What does behaviour for learning mean to me? Part 3

By Richard Spencer, Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust: Vice Principle For Teaching & Learning

“The real difference between Behaviour for Learning and discipline is that Behaviour for Learning is not just about children behaving well but about being encouraged to listen, speak, and participate; not just good orderly behaviour but also good learning behaviour. This is why Ofsted will look at a class to evaluate whether they are expressing real engagement, perhaps even a thirst for knowledge.

In the 70s and 80s the classroom was much more of a private space where teachers were rarely observed by other adults and consequently more free to discipline children as they saw fit. Their teaching techniques were only ever called to account when a significant problem arose.

In more recent years there has been an interesting movement towards the structured ‘whole-school’ approaches to rewards and sanctions. These days classrooms are a public space where teachers are regularly held to account and children are also asked to explain their actions.

In some cases this approach can result in very strict schools, perhaps the most famous example being Mossbourne  Academy, brainchild of its former Head, Sir Michael Wilshaw who is now head of Ofsted. Mossbourne expects its pupils to adhere to rigid discipline, including lining up in silence and walking silently in the corridors. Yet even these schools, in common with most schools these days, embrace a child centred ethos, using behaviour management systems which thrive on consistency, balancing sanctions with rewards.

This whole-school approach is particularly useful to the newer (including supply) teachers who are yet to get to know their students. I spend a lot of time observing teachers using video recording systems, so that they can get to know how effective their teaching techniques are, asking them questions like ‘When you said this, what was the impact? What does your body language say about you?’. Schools should provide strong supportive systems to manage behaviour but teachers also need to always be reflecting on their practice and on the methods they use to build good relationships with children.

Supply teachers need to have even more finely tuned behaviour management skills, including the ability, so essential to all teachers, of having a confident teaching persona, a classroom version of themselves, comparable but not identical to their own character.”

We want your feedback

Tell us what you think about Behaviour for Learning strategies in the classroom and in schools in general.

What kind of environment do you find children respond to?
What are your experiences of Behaving for Learning within the schools that you have worked in?
If you’ve worked in a particularly challenging school what strategies worked best for you?

Look out for ‘A Day in the Life of a Richard Spencer’ in our forthcoming series. Meantime you can read more of Richard’s writing about education here

Would you like to read some other teachers’ opinions on Behaviour for Learning? We’ll be sharing another with you this week, so come back to read and comment on it too.

If you’d like to know more about all the courses we run at Prospero Teaching, including Behaviour for Learning, please visit our CPD For Teachers Event Calendar or email us at cpd@prosperoteaching.com or call +44 (0)20 7404 6383. We provide job opportunities in EYFS, primary, secondary and SEND schools.