Better Behaviour Issue One Autumn 04

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BETTER BEHAVIOUR: PROMOTING POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR IN SCOTTISH SCHOOLS

A PROBLEM SHARED

photoTHE TEACHER'S STYLE AND THE CLASS ENVIRONMENT ARE FACTORS IN A PEACEFUL CLASSROOM

Working every day at the chalk-face can be an isolating experience when things are going wrong. It can sometimes be hard to step back from the situation and reflect on how to regain control.

At secondary level, this can be even more challenging - classes change on an hourly basis and regardless of good relationships with pupils, dynamics between them can change from week to week. It is no surprise then, that Staged Intervention (FFI) is judged to be so successful by those who have used it. This external perspective and support for reflection helps teachers to make small changes which make a big difference to how they cope in the classroom - or how they manage particular groups of children for those lessons in the week that teachers come to dread. There is no promise of overnight transformation - hence the Staged approach - but there is certainly no more threat of being forced to struggle on alone. Behaviour Co-ordinators trained in the Staged Intervention approach have been working in 23 Scottish education authority areas to provide support to their colleagues.

Many participants in the scheme suggest that the approach works best when the Behaviour Co-ordinator is not one of the senior managers or headteachers in the school. It is a 'no-blame' approach, promoting the idea that all teachers - no matter how experienced - can benefit from another perspective to help them develop a positive classroom environment in which disruption and indiscipline are minimised. The support provided by the Behaviour Co-ordinator is also confidential, although some authorities have found that teachers themselves have been the best agents to promote the scheme by talking openly in the staffroom about its benefits.

The Staged Intervention (FFI) method promotes peer support between members of staff in schools, where one member of staff is trained as a behaviour co-ordinator who then makes themselves available to support colleagues to manage behaviour more effectively in the classroom. The approach is based on classroom teachers supporting each other without management intervention. Practical support is provided in a non-threatening and non-judgemental way, and only at the request of the teacher who has identified their own need for someone else's view on their situation.

What a difference a BeCo makes - Staged Intervention in action

I CONSIDER MYSELF AN EXPERIENCED AND ABLE PROFESSIONAL

BUT I ALSO WANT TO ENJOY MY JOB THE WAY I HAVE ALWAYS DONE AND I DIDN'T WANT TO BE POISONED BY THIS CLASS

A teacher for 12 years, Peter Harris found that a particular S2 History class was failing to settle down and keep on-task after the first few months of autumn term. The class left him irritable, and invariably spoiled the classes that followed, until he realised that the only days of the week he still enjoyed coming into school were those when the S2 'terror team', as he had come to view them, were not timetabled for History. However, he had not picked up any remarks in the staff room that the team was in action in other classes, and in darker moments, started to wonder if he was losing his touch. Enter the Behaviour Co-ordinator, David Roderick.

The first stage of the approach began with a chat about Peter's perspective on what was happening - or not happening - to his satisfaction. David and Peter used a checklist to get a shared understanding of the problem behaviours Peter had been encountering, some aspects of his style and approach, and the layout of the classroom. With this background information in hand, David spent some time observing the class in action, which allowed them both to pinpoint some likely causes of the disruption. David and Peter were then able to identify together a range of strategies to counter some of these factors:

  • Together they recognised that two pupils, well liked by their peers, had problems concentrating, and this led to distraction of others
  • The seating of the class was adjusted, to minimise disruption opportunity
  • The 'welcome' routine Peter used at the beginning of the class was amended - setting out for pupils his expectations of the lesson and what the group would achieve, and also the purpose of the learning that day within their history curriculum for the year

Peter put these ideas into action, and found that these small changes made a difference. However, he still found that by the end of the lesson, concentration was drifting. David came along for classroom observation again, and discussed with Peter what had worked. This time, they focused on the individuals with limited attention spans, and together devised an approach which would ensure that tasks set for the whole class were differentiated to suit the different learning styles within the group. This included:

  • Splitting up the direct teaching input to two or three bursts within a lesson - rather than delivering all the input 'up front'
  • Providing pupils with a menu of tasks - leading to similar outcomes - that allowed them scope to choose the level of challenge they wanted and to choose how they would tackle tasks
  • Some tasks could be developed on a paired or small-group basis, provided these were carefully selected to ensure maximum peer co-operation

After trying this approach for a while, Peter did not feel that moving to a third stage was necessary - classroom behaviour and individual pupil performance had improved, and the job of teaching had become worthwhile again.

'I consider myself an experienced and able professional', said Peter, reflecting on the experience, 'but I also want to enjoy my job the way I have always done and I didn't want to be poisoned by this class. The big thing for someone of my age and experience - and my gender if I'm truthful - is asking for help. The choice of Behaviour Co-ordinator in this school was a good one, because the staff team does trust and respect David, and he has never set himself up as an expert. It was the fresh pair of eyes more than anything that moved things on for me.'


The strategic approach -- authorities and implementation

'Following the publication of the 'Better Behaviour - Better Learning' report, the recommendation relating to Staged Intervention approaches to behaviour management was high on the agenda for us', writes Agnes Donnelly of North Lanarkshire Council Inclusion Support Service.

'As an Authority, we chose to train a dedicated group of staff to introduce the programme to our schools. We seconded four highly experienced teachers as Development Officers who would be trained in the approach and would be instrumental in taking forward our pilot programme. We located the development officers at our newly refurbished Inclusion Support Base, with training facilities.

Training

The delivery of training and the implementation of this programme is a partnership between teachers and educational psychologists. In total, four educational psychologists, four development officers and myself have been trained as trainers in Staged Intervention. This investment is paying off in our ability to roll out the approach. We have modified the training originally developed in Birmingham (Framework for Intervention) to suit our local context.

Implementation

In phase one of our pilot we selected 16 schools (6 Secondary, 10 Primary) from the many that had volunteered. We had raised awareness at Head Teachers' meetings, made presentations to Senior Management Teams, Heads of Departments, whole school gatherings, etc., as a prelude to training the in-school (Staged Intervention) co-ordinator, although we deliberately chose to avoid the use of the title Behaviour Co-ordinator (Be-Co). We also emphasised the importance of having the right person undertaking the role: the teacher need not be promoted but should be someone who was professionally experienced as well as being trusted and respected by colleagues.

We offer an initial 2-day training to school co-ordinators and this is supported by regular visits from the Development Officers. At a later stage, training is offered by our Psychological Service colleagues on various topics such as Solution Focused Approaches, Anger Management, Attunement, Motivation, etc. There are recall days containing input on strategies and resources, when any issues and concerns can be addressed.

We are now on Phase 3 of our implementation programme and have participation of 17 Secondary, 27 Primary and 2 Special Schools. Given the large number of schools within the authority we have opted for depth of support to sustain and monitor the initiative rather than a full-scale introduction to all of our schools.

The approach by this authority to Staged Intervention is very firmly located within our approach to inclusion. It sits alongside a range of approaches with staff and pupils to tackle low-level indiscipline and promote early intervention.

Maggie Fallon is the national Staged Intervention Development Officer, seconded to the Executive part-time from East Ayrshire Council. Maggie is co-ordinating training across Scotland with the network of authorities that are now able to make their training available to others. Maggie also provides consultancy for authorities considering the strategic implementation of Staged Intervention and will deliver awareness-raising seminars. Maggie is supported by researcher Tim Davidson, who is developing and supporting the national evaluation of the initiative with the development of an evaluation toolkit. Both can be contacted by e-mail: maggie.fallon@east-ayrshire.gov.uk and tim.davidson@east-ayrshire.gov.uk or telephone 01563 572715.

Maggie has identified the following key themes/lessons learned through her liaison with local authorities who have developed the Staged Intervention model.

  • Head Teachers need to have a full understanding of the philosophy and principles of Staged Intervention. The model will not be successful in school without full high profile support from the Head Teacher.
  • The Behaviour Co-ordinator needs to have highly developed interpersonal skills and should be someone who is respected by his/her colleagues, pupils and parents.
  • Behaviour Co-ordinators need to be given time to carry out their role. In addition, they can offer support to colleagues as a Continuing Professional Development activity.
  • The introduction of Staged Intervention to staff needs to be carefully managed and is better received in small groups/departments/faculties.
  • Staged Intervention is a system that can be accessed by all members of the school staff and can be applied in out-of-class areas, such as playgrounds.
  • Behaviour Co-ordinators can feel isolated in schools and appreciate regular support meetings and further training and development.

Page updated: Monday, March 20, 2006