Sometimes it’s not social behaviour, but learning behaviour that’s the issue

What do you do when your class’ work is more no-show than show stopper, asks Paul Dix...

Intensive, albeit sandy and mojito-flavoured, preparation over the summer means that you are utterly prepared for all behavioural eventualities with your new class. You remember all too keenly the horror of the behaviour management mistakes you made as an NQT and you’re determined not to go through that again.

As your new students file in you are utterly shocked. They are instantly polite, well mannered and utterly compliant. You wonder if you have stumbled across a strange, ancient community, untouched by the rudeness of the urban sprawl. Seeing you in obvious amazement, a colleague reassures you: “Yes, I know, they are so well behaved, aren’t they?”

The first two weeks float by, you are seemingly relieved of all dealings with poor behaviour – you have landed in teacher heaven. There’s not even a backlash at the end of the honeymoon period. For days you expect it to happen, but nothing; just polite, respectful children.

Taking the books home for a special marking treat on Sunday it begins to dawn on you. The social behaviour may be exemplary, but the learning behaviours have a long way to go. There is unfinished and abandoned work everywhere. Nothing is complete or cared for. There is no pride in the work, bits of paper stuffed in books, awful presentation (including biscuit crumbs / chocolate smears / unidentified stains), even the most diligent children are barely reaching minimum standards.

What will you do next…

A
Presentation boot camp
Time to get out the red pen, let them see the sheer volume of mistakes that are being made.

B
Routine inspection
Establish clear routines for presentation that are imposed universally.

C
Set some new expectations
Initiate a new set of expectations for and with the children. Set a target for the end of the week and try to positively focus their attention.

A Ferocious feedback

Selecting a new red pen from the shop is a deep-rooted guilty pleasure. As you settle down for some intensive marking, the rest of the family clears out for the day. With your trusty new ‘fine tipped rollerball (extra smooth) dark red’, you glide through the books, determined to highlight each and every mistake. This proves to be incredibly time-consuming. Your family returns, has dinner and goes to bed, all while you’re still locked in the back bedroom in a fine mist of red dust.

Bounding into work the following morning (five hours of troubled sleep, four double shots of coffee) you prepare the children for some hard truths. When the books are handed out there are howls of disappointment from some, tears from others and stunned silence from many. You try to quell the reaction but only succeed in making things worse. By breaktime there are five books ripped up and thrown in the bin, two children still weeping and a cacophony of complaints. Your plan to get the children to draw out targets from your feedback seems unrealistic now and you wonder what long-term damage you may have done.

Talking behaviour…
• Are there any advantages in marking each and every mistake?
• How do you plan to have productive feedback conversations with individuals?
• What would you do now?

B Relentless routine

You decide to drill the entire class in the basics of great presentation: to install pride in their work, to reset expectations. But going back to basics frustrates some children. Their problem is not presentation, but lack of perseverance; yet it seems sensible to get the foundations reset.

After a morning of unusually didactic teaching and a large slice of help from the LSA, every child has a perfect model to use as an aide-mémoire. They stick this in the front of their books and you feel like you have taken a huge step forward.

Despite mild annoyance from some children (“Miss, we know how to present our work”) you’re happy that you’ve set a new standard and look forward to an afternoon of excellence.

Taking in the books you see some signs of success; the presentation in many has improved, it’s not perfect, but it’s certainly a step forward.

It is clear, however, that there is still a great deal of unfinished work. Beautifully presented unfinished work, but unfinished all the same. It seems that all time and effort has gone into underlining with extreme ruler accuracy, and meticulous rubbing out. It is also clear that many of the children who struggle with their written work have not moved on at all. You worry that the pressure of the whole-class approach has forced them to simply copy others. You begin to see notes in diaries with parents worried that their child is terrified of making a single presentational slip-up.

Talking behaviour… • How could you make the aide-mémoire work better? • Is the presentation more important than the ideas? • How can you differentiate this approach?

C Extra expectations

You post up a few key phrases on the wall and laminate some to the desk. ‘Good start…’, ‘Not excellent…yet’ and ‘It is finished when it is your absolute best’.

You reset the most basic expectation: that children will redraft, redraw and redo as a matter of routine. You focus on one key target and display it on every wall ‘Pride in your work’. The class then create a collage of ideas around the sign that describe how we show that pride.

A further tension is introduced when you reveal that at the end of the week a class from a school in South Africa will be sharing work via Skype. Everyone will have the chance to show their best work. The news seems to spark a sudden enthusiasm to get cracking. The week is peppered with anticipation, and the questions are endless, “How big are the schools?”, “How hot is it there?” and “Charlie says Africa is in Kent, Miss”.

As you sit on the carpet waiting to connect via the big screen, the headteacher pops in along with other staff. There is a real buzz in the room. The work is of an exceptionally high standard. Breaktimes have been given up voluntary, children have stayed after school there have even been some early arrivers. The redrafting has been done without too much complaint and the children have been checking with you (and each other) that the presentation is spot on. At the end of the week, sitting and waiting, you see them glow with pride. As they begin talking to Cape Town you realise they are not the only ones.

Talking behaviour…
• What is the advantage of focusing on one target at a time?
• Would you need to do any preparatory work with the other school before the Skype call?
• How often could this communication with other schools be useful?

Your style

A
Seeing red (pen)
The urge to point out each and every mistake may satisfy your desire for perfection but only serves to destroy the confidence of the child. There is nothing wrong with a few home truths at the right time and one to one. Avoid the public humiliation, it is a fleeting moment for you, but can stay with the children for a lifetime.

B
Drill sergeant
Sometimes drilling the children into a routine can be highly productive. Yet the temptation is to apply a one-size-fits-all solution. The children are at very different starting points and need to see their next step rather than your size 9 boot.

C
Bartender
You realise that raising the bar means more that simply criticising what is currently happening. The small shifts in your own language and approach are the seeds of long-term change.

About the author

Paul Dix podcasts at pivotalpodcast.com
. The Pivotal Curriculum is a licensed trainer scheme that allows every school to deliver Pivotal Behaviour and Safeguarding Training. Find out more on pivotalpodcast.com and pivotalpodcast.com