The classroom door swings shut. This is it. For the very first time as an NQT, you are alone with a class. Nobody else is here to step in and help you out with behaviour if things get tough. Somehow, you need to manage this class all on your own.

This is an intimidating moment, and one that all teachers must face.

I work with a lot of trainees. At the interview phase, many of them tell me that their biggest concern about going into the profession is how they will manage behaviour in their classrooms. If it isn’t? Well, then they are being naive, because it should be.

Managing behaviour can feel like a lonely, isolating activity. Once that classroom door closes, it is up to you alone to interpret what needs to happen. There is no “correct” way to deal with anything, because it all depends on the context and scenario. You simply have to rely on your sense of judgement, your experience and the school procedures.

So, what can we do to help trainees to cope with this most challenging aspect of the job? The answer, I believe, lies in Aristotelian rhetorical structures. That might sound a little kooky, but allow me to explain.

The Teachers’ Standards (Standard 7) specify that teachers must “manage behaviour effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment”. This is achieved through routines, rules, expectations and standards, which are underpinned by motivation and challenge.

Behaviour is often a product of the classroom environment, and the creation of that environment is in the hands of the teacher. Poor behaviour can manifest itself because of poor preparation, lack of challenge, disengagement and inability to access materials. As the experts in the room, we have the solution here: we need to simply focus on great teaching.

I tell trainees that the key to Teachers’ Standard 7 is the correct interpretation and understanding of Teachers’ Standard 1: “Set high expectations that inspire, motivate and challenge pupils.”

We need to create and shape the culture of our classrooms. Often, trainees seem to see behaviour management as nothing more than crowd control. To that, I would say: if that is the case, how can we learn to prepare the crowds for what it is we need to deliver?

This is where Aristotle comes in. Classical ideas of public speaking and discourse can be used to establish a teacher’s persona and presence in a room. Taking a lead from these theories can help us to structure a lesson in such a way that behaviour management can fall into place more easily.

So, what are these ideas? Classical Aristotelian rhetoric gives us three aspects: logos (the facts, the logic); pathos (the understanding); and ethos (the presence, the reputation).

Broadly speaking, a combination of these three aspects allows for successful delivery of a message. Teachers need to strike a balance between the three to make sure that their message is getting across. This will lead to better communication, better teaching and, ultimately, more effective classroom management.

But how can we use these ideas to support trainees? To help translate the theory into practice, I developed a series of coaching sessions built around classical discourse.

I started by asking trainees to consider their ethos: what did they have that allowed them to assume automatic respect? Primarily, the answer here was subject knowledge. This needs to be shared, demonstrated, articulated and modelled - it mustn’t be hidden.

Next comes pathos. When we promote success through motivation, we are empathising with our learners; we are showing pathos and understanding.

Teachers must celebrate and praise academic achievement and depth of understanding. We should help students to build schema by modelling processes and explaining the decisions we make. It is also important to show humility, through making mistakes in models and explaining the process of finding the solution.

We then underpin this with logos - the facts, the knowledge. Having the knowledge at our fingertips and in our schema helps to augment our ethos as “the one that knows’”. When we place high value on this knowledge and celebrate its use, this currency becomes more valuable.

To illustrate these ideas further, I devised a lesson structure built around the six classical stages of developing an argument:

• Exordium: Establish your ethos and credibility; announce the purpose and subject of the discourse to give a clear indication of the lesson and its worth.
• Narratio: Give the story behind the discourse (activate the prior knowledge).
• Divisio: Highlight the key points (linking to previous narratio - retrieval of knowledge to strengthen memory).
• Confirmatio: A period of direct instruction where the “proof” (the facts) is established, linking to logos.
• Refutatio: Now, outline the counter-arguments - the misconceptions to be addressed.
• Peroratio: A form of summary. This provides an opportunity for formative assessment for diagnostic purposes.

The structure outlined above factors in retrieval, activated prior knowledge, clear aims, small steps and well-modelled processes, as well as formative and diagnostic assessment opportunities, while all the time enforcing the role of teacher as orator and deliverer.

So, how well does this approach work? My school is in an area of high disadvantage. Our students crave structure and guidance; they are not yet ready for independence. Using such a formulaic model makes sense for them, and the approach has worked for us. Having a plan that helps to establish trainees as confident orators has helped them to better manage behaviour.

However, as with all interventions, there are a huge number of variables that need to be considered. The trial I conducted was not clinical and was based around subjective interpretation of modelled processes.

A teacher will find it easiest to establish their ethos and expectations at the start of their relationship with their group, so these methods need to be understood, modelled and practised before entering the classroom to give them the greatest chance of success.

We need to instil that understanding of the difference between compliance and self-actualisation - I don’t want teachers to feel that they are doing something because everyone else is doing it, but because it works and it is the right thing to do.

Henry Sauntson is an NQT, ITT coordinator and professional development tutor at City of Peterborough Academy, and senior subject lead at Teach East SCITT

This article originally appeared in the 7 August 2020 issue under the headline “Trust Greeks bearing gifts to help NQTs manage behaviour”