It really annoys me when I hear people describe any consequence a student receives as punitive. Hey, I agree that punishments are punitive (there’s a clue in the name after all) but consequences, if done right, simply aren’t.

We do our young people no favours by letting them think there are no consequences for their actions. We all know there are. We do however, do them a disservice if we expect to modify their behaviour in the same way you might choose to do so with a rat.

I think when you put all the features in a table, the difference between punishments and consequences becomes obvious.

My plea (and I realise I may preaching to the converted here) is that we do not throw consequences out with the old punishment bath-water. If we do, there will be consequences.

No brain surgery this week, just the very simplest of all behaviour management techniques. Want to know what it is?

Well, it involves a piece of paper and a pen and 10 minutes of your time. That’s it.

I just want you to think about it.

To manage behaviour you first have to decide on the behaviour you want

So often, we can forget about this. The best practitioners have a natural ability to visualise how they want day-to-day classroom procedures to look.

Can I go to the toilet?

Here’s a simple example. Do you have children in your class/es asking you whether they can go to the toilet or perhaps fill up their water-bottle? I’m guessing you do.

A few options here:

1. We don’t let anyone go. Bit mean that one.

2. We let everyone go as many times as they jolly well want to. ”Just been 10 minutes ago? Of course you can go again!” Some children may take advantage.

3. We let some students go sometimes. A popular choice this one. However the problem occurs when highly paid teaching practitioners become toilet arbiters. The toilet arbiter needs to consider all the variables: time of day, distance from last break, distance to next break, whether they’ve already been in that session, whether there is a medical reason, whether they go to the toilet most sessions of most days, whether they go and return quickly or unbelievably slowly etc etc. This is quite time-consuming and often you lose both ways. You begrudgingly let them go with the sneaking suspicion that they are just having a little break or you feel guilty because you don’t let them go and you fear they may explode.

There is another way

Decide in advance when it is appropriate and reasonable for students to go to the toilet. So in a secondary school, it could be that you let everyone go to the toilet but you record it (this takes time but it also saves time). If the same student requests a toilet break again that term (for example), you request that they spend 5 minutes catching up with the work they’ve missed. This is not a punishment. It is a real consequence. They missed some lesson time so it is reasonable to ask them to make some time up. No more, “Go on then but make it snappy”s. It’s a procedure. It’s just what happens. You thought about it in advance. You know it’s reasonable and you explain fully the reason for having this procedure in place. (Don’t forget about Fair Process.)

Take a look at your other (non-toilet related) routines and procedures

You’ll have some already, no doubt. However, can you add to them and can you visualise an easier way to navigate them?

Below is a downloadable checklist with lots of classroom routines. Take 10 minutes to reflect on them. Reflecting on your own practice is one of the simplest behaviour management techniques there is. It’s also very handy when someone comes in to your classroom to reflect on your practice for you. You’ll have done it already.

Next steps

1. Download the Classroom Routine Reflection Checklist.

2. Fill in the numbers.

3. Choose some routines to focus on – you’ll find this easier now that you’ve reflected.

4. The best way to focus on them is to complete the FREE 50 Minute Behaviour Course.

• Why do the most challenging children in school often get the most “Good behaviour” certificates?
• Is it ok to give a student a Mars Bar because they didn’t throw chairs that day? (I admit that this is rhetorical.)
• Why do the hardest working children get the least recognition?
• How do we celebrate effort and success without making it a competition?

Rewards – the bluntest of instruments

There is general agreement that rewards are a good thing. However, I think it’s important that every school and every teacher takes a careful look (if they haven’t already) at the unwanted consequences of contingent reinforcers (if you do this, you’ll get that reward). Rewards such as classroom sticker charts can be very effective at promoting activity but I’d suggest they’re not so good at promoting things like imagination, independence, cooperation or a love of learning itself. In fact, writers such as Alfie Kohn suggest they actually damage children’s intrinsic motivation.

There are other disadvantages too:

• Children learn to do the least possible to get a reward
• They can start to ask; “What do I get?”
• They don’t tackle the root cause of the lack of effort (you might find Restorative Practice useful for that)

You can’t make cooperation a competition

I’ve come across a couple of amazing school blogs recently that create a brilliant alternative to the traditional classroom sticker chart. (See below for the links.) What they do is celebrate and recognise children’s efforts and achievements without making them into a competition. Here’s why I think they are better than sticker charts or good behaviour awards/certificates.

In my experience, stickers are given out using one of two methods:

• The stickers are given out fairly and the hardest working and highest achieving children are given the most stickers. Children who are less motivated, for whatever reason, lose the race.

or

• The stickers are given out according to need. The most challenging children get the most and the above pattern is inverted.

Move from individual, measurable rewards to recognition and celebration

Rather than having sticker charts and good behaviour certificates, I suggest moving the emphasis towards strategies schools probably use already (or could easily start tomorrow):

• Celebration assemblies     

Most schools have a version of this. Children bring work they are proud of or are nominated by teachers or their classmates. Achievements from outside school are also recognised. The impact of these events can’t be underestimated.

• School and class blogs    

Just like an online assembly that can celebrate all day, every day

• House points when competition is appropriate    

Competition is good and house points for sports days or remembering homework, for example, is a great way to use competition. I’d avoid them for behaviour though.

The only reward I’d recommend – Class-wide rewards

These are for short periods of time eg the beginning of term or the run up to Christmas, where individual children can receive rewards that the whole class benefit from. After all, we want the class to support children who’s behaviour is more challenging. Giving them individual rewards can have the opposite effect. More details about class-wide rewards are in the free-to-download, 50 Minute Behaviour course.

Class treats/”Golden Time”

This strategy is as old as teaching itself and it’s a great way to help a class bond and create a sense of belonging. That’s why I think all children should take part and whether it happens should not be contingent upon behaviour or be part of any individual reward (or consequence) system. It’s too valuable. I’d also suggest that the time is always learning/play related, so sorry to the movie lovers.

All you need is a Posterous account

The Posterous app means you can snap and publish (subject to parental permission of course) in a matter of seconds. Seen something that you want to celebrate? Just take a photo and publish to the web in less time than it takes to fill out  a certificate!

Need inspiration

Those fantastic school blogs are here:

Moortown Primary School

Dallow Primary School

Middleham Primary School

What about you?

Are you an advocate of the sticker chart?

Do you have a strategy for recognition that I’ve missed?

Do you have a celebration blog you’d like to share? I’m particularly looking for secondary school examples.

Why not let us know?

The fundamental premise is:

People are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive changes when those in positions of authority do things with them, rather than to them or for them.

From www.iirp.org

There is a real push in my authority of Leeds at the moment towards Restorative Practice (RP). More of an ethos than a set of strategies, RP seeks to “restore and build community”. Taking the lead from Hull, the world’s first restorative city, Leeds is aiming to use Restorative Practices as the basis for the way a whole range of agencies approach their work. From schools, PRUs and youth offending teams through to the police and the probation service, Leeds wants a city-wide approach to repairing, creating and maintaining community. And do you know what? It’s a no-brainer. Every school in the country should be doing RP. As I say a lot, human relationships are complicated, but there are easy wins. RP is one of them. (See Circle Time for another.)

Are Restorative Practice and behaviour management strategies mutually exclusive?

Not at all. Much of the training I do is about the best ways to build relationships, and good relationships are what good communities are based upon. Great relationships need to be based on fair process, as I blogged about last week, but the other essential element is what I call “structured talk“.

Have you ever listened to your partner or your child for three minutes without interrupting?

Try it. It’s really hard. We seem pre-programmed to interrupt with comments and advice. When we talk to others about our problems we often just want to get stuff off our chest or to try to explain them to someone. We don’t always want solutions (although, of course, sometimes we do). I think we’d all love to have a real and established way to get listened to. It’s the same in schools. Our usual social norms of conversational structure just aren’t good enough. Teachers and schools can really benefit from more formalised ways to communicate. Restorative practice helps give organisations this essential structure, not just between children and adults but between children and children, and between colleagues.

What are we trying to achieve?

According to RP, we need to be in that top right square: the WITH box i.e. equal measures of nurture and structure. Or, as I mentioned a few posts back: really nice and really strict. We need the structure of a system that helps identify pupils that need our support and a process that encourages the building of real community.

What does RP look like?

Here’s an example. Let’s say two pupils have been involved in an incident. We’re not sure what happened but one is complaining that they have been harmed. Here are some questions that might be asked to both pupils by a neutral other, perhaps an adult or even another pupil.

To respond to those with challenging behaviour:

1. What happened?

2. What were you thinking about at the time?

3. What have your thoughts been since?

4. Who has been affected by what you did?

5. In what way have you been affected?

6. What do you need to do to make things right?

To help those harmed by others actions:

1. What did you think when you realised what had happened?

2. What have your thoughts been since?

3. How has this affected you and others?

4. What has been the hardest thing for you?

5. What do you think needs to happen to make things right?

In a primary school the questions can be simplified and asked to both parties: 

1. What happened?

2. How did you feel?

3. Who’s been affected?

4. How can we move on?

It’s important that the neutral third person simply asks the questions. They are not there to sort things out or act as judge. Notice that the questions do not seek to lay blame at anyone’s door. They don’t ask the classic, “Why did you do that?” It’s simply a chance to talk and to be listened to. Just as importantly, it’s a chance to reflect. Now obviously this takes time to embed, but using these questions as a basis for the reparation of relationships is amazingly powerful. In my experience of using it in school, asking the questions the first few times can lead to predictable shoulder-shrugs and “don’t know”s. Lots of pupils will simply be expecting the traditional game of blame-laying and will switch off from process before they sit down. This is another reason the approach needs some time before you see the benefits. It needs some time and it isn’t successful every time but really, shouldn’t we be giving children the chance to explain their actions, even if they choose not to take the opportunity every time?

Simply brilliant

More information on RP can be found at the official IIRP website here but I think it’s important to remember that it’s not a set of strategies but a philosophy. Why not try using the questions next time you think it’s appropriate with the children you work with? It can never do any harm to give our students the chance to build community. Gotta love an easy win.

What does Future Behaviour look like?

I strongly recommend that schools start with a strong foundation when it comes to behaviour and one of the best ways to build on this strong foundation is through Restorative Practices. We don’t just want children who do as they’re told. This is not the end-game. We want children to be responsible, autonomous and independent – and that’s just for starters. If you need help with any of these key elements or want help preparing children for a future we haven’t imagined yet, get in touch.

There’s a reason for that. As a way of building relationships and self-esteem there isn’t a better formal method. It just works.

It’s the classroom equivalent of the family meal but instead of it being around the table it’s around the circle. We all get a chance to speak, to share and to learn. You might be able to tell that I love it.

Not just for primary school

I was a primary teacher for twelve years before moving to secondary in 2008. I took my love of circle time with me and once the students had got over the initial “we used to do this at primary school” phase, I think they loved it.

I’ve used it and continue to use it with my form and whenever I can fit it into my subject teaching. I think it should be just something schools do. I also think they should do it as often as possible.

Concentrate on managing relationships

When we do this, managing behaviour gets so much easier. When I shared a behaviour policy from an outstanding school recently, some of you noticed that it is actually called a “Behaviour and Relationship Policy”.

Human relationships are complicated but there are easy wins. Regular circle time is one of them.

A 2-Side Guide to Circle Time

There is more info on Jenny Moseley’s website but if you’d like a 2-side of A4 guide to the Basics of Circle Time download it here.

They’re simple, easy to implement, fair and they work. And they’ll be explained in half an hour.

If you haven’t joined a webinar before, it’s just a live online presentation. You can either just watch, you can send questions or comments via instant messaging, or you can power up your microphone and have a chat. It’s up to you.

It’ll take place on Wednesday, 14th March 2012 at 7:30 PM – 8:00 PM GMT and you can REGISTER HERE.

According to Kim and Mauborgne in the Harvard Business Review (1997), fairness can be broken down into three essential elements:

1. Engagement

This means involving individuals in the decisions that affect them by listening to their views and taking their opinions into account.

In a school context, this could include simply asking children to help formulate rules and consequences.

2. Explanation

Often, schools and teachers are not very good at this, but it’s a very easy thing to do. We just need to explain the reasoning behind decisions to everyone who will be involved or affected. For example, if a school bans mobile phones it is essential to give students the reasons why. Many schools just need to work on their PR.

3. Expectation clarity

I have basically made this my life’s work. I want to spread the word about how actually telling students what you want them to do, in very specific terms (and also telling them why – see #2) is essential to being fair and effective.

(Note that Kim and Mauborgne’s ”fair process” does not mean that all decisions are made democratically. Nor does it set out to achieve a scenario that makes everyone happy.)

Fair Process in Schools

So, in the context of schools, the very sensible suggestion is that children and young people are far more likely to trust in and cooperate with their school if their school follows these three guidelines and ensures that things are done fairly. This applies whether individuals agree with the decisions or not. The power to build trust comes from the process not the outcomes of the process.

When it comes to individual teachers, the same is true. In the classroom, I try to make sure I follow these three guidelines. I do this because I want to be fair.

And I want to be fair because I want to build better relationships.

Below you’ll find a link to a behaviour management policy. I think it’s brilliant, and I’ve read a few in my time. Lots of them sound very similar. There is invariably stuff about praise and high expectations and how bullying isn’t tolerated. Often though, specifics are thin on the ground.

The attached policy is from Moortown Primary School in Leeds. They had an OFSTED in November last year and were rated as “outstanding” including for behaviour. I delivered whole school training for them in 2007 and I was invited back last year by the new headteacher, David Roundtree, to refresh the training with all the staff. He took the framework we suggested, added lots of elements that were already working very successfully in the school and ensured the whole thing fitted perfectly with the school’s amazingly positive culture. (We’ve noticed that culture eats policy for breakfast.)

What makes this policy so effective?

I think it’s the fact that it is simply based on the school’s amazing practice. They put the practice first and then let the policy come from that. You can’t really do it the other way round.

Here it is and a big thank you to David at Moortown Primary for sharing it with us and with you. If you’d like a Word or Pages version, just drop me an email.

Also, if you’d like help with your personal or whole-school behaviour practice then get in touch.

It’s the consistency of delivery, not the severity of consequences, that shows students that you care enough to give them boundaries.

So, here is my guide to achieving consistency:

1. Have reasonable expectations

What do you really want in your classroom? How quickly do you want it? Are your expectations reasonable? Get this wrong and you’ll find consistency is very difficult.

2. Use reasonable consequences

Are your consequences reasonable? Are you comfortable giving them? If you’re not, guess what? You won’t.

3. Be flexible in advance, consistent in the now

It’s fine to change when and what consequences are given in certain situations, but just don’t do it on the hoof. Be as flexible as you like but only in advance and tell everyone about the changes in advance too.

4. Fair rewards

This is a whole new blog post and is coming soon.

5. Ensure only the choice decides whether a consequence is delivered

This is a toughy but is essential. If you have given a specific and reasonable instruction, and students choose not to follow it, then you need to deliver your reasonable consequences and deliver them every time.

Other factors shouldn’t enter the equation. Factors like:

• The time of day – you think:  ”It’s only 9.10am- it’s too early”  or ”It’s nearly lunchtime- it’s too late.”
• The student involved – you think: “They’re usually good, so I’ll let them off.“
• The number of warnings they’ve already had – you think: “This is their 4th warning which means I have to ring home. I’ll leave it.”
• The reaction of the student – you think: “If I give them a warning, they’ll kick-off; it’s easier to ignore it.”

So there it is – how to achieve real consistency in behaviour management.

#5 is the biggy but what it shows is that you’re simply delivering the system and that it’s pupil’s choices (and not your whim) that leads to consequences. This is key to building better relationships.

This week, I’ve got some tips to get you to the next level. I’ve split them in to three areas.

Class-wide strategies:

• Visualising your behavioural expectations
• Establishing simple ground rules and explaining why we need them
• Teaching simple routines
• Use of class-wide rewards (See the 50 Minute Behaviour Course for more details)
• Being unemotional
• Behavioural narration – “Thanks for … “
• Using specific language for classroom routines
• Not wasting words
• Hierarchy of consequences
• Giving warnings and repeating the instruction

Individual pupil strategies

• Inserting name/pause
• Proximity praise
• Reminding about rules instead of investigating
• Contacting home with good news
• Contacting home to say you’ll be ringing home next week with an update
• Being consistent

Personal strategies

• Reflecting on your success
• Using a checklist – like this one!
• Having reasonable and accurate expectations of success. We often get put off an exercise routine or weight-loss plan because we don’t see the benefits quickly enough. Don’t fall in to this trap with behaviour management!

Improving behaviour takes time

Take just one or two of these points and try to focus on them for a day.

Small steps are better steps.