How to make students learn

“Children are more likely to be respectful when important adults in their lives respect them. They are more likely to care about others if they know they are cared about.”

– Alfie Kohn, Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community.

As we approach the end of another academic year, teachers around the world are reflecting on the year that was. For many, in fact most, this is a time of celebration. A time to pause and recognise the social, emotional and academic growth and development of our students. For many of our Grade 2 students, independently completing tasks such as speaking in turn or putting their books away at the end of lesson was a challenge at the beginning of the year. But as we write their reports this week, we have noted that those skills and routines have been established and our focus has shifted to celebrating academic achievements such as multiplication, writing short stories or reading with fluency and expression. So, what happened for such growth to occur?

The beginning of each school year can be a grueling and challenging time for teachers. Establishing high expectations for student engagement, performance and achievement and, of course, behaviour is no easy feat. But, it must be done if we, together with our students and their parents, are to reap the rewards throughout the year.

In developing our Student Wellbeing and Classroom Behaviour Management Framework, we asked ourselves ‘How are we going to ensure our students are engaged, safe, happy and learning?’ In asking this question, the school wanted to adopt a school-wide, positive behaviour management approach with a key focus on relationships.

As teachers, we all have opportunities to positively influence the lives of the students we work with. In our recent mentoring program with local Sharjah Government schools, we presented workshops to teachers, Principals and Assistant Principals on how we establish and maintain a warm classroom culture and high expectations conducive to learning at VISS. Together, we shared anecdotes of dealing with challenging behaviours and strategies to overcome them. One of our mentees, Rasha Al Suwaidi, from Al Khan Girls School, also supports and believes in the benefit of developing a strong learning community at her school, too. Together with her colleagues, she has discussed and adapted various approaches/strategies seen at VISS to motivate and engage her students in the classroom. Furthermore, she believes that differentiating the curriculum helps to engage students by targeting their specific needs. Their success can be measured by the multiple awards and projects that teams of teachers and students have recently achieved in their school.

Underlying Principles

First, we introduced the three underlying principles of our Classroom Behaviour Management Framework – Consistency, Ownership and Support. These principles are fundamental to its success.

1) Consistency: Consistent practice in all classes and with all students, including consistent tone and approach to dealing with misbehaviours and positively reinforcing the good ones. As children move from class to class, the expectations should be the same regardless of the teacher… consistent!

2) Ownership: All staff own issues in their room and follow up behavioural issues with students, parents and teachers. At times it is necessary to seek support from other staff. However, staff members must follow the guidelines and expectations to ensure that there is consistency and equality for all involved. By demonstrating ownership over student behaviour, and following it up accordingly, this helps to further improve student-teacher relationships. Students know that their teachers care about them.

3) Support: Supporting students by guiding them to identify and change their behaviours. As a teacher, it is important to support staff around you with strategies, encouragement and positive feedback as they deal with student management. Collaborating with your Learning Community to share and model strategies that have worked with each other promotes a supportive environment in your school.

Developing a Classroom Community

At VISS, student learning is achieved in a strong classroom community – a community of learners who work together as one team, to facilitate the social, physical, emotional and academic growth of our students. This community consists of students, teachers and parents.

Creating a classroom environment that reinforces positive behavior, stimulates attention and imagination and makes teacher expectations clear to the students is challenging yet imperative to implementing the school-wide approach described above. When setting up our VISS classrooms, we find it’s best to break this task down into smaller goals as highlighted below.

School Values and Expectations

Clearly stated behavioural expectations guide students behaviour and create a focus that strengthens staff monitoring and instruction. At the beginning of each academic year, we set the tone by developing classroom expectations linked to our VISS school values of Excellence, Diversity, Learning, Integrity and Community.

In the Primary School this is achieved by placing students in challenging team environments which allow them to explore and identify key characteristics of successful learners. We also implement Program Achieve: You Can Do It! (YCDI). YCDI is a school based values program focused on building the social, emotional, and motivational capacity of young people rather than on their problems and deficits. Through the focus on ‘5 Keys to Success’, it encourages prevention, promotion, and intervention efforts (school, home and community) in order to build the social and emotional strengths of young people. With the support of their teacher and fellow students, each child develops a deep understanding of positive behaviours that contribute to learning. These behaviours are then made explicit in positively framed statements, and displayed in each learning environment together with charts describing our ‘ideal classroom’ to further support their understanding and ability to stand by the classroom expectations.

Maintaining a positive classroome environment

Assertive discipline supports a calm learning environment to help teachers teach and children learn.

We believe that as teachers we have the right to determine what is best for our students, and to expect compliance. No student should prevent us from teaching, or keep another student from learning. Student compliance is imperative in creating and maintaining an effective and efficient learning environment. To accomplish this goal, as teachers we must react assertively, as opposed to aggressively or non-assertively. Having a clear management plan consisting of rules, rewards and consequences is also imperative to ensure successful outcomes are attained. When positive reinforcement is used effectively, negative behaviour is reduced or eliminated, and positive behaviour increases and is maintained.

1) TIPS TO REINFORCE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR

• Describe the positive behaviour

• Focus on what the student did right

• Give feedback immediately

• Vary statements

• Praise effort rather than achievement

• Avoid personal judgements

• Be sincere when giving praise

• Encourage students to reflect on their efforts

• Be aware that praise is generally more effective on a 1:1 basis

2) EFFECTIVE AND NON-EFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR

Effective responses to a challenging behaviour focuses on the behaviour (not the student) and communicates the teacher’s belief that the student is capable of behaving in positive ways.

Effective

Clear rules which have been discussed, practised, rehearsed by the class.

Low, firm voice.

Be persistent.

Body language and eye contact – firm but not adversarial or angry.

Consistent approach - Management Plan is clear to all students.

Non-Effective

Inconsistent, unclear rules applied.

Argumentative approach

Emotional

Angry, annoyed

Loud voice which can be heard by other children, disrupting their learning.

Criticise student and not their behaviour

Pointless questions (eg “What do you think you are doing?”).

3) TIPS FOR TEACHERS: How to develop positive student-teacher relationships

Get to know your students – likes, dislikes, hobbies.

Meet their parents and families.

Differentiate the curriculum to target individual learning needs.

Get involved in extra-curricular clubs, activities and camps.

Be consistent in dealings with all students.

Communicate with families on a regular basis via diary, phone call, face-to-face meeting.

Support students to change their behaviour (action plan).

Model expectations to students.

Positively reinforce and reward good behaviour and effort – assembly awards, diary notes.

Listen to your students

Follow up their concerns.

(Carmen Britnell is Deputy Head of Primary School and ELC, and Shevani Moodley, Grade 2 Teacher, VISS).