I’ll always remember my A-level psychology teacher telling me about a school that solved behaviour issues in a lunch hall by changing the furniture. The students had nowhere to sit, so by introducing seating around tables, the rowdy behaviour disappeared. This was my first encounter with behavioural nudges (a concept popularised by academics Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein) and it blew my mind.  

As an FE teacher, I’m conscious of maintaining engagement using respectful, non-confrontational strategies. As a counsellor, I’m aware of the need underneath a behaviour. Over summer I’m working on our site to create a learning environment that meets the needs of our students and encourages feelings of community, ownership and engagement to encourage positive behaviour.  

The nature of our college (we are small and enrol throughout the year) means we have a mixed cohort which can be different every year. We’ve had students involved with the police, county lines, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, refugees, economic migrants, students removed from mainstream, students with SEMH needs, GCSE resit students and transfers from other colleges. The needs are varied but many students have experienced feeling unwelcome or unimportant. Our first priority is to change this because that has value in itself, but also because a lot of “disruptive” behaviour stems from these feelings. We want our environment to set students up for success.

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Making sure students know they are wanted

As soon as they come through the door, we want students to feel they’re wanted here. I’ll use unashamedly explicit ways to give them that message on a daily basis: a doormat with the word “welcome” on it and a mural on the wall in reception that reads, “We’re so happy you’re here!” I’ll use more subtle ways, such as photos of college trips in frames on windowsills, not typical displays, to create feelings of family and community. 

Our timetable will be adjusted so the first part of their day will be spent with members of staff outside of the classroom. This allows a casual check-in, meaning staff know what to expect in lessons later in the day.

We’ll offer them breakfast, eaten together around a table in a kitchen that is theirs to use. This routine and social connection mirrors a traditional family set-up that many of them don’t have. It can be vital in a managed transition from the outside world into college because this time with staff and each other can regulate emotion and boost mood (seeing a smiling face activates a mimicking response and when we smile we release dopamine, endorphins and serotonin). This engineers a good start to the day, instead of moving straight into a lesson that – let’s be honest – they’d probably be late for otherwise.  

To create feelings of ownership over their learning process and equipment, we’ll have storage areas for students. In primary schools, students have pegs for their coat and bag but after that age, most students carry their belongings around throughout the day. This gives the message that students are visitors in the space: you would never do this at home. We don’t even do it at work. By having space on bookshelves for folders or stationary and space in the kitchen to store their food we’re telling students they have a right to take up space here. Staff work in these areas so they can monitor the space but for students to leave their belongings requires trust, especially from those who have had very little for a long time. If they’re able to trust us and each other, this will create a sense of comfort and community as well as setting the students up to always have equipment ready for learning.

Small, considered changing

We want students to be engaged in their learning and with each other. Instead of setting homework, which often sets students up to fail if they’re not able to work outside of college, I’ll be asking teachers to create independent learning prompts around our college site, linked to what students are covering in lessons. Immediate ideas are discussion questions left on tables in communal spaces to encourage critical thinking and social skills or resources hung up on walls with a link to a game of Kahoot, using questions based on what they’ve read. These opportunities for exploration and play are so important for wellbeing and are often what you would find growing up in a family setting, which a lot of our students have missed out on. It brings learning out of the classroom and because teachers will change the activities on a regular basis, it shows students consistency and care.

I’m lucky that I work in a small college which makes putting these ideas in place straightforward, but I think they could be transferred to any classroom setting. At the heart of it all are the students and the idea that small, considered changes to their environment can support them and their learning.

Victoria Cunniffe is a FE and alternative provision teacher and counsellor in the UK