Questions on Behaviour

Sarah Johnson is the founder and Director of Phoenix Education Consultancy, which works alongside educational establishments to identify their strengths and address gaps to improve outcomes for children and young people. With over twenty years of senior leadership experience across mainstream, alternative provision, and hospital education settings, she brings a depth of practical, relational understanding to questions of behaviour that few can match.Sarah is President of PRUsAP, the national body for Pupil Referral Units and Alternative Provision, and sits on Department for Education stakeholder groups for both AP and SEND. She is a member of the Special Education Consortium and a trustee of Bromley Y, a mental health charity supporting young people in South London. Her previous roles have included Director of Inclusion for a large primary school and Head of a Secondary Pupil Referral Unit. She has also taught internationally, including in Uganda, which has deepened her commitment to culturally responsive, inclusive practice.

• AcronymsAbout the EditorAbout the ContributorsAcknowledgements1 I’m here to teach, not deal with behaviour Why do I feel like this? Teaching behaviour is also teaching Do we need experts? Understanding behaviour across time What you can do now How to use this book, for ECTs and beyond Do all contributors agree with one another?2 Starting from you Mental health, resilience, and the work of ‘showing up’ How can I manage my workload effectively to prevent burnout? How can I advocate for myself when my wellbeing is being compromised by school demands? How can I handle difficult classroom situations while preserving my mental wellbeing? What can do I do when I’m struggling to balance lesson planning, marking, and managing behaviour? How can I find joy in teaching and truly celebrate the positive impact I have on my students’ lives, especially when the challenges of the classroom sometimes feel overwhelming? Further support: Wellbeing organisations for educators (UK) 3 Schools and trusts as organisations How do schools actually work? How can I promote the ethos of a school as an ECT? What is the role of the wider trust in behaviour in my classroom? What can we learn from special schools about behaviour? Why do leaders make the decisions they do? Suspension and permanent exclusion What can pupil referral units and alternative provision teach us about behaviour? How can I effectively collaborate with colleagues and support staff to maintain a consistent approach to student behaviour? What does the local authority have to do with behaviour in my class?4 Classrooms, conflict, and creating a culture of safety How do I handle conflicts between students in a way that promotes inclusion? What should I consider when implementing behaviour policies to ensure that students’ emotional and physical wellbeing are protected? What can we learn from the Early Years about ‘behaviour’? How can I create a culture of safety and certainty through design? What does teaching have to do with behaviour? How do I create a positive classroom culture? What do I do when the rest of the class starts copying negative behaviour?How do I manage when I’ve not had much support with classroom behaviour routines? What should I consider when grouping students to support behaviour and engagement? When is banter not banter? As an ECT, how can I tackle misogyny in the classroom? 5 Children as individuals How can I engage the disengaged? How can I support students who have experienced trauma? Is it my fault that my students’ behaviour is so poor? Should students be punished for breaking school rules? What strategies can I use to support children exhibiting challenging behaviours without asking children to leave the class? How do you know when a behaviour issue might actually be an unmet special educational need, and how do you support behaviour for a pupil awaiting assessment or diagnosis? What are some common misunderstandings teachers have about behaviour and SEND, and how can we reframe them? What can I do to support white working-class boys? What has aspiration got to do with behaviour? 6 Children and their parents/carers How do carers find out about behaviour in school? How can I involve parents and carers in supporting safeguarding and positive behaviour at school? How can ECTs build strong relationships with parents, and why does this matter for behaviour and learning? As a new teacher, how do I talk with carers about behaviour without the conversation becoming negative or adversarial? What if I say the wrong thing? How about when engagement from parents/carers is low? How can I work with parents and carers to understand and support the behaviour of pupils with SEND? 7 A focus on safeguarding Behaviour and safeguarding overlaps What is the role of school policies in safeguarding students, and how can I apply them as an ECT? How can I recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns in the classroom? What steps should I take to maintain a safe learning environment while managing student behaviour? 8 Integrating perspectives Behaviour isn’t just about the children Thinking about practice Case study 1: The chaos classroom Case study 2: The ‘difficult’ parent Case Study 3: Behaviour or safeguarding, professional curiosity Case Study 4: Being undermined by another teacher Case Study 5: I said the wrong thing Behaviour as care Building your own framework Final thoughts Index

'This is a book I wish I had had at the start of my teaching career and one I will be happy to recommend to the many people I work with who support early careers teachers. I know both from personal experience and from extensive work in ITT and the early career phase that behaviour worries are amongst the biggest barriers to making progress as a new teacher. Behaviour is also one of the the issues that has the biggest impact on wellbeing and emotional resilience. I particularly like the way the book uses a range of authors and perspectives to really dig into the underlying causes and helps build a fuller, more informed sense of the pupil as an individual with complex life circumstances impacting on how they show up.' Samantha Twiselton, Emeritus Professor and Former Founding Director of Sheffield Institute of Education (SIoE)'This is a refreshing book, encouraging teachers to reflect on behaviour with positive relationships, strength-based approaches and wellbeing, at its heart. Providing a variety of perspectives shows that there is not one way of supporting pupils; voicing this is powerful! It allows readers to reflect on their own practice, while developing their understanding further, in a way that works for them, their pupils and their context. The key message for me was "behaviour is not something to be managed but something to be made sense of to support", and this book provides us with the tools to do just that.' Rachel Thynne, SEMH Outreach Lead Teacher and author of Behaviour Barriers and Beyond and Understanding Anxiety at School