IndexAbstractIntroductionLiterature reviewPolicies and orientationLearning theoriesSchool placement experienceConclusionAbstractConsidering all the elements that led me to teach, the main concern that, among many others, I have had or have had was the management of pupils' behaviour. When I informed a relative of my desire to become a high school teacher and how I had successfully enrolled in a teacher training course to teach teenagers, their first words were, “They'll eat you alive!” These negative views have been shared on a variety of media platforms over many years and are a belief shared by much of the general public. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This report aims to provide a research-based overview of the adolescents who are entering our classrooms and what strategies are needed to best manage their behavior in order to achieve the national goal of helping our youth become citizens aware. Introduction The opportunity to conduct a report analyzing the behavior of high school students over the past ten years is the option I have chosen to explore. The overall purpose of this report is to gain a deeper and more critical understanding of why acquiring good behavior management skills is critical to becoming an effective professional. Additionally, my personal goal is to develop my confidence and further nurture my professional values ​​by raising my minimum expectations of what is considered acceptable in my classroom. This report will begin with a review of key government policies, educational theory of professional practice and a range of recent research in relation to behavior management. The following section will discuss the effectiveness of the educational practice that I witnessed and experienced in my three placement schools. Finally, this report will summarize the key points I have learned along with my recommendations on what strategies, ideals, and possible research directions require attention. Literature Review According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), behavior is defined as “the way in which one acts or behaves, especially towards others.” (OED, 2019). Decades of research have investigated human behavior with respect to its origin, intention and function. Human behavior is very complex and, depending on your point of view, could be the result of genetics up to the opposite end of the spectrum, where a person's behavior is entirely based on manner. you were raised in. For this report, we will focus on the behavior of adolescents within high school environments. We will explore the possible reasons for any unwanted behavior and what educational institutions have been advised by government, educational theorists. and by behavior specialists. There are numerous sources stating that the Department for Education (DfE) had established 'behaviour and discipline management' as a national priority rule in 2014/2015 (NELTA, 2014; Newman University, 2019). However, from examining the DfE's annual report and accounts for the years 2010 to 2018, behavior was more often than not part of the DfE's strategic plan, for example, from 2010 to 2013 "changing behavior to create a culture inclusive" and "increase the rigor and expectations of programs, assessments and behaviors” for the year 2014/2015 Despitethe statistic, “92% of schools were rated 'good' or 'outstanding' for behaviour” (Ofsted, 2015a), I am still not convinced that there has been any real emphasis on behavior in schools as the reports do not delve into any insights in relation to behavior (Ofsted, 2014b; Ofsted, 2015b; Ofsted, 2016; Ofsted, 2017; Ofsted, 2018). Perhaps this is the result of apparent complacency resulting from the 92% statistic? More recently in the DfE's strategic plan for 2015-2020, "management behaviour" was not explicitly listed as one of the key priorities. The closest strategic commitment, “incorporate rigorous standards, curriculum, and assessment,” is essentially a reworded version of a priority from previous years; again, there is no explicit mention of behavior as a sub-component of an engagement (DfE, 2016a). Something is missing here; if behavior in schools has been so “good” or “excellent”, why is there a shortage of teachers? The national teacher shortage we are facing, coupled with the costly campaign of incentivizing people to train to become teachers, plus the additional costs of retaining them, highlights that perhaps behavior management should be an explicit national priority. Policies and guidance Over the past decade, more government policies have become available to assist teachers when it comes to managing pupils' behaviour. In 2011, "Getting the simple things right" was published by Charlie Taylor, the government's expert advisor on behavior in schools, to act as additional guidance for teachers when dealing with behavior and discipline. In the same year, teacher standards were introduced for use in schools from September 2012 to serve as minimum requirements for teacher practice and conduct. There are two separate standards in which behavior management is a core competency to be met when training to become a teacher: Teaching Standard 1: Set high expectations that inspire, motivate and challenge pupils; and Teaching Standard 7: Manage behavior effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment. This highlights how behavior management is a key role of a teaching professional. Following this document, the Educational Standards Analysis and Research Division conducted an evaluation of pupil behavior in schools in England in 2012 to obtain evidence on: the standard of behaviour; the impact of bad behavior on pupils and teachers; and what schools and teachers can do to promote pupils' good behavior (DfE, 2012a). Overall, they found that there is mixed evidence about the extent of bad behavior reported by teachers. The National Foundation of Educational Research has conducted some surveys which show that pupils are believed to be predominantly well behaved, with around 70% reporting good behavior (NFER, 2013). However, another survey showed that 69% of National Union of Teachers (NUT) members reported experiencing disruptive behavior weekly or more frequently. 'Behavior and discipline in schools: advice for headteachers and school staff' was introduced in 2016 to provide an overview of the powers and duties of school staff. It is also up to individual schools to develop their own best practices for managing behavior in their school. More recently, Tom Bennett carried out an independent review of behavior in schools and this received a response from the government (Bennett, 2017). Further policies werepublished and implemented in 2018. For example, the 'Mental health and behavior in schools' guidance which aims to help schools support pupils whose mental health problems manifest in challenging behaviour. On reflection, as a result of the numerous additional research and policies that have been put together with various responses from the government; It appears that the Government considers managing pupils' behavior to be a national priority. It is clear that the focus on improving behavior in schools has had some success. For example, the incidence of pupils engaging in violent, criminal or dangerous behavior at school is relatively rare (DfE, 2018a) and the rate of persistent absence has fallen significantly since 2011. However, Policy Exchange has shown in its most recent report that there is clearly much room for positive progress in behavior management; especially in addressing persistent classroom disruption that harms student learning opportunities and interferes with teachers' primary purpose: teaching (Williams, 2019). Persistent class disruption is the most common reason for permanent exclusion in different educational institutions. This awareness is not profound. In 2014, Ofsted produced a report titled 'Below the radar: Low level disruption in the country's schools' and found that on average students risk missing an hour of learning a day, which equates to around 38 days of school . of an academic year (Ofsted, 2014a). Prior to Ofsted's investigation, in 2012 the DfE published data for the 2009/2010 academic year showing that across all school types, persistent and disruptive behavior was the most common reason recorded for all exclusions, at 29% for permanent exclusions and 23.8% for fixed-term exclusions. . Similarly, the DfE has published further data from the 2015/2016 academic year showing that low-level disruptive behavior accounts for 34.6% of permanent exclusions and 27% of fixed-term exclusions. It is evident here how low-level persistent destructive behaviors are becoming more prevalent. It is completely unacceptable and unfair how these behaviors are preventing some students from being able to reach their full potential. More recently, Edward Timpson was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon Damian Hinds MP, in March 2018, to explore how headteachers use exclusion in practice and why some groups of pupils are more likely to be excluded (Timpson, 2019). The Timpson Review of School Exclusion was published in May 2019 and found a number of differences in how schools use exclusion, as well as a small minority of schools being “out of class” (Timpson, 2019). This is where children are removed from the school register without a formal exclusion, with the possible intention of distorting school league table performance. The Timpson Review also found evidence that positive and safe learning environments explicitly recognize that good behaviors are vital to maintaining orderly environments that support everyone. For children, however, teachers need consistent guidance and tools to effectively address inappropriate and disruptive behavior. The DfE has accepted in principle all 30 recommendations of the Timpson Review, pledging to take action to ensure that no child misses out on a quality education. Therefore, the Government has announced that it will launch a consultation later this year to strengthen accountability over the use of exclusions and will invest £10 million to support schools in sharingbest practice in behavior management (GOV.UK, 2019). It's good to know that it's on the government's radar, it's imperative that we also consider the consequential impact this has had on teachers' wellbeing and retention, as well as the knock-on effect that bad behavior has on other pupils' experiences and progress. In 2006, 40% of teachers had decided to leave the profession within five years of qualifying and the most common reason for the decision was poor student behavior (Barmby, 2006). This rose to 60% a few years later, following a survey conducted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in 2009. Report by Dr Joanna Williams entitled "It Just Grinds You Down" Persistent and destructive behaviors in schools and what can be done about it' is indicative of how this remains a major issue for teachers. Williams (2018) reported that: 62% of teachers surveyed have currently or previously considered leaving the profession due to poor pupil behaviour; 72% of these teachers know other teachers who have left the teaching profession due to poor student behaviour; furthermore, 71% of teachers interviewed agreed that people are discouraged from becoming teachers due to poor pupil behaviour. This is consistent with my initial concerns about becoming a student teacher. The extent of this persistent disruptive behavior has played out over many years, and it could be argued that this explains the “teacher shortage” crisis the nation is facing. How individuals learn and behave has been the focus of ongoing research. over a century. Being able to explain and predict human behavior will be a never-ending process as time advances, technology advances, and how we individually evolve and adapt. This is synonymous with the contrasting views adopted by some educationists. Traditionally, behaviorism, discovered by its founding father, John Watson in 1913, is the belief that behavior is reactionary; resulting from external interactions and one's environment. In Pavlov's “classical conditioning” experiment, behaviorism is exemplified as an interaction between a stimulus that leads to an automatic response. An example of this behavior in today's classroom would be the ringing of the school bell (stimulus) which leads to an automatic response of students putting away (response) their things ready for the transition to class without having received any explicit instruction. Another behaviorist, BF Skinner, coined the term “operant conditioning” where the strength of a behavior, i.e. greater chance of the same behavior occurring, is the result of some form of reinforcement and/or punishment. For example, in the classroom, rewarding desirable behavior with reward points or stamps would positively reinforce what is expected of students, while sanctioning students for undesirable behavior would encourage them not to repeat behavior deemed inappropriate. Historically, corporal punishment would be an example of operant conditioning as a behavior management strategy until its abolition in 1987. Fortunately, in our education system, policies have developed and subsequently considered more ethical methods of disciplining misbehavior. Bandura (1977) was a social learning theorist who believed that behavior was the result of imitating the behaviors of role models through indirect reinforcement or receiving direct praise or reprimand from a caregiver. These role models can be veryinfluential and shape children's behavior, which can give you insight into where particular behaviors may have originated. In direct contrast to behaviorism and social learning theory, there are learning theories that suggest that behavior is the result of your biological behavior. trick and how you can have a predisposition to act a certain way. In relation to secondary school, lack of brain maturation and development could explain misbehavior. Johnsen et al (2009) note that an adolescent's brain is not fully developed, especially in the frontal lobes. This underdevelopment corresponds to typical adolescent behaviors such as poor decision-making ability, adopting riskier behaviors, and being weak in understanding the connection between their behavior and possible negative outcomes (Casey et al., 2011). As a result, some argue that this underdevelopment of an adolescent brain could explain students' poor behavioral choices along with the influx of hormones that is a key part of the transition from child to adult. On the other hand, Steinberg et al. (2018) states that more recent neuroscientific research suggests that adolescence is a period of exceptional plasticity, in which the brain can rapidly remodel and recalibrate in response to the environment. This, along with a greater sensitivity to reward, could push adolescents to take more risks, but at the same time it can also be a great motivator that gives them guidance on how to become successful adults. This may explain how adolescence is an ideal time for incredible amounts of learning: with increased motivation and a greater importance placed on socialization, adolescents have the opportunity to discover and develop the skills they need to function in a world adult. Steinberg (2018) stated: “The truth is that adolescence is not in itself a good or bad time, but it is a period in which the brain is extremely sensitive to the contexts of the environment… This should force us, as parents, educators, scientists and policy makers, to ensure that the context in which children grow up is positive”. This is echoed in research conducted in schools by Sylva et al. (2012) that pupils' achievement was higher where they perceived a more positive behavioral climate in secondary school, and this was particularly evident for mathematics, having examined numerous policies, government advisory documents and some leading learning theories, the multitude of research, statistics and literature illustrates how. persistent disruptive behavior is a major cause for concern (Bennett, 2017) The impact that poor behavior has on teaching, learning, the overall progress of pupils, the retention of good teachers and the recruitment of prospective teachers. cannot be ignored. We need to raise the stakes on the Government's agenda if we want our pupils to reach their full potential, which is what every child aspires to the National Curriculum: “The National Curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the fundamental knowledge of they need to be educated citizens. . The aim is: “to embody rigor and high standards and create consistency in what is taught in schools, to ensure that all children are taught essential knowledge in key subjects, to go beyond that core, to allow teachers greater freedom to use your professionalism and expertise to help everyone. children realize their potential.”School Placement ExperienceMy first phase of school placementhad recently implemented a big change in their behavioral policy upon my arrival. This mixed 11-16 comprehensive academy had previously been renowned among staff for having notoriously badly behaved students. A fellow teacher had been working at the school for over twenty years and had seriously considered leaving the profession due to rudeness and persistent bad behaviour. To counter unwanted behavior such as forgetting school equipment, planners and inappropriate school uniform, students were required to meet with the senior leadership team (SLT) alongside pastoral year leaders (PYL) on entry to school at the start of the school day demonstrating that you have everything you need for learning. At first, I felt that the school was unreasonable and unnecessarily strict, however, on reflection, considering my other two contrasting placements, this routine and the start of the school day saved me a lot of lesson time that would otherwise have been wasted. In addition to equipment and proper uniform checks, at the beginning of each lesson, students were required to stand behind their desks in silence, displaying their "5 things a day": pen, agenda, ruler, pencil and purple pen, while the teacher goes around the classroom checking that everyone has the correct equipment and is ready to start learning. Once each student was checked, they were able to sit down, arrange their notebooks and continue with the initial activity while registration takes place. It could be argued that this system may appear to be quite militant and behaviourist in nature, however, the commitment to ensuring standards for success was a high priority in the school. The behavioral policy included a system of consequences for undesirable behavior in which a teacher can physically record an offense by "checking" it on the board. Within lessons, students are given up to four opportunities where consequences can be recorded; if a student receives a fourth check mark it leads to the elimination of the room. In retrospect, I didn't really appreciate the heavy presence of SLT; it was very impressive. SLT would call into classrooms and reinforce behavioral policy; if a student had two or more "ticks", they would be pulled from class and have SLT spoken to them. This was very effective and teachers felt supported in their role with a greater sense of teamwork and enthusiasm for raising standards. My second phase of placement was a mixed experience and required teachers to read the four Behaviors for Learning Rules (BfL) at the start of each lesson: “The behavior for learning is now in place. You must remain silent when someone speaks; You must act and speak respectfully; You must not touch another person and/or their belongings; and you have to stay focused.” If a teacher forgets to read the BfL policy, then a student would have every right to appeal any consequence they were given; completing by weakening a qualified teaching professional. This second school had a very similar system of consequences to that of the first school. At first I was very frustrated at the prospect of having to inform students about the BfL rules. In my opinion, before the lesson started, I felt that the BfL rules were not in place. I didn't like how this implied that students shouldn't behave in a responsible and respectable manner. From the moment I arrived, I felt that the teachers did not have high expectations of behavior from their students during the second phase of induction.The fact that students consistently defied one of BfL's key rules and were not reprimanded for their inappropriate behavior was a major concern. At this stage of my training experience, I felt that I faced an internal battle of whether to adjust my expectations of what I personally consider to be acceptable behavior. Before I arrived at the school, I had read and analyzed all the school policies taking note of what the school's expectations were for students, such as a policy against the use of cell phones and what staff members are expected to do if a student is found their cell phone. On my first day and throughout my entire experience there, students were in the hallways with their cell phones and had constantly messy uniforms. It became clear very quickly that the entire school had stopped following its behavior policy. As part of the ongoing professional development of the whole school, a consultation was held with a member of the SLT seeking to review the behavior policy as there had been many complaints about it. effectiveness. It was good to see that SLT recognized that there were problems and consulted staff to discuss what can be done to make the system more effective. However, disillusionment suddenly followed. According to the 2016 Teacher Voice Omnibus, this is not an uncommon finding in schools (NFER, 2016). In the survey, it was reported that the proportion of senior leaders who responded that behavior was "very good" (48%) was higher than that of class teachers (21%), thus indicating another inconsistency among staff seniors and class staff. .During the second phase of the internship, I learned a lot about my teaching values; specifically, how it is so important to maintain high expectations and be fair and consistent. I had found a greater appreciation of teacher standards and had begun to appreciate how critical it is to have high expectations for all students to achieve positive learning outcomes. Personally, I was praised for my behavior management style and high expectations in the classroom by a very experienced host teacher who subsequently re-evaluated and reinvigorated his minimum expectations when teaching. My final placement school belongs to the same academic trust as the first school; as such, they have the same behavior for learning policies. However, this school's behavior policy is not as strict and consistently implemented. There are many more rude students who get away with swearing at teachers and manage to return to class without always receiving the appropriate severity consequence. For example, there were some students who had been reprimanded and given a full day of solitary confinement as punishment and who were able to negotiate release from solitary confinement and the opportunity to return to classes where they would continue to disrupt class and l other students' learning. Furthermore, in this placement school, I would say that the students were more violent and violent towards the staff members. During the internship, I heard about five separate cases of teachers being physically assaulted. This may explain the large number of teachers leaving the academy and obtaining new positions at other educational institutions. The presence of speech therapists in both my second and third placement schools was minimal unless the speech therapists conducted educational walks. I am a firm believer in support from the senior leadership team when it comes to managementof behavior is a very powerful strategy. Strengthening a whole school approach with a strong focus on coherence and high expectations is vital, not only for pupils' progress, but also for staff morale and a sense of working towards a greater purpose. As illustrated above from my personal experience at school and discussions I have had with colleagues, Bennett (2017) noted some of the challenges that often hinder improvement within schools, such as: “poorly calibrated or low expectations; staff overloaded by workload and therefore unable to direct behavior effectively; inadequately qualified staff responsible for crucial behavioral roles; remote, unavailable or overloaded leadership; and, inconsistently across staff and departments.” These findings directly correlate to my personal experience which exemplifies the scope and continued continuity of the problem across the nation a few years later. Conclusion In conclusion, Bennett (2017) suggests that there are a variety of things schools can do to improve, and leadership is key. key to this; “…teachers alone, no matter how qualified they are, cannot intervene with the same impact as a school leader. The fundamental task of a school leader is to create a culture - usefully defined as 'the way we do things around here' - that is understood and shared by the whole school community.”. A few years earlier, Garner et al (2014) stated that “it remains clear that students' positive outcomes in school, including the promotion of good behavior and learning, can be firmly linked to effective leadership”. Similarly, Day et al (2009) found that school climate is also linked to the effectiveness of school leadership. In general, teachers are hard-working individuals who often go above and beyond for the school and the students. However, when teachers are faced with unreasonable workload pressures, inconsistently managed behavior policies, or a negative school climate resulting from a lack of senior leadership and poor student behaviour, it has been found that these circumstances can explain the "failure to comply with the rules". behavioral policies” (Bennett, 2017). There are strategies that have been discovered following analysis of behaviors in excellent schools, such as having strong senior leadership teams including a highly dedicated headteacher who has a clear and detailed vision that is communicated to all members of a community school. Furthermore, consistency and close attention to detail are key priorities within these outstanding schools when aiming to raise standards of success. These are some strategies identified by Tom Bennett in his review, which successful schools make explicit to both staff and students. The policies of these schools were also simple to understand and could be relied upon on a daily basis. Furthermore, there is no room for possible ambiguities that could misunderstand any member of the school community (Bennett, 2017). Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay From the Inside After the in-depth research this report considers, what resonated most, in my opinion, is the importance of teacher standards. Previously, they were seen as requirements for obtaining a qualification, a means to an end, but I now see them as essential aspects of becoming the effective professional I aspire to be. Classroom management is now.