Teach Secondary Issue 13.4

The silent struggle Ed Carlin shares his thoughts on the perpetual struggle to deliver effective behaviour management with dignity and grace T here’s a peculiar dance that teachers can often find themselves performing in the classroom – one requiring a delicate balance between authority and empathy, discipline and understanding. It’s a dance fraught with challenges, where any missteps can lead to chaos, frustration and sometimes even a loss of faith in the very systemmeant to nurture young minds. Understanding versus challenging One of the most contentious points in this dance is the question of how to deal with other people’s children . Should you raise your voice? Should you get ‘cross,’ as the British say? It’s a dilemma teachers face daily, one which cuts to the very heart of classroommanagement and the dynamics of authority. Here’s the thing, though – you shouldn’t have to shout or get ‘cross’ with other people’s children. In an ideal world, respect and cooperation will flow naturally, but as we know, reality often proves otherwise. Resorting to anger or aggression is seldom the answer. It only breeds resentment, creates distance and rarely solves the underlying issues at hand. Our unsung teacher heroes of the education system thus find themselves too often torn between understanding behaviours and effectively challenging them. It’s a tightrope walk between compassion and discipline, where each step must be carefully calculated so that you can maintain order, without sacrificing empathy. Choppywaters Imagine working in a school where you lack the authority to remove a disruptive student fromyour classroom. The burden of maintaining order is squarely on your shoulders, yet your hands are tied. Should you still be held responsible for classroom management under such circumstances? It’s a question that remains hotly debated among teachers and school leaders. If teachers ultimately don’t have the option to remove someone from their classroom, why should the classroommanagement buck stop with them? It seems unjust to expect teaching staff to navigate choppy behavioural waters without access to the full complement of necessary tools or authority required to do so. How can one be held accountable for a ship they have little control over? Even in less pressing situations, teachers can experience moments when they’re limited in the sanctions they’re able to impose. Is it ever acceptable to simply ignore certain kinds of behaviours when recourse to certain sanctions isn’t available? Or does doing that simply paint a target on your back? It’s a Catch-22. Intervening as you feel necessary may invite backlash, while simply turning a blind eye feels like a betrayal of duty. The power of presence Worryingly, there are some schools in which teachers are now advised to only intervene with respect to high-level disruption or urgent safety issues. There will arguably be more options available to you in such instances, but what about the grey areas? All those low-level disruptions that steadily chip away at the fabric of learning, slowly eroding morale and focus over time? Then there’s challenge of managing behaviour outside of class. Here too, debate rages over whether ‘over- supervision’ is counterproductive, and if behavioural monitoring should be of a ‘light touch’ variety where possible. However, we shouldn’t underestimate the power of presence. The subtle influence of awatchful eye canwork wonders in steering a wayward ship back on course. Even then, though, the easy option can be to keep quiet, appear agreeable and simply go about your own business. What about the power of voice? The importance of setting expectations and holding firm to standards, even in the face of adversity? And what, indeed, of swearing and shouting in and out of classrooms? All too often, there’s an absence of any wider behaviour policy that grants teachers the freedom and flexibility to issue appropriate sanctions in response. Themiddle ground We should strive wherever possible for learning environments that are free from hostility and disrespect. So, where do we draw the line between tolerance and tacit approval? In the end, the answer perhaps lies in finding a middle ground – an equilibriumwhere authority, empathy, discipline and understanding can coexist harmoniously. It’s a journey fraught with challenges, to be sure, but one that holds the promise of growth, resilience, and ultimately, transformation. “Teachers canbe limited in the sanctions they’reable to impose.” 70 teachwire.net/secondary