Should teachers raise their voices as a means of disciplining or controlling children? Or should we be pushing for all schools to say “no” to shouting, as one teacher argued recently (bit.ly/LenaCarter_Tes)?

When I asked Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) campaigner and research scientist, how she would change schools, stopping teachers shouting at pupils was near the top of her list.

The argument is easy to understand. The ACEs movement has done a fabulous job of helping us see beyond “bad behaviour” and making us “curious” - as Zeedyk would put it - about why children behave the way they do. Of course, acting out often has a lot to do with a child’s own life experiences. And if they suffer verbal abuse and worse at home, it seems a no-brainer that more of the same in school is only going to add to the damage already being done.

But there are teachers who don’t just shout: sometimes the fireworks can be far more impressive than that. I know of a teacher who was rumoured to have tipped over his desk because he wasn’t satisfied with the level of focus and attention his pupils were paying during a lesson. When he shouted, he roared and when he went quiet he was - if possible - even more terrifying.

His class did not know what was coming next; he was brilliant. He read novels that engaged and held everyone spellbound. But, to be honest, the text didn’t matter because he could have read the back of a cereal packet and made it interesting.

This teacher’s pupils were part of his gang. He set out the rules from the outset and had high standards, and everybody flourished. He talked about his family and told funny stories. He gave his pupils a piece of himself and showed them he cared. He was in control and they felt safe. And they laughed. A lot.

Walk along the corridor where that teacher’s classroom was located and you might have heard shouting, but the chances were that his class - and even the child on the receiving end - would have defended him to the hilt.

So what happens to that teacher if you outlaw shouting? That wonderful, magical teacher who holds a class in the palm of their hand but occasionally rants and roars to keep them there?

They probably become (even more) disillusioned and feel that their skill as a professional is being questioned. Shouting is just one tool in their armoury and they know how and when to use it.

And yet, of course, shouting can be a bad thing.

A friend’s child has flourished since starting school, but one of his few complaints has been about a shouty teacher. His mum was incredulous when he raised it; they are not a quiet family - how bad could it be?

It wasn’t really the shouting that was the problem, she discovered, but the fact that the teacher seemed perpetually angry and a cloud hung over the classroom. The upshot was that, often, the children didn’t feel liked.

Then there is the incredibly destructive practice that we know is going on in at least some schools, where children are shouted at and humiliated in front of their classmates so as to terrify them into compliance.

Shouting, therefore, can be a sign of poor practice. It can even be abusive. But it can also be used by teachers who are highly effective - who care deeply and show it.

Pupils know the difference. So maybe we should get better at asking them about their lessons and feeding back what they say to their teachers.

Shouting can undoubtedly be destructive, but so are teachers who don’t seem to like children and who don’t seem to care.

@Emma_Seith

This article originally appeared in the 26 July 2019 issue under the headline “Whisper it: shouting in class can be positive if it shows you care”