Children’s behaviour in schools has changed, and not for the better. That’s the message coming from leaders, teachers and commentators.
But is it really just the children who are being affected? Maybe everybody’s behaviour is worse these days. On the whole, people seem more anxious, polarised and frustrated. Political leaders behave badly and espouse binary populist positions. And if they can set rules, only to twist and flout them with impunity, well, can’t anyone?
Within this challenging climate, it’s perhaps not surprising if some school leaders feel unsure about where to go next with behaviour.
“Consistency” is the usual watchword here. Department for Education guidance conveys the importance of all staff behaving and responding in the same way. So, having the right policy in place clearly matters.
But we have to be cautious here, too, because if a policy is followed too rigidly, it can, as one headteacher told me recently, serve to “exacerbate” behaviour issues.
“At worst [the policy] becomes a process that some teachers follow to exit specific students from their classrooms and have ‘someone else deal with them’. All too often this has been combined with students coordinating with peers to be exited so that they can all be out of the classroom together,” the leader says.
Adapting your approach to behaviour in school
I have also been struck by how often trainee teachers simply deploy their school’s behaviour policy rather than following their own professional judgement to make decisions about how best to support a child’s behaviour. This does not equip them with the skills they need to develop good learning behaviours in the classroom.
It’s understandable that approaches to behaviour are reactive rather than proactive in many schools. Faced with so many “trigger” issues - high absence, the flood of mental health referrals, vaping in toilets and the expectation to be the fourth emergency service, to name but a few - the current burden on schools is, frankly, unsustainable.
For leaders, reinforcing your existing behaviour policy means that everyone - pupils, parents and staff - already know exactly what to expect.
However, sometimes a shift is needed.
Increasingly we hear mixed reviews around zero-tolerance and warm/strict approaches, which, some argue, can negatively affect children’s outcomes in later life. One 2019 Harvard study linked high-exclusion school cultures to poor long-term outcomes, especially for children from minority ethnic backgrounds.
A new report from the year-long Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition inquiry into the experiences of young people, families and professionals also shows that certain behaviour management techniques (removal rooms, fines, penalties for lateness, whole-class punishments) are not having the desired positive effect.
For school leaders who are reviewing their behaviour policy, the report offers some advice.
- Step back and review your school’s context: consider what has changed, and what that might mean for your existing policy.
- Adopt an inclusive approach: think about how pupils with special educational needs and disabilities are being affected, both by the behaviour of others and by the behaviour policy itself.
- Review what success looks like for all pupils. For example, do we want calm classrooms at the expense of some pupils being unable to participate?
- Ensure that all school policies connect and inform each other. For example, is it possible to enforce silent corridors while championing the importance of pupil voice?
The reality is that every school is different, and classrooms don’t stand still. So, now might be the perfect time to look again at how your school approaches behaviour and ask if your current approach is truly fit for purpose.
After all, if there has been a change in children’s behaviour, perhaps the way we view behaviour management needs to change, too.
Margaret Mulholland is the special educational needs and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders
