Behaviour Management

Supporting students battling against education

Classroom behaviour management theories have traditionally offered singular or oversimplified suggestions that are often based on assumptions about class or ability and that do not take into account the complexities of teacher-student relationships, culture or gender differences. In Merv Lebor’s new book Classroom Management in the Post- School Sector, he challenges conventional practice and presents solutions for dealing with challenging behaviours in an effective way that is based on Humanist principles.
Teacher talking to student

I have been working as a teacher educator at Leeds City College for the last 10 years, observing sessions in schools and in the post-school sector. I have, unfortunately, seen many examples of difficult and challenging behaviour in so many different training and educational contexts that I felt I wanted to write an accessible and pragmatic book, questioning the theory (in other words what experts say) and practice of behaviour management in classrooms. It is a book that listens to the voices of teachers, managers, theorists, trainees, teacher educators and students talking about what I call the ‘Battle Against Being Educated’. The meaning of this phrase is that students are being offered a gift of education, career prospects and personal development, and a considerable minority, particularly at lower levels of attainment are rejecting this gift. 

My own background is that I have been a lecturer since 1975, teaching Language, Literature, Media, Art and Education. I’ve taught at all levels from basic literacy up to Masters, including GCSE, A level. I led 5 degree programmes in different contexts and have worked for several different universities. I’ve also published over 45 articles at national level, including ten in the Times Education Supplement, and have been an external moderator for over 100 schools and colleges, so I have plenty of experience to draw upon.

In this book I analyse models of classroom behaviour management, with examples of theory critiquing practice and practice criticizing theory. For example, many theorists advise teachers to come physically near to students if they are ‘mis-behaving,’ but sometimes there are all sorts of problems with proxemics because of culture and gender differences. I argue that there are no simple solutions, as each institution and context can be quite different. On a simple level, screaming in a Maths lesson would be totally unacceptable, but screaming on a sports pitch might be quite normative. Putting on make-up in lessons could be seen as disruptive. If it is a beauty lesson, it is normative. Teaching students the differences of what is expected in different places and what is appropriate can be crucial. 

The wider educational environment is contextual pressures of manageralism, demands imposed by Ofsted, and a more ruthless exam system which have all meant ever increasing pressures on teachers dealing with students’ violent, disruptive and challenging behaviours, resulting in some highly disordered classrooms in certain institutions. I examine the attitudes of stakeholders, including disruptive students themselves, teachers, trainees and managers, and explores a range of issues such as entering the classroom, abuse of computers and technology equipment, overt violence in classrooms, and counter-productive assessment processes, as well as exploring a range of available solutions to these problems. The book has actually been quite compelling reading for many involved, including teachers from different backgrounds as well as anyone interested in education and training.

I basically put theories of class management under scrutiny. Most books on this topic usually present one set of strategies or tactics. Books on this topic tend to offer a specific philosophy with little regard to what other writers have said or without considering different contexts. Writers usually speak with authority, suggesting that if their procedures are followed, then problems will not occur. The assumption is that all teachers are the same and have the same personality, emotional range, equanimity of mood and capabilities, and that they are involved in classes of the same emotional intensity and social complexity. I analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a range of models, exploring what is said by various theoreticians of classroom practice, such as Kounin, Kohn, Cowley and Wallace. 

In one section I explore the problems of entering classrooms and strategies that teachers deploy in these opening moments. There is analysis of situations where teachers entered classrooms and their presence was immediately rejected. How did they deal with these unnerving challenges? There is little written on this key moment of teaching other than benign platitudes of being pleasant or greeting students at the door, setting up learner contracts, but sometimes these initial moments have their own complexities. What do educational writers recommend? The problems faced by teachers often go beyond what is said in textbooks about class management and lesson preparation. How could tutors improve their teaching under these more difficult pressures? 

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