Acing classroom behaviour: Strategies for success revealed
18th Aug, 2023
Addressing student behaviour within the classroom is a critical concern that significantly impacts both educators and parents alike.
This blog aims to provide educators with invaluable insights into mastering the art of Behavioural Management in the classroom.
Navigating the intricacies of classroom behavioural management can often be a daunting task, with the multitude of available strategies adding to the degree of difficulty.
Many teachers embark on a defined course of action, only to find themselves switching to alternative methods when initial plans falter – or returning to previously employed techniques.
At Invictus Solutions, we specialise in counselling, mentoring, consulting and educational workshops and our experienced facilitators play a pivotal role in addressing the challenges faced by both students and educators in 2023.
In this blog, we use our own experiences to shed light on five key areas where educators often struggle when managing classroom behaviour in traditional settings.
- Establishing Clear Expectations: Effective classroom behaviour management hinges upon your (the teacher’s) capacity to consistently and explicitly communicate your behavioural expectations to students. Until you articulate your guidelines and associated consequences firmly, students may default to their own interpretations.
Implementation strategies that we recommend include:
– Introducing classroom rules at the commencement of each term.
– Formulating logical and comprehensible rules.
– Contextualising each rule for better understanding.
- Enforcing Expectations Consistently: When students deviate from prescribed instructions and they decide to ‘do their own thing’, proactive intervention is essential. By identifying misconduct and alternatively by duly praising positive conduct where appropriate, positive reinforcement emerges as a fundamental tool in nurturing and maintaining classroom decorum.
Execution approaches include:
– Establishing clear protocols for escalating infractions and consequences.
– Refraining from issuing hollow threats.
– Ensuring adherence to forewarned consequences.
- Instilling Disruption-Reducing Routines: Optimal routines that minimise disruption and foster a peaceful and respectful environment should be integrated into daily classroom activities. Emphasise the obligatory nature of these routines, making them habitual for students and allowing educators to focus on teaching rather than correction.
Introductory routines may involve:
– Greeting students warmly at the doorway.
– Cultivating orderly behaviour upon entering the classroom.
– Employing attention-capturing cues to let the students know it’s time to concentrate on what you are saying.
- Deciphering Behavioural Functions: Negative behaviour frequently reflects a student’s underlying life challenges. Identifying and addressing these underlying issues can precipitate a resolution of disruptive conduct. By alleviating stressors, educators will almost certainly observe a decline in undesirable behaviour.
Strategies to comprehend behavioural functions include:
– Noticing external triggers that elicit behavioural disruptions.
– Identifying recurrent patterns within behaviour.
– Engaging in one-on-one conversations with students to gain insights into underlying issues.
- Cultivating Rapport: The bedrock of effective classroom behavioural management rests upon the educator’s capacity to forge and sustain positive relationships with students. Fostering familiarity, likability and trust can amplify the impact of instructional messages. Engaging students in lessons invariably depends on rapport building.
Techniques to boost rapport include:
– Earning respect through respectful conduct.
– Enforcing boundaries while remaining compassionate.
– Displaying affability through gestures including warm smiles and cheerful greetings.
It is important to acknowledge that achieving mastery in behavioural management is a lot like a marathon foot-race, demanding small changes over time to yield substantial, enduring outcomes.
This journey aligns with the aspirations of teachers, students and parents alike: cultivating an enriched educational environment through harmonised behaviour.
Summing up, the intricacies of classroom behaviour management are navigable through strategic implementation of the five fundamental strategies examined above.
By setting clear expectations, consistently enforcing them, embedding routines, comprehending behavioural functions and cultivating rapport, educators can orchestrate a harmonious classroom system that fosters enhanced learning experiences.
The iterative nature of these strategies demands patience and adaptability, ultimately culminating in the realisation of lasting positive results.
As educators contemplate integrating these strategies into their approaches, it is recommended that they evaluate their existing teaching methods holistically.
By critically assessing whether any existing negative behaviour stems from a practice of the teacher, the educator can embark on a transformative journey towards superior classroom behaviour management.
Consistent incremental efforts undoubtedly pave the way for improved educational outcomes, thereby enriching the educational landscape for all involved.
Invictus Solutions runs an educational workshop which goes into much greater depth about this topic.
If you are a principal or teacher who believes this may be of benefit to your school or class, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!