Classroom Management: More Than A Waiting Game

Over the last three years, I have volunteered for Physical Education New Zealand, specifically the Auckland branch. See more about this in an earlier blog post. Usually we (the Graduate Mentoring team) run three face to face sessions for beginning teachers throughout the year, but this year have held off and decided to host two online sessions. On Monday, our session was focused around behaviour and classroom management strategies, using the below scenarios to create discussion. 

Although the session was designed for new teachers, it was a great reminder of all of the different tools and strategies we can use in the classroom, to help with behaviour management. Put yourself in the 'walls' of these classrooms, and think about how you would respond. 

- Do you think your response has changed the longer you have been teaching? Why/Why not?

- Do you think your response would be the same if they were Junior students or Senior students? 

- Have you considered restorative practice, before jumping to punitive measures? (See this post and/or this post for information about restorative conversations)

- Should you respond to the scenario immediately, or a little later? When? Why?

The inspiration for this post came about when I met my student teacher this week, and we were discussing her goals for her practicum. One of the Learning Outcomes is to Apply a range of strategies to manage student behaviour, clearly aligning with the scenarios! So I have given these to my student teacher, for her to reflect on how she would respond now with no teaching experience and then once she has some teaching under her belt, we will have another look. I think this simple activity will ignite great reflection and discussion, and is an activity any teacher could do regardless of their experience.

I found the below visual which explains some strategies that can be used in the classroom, here. In addition to these, there are sooo many other strategies/tools that can be utilised such as; 

• Tone and/or volume of voice
• Physical placement and proximity to students
• Countdown verbally and/or with fingers
• "I've noticed you aren't yourself lately..."
• Observations of students in other subjects
• Whistles
• Music
• Differentiated learning activities
• Student choice
• Challenge and competition
• Discussions and plans made with other teachers
• Activities including student interests/hobbies
  

Ultimately, every teacher, every class, every student and every situation is going to be different. One day one strategy may work and the next day it may not. But that's the beauty of teaching - we have to be flexible all the time!

The Process of Making Changes

Throughout my working life (teaching and non-teaching), I've worked for, with and under many different people with different leadership styles. I have started to recognise what I really value in a leader, and what isn't as effective for me and my development. I'm now at the point in my career where I am wanting to up-skill to be able to become a leader of others, so The Education Hub's webinar 'Shifting the focus from change to improvement' caught my eye (Distinguished Professor Viviane Robinson). The session was focused around making changes and why/how these changes are being made.

There were several questions that left me thinking, as outlined in my sketchnote. One question in particular was related to listening to staff and students before making any changes, or suggesting new initiatives. The biggest thing that I took away from this webinar was how important that is. To really stop and listen to why someone (or why a group of people) are doing something the way they are currently. They are going to have understandings, evidence, observations to justify their reasoning, which you may have not considered, even if you are their leader. From this conversation your change/initiative/proposal may adapt, using the knowledge and feedback you now have. Don't just make this decision on your own, listen to the why, listen to your colleagues, include them in your decision-making process.

The second takeaway for me, was what are the different puzzle pieces that contribute to the problem or issue you are suggesting to adapt/alter. From conversations with staff and/or students, you may find there are several factors at play for the low achievement for example, not just how the unit of learning that is delivered. For instance, there may be low achievement because the teacher needs support with behaviour management, or the class sizes may be too big for 1:1 support, or they don't have the content knowledge to deepen learning for higher grades. All of these puzzle pieces will contribute in some way, some more than others. So if the major puzzle piece is the need for professional development around behaviour management strategies, but they are offered a course on deepening content learning, this won't support success toward increasing student achievement for that particular staff member. Reiterating the importance of including your colleagues in the process of adaptations/additions/changes etc.

Finally, Viviane discussed in detail her theory engagement model, as pictured alongside, which is explored in her book Reduce Change to Increase Improvement. Put simply, the first step before making any changes is for parties to agree on the proposed problem. From there, evidence to suggest why this is a problem needs to revealed. This step obviously includes discussions with staff as aforementioned, but can also include open and honest conversations with students, lesson observations and assessment data. Evaluating the evidence gathered, considering the overarching problem and discussing the alternatives is step three. To conclude the cycle, the new ideas/resources/suggestions are to be trialled and implemented. The cycle of course continues to repeat itself, to determine what the long term changes are for staff and ultimately students (positive and negative).

Overall, I recommend watching this webinar for any new leader, or anyone like me who is aspiring to be a leader. It really leaves you thinking about the importance of consultation before diving into any changes!