makes the inconsistencies easier to hide. As the gaps widen so do the holes in the system and children are silently falling through.

I met 6 young offenders last week who had been permanently excluded 38 times between them. All were under 9 years old when they were first asked to leave school. I am not saying that that excluded children automatically end up in custody, but it certainly adds to the feeling that you don't belong. We seed our communities with children who have been convinced they don't belong. They spend the next 20 years telling everyone and anyone who will listen how terrible school (and specifically your school) is. So the cycle continues.

We know how to reduce exclusion. There are examples of outstanding practice all around. Reducing exclusion starts in individual classrooms with emotionally resilient teachers. Teachers who understand that they cannot solve problems by simply passing them to someone else. Teachers who know that they can profoundly influence the behaviour of others by deliberately changing their own. Teachers who know that dangling damaged children off the cliff edge is not only futile, but cruel.

Schools that reduce exclusion understand that you can't scare the fearless into changing their ways. They truly understand the importance of relationships, they know that some children follow the rules and some only follow people.

Of course there is excellent practice out there. There are Schools where exclusion is not a doorway to the cliff edge. Schools that use small increments in their sanctions steps and those who develop more productive consequences at the end of the road. Schools that provide meaningful, well supported alternative curriculums with the most emotionally resilient teachers.
The tragedy is that I still hear some teachers baying for exclusion in retribution for the child's ‘crimes'. They want to give them ‘what they deserve' and not what they need. The tragedy is that every child matters until they tell you to ‘fuck off'.

Managing Extreme Behaviour in Active Lessons: Taking Risks with the Risky

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:18:00 +0000

First published in Teach Primary in May 2011.

Successful active lessons with children who exhibit extreme behaviours are a triumph of hope over experience. It takes a lot of time and patience to get to the point where the initial pandemonium gives way to productive learning. Cementing them to their chairs will seem tempting for a while yet! It is hard enough to manage children who exhibit challenging behaviour in sedentary lessons. What do you do if you want to tackle more adventurous active lessons with children who struggle to sit and listen?

Not everyone wants to join in, not everyone listens to the whistle, not everyone can resist hiding in the hedges or breaking for the border. That is no reason not to take the risk. Children need to be taught how to learn actively, even the ones who don't respond well. If we don't teach them the skills now they move into secondary education ill equipped. I can still hear the voice of an old science teacher echoing down a school corridor ‘There will be no practical work until you can all behave'. The practical work is precisely what interested, excited and motivated the children. It was held out as a prize for those who could feign the same interest in mundane wordsearches and ‘copy the diagram' ridiculousness.

As you prepare for active lessons with children who are likely to lose control consider who you will give responsibility to, which tasks can be given to trickier characters, who needs a quiet word to prepare for the change of environment and pace.

Don't skip the warm up. Warm up activities give opportunities for everyone to succeed. They give you an opportunity to reinforce the idea that this group are disciplined, controlled and safe (even when your experience may tell you otherwise) If you get this part wrong then those who are wobbling will wobble into independent tasks and destabilize groups.

Sit in a circle with the group and light a candle to place in the middle (or use a bunch of keys/hat/scarf) for everyone to focus on. Explain to the children that the game is simply to count to 20 by throwing in numbers when there is a silence. If two people say the same number at the same time then the group must start again. Encourage everyone to be comfortable with silence and not to try and rush to be first. The teacher might say '1' for the first few rounds until the group are used to the game.

Children very quickly start to work cooperatively and enjoy the challenge of reaching 20. If you don't over use the game and only allow them say, 10 goes at a time, it can be revisited at the beginning and end of the lesson. Reflect back to the children how controlled and well disciplined they are. Over egg it slightly. Prove to them that they have the skills to work actively in open spaces.

The game can be developed so that instead of counting each student has to jump into the middle of the circle and be the only one jumping or try putting hand on heads or spelling long words.

Now agree a checklist of 5 success criteria for children to work to during the lesson. Number the working groups and as you notice different groups succeeding record their group number against the checklist. Children will start looking at the checklist, focusing on the skills for the task and try to get each one ticked off for their group. You will be able to identify and encourage groups who are having difficulty and better gauge if the time you have given them for the activity is appropriate. If the groups are performing their work, the checklist can be used by the audience to give accurate feedback using appropriate terminology.

Define and rehearse clear, audible stop cues that are instantly recognizable. This routine must be taught relentlessly. Give children who stop immediately extra responsibility. Give those who don't a warning then a sin bin. In the classroom you might pull up a chair or drop down to discuss behaviour. On the sports field this would look odd. Side by side when standing is best. The threat is reduced, other children have no idea that there is a problem and the conversation is less intimidating. The sin bin should be quick, frequently used if necessary but seconds rather than minutes. Too long sitting on the bench/under the tree/on the white line and other behaviours begin. Leave Clive for 5 minutes and he is climbing the tree, the conversation has suddenly become a lot trickier. Think quick, instant sanctions that give pause for thought but don't break the excitement. Give some children the idea that active tasks are optional and they will opt out all together. Perhaps using the opportunity to get maximum attention. As this cycle repeats itself it is easy to give up on the idea that children with more extreme behaviour can be included in active lessons. As the curriculum shrinks for some children, expectations are lowered and choices narrowed. I met a child last month who had been banned from every active lesson because he could not do the behaviours that were required. The teachers were waiting for the child to change behaviours. I think they are still wating.

In active group work teach pupils manageable routines. Help them to manage their group time by providing clear limits. ‘You have 10 minutes to prepare one minute to show everyone'. As the children are working, give gentle reminders of how much time they have used and where thya should be on the agreed routine, ‘Three minutes have gone - you need to be on your feet and working'. I often find it useful to provide a model of how ten minutes of group work might be used by leading a group through an open demonstration. With strict time limits children will become skilled at managing their time and no one will need to sit through 15 minutes of rambling performance by the group who are convinced quantity beats quality. Children who struggle to contain their behaviour will work better with short bursts of activity rather than 20 minutes of loosely structured group work. The limits will provoke creativity and the common goal will be in sharp focus.

Constantly reframe behaviour with some, ‘Lovely energy today Kylie, I would love to see that energy directed at the bottom of the wall bars" reach spiritual levels of patience with others "I am sure your Mum didn't say that about me...' and refuse to give up on others "I can lend you some clothes to replace the kit damaged in the friendly fire incident'. Stick to the plan, hold tight, get to the end. Don't let the behaviour provoke you into an emotional response "Right! That's it. No more painting EVER! Worksheets and colouring until you can behave etc etc ad nauseum...'

The catch 22 is clear. Many of the children to demonstrate more extreme behaviour have a learning difficulty. They thrive in the more active, practical, lessons. Yet their behaviour at the table is so poor that you feel they could never be trusted in Active Maths games in the hall. The truth is that active learning is precisely what such children need. To deprive them of it because of behaviour demonstrated in more sedentary tasks works is perverse. It leads to children disengaging from school as the stuff that they really enjoy is withheld from them.

‘Nobody is doing any thing practical/interesting/mildly physical until you can prove that you can behave yourself with the dullest worksheet".

Active lessons with tricky scholars present a rocky road for the teacher and the rest of the class. Yet they are not a luxury for those who can sit nicely. They are an essential part of teaching, learning and engagement.

Bugs and Balls of String

In large open teaching areas defining spaces for groups to work in is vital. As you allocate groups their working area give each group a length of string. The string is used to define the working area. Spotting students who leave their own group becomes easier and arguments about who owns which space are eliminated.

The Bug

We know the value of a proper physical warm up before an active Drama lesson, but as teachers we are also very aware of how time consuming it can be.

Instead of leading a whole group warm up, teach students simple exercises that they can routinely engage in as they arrive at the lesson; ‘The Bug' works very well...

With children standing shoulder width apart, knees bent (throughout) talk them through exercise the first time.

‘There is a bug on the ceiling above your heads, look at it with you eyes and allow the rest of your body to follow the movement as it falls onto your chest, and slowly crawls down over your tummy, over your belt line and down your thighs, over your knees, shins, over your shoes and then out across the floor to where the floor meets the walls, keep following it as it crawls up the wall and the ceiling until it is again above your head.'

Make sure children keep their shoulders and arms relaxed throughout, when connected the movement creates a wave through the body that can be slowed down, speeded up or reversed (the bug starts on the chest and leaps up to the ceiling).

As children arrive at the lesson you can now ask for 3 slow ‘bugs', 2 fast and 2 reverse and they can begin to take responsibility for warming up ready to begin. Reinforce their control, calm demeanor and ability to concentrate on their own movement and not others.

Climate Control: Student centred classroom assessment

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:34:00 +0000

First published in Teach Primary

Effective classrooms assessment is not driven by data but by conversations and critiques. It is owned by pupils and not served by teachers. Classroom assessment relies on children being empowered to take responsibility for assessing their work and that of others. It demands a level of risk, an adjustment in the role of the teacher and the confidence to place the child at the heart of decision making.

Productive assessment demands the right climate. A climate where there is no fear of an honest critique, where students can discuss each other's work without favour and where losing is learning, not laughed at.

‘I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot ... and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed.' Michael Jordan

The right climate starts with clear agreements, trust being given, assessment conversations clearly modelled and conduct routines underlined.

The natural prejudices of childhood and the emerging gender differences must not be allowed to pervade learning conversations. This demands heightened awareness from children and adults. It requires that the boundaries are drawn with more clarity, ‘Assess the work, not the person' Limiting the scope of the conversation can stimulate more focused commentary. Limitation can be stimulation.

To get the truly effective self, peer and group assessment conversations contract the routines with the children. Display them prominently in words, pictures and icons. Run through them before each peer, group or self assessment activity. Paste them onto desks, scroll though them on the screen, create hanging mobiles with symbols. Etch them into the minds of the class until they are utterly sick of being reminded. With determination, rigour and a large helping of persistence you can show children how to develop, explore and own assessment and target setting at the task level. Delivering accurate sensitive critiques on the work of others is a skill that can be learned and honed.

Your role in climate change

It starts with our own behaviour. You set the climate for your classroom in behaviour and in learning. Modeling the ‘Teacher as Learner' is the most important modeling that you can provide. It sets the right ethos for learning and honesty in the climate. Learn something new alongside your students. Let them see you learn and misunderstand, succeed and most importantly fail. Choose a topic that is as challenging for you as it is for the students - learning to juggle, designing a collage, building structures from straws, balancing an egg on your nose etc. You are an experienced and successful learner who has met the frustrations of learning and found strategies to overcome them. It is this model that most directly affects children's self esteem, resilience, attitudes to failure and comprehension of learning skills. It is this model that they look up to.
Your model of behaviour is also critical. ‘Sit down, shut up and do your peer assessment', is unlikely to result in a productive, assessment conversation. Neither of course is, ‘Danny why don't you take Claire's work to mark and try to forget that she stabbed you with a compass yesterday'.

As a teacher your role in promoting successful classroom assessment is different to standardise, to moderate. It is to refine, map, capture and guide ideas and language. By trying to control assessment you risk reducing ownership, productivity and effectiveness. Top down targets and unsolicited advice don't work. Just think of how you react when, through observation, inspection and performance management you are disempowered. Children roll the same way.

Top Tip

Subtle communication between the student and the teacher makes it easier to judge when to intervene and when to leave the student to work independently. How many of us interrupt students and wish that we had left them working? Knowing when to stand back is as much of a skill as knowing when to intervene. Try mechanisms for instant feedback. Traffic light symbols: red for ‘Help!', amber for ‘I am getting on but have a question' and green for ‘ Leave me alone I am flying'. What about number sliders for showing how much confidence pupils have in the task? Ask the children to leave an indicator by the next to them while they are working and encourage them to take control of when, how and if they receive help.

The constructive emotional climate......

There are some classrooms where failure is equated with fear and shame and others where there is an honestly about failure being part of learning. There are some classrooms where students are openly laughed at for their mistakes and others that are more forgiving of experimentation and failure.
For assessment to motivate, to encourage, to sustain interest and to engage it must search for what is right, what has been done well, what was successful in the first instance. Assessment that identifies primarily what is wrong is a short cut that demotivates, reinforces limited self-belief and teaches students to reflect primarily on what is going badly. Lessons they may well carry for the rest of their lives.

It is certainly easier, quicker and less effort to deconstruct and identify what is wrong. Effective teaching, however, rarely relies on quick and easy shortcuts. For students who have a difficult history in education, who have grown used to failing assessments or who have failed without ever really understanding why, the constant search for what is wrong has a long term impact. Few people thrive in a climate where assessment conversations search for fault. Many find themselves conditioned to search for the same in others. The long term fall out is all around us in the adult world. Emotionally intelligent assessment is the relentless search for the cup that is half full.
Assessment is personal. It is covered in layers of emotion, self doubt, arrogance, fear and excitement. Yet we want students to be able to reflect on their work without seeing a poor reflection of themselves. Trevor's spelling in this piece of work is poor. However this does not mean that Trevor cannot spell or at worst Trevor is stupid. It means that today, in this piece of work, Trevor has some adjustments to make. Similarly Ashraf's poem is a level 7, sensitive and intelligent. This does not mean that we should be recommending him as Poet Laureate. By separating students' identity from their achievement or failure we can protect self esteem through assessment processes be they gentle, rigorous or exacting.

Your investment of time in creating the right climate will pay off. A classroom where peer, self and group assessment develops and extends learning and understanding is one where children drive their own learning. In time you will grow accustomed to the passenger seat. As children learn to control their own destination you may even resist using the dual controls.

Three to one

Before anyone is allowed to criticize the work of someone else (including the teacher!) they must first find three aspects of the work that are good. Insist on it, model it overtly and make it central to your classroom assessment. Apply it to yourself and to your students. When you are marking work, talking to students about their work, asking for feedback in class, drawing together ideas at the end of the lesson, discussing students with colleagues, talking to parents/mentors/tutors, structuring targets, writing comments on reports, teaching new behaviours,

You can change the habits of lazy learners and reverse the seemingly in built ability to look for fault first. The three to one rule is quickly adopted and becomes a classroom ritual that everyone sees the value of.

What is your assessment script?

Define with the class different scripts for different environments. Try using a situation to prompt lists of language in a variety of settings. When you don't like something that you are asked to do....

What would you say at home?

To your friends in private?

In the classroom?

Highlight the change in language, tone and attitude that are needed in the classroom. Accept the behaviours that they use in other circumstances while emphasising the ‘scripts' that work for assessment conversations. By negotiating and sharing the language you are creating an aide memoir for the children that they can use while working. By deliberately acknowledging their use of certain words and phrases you can encourage them to adopt their own script and try out others.

Break time Box

Fishing for mobile phones

Our schools are often so crammed with signs and instructions that many of them are simply ignored. The designs are so bland that they do not engage. The list of rules printed on A4 paper and hidden behind the desk, the signs appealing for calm that are rushed past in the corridors, ‘No mobile phones' signs that picture a phone brick from the mid 80's inside a red circle. Signs alone do not change behaviour but consistent messages are a foundation for consistent response and unified stand. If you want to send clear and consistent messages to the children create signage that they can have fun with, interact with, sit up and pay attention to. A colleague tells of a teacher who placed a fish tank on the top of a shelf in the entrance hall with old mobile phones and mp3 players gently floating in coloured water. Everyone would notice it immediately, examine it closely, discuss it and check their phones were off. Humorous, creative and 3d signs grab the attention, rules for the canteen stuck onto the floor, photographs of teachers and children next to the rules, expectations woven into the carpet tiles and scrolling digital badges for teachers that remind everyone about the agreed routine. Consistency in the messages is essential, consistently dull presentation of these messages works against what you are trying to achieve.

Breaking the 'Them and Us' Culture

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:49:00 +0000

First published in Education Business Magazine

The British have always had a penchant for using force to win their battles. Now we are engaged in conflict with a generation where force is simply paraffin to the flames. Battles like this are not won in a day. What is needed is more sophisticated than laser guided missiles or the latest set of behaviour management ‘tricks’. We need to break the ‘them and us’ culture between students and teachers that is the cancer of British state education.

Legislation on restraint, confiscation, stop-and-search in schools and colleges, CCTV and detention of students are symptoms of social and political desperation, a lack of control even. Teachers are regularly being told to avoid all physical contact with students (yes, all), while on the other hand given training to meet aggression with physical restraint. Many institutions have more security than a small airport. Hawk-eye CCTV cameras, metal detectors, ID swipe cards, a dedicated security team and cavity search booths, ‘Darren you’re next on the arse-o-scope’. (Ok that last one is not true, but watch this space). The children look on and see the adults retreating: it must look as if they have given up. The sad truth is that so many have.

We manage the symptoms of an increasingly damaged youth. A sense of shared responsibility and family left some communities a long time ago. A selfish pursuit of ‘stuff’ moved in shortly afterwards. Apart from isolated pockets, we live insular and protected lives with surveys showing that children play closer to their homes that ever before and few know the names of their closest neighbours. Childhood has become an indoor experience. As waves of media paranoia about youth crime erode any sense that the adult world is in control children are falsely protected and medicated with screens. As TV and video games dry the empathy from our children we attempt to replace it with educational programmes led by teachers who are themselves struggling to remain calm.

Truly emotionally literate schools are centered around adults who can model emotional patience, overtly and deliberately, every day. It is not enough to just have good teaching resources or great schemes of work, if you want to improve the behaviour of your students you must first address how the adults behave. Addressing the way that adults talk to students is at the heart of successful practice. Ineffective training for teachers coupled with well intentioned bolt on programmes leaves us with ‘You! Sit down, shut up and do your emotional literacy worksheet!’ as an inevitable consequence.

The way that we talk to students reflects our values, our professionalism and our humanity. The way that we practice emotionally and socially literate behaviour supports and protects students, colleagues and our own emotional well-being.

To create the conditions for lasting change, the first step is to design a genuinely consultative process. Engaging, empowering and motivating people to support changes in policy and practice needs so much more care than a ‘top down’ management delivers. Magic bullets that emerge from clandestine management meetings are often shots aimed at the foot. Children are tempted to subvert the dictatorial teacher, so it goes with teachers who are just told what to do.

Institutions that work up policy from successful practice emerge from a period of transition with policy that is tailored to their institution. Those that install cure all packages find themselves frustrated with unsustainable ideas and inconsistent practice.

You can redesign the system, spend a fortune on tracking software, cameras, security gates and gnarled bouncers and make no sustained impact. Or you could return to the idea of creating true consistency that ripples through the institution. Consistency that is formed through agreement. Consistency that protects vulnerable students and vulnerable teachers. Consistency that is in the rituals, rhythm and ethos of the institution.

What works to change behaviour is the relentless commitment of the teachers to train together, agree a plan together, stand together and intervene together. To make this consistency palpable in language, environment and classroom practice. To put aside idiosyncrasies and yes, at times, individual teaching styles, and give to the collegiate effort. Try it tomorrow.

Agree with all staff that you will tackle one behaviour that has been allowed to slip. Perhaps a behaviour that some have stopped addressing. Commit everyone to tackling this behaviour for the next 30 days. From the Principal to the site staff, teachers and assistants everyone will be dogged in cajoling, reminding and remonstrating with students who try to break the line. Lead everyone to give some effort to the common good. Remind everyone that when we stand together, are consistent and unified change happens, surprisingly quickly.

To break the ‘them and us’ culture we don’t need more of the siege mentality but a strategic pursuit of a more consistent, intelligent and caring approach.

Paul Dix is Managing Director of Pivotal Education. To find out more about how Pivotal training is transforming schools and colleges go to www.pivotaleducation.com

© Paul Dix

Secret Student

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:47:00 +0000

Below is the excellent contribution that Sarah Pauley, a Taking Care of Behaviour Course delegate, has agree to share with other teachers. For more contributions, please visit: http://www.pivotaleducation.com/contributions/

When faced with a difficult class last year and failing to turn behaviour round, we introduced a system called the secret student. Each day a student would be selected secretly by the teacher at the beginning of the day, none of the students would know who it was. This student had to have a good day, work hard in lessons, good behaviour, follow instructions straight away, use manners etc. and at the end of the day if the secret student had achieved this the whole class would then receive a reward. As none of the students knew if it was them all the students would try their best as the reward would benefit all of them not just the secret student. This system worked with all students wanting to try their best. If the student did not succeed their identity was not revealed thus not causing blame. However, if the student did succeed they were revealed and given praise by students.

More info about Taking Care of Behaviour Online Course HERE.

Signalling positive behaviour

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:08:00 +0000

Children read signs quicker than they read your intent or remember your voice. The digital child is icon intelligent. Signs and symbols guide them through new media and technology. Children use icons to plot their map of new worlds and new routines. Using them in the nursery means you can teach complex routines to very young children.

As you negotiate or impose routines agree a set of icons to represent the steps. Leave the icons on display near the activity. The signs you agree with the group help to focus the children on the behaviours that you need to see. They must be positive, affirming and engaging. Before embarking on a new activity establish the routine, draw it, display it and refer to it continually.

Teach the new rituals immediately before the task, giving examples and modeling your responses carefully. When the task is revisited it is vital that you run over the routine with the students. When the activity begins, focus on those children who are following the rules. Use praise and positive reinforcement to support their good choices: ‘Thank you, this table; you have stopped your conversations, got your pens out and are listening. That is number two on our agreement: well done.'

As you build up a series of routines every adult who intervenes with the child's behaviour has the same framework for the conversation. The consistency ripples through the group. By using same song sheet, Damien's shouting is met with the same response. Without this level of agreement a single behaviour can be addressed in many different ways. Mixed messages mean behaviour takes longer to learn. The consistency and repetition are essential as old habits are replaced with new behaviours. The consistency is further embedded as you use the icons in your non-verbal language. With the icons on display they can be used to indicate subtly to children, as a backdrop for a conversation about behaviour or as a focus for the child's attention. Without the icons the non-verbal cues are not pinned on a memory of a forgotten instruction.

Use the icons to recognize and reinforce positive behaviour. Encourage the children to reflect on their good behaviour, ‘Why do you think I have got such a big smile on my face?' ‘That is another sharing token for you, how many is that today?' Mark the moment with the child. Don't let them think your praise is just conversation. When things get wobbly later on you can bring them back to that moment and remind them how well they have done today.

Teach routines from the start. Don't wait until poor habits become second nature before you try to intervene. Teach every child precisely how to treat you, how to treat others and how to treat the resources. Children and adults thrive on routines. The world is more consistent, more predictable and feels safer with routine. For children with behaviour related conditions, ADHD, Asperger's and Autism, the icons are essential hooks. They must be clear and impossible to misinterpret. You might try using photographs of the children demonstrating the behaviours that you want to see as your symbols. Reduce the symbols to stamp size and they can also be presented and collected. Through the ritual of reinforcement the routine is kept at the forefront of the fast paced mind of the toddler.

Extend the use of icons outside the classroom. Rather than just simple rules in each appropriate area, teach the behaviours that you want to see. In detail. Using 5 or 6 steps. Formal and informal routines. The routine for the toilets, for sharing, for lunchtime, the sand pit and lining up. Display the icons where the children will see them and where staff can refer to them. Laminated to the floor, on the tables, painted in outside spaces, on the back of doors and hanging in from the ceiling. Now everyone who visits the nursery sees the consistency on display. Be proud of how you teach behaviour, it is a great way to convince prospective parents that you have high expectations for every child.

Simply telling the children the rules is leaving a lot to chance. Directly teaching appropriate behaviour with a framework of agreed icons is less of a gamble.

Pulling, punching, biting and shoving

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:57:00 +0000

This article was originally published in Teach Nursery Magazine in January 2011.

Some children bite. Some push, shove and punch. Some children pull hair, pinch slap and scratch. Some adults do too! Even with the keenest vigilance and the deftest diversionary techniques it is not possible to predict or preempt every incident. If you find yourself dealing with 3 yr olds in attack mode there are simple things you can do to protect the children, yourself and the parents (from each other!).

Some children who get dramatic responses to aggressive behaviour thrive on the immediacy and volume of attention. Your behaviour may not have provoked the aggression but it does determine the length, intensity and level of it. Your immediate response to aggressive behaviour must be planned and consistent. Fast consequences are essential. Quick, calm, assertive intervention works well. Disentangle the children. Your physical intervention must be driven by the right intention and use the minimum possible force. Send, lead or guide the protagonist away from the group. Make sure your ‘No' has impact but not anger. Leave the child alone to stew/cry/stamp/shout/write to their MP etc. Turn your attention back to the child who has been attacked. Only return to the angry child as the emotion subsides. You may have to accelerate this, ‘I'll speak to you when you stop crying/screaming/chewing the stairs' etc. Now repeat the rule. ‘Hands down' or ‘No biting'. Repeat it three times with eye contact and all the assertive energy you can muster. Now run through your ritual, why have I sat you here?, which rule did you break ? what do you need to do now. Use the same script every time. Make your response to the behaviour utterly predictable, safe, yet effective.

Before you decide if the apology will be immediate or delayed until the dust has settled, write down what happened without emotion or judgment. Do it as soon as you possibly can after the incident. How you manage the incident is likely to be examined closely. Make sure that you routinely record, report and if necessary refer aggressive behaviours that result in physical injury. Now reinforce the good behaviour of children who helped, children who stayed calm and reassure those who were worried by it. Now you have dealt with the easy bit, you need to think about dealing with the parents!

The initial shock of being handed back your child with new markings/tatoos/battle scars is enough to cause an emotional response from the calmest parents. Parents can be tempted to try and find someone to blame. Blaming the child seems unfair so the other parents, adults and organisation can all come in the firing line. When you speak to the parents of the aggressor use the same unemotional nonjudgmental tone that you used in your report. Seek a practical agreement from parents resisting the temptation to search for reason. Explain your consistent routine response to aggressive behaviour and see if this could be replicated at home. Is there a shared language that you can use? Is there a ritual that you could both agree to? Repetition and consistency works. Linking what happens at home and at school works even faster.

With the parents of the victim don't make the mistake of making light of the situation. It may be only a scratch but a scratch to one parent is GBH to another. Explain in detail exactly what happened, what you did and what you intend to do in the future. Take time to reveal the steps you will take to keep their child safe. Reassure them with your detailed record keeping, clear plan and rational thinking. Avoid being drawn into any judgment on the other child, parent or on their parenting skills. It will only come back to haunt you.

Through these early experiences many expectations are set and labels begin to form. Observing a group of 3 year olds the other day I was told, ‘That one, that one, that one and that one....trouble today and they will be trouble tomorrow'. Behaviour labels stick quickly but don't come off easily. As you try to manage the fall out from quite nasty incidents resist the natural urge to wrap identity and behaviour into one neat label. A few bitey children grow up into bitey adults. Most grow out of aggressive behaviour in weeks or months. Skilled adults separate the behaviour from the child and deal with it. They discourage labels from developing knowing that with persistence and determination the behaviour will change. They manage the most shocking behaviours with a steely assertiveness that gives leaves the bitey child with something to chew on.

Motivating Children

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:35:00 +0000

This article was originally published in Teach Primary Magazine in 2009.

Outstanding teachers do not rely on students arriving at the door of their room motivated and ready to learn. They plan to counter the demotivating effects of social and economic hardship, poor parenting, broken relationships and complicated home lives. Outstanding teachers learn not to worry about the aspects of children's lives where they can have little influence but to play the cards they are dealt and play them with flair.

Your smiling face at the door of the room is a simple yet highly effective motivator. In a moment you can counter the demotivating effects of the school run, the arguments over cereal and inevitable conflicts of busy mornings ‘No, you cannot bring the television to school etc'. A smile, kind word, perhaps a hand shake does more than just make your pupils feel happy, it gives them energy for the lesson and a consistent model to look up to. Remind your children that they are valued and welcome. Convince them that you have been waiting all weekend to see them again! Let them know how excited you are by the plans for today and infect them with your passion for learning. Teachers who sit being desks and laptops, allow children to drift in on their own and issue the inevitable ‘starter is on the board' command find it difficult to motivate themselves let alone the class.

A positive relationship with a passionate, caring, enthusiastic teacher is the greatest motivator. A teacher who retains an enthusiasm for the relationship and the child despite the lapses in behaviour, manners and fist control is a positive motivator today, tomorrow and far into the future. Children who have been been taught to view themselves through negative reference points need the drip feed of your positive reinforcement and encouragement to break the cycle.

Children who have a particular educational need and are encouraged to route everything through it find it difficult to separate this need from their identity. ‘I am stupid because I cannot read' or ‘I am trouble because I have anger problems'. The relentless counter claims from a respected teacher will separate the issues and erode the notion that difficulty in one aspect of learning infects everything else. As a teacher working with the most reluctant learners with little motivation to continue trying I would repeat the same daily mantra, ‘You are not stupid because you need help with reading, you can be angry and polite and you are more than just your behaviour.' Chipping away at negative spirals takes perseverance but has a lasting effect.

‘I wish someone had told me that how I felt as a child is how I would feel as an adult' June Brown (Dot Cotton in Eastenders)

Autonomy, choice and independence over learning is hugely motivating. Children who are machine gunned with targets, levels, objectives and outcomes sense that they are not learners with any control. Targets that fall from above in the adult world are rarely embraced with enthusiasm. So it goes with children. Children who set their own targets, take responsibility for their own learning, contribute to displays, have a role with the group tend to be engaged in the fabric of learning. They are motivated at a deeper level. Those who are ‘PowerPointed' into submission or constantly medicated with computers build an addiction to the screen but not a motivation to learn. Their motivation is on the surface, ‘Ooooo flickery screen!' and they are occupied but the learning is not satisfying and the information gleaned does not embed itself in the memory.

Motivating children who appreciate what is given to them is not difficult. Trying to motivate children who have been taught to expect everything for nothing is a tall order. Acknowledgement, praise and reward are seen as the most immediate motivators. Yet we worry about the way reinforcement is being used to bribe, to create unrealistic expectations and how over rewarding children can create over reliance of the approval of others. Techniques that were previously used to nurture self esteem with children who had severe emotional and behavioural needs are now extended to all children. Overloading children with reward and reinforcement can be confusing ‘I just sat down and he gave me a certificate' and can set up unrealistic expectations of the role of the teacher, ‘Ok, so how much will I earn for not kicking Hassan this week?'

Outstanding teachers know that it is not the value of the reward that is important but the way in which it is given. I can make you feel like a king with a smile and worthless with 20 quid. Teaching gratitude means that your students learn to reflect on the rewards in education that are being lost to the ‘big prize' generation. The rewards that are genuinely important; success, achievement, pride and opportunity. In schools with a religious emphasis gratitude is taught through prayer. In secular schools where is the space for self reflection that allows children to appreciate their place in the world? Teach some simple self reflection techniques. Start with three simple questions and ask the children to make lists, ‘What have I received from other people, what have I given to others and what troubles have I caused'. Ask the children to consider the last 24 hours of their lives. Have you received a smile, some food, a helping hand. Have you held the door for someone, helped around the house or said thank you ? And finally who have you caused troubles for? Did you speak badly about someone, leave a mess behind you or push in front? Regular rituals of self reflection help children (and adults) to interact with the world with gratitude and grace. Money, sweets, stickers and stuff can teach a hunger for a material world that we have a duty to counter. Intrinsic motivation begins with an understanding that education is a privilege and achievement a reward. Learning can be as immediately satisfying as a chocolate éclair if you are taught to appreciate it and be genuinely grateful for it.

The smallest things seem to motivate on the surface. The reveal of an advent calendar, a quiz, the spin of the tombola wheel, the chance to lead others, the whiff of challenge and the promise of competition. Yet much of this is short term, designed to manage behaviour and requires little engagement from the pupil. It hooks childrens' attention but is too frivolous to satisfy. Rapport with a trusted teacher, learning gratitude through self reflection and having autonomy in learning are not quick fixes but they give children a deeper motivation that lasts a lot longer than sparkly carrots.

Teach in Questions Challenge

Try teaching in questions. Set yourself a challenge for next week and plan a lesson that is taught entirely by questions. Stick to the same content but draw out the answers from your class. Every interaction must be a question and you should not allow yourself room for giving advice or direct teaching. Let the children feel a sense of control and reflect back the ideas that they have created, the knowledge that they have contributed and the choices they have made. Finish with ‘What do you think that I was trying to teach you?' and show them how it matches your previously hidden objectives for the lesson. Outstanding teachers have a relentless and powerful motor but are not afraid of letting others drive.

Behaviour Change, Magic Dust and False Promises

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:59:00 +0000

This article was first published on the Guardian Teacher Network blog in August 2011.

When people talk about behaviour they obsessively search for the instant solution. Some peddle magic dust or ‘behaviour systems' that glisten yet quickly fade. Others relentlessly scream for a bigger stick to beat children down with. Both extremes harbour an irresistible idea that there is a short cut to changing behaviour. Some sell the lie that you can provoke sustained behavioural change in others without doing much hard work yourself. The truth is that there is no alternative to the hard work: building relationships with those who would rather tell you to Fuck Off, resetting expectations with those who trample them, being relentlessly positive and refusing to reward poor behaviour with anger from the teacher.

As a society we pass behaviour problems through the system until there are no more punishments left. From schools, to PRUs, EBD schools, Secure Training Centres, Youth Offending Institutions. It is the same children with the same behaviours and the same issues. We pass them along the line and closer to some imaginary ultimate punishment that everyone assumes will change the behaviour. The system is based on the premise that you can beat people into submission through punishment. I spoke to a Prison officer recently who told me that what was needed was another more segregated segregation unit to house those who wouldn't do as they were told in the segregation unit. At a training day a middle manager proudly showed me a detention block he had designed (in way too much detail!) to solve all behaviour issues. The problem is that many human beings respond to punishment with extraordinary resilience. So it goes with children. Unfortunately we don't treat people who won't do as they are told, we just keep changing the environment and the adults they must rely on.

With the hardest working pupils and with the chair throwers, sustained, consistent relationships work. Relationships that don't change as the strategy changes or fail because the agency runs out of steam. Relationships are hard fought and easily lost but people change because of other people. Not because they are backed into a corner or threatened with the extra large stick.
The moaners and mutterers at the back of the staff room will try and convince you that ‘you shouldn't have to have a positive relationship with pupils'. They will bang on about lack of authority and respect, lie to you about the past ("I beat them and they thanked me for it etc") casually insulting, blaming and labelling children. These people don't just have a problem with behaviour. They often have a deeper problem, they just don't like children.

The trouble is that teachers who succeed in changing behaviour are too busy doing it to properly inform the arguments thrown in by public . So the quick fix nonsense espoused by armchair amateurs, disgruntled ex teachers or gullible politicians is taken seriously. In moments of public anger about ‘behaviour' the ‘hang ‘em and flog ‘em brigade break free from their shackles poisoning the debate with their perverse view of humanity. There are often too few available to put them back in the box. Those who really know the answers are too busy teaching (and dodging a few chairs) to contradict. Before we know where we are there are articles about corporal punishment being printed and public hangings arranged with corporate hospitality.

Working with children and young people who won't do what you tell them to means that you might have to go into the eye of the storm. There is no quick fix. Yes you can beat down the defiance with punishment for a time but when you run out of punishment what is left? Be sure that even though it will get ugly, feel personal and be chaotic there are calm waters on the other side. As the relationship builds you leave the mutterers with their, ‘Well, he doesn't behave like that for me refrain" in your wake. You are becoming that teacher that everyone wants to be. Don't leave it for tomorrow or for someone else. Start building that relationship. 'Early Intervention ' is you, today, now, with that child in front of you.

Gladwell, Dweck and Peak Performace

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:17:00 +0000

I have written before about the work of Dr. Carol Dweck. Broadly speaking, she divides people into groups who believe our intelligence is fixed (‘fixed mindset’) and those who believe it can be developed (‘growth mindset’).

The former often tend to feel the need to ‘prove’ their intelligence and so are likely to shy away from tasks they perceive as too challenging in case they fail them. From this viewpoint it would show they are not intelligent. Those with the growth mindset see themselves on a path of expanding skills and knowledge. They are happy to tackle a challenge because they believe it will develop them.

We want our students to be resilient and to see ‘failure’ for what it is: an event and not a state of being. We need to encourage them to adopt a growth mindset.
Dweck’s ideas are complemented by Malcolm Gladwell’s findings in his book , Outliers. Here he explores and accounts for outstanding success in fields as diverse as sport, music and computing.

He reports the findings of research conducted 1990’s by the psychologist Ericsson at Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. Professors divided the students into three groups. First, the stars who would probably go onto have careers as world-class soloists. Next, the good. The third group would probably never play professionally but would become music teachers. Each group was asked the same question: over your career so far, from the day you picked up the violin, how many hours have you practised?

They all started playing at around the same age and in the first few years they all practised about the same amount: two to three hours a week. By eight differences began to emerge. The best were practising more six hours a week by the age of nine; eight hours by twelve; sixteen hours a week by the age of fourteen and by twenty they were doing well over thirty hours a week. In total they had amassed about 10,000 hours. Good students had a total of eight thousand hours and the final group about four thousand hours. They found the same pattern with amateur and professional pianists. Indeed, 10,000 hours of practising seem to be the identifying marker of peak performers in a range of fields.

But the most significant finding was the busting of the myth of the ‘naturally talented’. The study found no examples of any elite performer who didn’t work very, very hard. Nor did they find anybody who put in the maximum hours without making the top rank.

This is very significant for learners to understand. It’s tempting to think that outstanding performers are just ‘born’ that way. That other people are more successful because they just have natural talent (a fixed mindset perspective). In fact, whilst a certain amount of natural talent is necessary, it needs very hard work to develop it. However, provided that the work is done, then progress will be made (a growth mindset attitude).

If students (indeed any of us) can understand this, then it can feed intrinsic motivation. There is no external limitation (your natural ability) dictating that you cannot make progress towards your goals. If you want something enough and are prepared to work (very!) hard, then Gladwell ‘s and Dweck’s work suggest that you can only improve.

Of course, knowing what we want and being able to motivate ourselves are separate issues and I shall return to these later.

Verbal Kung Fu: Fighting Without Fighting (Part 4)

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:41:00 +0000

Watch enough Kung Fu films and sooner or later you will see a martial artist practice kata. This is a rehearsed sequence of moves demonstrating techniques against an imaginary opponent.

This silent action provides the metaphor for the next piece of Verbal Kung Fu: silent actions.

For example, you are standing at the classroom door applying your MEET-GREET-CORRECT routine. You MEET the pupils, have a friendly GREETING for them and are ready to CORRECT them if necessary. Say, somebody arrives with ear phones in or chewing gum. Instead of telling them to remove said earpiece/gum you MIME the action. This signals what you expect them to do (By the way, that it is much more effective to expect compliance than hope for it). From the pupil’s point of view (we do well to keep this firmly in mind) this feels less aggressive, less like they are being told what to do, told off, singled out. They feel less threatened and more often than not will comply.

Of course, this can be used at any time during the lesson. Catch a pupil's eye and make the signal for four legs down, direct their gaze to the person they should be listening to, indicate they need to move on with their writing etc.

Frank Farrell

Verbal Kung Fu: Fighting Without Fighting (Part 3)

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:55:00 +0100

In judo, you can use your opponent's weight to overcome them. We can apply this (sort of) in our verbal king fu.

This is the WHEN...THEN strategy.

We use this when the pupils wants something, has asked for something. It could be to sit next to a friend, go to the toilet, do some research on the computer.

Now, your gut reaction might be to say ‘no' because you suspect this is a tactic to get them away from the work. You can just refuse. They may accept... or it may be a signal for them to kick off.

There's no need for a row to break out. Instead you apply your verbal Kung Fu. You simply say:

WHEN you have (whatever amount of work you see fit) THEN you can...

They can see that you are being reasonable and the onus is on them.

Best wishes,

Frank Farrell

Verbal Kung Fu: Fighting Without Fighting (Part 2)

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:41:00 +0100

We begin the next of our Verbal Kung Fu series with a scenario that plays out all too often in classrooms up and down the country. Perhaps you recognize it.

The scene. In a classroom David is turning around instead of working on his Maths.

Teacher: David, turn around and get on with your work.
David: I am.
Teacher: No, you're not.
David: (Holds his exercise book up) Dur! What's this then? I'm on number eight. How can I not be working if I am already on number eight, eh?
Teacher: You were working but you stopped. You were turning around and talking to Michael.
David: (Turns to look at Michael's book) He's only on number four. Why don't you have a go at him then? I've done more work than him and you start having a go at me.
Teacher: He's not working because he was talking to you.
David: (triumphantly) So you admit that he wasn't working either but you still had a go at me. You're picking on me again. You're always picking on me. That's bullying. I thought there was a policy against bullying in this school. Not for teachers, though...as usual. Like you can all push in the dinner queue.
Teacher: How dare you say that? I treat everybody equally. Now, you were turning round talking instead of working. I saw you.
David: Yeah, just because you're a teacher doesn't mean that just because you say it it's true. (Turns to the class). OK hands up all those who saw me turning around talking?

Class goes into uproar. Teacher into meltdown.

The teacher could have used Verbal Kung Fu Tactic 1 (‘You may be right...') immediately after David replied that he was working (even though he wasn't). Verbal King Fu 2 (‘The thing I like about you...') isn't going to be very effective here.

Which brings us to the third technique: What should you be doing?

This is a fantastic way to re-direct the pupil way from what they shouldn't be doing back to what you want them to do. More often than not they will reply, ‘Exercise 4' (or whatever the task is). You can simile and say, ‘Great. Are you managing OK with that?' They say they are so you smile and nod and they get back on task.

It's not about punishing or having the last word. That's boxing, not Kung Fu. It is about low level, discrete, subtle, interventions from a teacher who is in charge of their own emotional state. It is because we have an effective prepared script to draw on that we are able to maintain that self-control which is central to effective behaviour management.

Frank Farrell

Paul Dix answers a FE teacher's concerns about punitive sanctions

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:44:00 +0100

Q: Working in FE I often find that after the census date there is precious little we can do about low level, persistent issues like poor punctuality, patchy attendance, poor commitment to handing in homework and general lack of work ethic. Myself and my colleagues use the sanctions available to us - letters and calls home, putting students on "report", reviews with tutorial managers etc as well as providing rewards to students with good studentship. However, we cannot give detentions, temporary exclusion only serves to put students further behind and is practically a reward for a kid who can't be bothered to come into college, and as retention is the major factor that impacts on our pay, continuation of our employment and general esteem within the workplace, realistically, students will not be excluded for this kind of issues. We attempt to remove any students who, after being set targets and encouraged still seem like they just can't be bothered before the census date but this doesn't entirely solve the problem at all. Any tips? (Apologies for poor typing/phrasing! see user name!!)

Thanks,

Sophie

A: Hi Sophie

If punitive sanctions prevented reoffending the prisons would be empty, the police eating donuts and I would be out of a job.

It would be worth auditing the positive reinforcement that you use to see if there are tweaks that you could make. How many students, for example, have had positive communication with home since the beginning of term? Do colleagues use positive referrals? How often? Does everyone have positive notes to give? Is positive reinforcement written and held or spoken and lost? Could you tweak the culture within the department to make behaving well and turning up more attractive? How are you building positive relationships with the ‘hard to reach' students? What about the students who turn up every day, on time, prepared, determined and committed, how are they rewarded and reinforced? How is success celebrated within the department? Are displays fantastic or flopping? Is there a sense of community, belonging even? I know that the students who don't meet your expectations won' t immediately fall into line because you focus on rewarding appropriate behaviour. It does however send a clear message. It creates a consistently positive environment and sets a high expectation. Over time it is irresistible.
Think about the behaviours that are most damaging to achievement and focus on one or two over the course of the term. Give emphasis to teaching students behaviour. I know that it seems odd to teach a 17 year old how to behave but if you don't they go into HE and employment and fail. Teaching behaviour can be as important as teaching professional skills or academic content.
The truth is sanctions only work when they are designed to improve behaviour not simply to manage it. In classrooms where sanctions are used to re chalk the boundary lines, negotiate appropriate behaviour, repair trust and concrete agreements for future conduct then they can have a sustained impact. When they are personal retribution, revenge or born from an adult's emotional response they are remembered for the wrong reasons.

Punitive sanctions that satisfy the desire for mild revenge make students resentful. This includes loss of time that is delegated to others (right you are sitting next to Mr Savage for the next three weeks'), repeated sanctions that are subsumed into the student's day (‘I stay behind every day because I am naughty'), humiliating or disproportionate sanctions (‘Right that is the second time I have asked you to sit down, go and wait outside the Principal's office') don't set the right model or have a positive impact on behaviour.

You might want to consider using a Reparation meeting to hold up the mirror for the student and encourage them to take responsibility for their behaviour. If retention and engagement are the priorities then repairing trust and building relationships are worth investing time and energy in.

A reparation meeting should take no longer than 15 minutes and must be held with the adult who dealt with the original rule breaks. It isn't a prelude to the student apologising. It should be a genuine conversation. In many institutions this has been introduced in place of traditional detention systems. The change in emphasis has had a profound impact on teacher/student relationships and significantly reduced the number of students leaving courses.

Reparation will not give you the instant satisfaction that comes from pure punishment. It will give you a platform to build relationships that change and improve behaviour for the long term.

The Reparation meeting is often structured in 6 steps as follows:

1. What's happened?

2. What was each party thinking?

3. Who feels harmed and why?

4. What have each party thought since?

5. What behaviours will each of us show next time?

6. Reaffirm your commitment to building a trusting relationship