Frank wrote on Nov 14
th, 2023 at 9:17am:
Australia is high on the list of chaotic classrooms according to a recent OECD report on classroom behaviour management. There is also evidence that teachers increasingly are leaving the profession. These two facts constitute a slow-motion disaster for our children’s learning, their future and the wellbeing of our teachers. Something urgently must be done to improve the management of disruptive behaviours in our schools.Three factors must be considered when managing behaviour in a classroom: the group’s needs; the individual’s needs; and what to do when these come into conflict. What works for the group comes first. The teacher is responsible for class functioning and their needs must be met if they are to provide effective leadership. Anything that undermines a teacher’s authority is ruinous, as responsibility without authority is a sure recipe for stress.
From a position of authority teachers clarify the moral values in their classroom, provide rules for when values are not met and predictably enforce the costs of broken rules. When disruptions occur, the experience of boundaries predictably implemented is important for the moral development of the students, helping them move away from the self-focused motivation “what’s in it for me” towards “what is good for us”.
Unfortunately, teachers can be unprepared or uncomfortable when authority is required of them. This increasing discomfort about leadership is understandable. Our culture and media are cynical about authority figures. Rather than being respected, leaders are doubted and suspected. Some hold to a notion that “authority = hierarchy = exploitation = evil” and are uncomfortable exerting control or upsetting others. Others may struggle because they have experience of harm from excessive authority. But whatever the cause, this hesitancy and lack of confidence around leadership are seriously problematic.
Because just as excessive authority is wrong, insufficient authority is also wrong.
Without adequate authority there will be a lack of safety, security, trust and order in the classroom. Without authority’s calm and confident restraint, chaos ensues as immature children use immature behaviours to solve their problems. When costs are not imposed on those who break rules, hope for justice is lost, others question why they should follow the rules and respect for the teacher diminishes as ruptures are not repaired and instead are blown over. This decreased confidence in authority is a major factor in what is disrupting our classrooms today.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/how-to-bring-calm-to-chaotic-classroom... Class-wide expectations of learning and behaviour that are based on clear values and staged strategies are essential to improving group behaviour. Only from this position of calm, predictable authority can an individual student’s needs be understood and assisted. Even the most expertly devised individual approaches will be ineffective in a chaotic classroom led by a demoralised teacher.
Finally, let’s not forget the parents’ role as they have the ultimate responsibility for their child’s disruptive behaviour. The school leadership team needs to be having ongoing general and targeted conversations with parents about values, rules and costs at their school, and the requirement that parents play their part in backing up the behaviour management plans. Schools are also an obvious venue for community-based parenting programs to help families better understand and manage disruptive behaviour in the home. The more the adults involved in a child’s life are united in approach, the quicker change will occur.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/how-to-bring-calm-to-chaotic-classroom...When little Johnny acts like a little disruptive, unruly shite and parents come to the school you immediately see where little Johnny gets it from.
Forum
Pages: 
