Guest post by Mark
Mark was a later years Primary PGCE student, who studied at the university in 2018-2019. He has an interesting and powerful journey with his behaviour management. At one point receiving specific support for this, but finishing the year being graded as ‘consistently embedded’ in his behaviour management. With his final report stating that he had ‘consistently high expectations for learning and behaviour, confident and enthusiastic teacher presence and creates a positive climate for learning’ Read about Mark’s journey below.
Although I have read many educational and pedagogical books, giving broad examples of how to incorporate tactics and strategies to help with behaviour and classroom management: it is completely different once you are on practice, needing to act fast and have the responsibility for vulnerable children. Through taking onboard advice and feedback, as well as implementing it as soon as possible, I was able to tailor my own approaches with that of an experienced and successful teacher. This helped myself to become more confident and find a rhythm of what worked for me. Luckily my mentor was very supportive (this was not always the case, in my experience!) and was able to highlight minor tweaks and changes in regard to aspects which I would have completely overlooked and thought nothing of. These minute changes had a dramatically positive effect on my teaching and classroom management. Even when you are feeling nervous or feel like giving up, you must come across as confident, the children feed off of your energy. The best advice I received, which put a lot of my worries aside was simply ‘giving it a go’ and finding out what the results were. In regard to issuing appropriate sanctions, I was very reluctant to issue sanctions to the children. With My Class teacher’s guidance I became confident enough to apply the sanctions as and when they were needed. Through this I was able to develop and stronger and more respected presence within the classroom.
There were several main aspects which challenged me regarding classroom and behaviour management. The first major challenge was knowing how to appropriately issue sanctions related to disruptive or poor behaviour (as I was unsure how the pupils and staff would respond to this). The second challenge was how to effectively manage a large number of pupils (30+) with various behaviours and personalities simultaneously. This also expanded into managing a learning environment which was safe for all pupil needs and conducive to learning for all abilities.
These challenges made me feel apprehensive and nervous about my presence within the classroom and my ability to maintain high levels of learning and constant control. I did not want to use ineffective approaches or becoming labelled as ‘the bad guy’ or ‘the angry teacher’. At time this apprehension would escalate into panic or frustration when things weren’t going smoothly or when a major behaviour issue would occur.
My reluctant approach towards sanctions was having a detrimental effect on the classroom and behaviour management, as I was quickly being seen and responded to as a friend rather than a respected and authoritative teacher. I can remember my class teacher telling me that if I had to think about potentially giving a child a sanction (warning) then it’s the right thing to do, and should be done. As soon as I had implemented this advice the atmosphere within the classroom had changed and all of the children respected and responded to me much more positively. Being strict in regard to behaviour management had the opposite effect to what I had previously thought. The more consistent I became with behaviour the less I needed to use the sanctions; resulting in a much calmer and positive learning environment for everyone. This allowed me to develop personal relationships with each individual and strengthen the mutual respect I received from each child. The key point would be to take the advice onboard and implement it straight away (or as soon as possible). Take the risk and don’t be afraid of it not working. As humans we learn through experiences, keep the aspects which work for you and adjust the parts which don’t. Be as reflective on your strategies as you can. At no point did I feel pressured by my teacher’s advice or uncomfortable with his comments. You must keep an open mind as the smallest of things can have the biggest desired effect.
As a student coming from a placement where I had seriously had my confidence knocked, especially with classroom and behaviour management through being reflective and implementing my mentor’s advice as soon as possible, I have now become a strong and confident teacher. I know I have the ability and strategies to maintain high levels of classroom and behaviour management, which allows for a safe, fun and conducive learning environment for all pupils, regardless of their backgrounds or needs. I have now finished my PGCE with behaviour management being acknowledged as one of my strongest and best features and will begin my NQT year in September 2019.