‘They think that swearing is okay’: first lessons in behaviour management

Abstract

Despite a considerable body of literature devoted to the 'behaviour management' of pupils, there is little that actually considers the experience of beginning teachers in learning to cope with that behaviour. Here we consider the experience of student teachers and illustrate their attempts to form deeper understanding, connections between theory and practice and the contribution made by other teachers. It is argued that students at this first stage of classroom teaching experiences are, despite the inevitable anxieties in their new encounters, starting to make deeper sense of them than can be provided by tips on discipline. There is a need for caution against over-emphasis of behaviour management as misleading, premature categorisation that could inhibit new teachers' capacity to build the relationships with pupils on which good teaching depends.

Using Online Blogs to Develop Student Teachers’ Behaviour Management Approaches

“…In terms of what student teachers actually learnt as a result of engaging in this compulsory activity, the postings indicate an extensive sharing of behavioural tips, confirming earlier studies which found that student teachers want step-by-step strategies to manage classroom behaviour (Bromfield, 2006;McNally, I'anson, Whewell & Wilson, 2005). There was some, albeit little, evidence of student teachers' reflecting about the nature of behaviour and misbehaviour in the classroom and the linking of theory and practice.…”

Are They Ready? Final Year Pre-service Teachers' Learning about Managing Student Behaviour

“…According to McNally et al (2005), no matter how effectively pre-service teachers are prepared, they still face huge challenges as beginning teachers because they 'do not have the experience or developed instinct for reading the situation'. They suggested they 'need an early period in which there is a tolerance of judgment calls and mistakes, in relation to behaviour management at least ' (p. 177).…”

Editorial

“…JET has previously published disturbing findings regarding bullying in higher education (see Kyriacou et al 2007;Maguire 2001;Sewell et al 2009) as well as research into behaviour management (e.g. McNally et al 2005), but Yariv's paper deals with a slightly different topic: discipline issues within a college. It might come as a surprise to the outsider that a teachers' college should have discipline problems as this is the very place one would expect to find approaches identifying ways in which discipline issues can be resolved.…”