So says Sara Wiggins, a former deputy principal turned behaviour management coach with Classroom Mastery, who warns the “relentless” nature of these disruptions is harming learning and chipping away at teacher morale.
“So, things like talking out of turn, calling out, refusing to do work, any of those off-task behaviours are things that schools are wanting to really get under control to create those calm, orderly classrooms,” Wiggins tells EducationHQ.
Compliant but ‘checked out’ students also remain a huge issue for schools, she adds.
“They’re not particularly disruptive, but they’re not attending to learning, so they’re actually just not achieving to their potential at all, they’re just coasting along and getting away with doing very little in the classroom.”
Teachers often are not receiving training in the practical skills and strategies needed to address low-level disruptive behaviours, Wiggins says, and the strain on the profession is clear.
“Schools are lacking consistent approaches to how teachers should be responding, there isn’t a real procedural approach.
“Teachers are not getting the direction needed…”
If schools don’t have a ‘really strong’ focus on teaching exactly what good behaviour looks like in the classroom this will only compound the problem, Wiggins notes.
Varied and inconsistent expectations across a school can further erode classroom behaviour, she flags.
“I think about that in terms of when one teacher has an expectation that students will line up and enter the classroom really orderly, and then another down the way allows students to sort of just bustle into the classroom without having to line up, [that first teacher] is going to really struggle with that because it’s not a consistent approach.”
Aside from establishing solid routines using repeated verbal cues and actions, the expert says there are a few key ‘teacher skills’ that can set the stage for a calm and respectful classroom environment.
“Things like the proximity – where they are in the classroom, their tone of voice, how they’re actively scanning the classroom, their verbal or non-verbal cues to students, all of those support [already established routines].”
Be proactive rather than reactive in your approach to behaviour management, Wiggins advises teachers.
In her coaching sessions with teachers, Wiggins says the focus is on bringing ‘conscious awareness’ to these elements of their instructional practice.
“Because teachers are highly skilled at doing things a million times a minute, it’s when you actually have those coaching conversations of, ‘well, did you know that your proximity was the skill you were using, when you were at the front of the classroom and you moved closer to that student who was talking and they stopped?’
“When we highlight that with teachers, they’re able to bring that to their conscious awareness and go, ‘OK, well that’s something that I can use with more intent and more purpose in the future’.”
Another powerful yet simple strategy centres on acknowledgement, Wiggins says.
And acknowledgement of good behaviour, more specifically.
“Actually using the skill of, ‘I’m going to acknowledge the students who are doing the behaviour that I want to see’,” she explains.
“So I walk into a classroom, I do an attention signal to get the class to listen to me, and there’s maybe a few students who haven’t stopped and haven’t listened yet, and rather than say, ‘I’m waiting for you three at the back’, I’m going to say, ‘I love how, [Ollie and Georgia] are sitting quietly, thank you so much’.”
This creates a positive ripple effect, Wiggins says, which simultaneously hands positive feedback to those that need it and extinguishes any disruptive behaviours.
“That acknowledgement … is great for building relationships with those students that you’re acknowledging, but it’s also a ripple-on effect.
“The other students that hear that, go, ‘oh, I need to stop and listen to what the teacher’s saying’.”
A common misassumption Wiggins sees amongst teachers is that students will naturally know how to behave well, and will understand the social expectations of the classroom without needing to be taught explicitly.
Wary of getting through the curriculum, teachers often won’t feel the need to dedicate time at the beginning of the school year to set the behavioural expectations and routines they want to see, she adds.
“It takes time and investment … but at the end of the day it’s just crucial, because you’re not going to be able to teach if you don’t have a calm and orderly classroom anyway.”
Being proactive rather than reactive in your approach to behaviour management is the way to go, Wiggins says.
“And then something that I see and I talk to teacher friends a lot about is inconsistency across schools and … teachers just not having a clear sense of what are the expectations and what are the consequences, because at the end of the day that stuff needs to be really predictable in a school.”
Sara Wiggins will be presenting on instructional strategies that promote calm and orderly classrooms at the upcoming ResearchED event in Ballarat.
