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Research School Network: Behaviour Reflections


Behaviour Reflections

by Meols Cop Research School
on the

Lewis Meadows (LM),
Research Lead and English Teacher, interviews Sam Piearce-Swift (SPS), Second in P.E, about her reflections on the EEF’s Improving Behaviour in Schools’ Guidance Report.


LM: Hi Sam, first of all, thank you for letting me interview you during this busy time. Whenever I think about positive relationships and teachers who go the extra mile’ for their students, I always think of you. To begin with, how can positive relationships with pupils influence their behaviour around the school?


SPS: Thank you, I am both flattered and honoured! Well firstly, I think that your relationship with students is vitally important. For me, establishing the relationship sets the tone for everything, because if you’re going to teach a student for five years, then having that relationship with them from the outset is really important. Perhaps schools could consider running their residential trip right at the beginning of the year so that these students can establish relationships with their form tutors early on, which I think will really help.


As a class teacher, I also think that you have to get to know your students and what makes them tick’; how you like things doing, how they like things doing, and I think building up those relationships helps everything else to flourish moving forwards. Children who feel that they have a good relationship with a staff member, will work hard for them, and I know it’s not only about working hard for the teacher, it’s about working hard for themselves, but I think this creates strong foundations for the future. It’s also important to monitor those relationships, especially when a student’s context causes a deviation in their behaviour, because if they start to break down, whether that’s external pressures or simply biological changes, then talking about it is really important and keeping those lines of communication open.


LM: They need someone to trust when it goes wrong.


SPS: Exactly, in the past, I’ve mediated between a student and a head of year perhaps, and sitting down and being able to have an honest, open conversation with a student, for example this is how you’re behaving” and this is why you were punished” is more effective if there’s trust. On the flip side, maybe the teacher will find some unforeseen information that may help them to manage the situation better. I ultimately think that communication is crucial, and it can be hard work for staff to ensure that the relationships are really solid, but all of that is going to influence their behaviour in my opinion.


LM: What do you think that schools can do to support relationship development?


SPS: I know that we always use the magic word time’, but I think giving both staff and students time is crucial. Not necessarily a classroom or even a form tutor environment, but extra-curricular, for example, trips, you definitely get to see students in a different light. Even being able to go on a bike-ride during sports week or an after-school club can really help to develop or even repair those relationships with certain students.


It shouldn’t always be about education and progress, but also about different experiences for both staff and students. Students have a lot of external influences, such as family upbringing, their friends or even teachers from both primary and secondary school, and I think that how other people have reacted to certain behaviours could influence their future behaviour, whether positive or negative.


LM: It’s almost as if giving time for staff and students to not talk about education, may actually benefit their education in the long run.


SPS: Definitely, students and staff need that break from school talk”. It can’t be all work; revision; homework”, and building those relationships from the start always helps me further down the line with progress and attainment anyway. Ultimately, staff need support and time. Schools can obviously provide cover, so that staff don’t feel pressured to use PPA time or after-school to meet about a behavioural incident or concern.


LM: I think that most restorative conversations are about reflection, and perhaps about how an incident could have played out differently if there had been a change in reaction or tone of voice. With this in mind, how can we encourage students to self-regulate their behaviour?


SPS: In terms of self-regulation, everyone is an individual, and I think it’s really important that students can see that it’s okay to make mistakes. There can be a culture that everything has to be perfect’ and it’s actually more of an organic, on-going process centred around learning from mistakes and changing an approach next time, even for experienced staff. Opening up these lines of communication, being consistent with expectations, and showing students that even we have to self-reflect sometimes, is important if we’re going to manage misbehaviour effectively.


LM: Consistency is key, as with everything. So what classroom strategies are you using to support positive behaviour as a P.E teacher?


SPS: I really do believe in the 5:1 ratio of positive to negative interactions. Negative encounters can be counteracted with five praises and I know that sometimes it’s hard to find lots of things to praise, but if a student walks through your door and it’s immediately negative, for example they haven’t got their homework or they’re wearing the wrong shoes, then it can hurt the relationship and of course, the lesson. I find that greeting students positively at the door, engaging with them, asking them if they’ve had a nice weekend or a good lunchtime, can really go a long way to setting the right tone at the beginning, then everything else with teaching and learning can fall into place.


LM: Effective behaviour management strategies often link back to the relationship itself, and coupled with clear routines, staff can establish strong rapports with all students. How are you making use of consistent routines to support positive behaviour?


SPS: Well, I try to ensure that I show as much respect as I expect in return. As a P.E teacher, it’s always been important for me to model behaviour, and in nearly all of my lessons, I will model my behavioural expectations from how we enter a room to how we ask questions. Sometimes it’s important to stop the class and address a beautifully, or poorly, executed routine to maintain those expectations.


If there is an incident, I always try to speak to students outside, away from the class. It’s rarely fixed an issue if I speak to a student about their behaviour in front of others, especially their friends. Taking them out of that environment can help to re-focus the conversation and avoid further confrontation, even with other students who want to stick up for their friends! Then it’s possible to have a more productive conversation around why a teacher may have given a sanction or why we do or don’t behave in a certain way, what could we all do differently?


LM: I really like how you focus on the why – it’s helping students to understand that we don’t have specific rules to be a tyrant or an authoritarian, but actually to make it better for everybody.


SPS: I always like to relate these conversations to society and wider-life. If we didn’t have these conversations, then we will end up with a society where people do not abide by the rules and we want everybody to feel safe and protected no matter what. That’s how I try to explain school policies and procedures, by making it relevant.


LM: In terms of school policies and procedures, they tend to be quite blanket’. It doesn’t always work for everybody, as there’s rarely a one-size-fits-all’ policy, so what targeted approaches are you using to meet the needs of individuals?


SPS: One thing I would say about our school, is that we do meet the needs of individuals really well. Behaviour policies may work for ninety percent of the students, who want to be productive and maintain a positive reputation in school, but there are students who may struggle with the blanket-policies. For that last ten percent, this is where personalised strategies come in. We have form tutors, heads of year, SLT who are able to oversee individual students and can escalate it further if they require more support.


LM: It’s about speaking to the right person, perhaps using someone who has a strong relationship with the student, and that element of trust, to get the outcome that you want. To conclude, do you have any final messages about managing behaviour and building positive relationships with students?


SPS: I think my mantra for student behaviour is rewarding and acknowledging the ninety percent who are doing it right. In any given class, there maybe one or two students who are being disruptive, while the rest are behaving perfectly. I recently read about attention” and it improved my awareness of praising those who are getting it right, rather than always targeting those who are getting it wrong. I actually find that the disruptive students really want the praise and attention, and you can’t always focus on the negative behaviours.

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