Working with Specific Behaviours
From Teach
Types of Misbehaving Pupils
The most frequently cited forms of misbehaviour are:
- Pupils arriving late
- Pupils not paying attention to the teacher
- Excessive talking
- Pupils being noisy
- Pupils not getting on with their work
- Pupils being out of their seats
- Hindering others from getting on with their work
- Source: The Elton Report
Some additional issues:
- Pupils who consistently bother others in lessons.
- Pupils who are constantly shouting out.
- Pupils who misuse equipment or abuse school property.
- Pupils who are verbally aggressive or abusive.
- Pupils who regularly don’t stick to class rules.
- Pupils who do not complete their homework.
When you are ready to teach, you will have clearly identified the key elements of your own management strategies. You will also know when and how to ask for support from school systems as well as asking for support from class teachers and your mentor.
Here are some strategies that may be used to address specific issues with youngsters. Some of them are appropriate for teachers, others for support staff. Ideally, teachers and support staff should be working together as team-workers to address issues. They are taken from an activity which can be found on the behaviour4learning website which was originally part of the key stage 3 strategy.
You may also need to think about subject-specific issues. You will be able to review how teachers deal with these behaviours as you gain experience of observing and working with your school mentor.
In your schools you will need to find out about both school and departmental policies. You may need to plan and prepare resources for your teaching room to enable particular strategies. Behaviour management both inside and outside the classroom needs planning and preparation.
- Source: Strategies for working with specific behaviours
Pupils who arrive late
- Lesson objectives clearly displayed.
- Easily accessible materials to be collected by the pupil.
- Routine lesson structure so that pupil knows when the teacher may be available to recap on instructions for an activity.
- Easy access from the door to a vacant seat.
- Establish a positive classroom atmosphere.
- Establish and teach routines for late arrival to minimise disruption.
- Reminders about expectations.
- Use of school systems, for example, late slips.
- Reward/acknowledgement/ recognise punctuality.
- Be sensitive to individual pupil needs, worries and concerns.
- Find out why pupils are late – support strategies in place.
Pupils who do not participate in the whole-class lesson
- Lesson objectives clearly displayed.
- New and frequently used vocabulary displayed.
- Wall display that may be used interactively to engage the pupil.
- A bank of related work that can be completed independently, providing some challenge but requiring limited support.
- Routine lesson structure so that the pupil can be prompted to rejoin the rest of the class at key points in the lesson; for example, when group or independent work starts.
- Encourage questions.
- Provide supportive feedback.
- Encourage/acknowledge all efforts to participants.
- Acknowledge contributions.
- Evaluate lesson content and differentiation.
- Explore motivation to learn.
- Ask how you can help them to participate.
Pupils who do not to participate in group work
- Buddy system where another pupil is encouraged to work outside the group situation alongside this pupil.
- Spare materials to enable the pupil to continue the group work independently.
- Lesson organised into chunks to encourage staff to provide a way back into group work for the pupil who has opted out.
- Chair and table available for pupil to work alone.
- Reminder of behaviour needed for group work.
- Ensure pupils have skills for this – if not, teach them.
- Evaluate routine for setting group work.
- Teach necessary social skills.
Pupils who have returned to school after an extended absence
- Flexible grouping arrangements to enable a pupil to join a group who can provide an update on the work covered.
- Buddy system where another pupil is encouraged to work outside the group situation alongside this pupil.
- Word or phrase banks clearly displayed or available to provide key words to be used in understanding teaching.
- Wall displays that represent key learning points or visual images that will support learning; for example, grammar rules to support the use of the past tense in French, place value charts containing decimals etc.
Pupils who have special needs in relation to their social, emotional and behavioural skills
- Classroom rules published, clearly displayed and referred to within the lesson.
- Additional time allowed for tasks.
- Routine lesson structure.
- Frequent progress checks during lesson.
- Pupil paired with appropriate role model.
- Clear classroom behaviour expectations.
- Clear routines in place.
- Buddy systems for learning or emotional support.
- Provide corrective feedback.
- Set individual targets.
- Follow through individual behaviour plan.
Pupils who have recently arrived at the school following exclusion:
- Provide notes on work missed.
- Welcome back, show concern, be pleased to see them.
- Offer reassurance; build in time to discuss work missed.
- Assess ability and provide appropriate work.
- Welcome, show concern, be pleased to have them back.
- Ensure they understand it’s a fresh start, be positive.
- Explain class rules and routines.
- Establish buddy system to help them settle.
- Teach necessary behaviour skills.
- Provide emotional support.
- Develop personal relationship.
- Acknowledge efforts to improve.
- Provide supportive feedback.
