Digital Learning & Online Textbooks – Cengage



Chapter 8: Additional stories from the field1 JannelleJannelle is a dedicated preschool director with many years of experience in early childhood education. She is highly regarded among her peers for her innovative and excellent educational programs. The focus of Jannelle’s reflection is on explaining the qualities of a good preschool learning environment.When a child first enrols, I make every effort to learn as much as possible about the child and their family. We discuss the child’s likes and dislikes, their pets and any other information Mums or Dads think may be relevant to the ‘get to know you’ process. This culminates with the children and their parents making the child a personal placemat with photos of family members.While Mums and Dads are both welcomed into the centre I offer a father-inclusive program that ensures that Dads are involved in their children’s education – whether living with their children or not. I send weekly communication book entries and newsletters to Dads who are separated from their families. Dads feel included in their child’s education and are eager to know more. It’s great for children to see Dads taking the time to read, maybe to their child at preschool, or the daily newspaper or a current magazine. Boys and girls are inspired and this encourages them to want to read!My staff and I consistently support new children as they establish themselves here. Every child has the right to feel safe in this preschool, so we define what appropriate behaviour is and equip our children with a vocabulary that enables them to express their wants, feelings and dislikes. Our rules and routines are established and discussed with the children at group meetings, and recorded for reference. There is no point in telling children to use their words if they don’t know what words to use (You then might get some colourful language!). We model our rules and routines for the children to facilitate their understanding and learning. It helps to be positive and alert, and to respond to and reward the child’s positive behaviours immediately!To help with the children’s social development, I also use large latex puppets. These are the size of a two-year-old child. I have Penelope – a purple pig, Seymour – an old man, and Esmeralda – a witch. These are regular visitors who live in an old metal trunk that has been decorated with folk art depicting Australia and its legends. The puppets tell stories and address social issues (such as bullying) for the children. The children develop a rapport with these puppets and assist them with their dilemmas. This helps the children to become capable learners and problem solvers.To ensure our programs embrace the children’s needs and interests, I offer invitations for the children to participate in discovery and learning activities. These invitations respond to observations made of the children from the previous day or, if possible, when the child first displays an interest in an activity or experience. Centres must be well equipped with diverse resources including resource books, magazines, Internet access and appropriate play equipment to challenge and encourage children to explore. These invitations are set up both indoors and outdoors, and are designed to be aesthetically pleasing and to entice the children to explore.Within the larger play spaces we provide an ever-changing variety of smaller areas that are designed to encourage learning and fun. Our physical exploration areas are generally noisy, involve lots of discussion and movement, and are where children are encouraged to be in control of and manipulate their own environment. The children are supported by staff to move the equipment to areas that best suit the children’s interests and needs. The materials provided are open-ended and often natural, including, for example, dirt, sand, clay, wood, nuts and rocks. We establish quiet areas for reading, playing puzzles, making collages and painting, etc., as well as noisy areas where blocks and dramatic play can take place uninhibited. Teaching children to relax is essential. You can create a soothing indoor area by adding fairy lights and soft lighting. Where possible use natural light. This imposes less stress on the children. Expose the children to mood, classical and relaxation music, and set aside time in the day to allow children to unwind, relax and regroup.Music features widely in my program, with staff and children bursting into song at every opportunity. I have an extensive repertoire of songs, which I use during formal and informal activities or lessons. I often make up songs for the children on the spur of the moment and songs that include the children’s names are always popular! Songs with strong rhythms are best and as the singer/composer you can take the liberty to use any rhythm that best suits your children’s interests. Don’t be afraid to be creative with music. Use drums to create a beat to which children respond. Find the children’s rhythm and start from there, then gradually get slower and watch the children’s responses.Our preschool environment is my third teacher! Well set-up play spaces and areas require little direct management by staff, who can then assume the role of facilitator. Children can then learn to communicate their ideas to their peers – by themselves. This also gives them the space to test and retest their theories. Our outdoor play spaces include a wonderful bushland setting with huge (real!) grassed areas to run and play on. A sand pit provides space for children to be social or to play alone. There are platforms, a tree house and a waterfall in this area, which lend themselves beautifully to exploration and engagement. Boys and girls work cooperatively channelling water into rivers or dams as the water cascades down the rock fountain. Some children allow the water to pool at the bottom of the fountain and grab measuring sticks to test the depth. Some children compare measurements while others pretend they are at the beach and go for a swim. We have a leafy, green playground with nets to provide dappled shade. These all contribute to reducing undue exposure to the sun.The centre also has a menagerie of pets that enable the children to learn to care for living things. Watching the lifecycles of silkworms and tadpoles helps children understand their world. The children have a hands-on environment where real tools are used to build and to create sculptures from Hebel blocks.I have a great deal of support from my parents and local community. I have taken some chances and gone against trends. While others are more concerned with litigation, I want the best learning opportunities and outcomes for the children in our town. I designed and helped construct a challenging playground, which allows for climbing, running and taking calculated risks. If you don’t provide challenges the children will invent their own! Consequently, we have children who negotiate cooperatively with their peers, children who display high levels of self-esteem and children who confidently approach new learning tasks. Our children are learning to become lifelong learners!CommentaryJannelle directs a high-quality, positive (fun-filled) learning environment that is most inviting to and inspiring for young children and their families. This is clearly evidenced by the strong family and community support (chapter 1). Jannelle, her staff and their programs exude an ecological perspective facilitating the establishment and development of positive relationships between the staff, the children, their parents and the local community. Jannelle maintains regular and effective communications with her staff and the children’s parents (chapters 1 and 3).Although the well-organised learning environment promotes and facilitates safe exploration and discovery learning, clear standards (rules and routines) are established (chapter 5). This quality learning environment is facilitated through quality curriculum and instruction that aims to motivate, inspire and challenge the children (chapter 5). Jannelle places a great emphasis on regular reflection about and reviews of her programs and learning environments (chapter 6).2 NatalieNatalie is an excellent early career primary-trained teacher with a strong interest in classroom management and children with challenging behaviours. Her teaching experience is in primary schools from K–6. Natalie’s reflection focuses on her ‘top tips’ for setting up and maintaining a positive learning environment for primary children.The principles of effective classroom management are no secret, but they can sometimes get buried under programming, meetings, marking and extracurricular obligations! For a positive and successful classroom, however, I have learned that the planning of classroom management needs to be a teacher’s first priority. Let’s face it … there’s no use spending days planning what you’re going to teach when you haven’t thought about how you’re going to teach!When I plan my classroom management, I don’t think about behaviour management interventions first. More importantly, I think about how to create an organised work environment for my students. I think about the expectations I have of them, and I think about the physical arrangement of the room. And that’s just for starters!My expectations of the children are made clear through our class rules, bookwork policy and behaviour cues. A class meeting determines our classroom rules (of course, I influence the children with a few ideas!). I try to keep the rules as simple and as positive as possible. Our class rules are displayed in plain view above the blackboard as well as about the room (Yes … a number of times … and not just one little A4 poster!). The consequences for breaking our class rules, once decided, must be invoked consistently. It’s worth taking the time to carefully consider these consequences before telling the children. The bookwork policy, which is also posted about the room, reminds the children of what is expected in relation to standards of neatness and quality.I have three favourite classroom management strategies that I have used with great success with K–6 classes. The first is the traffic lights system. My traffic lights (large, visual behavioural cues) act as clear indicators of my expectations with respect to classroom talk. Red means no talking, yellow signals whispers only, and green allows free talking. Simple as that!The second, an old favourite, is the rhythmic clapping of hands to gain whole-class attention. Instead of yelling (yuk!) I clap my hands and the children have learned to copy my pattern to show that they are paying attention.The third is The Funny Money Tree. This is a 1.8 metre high fuzzy felt tree adorning one of the classroom walls. On the tree are 30 pictures of pieces of fruit (more visual behavioural cues!) each with a student’s name on it. These pieces of fruit move up and down the tree depending upon the children’s behaviours. This sends a clear message to each child about how happy I am with his or her behaviour. The children who stay within the branches of the tree for the whole day receive some funny money to spend in the class shop. If they fall from the branches they will not receive the funny money and other consequences apply. If children reach the top of the tree they receive their funny money and may also pick from a class menu of activities, which includes, for example, 10 minutes of free playtime with a friend. Children encourage each other to get to the top of the tree because when one does so 20 times, the whole class receives a Pizza Party! (This is expensive but certainly worth it!) In addition to these three favourites, I regularly and frequently use verbal praise, stickers, stamps and merit certificates.When it comes to the physical arrangement of the classroom, I prefer desk arrangements that provide the children and me with easy access to the teaching/learning materials around the room, and a clear view of the blackboard. I’ve heard that ‘If you want to improve behaviour you should sit your class in rows, and if you want to improve social skills you should sit your class in groups’. I change my classroom to suit the learning activity, but I usually have my class sitting in groups. This provides me with easier access around the room and easier planning for group work (I can also use group points for reinforcement). It is true, however, that children are more talkative in groups. I manage this with the aid of reinforcement strategies and my traffic lights. I always seat children who are easily distracted to the front of the class, so that their backs are to the rest of the class and they are in clear sight of the blackboard. I also seat them away from windows and doors, surround them with friendly and appropriate role models, and oh yes … away from the pencil sharpener!There are also a variety of everyday things you can do to contribute positively towards successful class management. First, ensure that you have the full attention of all of your students before beginning lesson instructions. This saves you from having to repeat the instructions and you know that everyone understands. Second, keep a regular daily routine. Write your daily schedule on the board every morning. This helps the children to feel more comfortable about what will happen throughout the day. If you plan any changes, give the children as much warning as possible. This allows them time to adjust to the change. Third, avoid children sitting in one spot or doing one activity for too long (this, of course, varies with the age group). Break your lessons into shorter segments and allow some movement and noise in between – within acceptable limits. If the children have been sitting in one spot for a while, play Simon Says, get them moving around, then settle them before moving on. When I move the children from the floor to their desks, for example, I usually move them in groups. For example, ‘All children wearing blue socks may go to their desks now’ or ‘Boys first’. This makes the transition fun, much smoother, and is also a great time to catch the children being good!Simply put, good classroom management is about creating a happy and supportive environment where your students have the best learning opportunities!CommentaryNatalie clearly spells out her emphasis on planning for effective classroom management (chapters 1 and 9), and taking a preventative (positive) approach to misbehaviours. That is, she advocates establishing an organised classroom (chapter 5) by planning how as well as what you teach (achieving quality curriculum and instruction – see chapter 4); setting up clear expectations, rules, consequences and behavioural cues (standards); and arranging the physical environment to facilitate and encourage learning (chapter 4). Natalie’s three favourite classroom behaviour management strategies are primarily aligned to behaviourist theory and are in line with the large body of theory advocating whole-class preventative rather than individual interventionist strategies (chapters 2 and 7).Natalie’s priorities are clear: ‘ … the planning of classroom management needs to be a teacher’s first priority’ (chapter 9); and ‘ … good classroom management is about creating a happy and supportive environment where your students have the best learning opportunities!’ (chapter 1.)3 MartinMartin is a first-year Support Teacher (Learning Assistance) (STLA) at a large urban primary school. His previous experience was casual teaching and his internship placements as both an STLA at a primary school and as a classroom teacher at a small special school in a maximum security corrections facility for juvenile offenders. (Martin’s teaching degree specialised in primary and special education.) The focus of Martin’s reflection is on challenges; that is, the challenges of starting a teaching career in the STLA role; the challenges involved in establishing trust and confidence with colleagues and students; the challenges of managing student behaviour; and the challenges of monitoring student academic progress.The challenges of starting a career as a STLAOn the first day I arrived at the school and reported to the principal. We had a very brief discussion about my previous experience (or lack thereof!) and what he would like to see me achieve in the role. I was then promptly passed on to the teacher who had held this position for the second semester of the previous year. She had taken over from a teacher who had retired after holding the position on a permanent basis for a number of years. After a staff meeting I was shown my new classroom and spent about 30 minutes discussing the role with the previous STLA, mainly running through lists of students who received support during the previous year. The room was slightly smaller than a single car garage and looked like it had been used as a storeroom. It was overcrowded with furniture and programs from teachers past. I decided then that I couldn’t work in such a crowded space – and neither could my students!For the next month I came in early and stayed back late, removing furniture and sorting through mountains of old programs and worksheets to make a comfortable workspace. This exercise was worthwhile because it allowed me to look through the previous teachers’ programs and resources, which helped me become more familiar with the role. Anything I didn’t want I either threw out or gave away. Giving unwanted furniture and resources away gave me an opportunity to get in ‘the good books’ of some of the teachers who I would be working with in the future!I was lucky in the sense that I wasn’t given a class of 30 students to start teaching from day 1. My position allowed me a short time to gain my footing while performing some admin duties such as testing students and sorting through 4500 home reader books and distributing them to the infant classrooms … another opportunity to get to know the teachers.The challenge to establish trust and confidence with colleagues and studentsWhen it came time to establish a timetable and set up working relationships with classroom teachers, I found most were reluctant to allow me into their classroom to support their students. Most wanted me to remove the students I worked with rather than work collaboratively in their classroom. I took this as a sign that they didn’t want some new graduate in their class messing things up!I decided to take my time to build up our working relationship and approach the matter at a later date. I made sure that on every possible occasion I informed the classroom teacher of their student’s progress. I offered to help where I could and put in an extra effort to make sure I wasn’t seen as a slacker. Nearing the end of term 1, I’ve found that this approach is working. Three teachers have invited me into their classrooms to work collaboratively next term and others now approach me regularly to discuss ways to support their students.Building relationships with students was harder than I first thought. It took some students up until now (late term 1) to really open up to me and we are now making some significant progress with their learning. I think being a young male teacher may have initially put some of the students off. I found the girls seemed a bit nervous at first as their previous support teachers were female and so are their classroom teachers. The boys seemed to treat our short lessons as an opportunity to misbehave because I wasn’t a ‘cranky’ teacher. One boy even commented, ‘You’re not a cranky teacher are you? Even when you’re angry, you’re not cranky’. I took that as a compliment, however, it became a management problem when it started creeping into my lessons.Managing challenging student behavioursApproximately seven weeks into the term my students had started to feel comfortable with my teaching style. Two boys in particular had become a little too comfortable and were negatively influencing the behaviour of some other students in their group. Their behaviour involved calling out at inappropriate times, not sitting properly on their chairs, playing with cards/toys/money in their pockets, and not concentrating on the task at hand. I decided that I needed to do something about their behaviour before it got out of hand. I asked the students about their sleeping habits and whether they had breakfast in the mornings. Their answer was as I thought – late nights and missed breakfasts. I felt this was affecting their levels of concentration during my sessions so I approached my supervisor and he made contact with the parents to discuss the issues. My supervisor and I also discussed possible solutions to their misbehaviours and whether the students should receive any extra support.After gathering background information on the students, including the counsellor’s report, I decided my behaviour intervention would need to be highly visual with little verbal instruction. My intervention involved a series of picture cards approximately 5 cm by 5 cm with thick borders, either green or red. The pictures showed the action I expected. For example, one card had a picture of a person sitting on their chair. When the students came into the classroom and sat on their chairs they received this card with the green border. Those who didn’t sit received the same card, but with the red border. There was little or no verbal comment or reprimand, the card was simply placed on the desk in front of the student.At the start of each lesson, each student is given a card with four grey squares on it. They are told that if they collect four green cards within the 30-minute session, they can choose a prize from my prize box. However, if they receive four red cards, they are sent back to their classroom and the deputy principal is informed. He then calls the student in for a talk and the student attends a planning room session during their lunch break. The parent is also informed. So far, the intervention is working. The challenge for next term is to successfully transfer the program to their main classroom where I will be working collaboratively with their teacher, then gradually fade the intervention out so they keep the good behaviour without the need for high support.Monitoring student academic progressMy STLA role involves a lot of administration. Each student requires individual pre-testing, including, for example, PM Benchmark Running Records, Educheck and Johnson’s Sight Word tests to name a few. Each student also has an individual learning program (ILP) and further testing to monitor their progress. Luckily, as a New Scheme Teacher, I get an extra hour a week on top of the usual two hours for relief from face-to-face teaching (RFF). I initially scheduled this time as two 1.5-hour blocks on Thursday and Friday afternoons, however, I found that I needed time earlier in the week to stay on top of the paperwork. I have since changed my timetable to include 15 minutes per day to test individual students; I’ve reduced my sessions to six 35-minute sessions per day, and spread the 1.5-hour Thursday RFF session over Monday to Thursday afternoons. So far, this timetable is working well as I have more time during the day to monitor students and plan their future sessions.Even though it’s only the end of term 1 in my first year of teaching, I’ve found that my approaches to these challenges have worked well so far. I’ve been patient and purposeful in building professional working relationships with my colleagues. I’ve tried hard to establish friendly teacher/student relationships without blurring the boundary of who is in charge. I’ve jumped on a potential behaviour problem with an intervention based on the needs of the students involved; and I’ve reflected on my work schedule to make it better suited to the workload. Hopefully they will prove to be the right choices. Now, back to my paperwork …CommentaryThe challenges of Martin’s teaching role as a support teacher could at first glance seem a little irrelevant to those pursuing a regular classroom teaching position. His decisions, action and achievements though are highly relevant and informative to all early career teachers! Martin’s early time on the job was spent preparing a facilitative teaching/learning environment (chapter 5), preparing teaching /learning materials (chapter 4), building relationships with colleagues and students (chapter 3) and then conducting essential assessment activities with students (chapter 4). These are essential elements in any classroom management plan (chapter 9).Martin then found that emerging problem behaviours were hindering teaching and learning – despite his best laid plans – so he set about designing and developing an intervention to moderate these (chapter 7). It is important to acknowledge Martin’s sensitivity here. He took a very ecological approach to find out possible reasons for his students’ behaviours (chapters 1 and 3). He did not just make assumptions about these. Martin’s intervention was informed by his somewhat pragmatic theoretical approach (chapter 2) and he subsequently incorporated psychoeducational, cognitive behavioural and behavioural elements (chapters 2 and 7).It’s early days in Martin’s teaching career, but the foundations of well-thought-out classroom management plans, built on a coherent theoretical approach and professional philosophy are here.4 ShayShay is a fantastic first year primary-trained teacher who worked full-time as a casual teacher at her local government primary school before moving to teach in London. Shay’s first block appointment was a full term 4 with ‘that notorious’ Year 6 class. The focus of her story, like Martin above, was to introduce and establish a new approach to classroom management for an ‘entrenched’ senior primary class.As I dressed for my first day as a real teacher my excitement built. I went over my preparations for the day. I was not going to dwell on the stories that I had heard about chair-throwing, students leaping from windows or swearing at each other and teachers. I was told by the class teacher that the class of 19 boys and 11 girls were ‘a lively bunch’, and countless casuals and several seasoned professionals had advised against it, but I had decided that this whole term of real work was an opportunity that could not be passed up. I would focus on the positives!I knew that organisation was the key to success. I was very well organised. Even my desk was in position. All I had to do was collect my class, bring them in and sit them at their desks. I would introduce myself and have a fun ‘get to know your name and a little bit about you’ game. Then together we would set out our room to be an inspiring learning environment. That was the plan! Having access to the room prior to starting work was beneficial. I was able to tidy the room and move my desk to the back of the room. (All the textbooks advise this. I would learn later that the teacher’s desk is only ever used as a storage area!) I read through the student profiles. They didn’t inspire. Most had only one line comments like ‘constantly disrupts others’, ‘has poor social skills’, ‘lacks concentration’ and so on.Perhaps the most valuable information was gained from the students’ work samples. Through these I was able to learn many things about each student. For example …Jake was a fantastic artist but was not so interested in maths. His maths textbook was as new except for the amazing cartoons and the insignia of ‘school sux’ scrawled all over the front and back covers. Jessica was a budding fashion designer. Her ‘hot chix’ label was inscribed on every dazzling and creative outfit design throughout her HSIE workbook. Unfortunately this left very little room for any of the Native American theme that had been covered in the previous term. Jade ‘luved Pink and Dizzy Rascal’ but not English. Her weekly spelling tests confirmed this. Dylan had an obvious passion for surfing. His books were covered with cut-out pictures of gnarly waves. The empty pages of his books were testimony to his dedication to the waves – school day or not. Getting to know your students’ hobbies and interests is a great way to build rapport.As I entered the playground one of the children rushed up to greet me, eager to find out if I was the new teacher. With a big smile I assured him that I was, so he hurried away to tell his friends. My smile quickly disappeared as I overheard him exclaim excitedly to his mates, ‘That’s the new teacher. It’s a chick. We got rid of the last guy in a few days. She won’t even last the first day!’ My excitement had turned to fear by the time I’d made it to the safety of the staffroom. My fear then turned to utter panic as the very busy deputy informed me, ‘The gods were conspiring against you today’. It turned out that there was an OH&S problem that stopped me from using my classroom. He assured me that everything was fine because a suitable alternative had been found.The suitable alternative was a scantily furnished demountable with kindy desks and chairs. It was promptly filling with 30 large, very loud and sweaty young people thrilled to see each other after a two-week break. The room offered little space, no air conditioning, no chalk, and of course my activities were in my locked room! You can imagine the loud and painful groans that emerged from these streetwise 11- and 12-year-olds as I explained the fun get-to-know-you activity that I had planned. Tip! Always expect the unexpected. Have some backup lessons that don’t need any resources – just in case.As the morning progressed the situation went from bad to worse. No one wanted to squeeze into the kindy chairs so bodies lounged around the floor in the unexpected steamy heat. Children were holding not-so-private conversations about their holiday activities. The noise was outrageous, as were many of the behaviours. Remembering what my internship teacher had told me, ‘Whatever you do, don’t lose it. Once they smell your fear you’re gone!’ I calmly continued to describe the great and exciting plans I had for term 4. Two students looked interested and listened. That first day did not get any better. At day’s end I packed up my bag and dragged my aching head home to collect my thoughts. After a tearful phone call to my mum, and careful consideration of new career options, I decided to assess and evaluate my day 1 performance. My PMI (Plus, Minus, Improve) assessment read something like this …Plus: I was keen. I kept my cool. Two kids listened to me. Minus: The kids weren’t keen. The kids were too cool for school, 28 kids didn’t listen to me. I had a really bad headache at the end of the day. Improve: Get the kids interested. Use art to get their attention. Social skills! Link societal laws to the school rules. Wait until everyone is quiet before speaking. Use constant positive feedback. Build rapport with kids. Introduce the ‘money system’. Tip! Self-evaluation is as important as your university lecturers say it is!Day 2 had arrived. I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower, hoping that day 2 would be better than day 1 – even a little bit better. I had evaluated the situation and decided that these young people needed to know that they were valuable members of the school community. We needed to sit down and discuss what this meant, and how we were supposed to act as valuable members of the school community. And I had a plan!The bell rang and the children milled around the bottom of the steps waiting for me to open the door. I explained that they could enter the room when they were quiet and in some form of order. One smart cookie realised what I was waiting for. The second she showed she was ready to enter, I immediately acknowledged her positive behaviour by asking her name. After her reply, I thanked her for having such lovely manners and for waiting so quietly and as a reward she could go into the air-conditioned comfort of our (own) room and choose her seat. A second student caught on to what was happening and he too showed that he was ready. I asked his name, thanked him for his great manners, and he too entered the comfort of the classroom. A voice from the rear of the line screeched out: ‘Oi Miss! Can I go in? I’m getting sun stroke out here!’By this time several others had picked up on the concept. Instead of replying to the sunstroke tragic, I acknowledged another quiet student who happily entered our room. The sunstroke tragic immediately stood to attention! I seized this opportunity to find out his name and to acknowledge his positive behaviour. Up he came! As he ascended the steps, passed me and reached the platform at the door, he turned to his fellow classmates, raised his middle finger and jeered, ‘Sucked in, youse guys, I’m gunna get the back row’. His action and comment had an immediate domino effect on the other children. They hustled and nudged until they resembled a bedraggled army troop waiting for their orders.When everyone was in the classroom I quickly praised those who were sitting quietly. This strategy worked so well because these kids were craving for praise. I told them how excited I was about teaching their class because everyone had told me what a fantastic class they were. They all went quiet and looked around at each other. I then told them – ‘just quietly’ – that other teachers had told me how lucky I was because they were the best class in the school.One of the kids put up his hand to speak. He explained that I must have been misinformed and that, ‘We suck. We’re the worst class in the school!’ Everyone agreed. This was the perfect time to ask the kids, ‘How does this make you feel? What can we do, as a class, to change these negative feelings?’ I felt something really profound was happening … Tip! Positive reinforcement works wonders for self-esteem. It also encourages children to cooperate.Elation erupted in the classroom when I explained that there would be no bookwork for the next day or two. I said we were just going to get to know each other and establish expectations of each other. First, we explored this strange word. The students had a variety of ideas. They held small group discussions then came together to put forward ideas about what the word meant, and how expectations might affect the class. I then asked the children what they expected of me as their teacher. The children appeared slightly confused by this question and I didn’t get much of a response. One student said that she expected me to teach them everything. We discussed the fact that this was impossible because I did not know everything. This remained a problem so I suggested that the students could form pairs to come up with some solutions. They took out some paper and wrote down some ideas. The pairs then formed into groups of four to share ideas, then into groups of eight. Although this was a very noisy activity, all of the students were on-task – working out what my job was!Out of this activity came some great suggestions. Although I wasn’t able to arrange for Coke to be dispensed from the bubblers, I was able to meet some of their other expectations – such as assisting them to learn about things that interested them and to do so in a fun way. We agreed that in order for me to meet their expectations, there would have to be some guidelines. We also agreed that the children should come up with these guidelines (positive behaviours or rules). This way I’d know what to expect of them while they were performing their jobs as valuable members of the school. Our discussion led to expectations found in society and how classroom and school guidelines often mirrored society’s guidelines. We now had the opportunity (and the enthusiasm!) to set up our own guidelines to complement the expectations in our classroom. Tip! Children need to know what is expected of them. Sometimes they are unaware of what is expected of them and what they can expect in return.With some subtle guidance the students developed their new set of class guidelines. We displayed them prominently around our room: Respect others and their property. Put up your hand if you need to speak. Listen to others when it is their turn to speak. Everyone has the right to learn. Keep yourself and others safe.With these guidelines came the need for consequences for non-compliance. The children also developed this list, with some guidance. It was easy to enforce these guidelines and consequences because the children had developed them themselves and were reluctant to pass them off as stupid, dumb or unfair. The first consequence for non-compliance was that the child’s name was written on the board. This was a warning to let the child know that his/her actions were not following the classroom guidelines. The child then had the choice to correct this behaviour, which resulted in the name being rubbed off letter by letter, or to continue with the behaviour. This resulted in the child’s name remaining on the board and she or he staying in at the next break to complete unfinished work. This consequence was totally of their choice. It worked very well because it gave them the opportunity to correct their behaviour.The Money System (introduced to me by Mel Powry – my first prac teacher – thank you Mel!) is a wonderful strategy. Each Monday the students are given $100 (photocopied play money) as wages. Each day they are away, without a note, they are docked $20. (Getting notes from parents becomes very easy!) Children earn bonuses by lining up quickly and quietly, completing set tasks and homework, and generally following their own guidelines. They accumulate money quickly if they comply with the guidelines, but lose it for non-compliance. Fines include, for example, noise pollution $10 (calling out), speeding $5 (running in class), littering $5 (untidy work area), moving violation $5 (out of seat without permission) and so on. Fines are paid to the government. (The teacher!) Offensive language or put-downs are also fined, but these fines are given to the victim as compensation.When the government has issued all of its funds an auction takes place. The children bid for stationery and passes. These passes include everyone’s favourite activities, so they are very popular. Our passes included, for example, a homework-free night, 20 minutes free time with a friend, 15 minutes computer time, a 20-minute class game of your choice, or a 30-minute art pass to paint the rainforest mural on our back wall. Passes are handed in after use so that they can be re-used at the next auction. The frequency of the auctions depends on the behavioural choices made by the students. Children really enjoy this token economy. They have fun, learn social skills and meet the mathematical numbers outcomes in the NSW maths syllabus! They also learn about the positive and negative consequences of their behavioural choices. Tip! Choices give children the opportunity to consider the consequences of their actions. Choices offer children a sense of responsibility for their own actions.Over the next 10 weeks a strong bond formed between my class and me. I often played handball with the children during recess or lunch, and shared information about my life with them. Many of the kids felt comfortable to talk about their lives with me. Although I have described some of the many high points in this period there were, unfortunately, low points too. There were tears, challenges, reports to and from government welfare agencies, detentions, and even a four-day suspension for one student.But the high points far outnumbered the low points. Our class achievements were many. By the end of term these included a deputy principal’s award, an assembly award, an assistant principal’s award, two class awards and the cleaner’s award. As well as these formal achievements there were many others. Teachers commented on the change in attitude and behaviour of most of the children in the class. The children had developed a healthy respect for themselves – and each other. Attendance had increased significantly. The teacher in the room opposite ours could now teach with her windows open, because the noise level in our class was so reasonable! The children had accomplished a huge amount and they were aware and proud of their achievements.I recall one brief but most memorable exchange between one lively young student and me … ‘Miss, you must be like an angel or something!’ ‘Why is that?’ ‘Cause we used to be like wild animals, and now we’re not!’ At the end of the year this student’s mother gave me the gift of a glass angel and a lovely note thanking me for the time and effort that I had put into her son’s education. The end-of-year awards night and the Year 6 farewell presentation were teary events for me.My final task was to conduct my all-important end-of-term self-assessment. I felt that the term had been successful … I had gained my student’s respect. Tip! Mutual respect benefits students, parents and the mentaryShay’s descriptive reflection provides a plethora of viewpoints from which to examine the challenges and triumphs that await early career and experienced teachers under similar circumstances. Taking on and recovering an existing difficult class is one of the most difficult challenges for an experienced, let alone early career, teacher. At least six key elements may be identified that contribute towards her success. First, Shay was well organised and prepared – enabling her to establish an organised classroom (chapter 5). Second, she made a concerted effort get to know her students – enabling her to build and establish positive relationships and trust (chapter 3). An ecological perspective appears to have rationalised this decision (chapter 1). Third, she recognised the central relationship between achieving quality curriculum and instruction and her students’ motivation to learn (chapter 4). Fourth, she continued to develop an organised classroom through the (collaborative) development of rules, expectations, guidelines and consequences (chapter 5). Fifth, in line with psychoeducational theory, she focused her continuing positive relationship building on developing the children’s self-esteem and trust (chapter 3). Sixth, Shay was a reflective practitioner, and modified her practices based on her continuing reflections (chapter 6). Exemplary!5 DavidDavid is an early career secondary industrial arts teacher in the third year of his appointment to a suburban government high school. His reflection focuses on starting junior secondary classes at the beginning of the school year.Oh $#@#$! Where do I start? The honest answer is that I don’t know. At the beginning of each year I still get dizzy at the thought of the colossal task that lies in wait for the year ahead. Programs, curriculum, the syllabus and reports, not to mention catering to the gifted, the goofy, the precious and the painful. It can all seem a might overwhelming!I guess that I prescribe to a three-step program of expectations, environment and humanisation to get the year off to a good start. This involves establishing the rules, regulations and procedures for each individual class and subject.Step 1 – Clear and consistent expectations are laid out and developed.Step 2 – Establish an environment that is flexible enough to cater to the Ritalin-charged technology age while still being able to penetrate the haze of electrical current pulsing from the small sub-station required to power the 20 or 30 phones, iPods, portable hair straighteners and game consoles that emit a Chernobylesque glow throughout the classroom.Step 3 – Step 3 dictates that Steps 1 and 2 are doomed to fail if the content that is taught, and expectations and environment that has been established, neglects to include a humanistic approach. A humanistic approach is one that understands a student’s desire for humour, acceptance of our flaws and the knowledge that every circus needs a clown. Allow me to elaborate …Step 1: Establishing expectationsIt is common practice for beginning (secondary) teachers to be given a teaching load of predominantly stage-four classes with a couple of undesirable stage-five classes thrown in to make you feel like you’ve earned your morbidly malnourished pay cheque. Regardless, however, of the hand you are dealt, it is important to establish what is and is not acceptable in your classroom and also what is expected in terms of academic achievement. It is commonly encouraged by colleagues and educational academics to develop a set of class rules in consultation with your classes. While this very clearly outlines what is expected in the classroom it can be seen by students as a juvenile and pointless endeavour, particularly in the later secondary years.My personal preference is to ensure a concise description of behavioural expectations has been given, and to apply consistent consequences for their breach – rather than etching the rules and regulations so deep in their subconscious that they lose the will to think and judge for themselves.Rules and regulations aside, I have seen many teachers neglect to establish academic expectations for their students from the beginning of the year as a result of their angst to ensure total compliance. I have found that frequent reminders and a genuinely expressed confidence that the students will achieve above their own expectations fosters their confidence in their capacity to succeed. In some lower ability classes I have gone to the extent of banning the word ‘can’t’ from the classroom in an exaggerated attempt to build self-confidence into the students – subsequently raising their own expectations and improving time spent on-task.Step 2: Establishing a productive work environmentTo my mind, the classroom environment effects most aspects of teaching and is influenced by a plethora of factors including student gender mix, routines and the use of technology (both desirable and capital offense provokingly annoying).Once students have settled into a routine and a familiar environment, expectations become more apparent, students often work more independently and the opportunity to strengthen your rapport with them increases. Just like the natural environment around us, however, a small imbalance can have devastating consequences. More than once, in fact, a ‘butterfly’ has flapped its wings on one side of my classroom resulting in a tidal wave of four-lettered niceties being unleashed on the other (uncanny).In ‘hands-on’ subjects like mine (industrial arts) where girls are largely under-represented, the ‘stag effect’ will often surface as a result of pent up testosterone and teenage brain explosions. This phenomenon, while natural, can often be managed by careful structuring of the environment early in the school year. Seating plans are popular but should be avoided as a punishment if they are to be successfully maintained or gradually relaxed.Perhaps the biggest impacts on the classroom environment of late are the mobile phone and iPod. These cane toads of the education world have the ability to strip a lesson of its natural balance in seconds. While policy regarding the use of phones and iPods will vary from school to school, clearly outlined expectations and consequences generally seem to minimise their impact.The same can be said of the Laptops for Learning initiative being rolled out across NSW. My students now have a toy that is permitted in the classroom. These technologies should be embraced; however, they must be managed with clear expectations of use and clear consequences for misuse – laid down from day 1.Step 3: HumanisationTeachers are not robots incapable of emotion and should not be seen or behave as such. The best medium I have found for eliciting appropriate behaviours and inciting interest in a topic is to demonstrate an enthusiasm and passion for the course and content from day 1. This is largely when students make up their minds about whether or not they will work with you, or boycott you. Enthusiasm is contagious and the students will catch it. Even if a topic makes me want to rub sand in my eyes, maintaining enthusiasm and dressing up the topic so that it is engaging and interesting makes it at least bearable for all concerned.As one of our Year 12 students recently noted when devising a method of creating a major project with poor quality materials, ‘You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter’. As crude as this sounds, the same applies to lesson content. Disguise it like a child’s vegetables, use humour and inspirational activities that might fall outside the square, and illustrate course content with stories of personal experience. Furthermore, allow students to express themselves through humour and stories. Encouraging students to relate their learning to personal experience will further consolidate their knowledge and extend that knowledge through analysis and application.Through a combination of a positive environment and high expectations established early in the school year, as well as instilling an enthusiasm for course content, student behaviours improve and value adding happens! While there will always be students who dislike some courses and course content, their distaste will diminish in a positive environment that is relevant to their experiences and mentaryDavid’s reflection is a truly inspiring (and amusing!) one written by a young teacher with attitude. His philosophy and implied theoretical approach are somewhat eclectic (chapters 1 and 2) but clearly his focus is on quality teaching and learning (chapter 4) – built on a foundation of positive relationships (chapter 3), and within a well-organised and structured learning environment (chapter 5). David places an implicit emphasis on flexibility and diversity (chapters 3 and 4) all within the rubric of his ‘humanitisation’ (chapters 1 and 2). William Glasser would be proud of David – humour is good!6 AnnieAt the time of writing this reflection Annie was a first-year (primary-trained) teacher who worked on a full-time casual basis at her local senior high school, particularly supporting senior students with learning difficulties. (Annie graduated with first class honours and was awarded a University Medal for her outstanding scholarship in the primary teacher education program.) The focus of her reflection is on managing and supporting the learning of senior students, particularly those with learning difficulties, after newly graduating as a primary teacher!To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom Bertrand RussellHow to define the thudding in my heart, the dry mouth, the weightlessness of body, and the paucity of breath? Like the longing for a loved one? How to explain the growing knot of anxiety coupled with a well-held dread of failure? Should I compare it to the fear of death or pain? These, the physical symptoms and feelings I encountered on day 1 as a primary-trained casual teacher in an unfamiliar secondary school, mark the beginning of my apprehension about classroom management.As a successful student, I felt prepared academically for the year ahead. I was familiar with syllabus and content areas, teaching strategies and had done ample preparation for what I hoped would be an exemplary teaching experience. But the fear of dealing with difficult secondary students turned my passionate expectation to fearful trepidation. Still the practical side of my nature warned me that I had to quickly deal with my fears before walking into that first classroom … But of course I didn’t. ‘Everyone gets butterflies – the trick is getting them to fly in formation.’The fears remained and the physical symptoms accelerated to a rapidly throbbing pulse, heat rash, sweaty palms and arrhythmic breathing. But something else happened as I stood at the front of the class. As if by magic, the students stopped talking and looked at me. They were listening to me – to whatever I was saying! I must have been on automatic pilot! While experiencing hypertension on the inside, somehow my exterior manner must have been conveying an aura of control. Maybe it didn’t. Maybe I looked so terrified that the students paid attention out of sympathy. But I was utterly shocked and impressed. I had pulled off being a real teacher! The art of acting cool and calm then suddenly appeared by default (or through sheer necessity) and I was ready to begin my newly acquired role.Needless to say, the first 10 minutes of teaching paved the way for an uphill improvement. Once I realised that a certain amount of behaviour management relied on being in control of my own emotions (or at least looking and acting like I was!) and of acknowledging fears but facing them head-on, I was able to continue to practise and refine my practice – and to learn from my mistakes along the way.‘You cannot acquire experience by making experiments. You cannot create experience. You must undergo it’ (Albert Camus). My first year of paid teaching provided action learning in a dynamic and ever-changing environment. I gained insight into the myriad and eclectic influences that impact on students’ lives and how these influences need to be thoughtfully considered when delivering effective classroom management. To me, nearly a year later, I look at behaviour management as the most crucial and influential role in teaching. A symbiotic exchange of respect, high expectations and mandatory responsibilities needs to exist between the teacher and students. This relationship then allows for successful learning and teaching.Of great importance is the engagement of reality. To be prepared for the reality that one good teaching day, filled with positive experiences and successes, can easily be followed by an equally challenging day that results in unexpected feelings of helplessness and bewilderment. The reality of being prepared for teaching is being prepared for the unexpected – and sometimes the unimaginable, being prepared for the certainty that children’s responses, attitudes and behaviours fluctuate and differ and continually amaze you in their complexity. To be a teacher is that bizarre concoction of high enthusiasm for the unpredictability of the job and naked vulnerability for the very same reason.So having said all of this, and considering this at times volatile environment of the classroom, what can I recommend? What works? Or, to be exact, what works for me, and what can I recommend to a beginning teacher?‘Before you speak, ask yourself: Is it kind, is it necessary, is it true, does it improve on the silence?’ (Shirdi Sai Baba, Indian saint). Of paramount importance should be the acknowledgement that there is a connection between learning and good behaviour. Well-planned and well-executed lessons are the best guarantee for effective and constructive learning environments. All lessons should be considered critically, and asked the question, ‘So what?’ Lessons need to be relevant, interesting and highly engaging to all students, not only for optimum learning, but also for the successful management of behaviour. Quality lesson planning and teaching that emphasises positive interpersonal communication are prerequisite to achieving a harmonious classroom.Rules for acceptable and unacceptable behaviour are necessary, but these mutually agreed upon rules should also be kept simple and always be fair. Too many rules will confuse both the children and yourself. No more than three basic rules should be negotiated in a classroom, and these rules need to be seen as useful and relevant to the children and their needs. Rules that encourage learning, such as ‘Learning must be fun’, apply equally to the teacher and students. This type of rule engages the students in monitoring and reflecting upon their learning and making them accountable for their learning experiences.The other two rules should relate to appropriate communication in the classroom. Basic standards of courtesy and respect are essential, as are the valuing of individuality, the right to hold an opinion, and the obligation to maintain one’s own personal space. These rules, apart from creating an environment of harmony and equality, also prepare children for a world of sharing and team-playing – in both the workplace and society.‘Fantastic things happen – to the way we feel, to the way we make other people feel. All this simply by using positive words’ (Professor Leo F. Buscaglia, teacher, writer and humanitarian, 1924–98). Praise is always valued, but of higher value is specific and selective praise. The promotion of self-esteem of children should be a priority in teaching, and rewards for achievement are a great stimulant for confidence and motivation. Regardless of age (or status), children like to achieve rewards such as stamps, stickers, lollies and bookmarks. Most children also like competition and the idea of beating ‘personal bests’ in any area is a great motivator for improvement. Rewards should be frequently presented for such items as completion of homework, on-task behaviour and improvement. Students should also be very familiar with the expectations for receiving such rewards, to ensure fairness and equal opportunity.Children become motivated towards things they can relate to and believe in. Motivated children learn more effectively, perform better and consequently behave in a more positive manner as well. Learning activities should be fun, for by playing games or competing in teams, children learn about each other, communicate in sundry ways and start to see each other in a new light. Children become motivated to achieve and do better when they have experienced feelings of success and achievement, regardless of the context, and this needs to be factored into all learning opportunities.As a teacher, one’s behaviour and communication style is always on show, and thus there exists a priority to be a good role-model of appropriate behaviour. If your desire is to be teaching a group of happy students who are keen to learn and have fun while learning, your own attitudes and behaviour need to honestly represent enthusiasm and great interest. Critical self-reflection will assist in determining your responses to different types of classroom behaviour, which will consequently direct you towards evaluating your progress and implementing more effective behaviour management strategies.All students, regardless of their behaviour, need to know that they are valued. Misbehaviour in classrooms is not always the realm of the attention-seeking students, who are very obvious in their intentions. Assertive techniques are usually successful when handling these children, delivered with a calm, quiet and serious manner that makes specific reference to the class rules and encourages self-reflection. Often of more concern is the withdrawn, depressed student, who, far from being disruptive, is unable to communicate his or her needs effectively. This student equally needs intervention and attention and should be addressed in a very considerate and respectful, yet positive manner.Behaviour management strategies, thus, should be guided by respect for all students as individuals who deserve to learn in a safe and supportive environment. Nearing the end of my first year of teaching, I believe that effective classroom management is achievable. This is so when obstacles are acknowledged and confronted with a view towards developing one’s own teaching practice through perpetual self-discovery, reflection and honesty.‘The reward of a thing well done is to have done it’ (Ralph Waldo Emerson).CommentaryIn an elegantly worded reflection, Annie offers the reader two valuable insights into her thinking as an early career teacher. The first insight concerns the value of critical, professional self-reflection (chapter 6). Knowing oneself empowers the knowing of others. Annie emphasises this, particularly with respect to the development of classroom management practices that clearly, in her opinion, require the ‘knowing’ of others (chapters 2 and 3). The second insight concerns her beliefs about what works in classroom and behaviour management – particularly for beginning teachers (chapter 9).Annie articulates strong support for taking an ecological perspective (chapter 1). That is, to ‘gain insight into the myriad and eclectic influences that impact on students’ lives’. Through acknowledging the primary connection between learning and good behaviour, she emphasises the importance of: achieving quality curriculum and instruction (well-planned and well-executed lessons) (chapter 4); positive effective communication (chapter 3); establishing an organised classroom (a few simple rules about communication and attitudes to learning – chapter 5); and again, being a reflective practitioner (chapter 6). Annie’s personal philosophy is aligned towards the key theories underpinning the Lyford model, particularly those viewed as psychoeducational (chapter 1).7 MelissaI touch the future. I teach.Christa McAuliffeI am not a teacher but an awakener.Robert FrostI believe that teaching is a privilege. I can think of no greater profession than one that allows the possibility of influencing change in another human being. Teaching is a fluid art form, given shape and meaning through human experience and founded on research. I am a teacher because it demands me to be ever changing, ever evolving and most importantly, ever learning. I love to learn and my goal is to inspire others to learn, to be curious, to question, to doubt and to discover. I am not the authority on knowledge in my classroom, rather I am a learner myself, and a facilitator of my students’ learning. Further, I believe that teaching is a highly intellectual process, requiring pedagogical excellence and continuing reflection.A vital component of my philosophy is relationship. As Vygotsky suggests, much of learning is socially constructed and we learn best in collaboration. Furthermore, when my classroom environment is supportive and safe, optimal learning and engagement will occur, and social and emotional wellbeing will prevail. I will get to know my students and provide opportunities for them to develop relationships with each other and myself. Initially I would set out to uncover what they already know, how they learn and what is significant to them. I would foster an environment of warmth, kindness, humour and safety, where a culture of engagement with the curriculum and each other would be nurtured.Expectations are important in my classroom. I believe that every student can learn and that I should teach every student how to learn; that is, to be a self-regulated learner. A spark of curiosity can lead to remarkable discoveries. I believe that, to coin a cliché, the best is yet to come. I expect greatness from every student at their own learning level. I will provide varied methods of instruction to support different learning styles, and a range of ways to express that learning.I see teaching as a highly intellectual and demanding scientific process. Planning and preparation are integral for the curriculum content as well as classroom management. Excellent teaching requires me to keep abreast of scientific research, technological advances and academic subject matter. I aim to be an expert reflective teacher who takes into account the curriculum, the characteristics and cultural backgrounds of my students, the contexts and the purposes of teaching, and who finds the balance between the science and art of teaching. My philosophy of teaching is founded on the belief that a teacher is a good person. I would model the behaviour I expect from my students: politeness, respect, honesty and kindness. Teachers do bring their values and ethics to every situation and activity. I will mean what I say and find positives in all of my students. I will demonstrate the highest standards of behaviour – in and out of the classroom.My approach to classroom management is focused on prevention rather than intervention. The provision of a safe and enriched learning environment maintains learner engagement and thus behaviour. I will ensure that my lesson content is connected to my students’ world, is authentic, engaging and appropriate to their level of understanding, and helps to keep them on task. In that sense, I see this as whole student management and not just behaviour management. I will seek out the reasons behind behaviours and why my students feel they have to behave so.This approach is underpinned by psychoeducational theory, developed by Dreikurs and Glasser from Alfred Alder’s work. Their theories seek to identify the reasons behind behaviour as choices to meet needs, emphasising the need to focus on positive behaviour. Furthermore, Dreikurs highlighted the importance of encouragement to promote positive behaviour instead of giving attention to unacceptable behaviours. This idea is central to psychoeducational theory wherein people meet their social needs by their behaviour through their self beliefs.This approach emphasises the need to institute democracy within the classroom. Glasser in particular emphasised the need for teachers to empower students to feel a sense of belonging and power. My classroom management approach will be based on democratically instituted rights and responsibilities. Furthermore I will discuss methods of teaching and choices of content to show that individuals matter in the classroom and to encourage a sense of ownership of the learning process. In this way, I seek to be a lead teacher rather than a boss teacher.Preventative practice in classroom management often comes down to teaching styles. While I support learner-focussed strategies, I also stress the importance of being in control in my classroom. I will adopt an authoritative style of classroom management. The authoritative teacher encourages self-efficacy while closely monitoring and supporting learning. Discussion is encouraged between students and their teacher, but the teacher defines boundaries when required. In addition, preparation, organisation and Kounin’s ‘withitness’ is essential. Each classroom is different, and indeed each day is different – depending on the emotional states of the students. I will establish a positive learning environment by being flexible and aware.I must also be prepared to intervene when preventative practices are not working for an individual or a class. Intervention using Choice Theory requires me to identify to the student the goal of their behaviour and provide a more appropriate behavioural choice. If this is insufficient, intervention will occur through behavioural strategies. Applied behaviour analysis provides teachers with tools to observe, define and measure behaviour. This implies the need to discover what triggers the behaviour (antecedent) or what happens after (reinforcers) to prevent it happening again. This intervention focuses on increasing positive behaviour by token economies, contracts, shaping or negative reinforcement.My philosophy of teaching and theoretical approach to classroom management can be defined as preventative, adaptive, tiered and authoritative. My aim is to provide a safe learning environment where the pedagogy and content is authentic, engaging and fun. My teaching style is to lead rather than to boss. I will be a reflective lifelong learner and aim to become an expert mentaryMelissa’s professional philosophy shows clear evidence of many of the qualities that would generally be expected of an expert teacher. This is further evidenced in her brief explanation of her theoretical approach to classroom management. That this is the work of an undergraduate pre-service teacher is what makes it so encouraging and inspiring!She has given thought to why she wants to teach, what teaching and learning are about, and the principles underpinning her views, beliefs and goals. These are both evident in her philosophy statement and her theoretical approach to classroom management. There is evident synchronicity between her philosophy, theoretical approach to classroom management and her intended practices.Melissa has cited some ‘big’ theorists and philosophers in her story, but at the same time shows how her theoretical/philosophical positions/beliefs find application in practice. There is a reasonable ‘starting’ understanding of the principles underpinning these theorists – particularly in reference to classroom management.Although her short essay does not include reference to the Lyford model of classroom management, it shows evidence of consideration of factors comparable with each of the model’s key elements; that is, key theories and principles as inputs (comparable to the model’s knowledge and interpretive filters); ecological, sociocultural and psychoeducational perspectives; an emphasis on positive practices but with a pragmatic recognition of the need for intervention practices based on a tiered theoretical scaffold; a strong recognition of the central importance of positive relationships to successful teaching and learning; a weighted consideration of the importance of facilitative and supportive curriculum and pedagogy (although reference to assessment is more implicit); the need to be organised; and the need to be a reflective and reflexive professional.Melissa is well on the way towards putting her theory confidently and competently into practice – particularly in terms of her early classroom management plans – both as a pre-service teacher on professional experience, and also as an excellent early career teacher.8 ShaneStraight after completing my university course, I was placed in a small semi-rural school for fourth school term. The school had two classes with a total enrolment of only 52 students. This was by far the smallest school I had ever been to! How was I going to establish rapport with the students and their families when I had already been informed that the community was ‘tight knit’? This was my biggest question, and the only information I had was that my class was a (senior) multi-stage one with a number of students with behaviour problems and just as many with learning difficulties. The staff were also relatively new and the local community were understandably apprehensive about new inexperienced teachers coming into their school. The other challenge was that this class had already had two teachers this year and had not adjusted well to these changes. My first action was to meet my students and send home an introductory letter to their parents. I included basic information about myself, my aims for the rest of the term (I was mindful not to overload the expectations for myself or my students) and an outline of the classroom routines I would be establishing. I also included an open invitation to parents to attend a brief information session at the school, and individual meetings if desired. I then needed to consolidate the early work I had put into establishing a rapport with my students – and the others at the school. With this in mind I decided to take on extra roles within the school, firstly to coordinate an Active After School Sports program, and then to become an active member of the School Council and Parents and Citizens meetings. I also presented school environment plans and fundraising ideas.My focus during this first teaching appointment was to remain true to myself and my personality. I am an open and friendly person and I maintained this approach in my interactions with all of the school community members. It was similarly important that I remained true to and consistent with my professional philosophy. At the end of the year my Year 6 students were off to high school and I was moving on to another school. I was inundated with ‘thankyou’ letters from many parents. My first teaching experience had been hard work – but extremely rewarding. I hold the fondest memories. I’m so pleased that I chose to establish such a strong rapport with all of the school community!CommentaryShane’s maturity and life experience stood him in good stead as a new and temporary ‘member’ of a tightly knit small (school) community. Teaching in small and more isolated schools in fringe and rural settings has wonderful benefits but sometimes unique challenges! The establishment of close, positive and valued relationships with the students, their parents and families, the school staff and other community members is key to a successful and enjoyable appointment – be it a shorter-term relief appointment or a substantial long-term placement. Getting to know others is also a central prerequisite to success in this context (as quite frankly is success in probably all teaching contexts!) so clearly the capacity to take an ecological and sociocultural perspective and to engage with the school community is of foremost value to new teachers. Shane specifically identified this as his first and most formidable challenge (actual classroom teaching seemed to be a lesser concern!) and took a variety of proactive steps to meet this challenge. A focus here was on enhancing communication between the school community and himself. Throughout this school term Shane also kept a focus and his integrity by ‘staying true’ to his professional philosophy – his values, beliefs and understandings about being a professional educator. This short story gives pre-service and early career teachers a brief but valuable insight into the challenges and benefits of small school and rural placements. Shane’s absolute emphasis on building relationships through effective communication closely reflects the similar emphasis the Lyford model places on these positive practices … that Shane was appointed to this small school for ‘only’ three months clearly evidences the importance of this focus.9 TimAs an undergraduate teacher I often reflected on how I’d ‘handle’ my first class if it included one or more ‘naughty’ students. I was confident that I would be a capable classroom manager and would be able to manage any student with challenging behaviours, regardless of their age, gender or background.On my first day at my new school I was initially encouraged, then perplexed, and then worried when new colleague after colleague came up to greet me then wished me ‘luck’ with one of the young female students in my new Year 4 class. I asked around and the impression I got was that she was stubborn, defiant and loud – very loud! I then did my best to disregard everything I had heard and give this student ‘a clean slate’ like the other kids.Evidently I was not her ‘first choice’ as her new teacher. Within moments of meeting her, defiance came out in the form of falling to the ground kicking and screaming to be with her teacher from last year. After some coaxing she re-entered the classroom and her behaviour settled somewhat. My clearest memories of my first term of teaching were the running battles I had with this student and the relief I felt when we were finally able to convince her to, for example, use the bathroom for toileting or come back to the classroom at the conclusion of lunch.It wasn’t long before I realised one of the causes of her poor behaviour was that she was always being ‘babied’. This was not age appropriate and unfortunately left me looking like the ‘bad guy’ of discipline. I adopted a firmer approach and treated her in the same way as the other students were treated. Thankfully, as a male, I am blessed with a ‘strong’ voice. As much as I don’t like being a ‘yeller’ this was the very tactic that changed her behaviour!Term 1 was really just about survival. But the remainder of my first year of teaching was about change and growth – for me, this student and the others! I introduced a behavioural contract linked to her Individual Learning Plan priority area of toileting, a playground and other classroom contracts – all of which revolved around increasing her independence and building on her leadership potential. Near the end of the school year I was informed that this student would not be in my class the following year. I feared she would return to her ‘naughty’ ways. It is disappointing and sad to see that this was the case, and that she did deteriorate back to using her manipulative, defiant tantrum behaviours – those that we had worked so hard to extinguish. She ‘knows’ what she is doing and will quite often ask her new teacher if she can work in my class. (And she does work well here.) Clearly something we achieved the previous year has stuck with her. We did embed a stronger work ethic and a more positive attitude to learning. This makes me very glad and proud. CommentaryTim certainly had his work cut out for him when he started his first teaching position! Although his basic intervention strategy of ‘yelling’ may appear a bit unsophisticated, it was based on careful observation and a functional behaviour analysis. Tim worked out why the student (with additional educational needs) had repeated tantrums, so he then had a good chance to direct his intervention appropriately. He also took advantage of her ‘leadership potential’ – one of her strengths and interests – and sought to build her self-management and self-direction skills.Although many children and young people cannot necessarily recognise and/or articulate the reasoning behind their behaviours, careful analysis (structured observation, dialogue and hypothesis testing) usually provides the insight needed to design successful interventions. Tim’s interventions were variously behavioural and/or cognitive behavioural in nature – notwithstanding that this student had significant learning difficulties and additional educational needs.Tim’s story points to quite a few of the issues raised in our chapters on interventions and professional reflexivity. Consider especially your understanding of the notions of locus of problem, locus of control and locus of change. This story is also poignant because of its outcomes … Tim’s interventions were effective while he implemented and managed them, but proved to lose effect when the student moved on to another class in the following year. The long-term success of any intervention is often dependent on the degree of collaboration and cooperation between teachers, family and other staff members – in this case it appears that at least some of the good work done by Tim (and others) with this student was lost when she moved on to another setting.Another point to be made here is the degree of ‘impact’ that one student can have on a teacher and his/her class peers. For Tim, his first term of teaching was ‘just about survival’. Early career teachers appointed to challenging classes need to have the classroom management knowledge, skills and motivation to deal with sometimes acute and chronic misbehaviours which can’t be ‘cleared up’ in just weeks. There is sometimes a very high demand for ‘professional resilience’ in the face of very persistent (and equally resilient!) challenging behaviours – even from one little 10-year-old girl!10 RachelWhen I received the phone call to say I was a targeted graduate I felt I had no idea of what to expect on my first day as a ‘real’ teacher. How would I set up my classroom? How would I manage my kids? What kind of kids would I have?On the morning of my first day I still didn’t know what kind of class I had! I was eventually informed that I had a class of five boys and one girl – all with autism. Apparently the little girl liked to swear, hit, punch, kick and wipe faeces. My mind was racing … ‘Oh @#$%! What have I signed up for?’ I also struggled to make relationships with the staff. I was the only person under the age of 50. Most of the staff had been there for many years and had developed close relationships. By the end of my first teaching day I had been locked out of my classroom, with my most challenging student wrecking all my new stickers and stamps and ripping everything off the walls. I knew I was in for an interesting year!For the first two terms I really struggled to find myself as a teacher and to apply and develop my teaching skills. Not only was I struggling with the teaching, assessment and social side of teaching, I was worn down by the way my students treated me. It was then I thought about quitting. I was sick of being hurt and abused …By end of the year I had pulled through this ‘darkness’. I had learned to ‘talk’ to my colleagues and embrace and adapt their thoughts and ideas. I had learned to use the Internet to research teaching and learning thoroughly. I engaged with the behaviour support teachers and developed strategies for coping with abusive and violent students. I began to teach my students properly without relying on textbooks and worksheets. I was slowly but surely becoming and feeling like a ‘proper’ teacher who fitted in.This year has been a good one for me so far. I have the same class. I lost my ‘violent’ girl – but gained a ‘violent’ boy! I am a valued member of the school and local communities. A colleague from another school had even been invited to see how (well) I teach my class! I have made friends and contacts. Most importantly, I stuck through the dark times and pulled through to the other side. If someone had told me what I would have been in for before I accepted my teaching position I never would have taken it, but I am now a more confident, positive and quality teacher. I have definitely learnt some lessons, and when I see my students learning well ... it makes it all worth mentary‘For the first half year I really struggled to find myself as a teacher and to apply and develop my teaching skills.’ Rachel faced some enormous challenges as a first-year teacher on such a challenging class. As she ‘found her feet’ she started to teach better (and recognise this achievement), engage in more positive relationships with her more experienced colleagues, develop a healthy resilience, and a far more positive professional self-image.Few first-year teachers experience the level of challenge faced and overcome by Rachel. Fortunately, despite these challenges, Rachel had the confidence in herself to get through the most challenging and least professionally and personally fulfilling first months. This confidence (and resilience) grew as she saw her teaching begin to have a positive impact on her students’ learning. Rachel has developed (and will continue to develop) into a quality teacher …Give some thought to how Rachel’s discussions with her more experienced colleagues might have helped her to ‘pull through the darkness’ of her early days of teaching, and how might this have influenced the development of her professional philosophy.11 GrahamWhen I started at my new primary school about four years ago it was a disaster! About a third of the staff were on ‘stress’ leave and temporarily replaced by long-term casual teachers. Getting casual teachers to fill day-to-day vacancies was almost impossible and classes were split up across grades almost daily. There had been about a 50 per cent turnover in students each year for the last three years. The roll was, of course, marked daily, but this was really to find out who had come and gone from the school – not just who was away for the day. Some of the classrooms looked like war zones. The corridors and playground certainly were. Kids were getting hurt daily and the quality of learning was very poor. Adults (parents?) seemed to hang around the school, and confrontations between parents and staff were commonplace. It was one unhappy and unhealthy school.With the appointment of our new principal and assistant principal (behaviour and learning) things didn’t change much to begin with. Staff had meetings. Parents had meetings with staff. Even students had meetings with the teachers. One thing was agreed … it was time to change the school. From these meetings the principal established a group of concerned school ‘citizens’. This group included staff, parents, some local community members and some senior students – and me. We met each week to try to work out what needed to be done to change our school for the better. The focus wasn’t on any particular kids or class or teacher – but on the whole school.First we drafted a school welfare policy. Not ‘just’ a student welfare policy – but a school welfare policy. This set out how we felt all members of our school community should be treated and treat others. Then we drafted a school constitution. This set out the rights and responsibilities of all members of our school community. Student discipline was a big part of this, but so too was our school-wide approach to recognising and encouraging good behaviour – of the students and the staff and the parents!The principal and school executive gave our group great support to spread the word on the welfare policy and the constitution. There was just a hint – a hope – that things were improving a little. Staff started to teach the students about doing the right thing and taking pride in good behaviour and good learning. Kids started to do the right thing. Don’t get me wrong here. By this time we were well into term 2 … Rome certainly wasn’t built in a day! Our external test results were terrible but our teachers had started to show an interest in improving these. The District consultants started leading in-service sessions after school, and by term 4 most of the teachers were attending. The peer support and buddy programs were also starting to show some results. Kids actually helped each other in the playground and in the classroom.For the start of my second year we had stage teams coordinating teaching and learning activities and some team teaching. A good number of the kids now seemed to be enjoying their learning and the new playground equipment and buddy arrangements had really improved the playground … it was actually OK to go out on playground duty! When the annual external exam results came out that second year you could hear the cheers across the school – from the staff and the students!This incredible metamorphosis was so much work and took so much effort. Things still change slowly around here but the tide is moving strongly. Most of the staff have developed a commitment, the parent group is fantastic, and most of the students have developed a pride in the school and themselves. We still have dramas every week. We still have a high turnover of students (about 25 per cent each year) so every week we buddy up new kids with old. Our external test results are now nearly ‘average’ (for whatever that’s worth!) and we now get casual teachers applying to work at our school.I can’t explain how good it feels to be part of this … I am even thinking of enrolling my own young children here … I think it’s a good school … the playground is safe and tidy … there are happy sounds coming from the classrooms every day … the staff go to the local club together most weeks … the local small business owners say hello … lots of the kids wear their school uniform …CommentaryGraham’s story is one that morphs from failure, despair and pathos, to commitment, hope and achievement. Although the school (community) was in big trouble when he first arrived, a concerned ‘critical mass’ of the staff, parents and community had enough hope and commitment to start the ‘recovery ball’ rolling forwards.A critical element here was the commitment of a broad-based group of concerned school community members, including classroom and executive staff, parents and community members and students. The metamorphosis described was built on reflection, reflexion and collaborative consultancy.Although no explicit reference is made of classroom management per se, what is evident is a collaborative commitment among the teaching staff to establish and support (academic and behavioural) guidelines and expectations. Clear parallels can be drawn between the elements of good school organisation and good classroom organisation – as explained in the Lyford model.In essence the positive and hopeful changes made by the school (community) mirror those sought in the development and implementation of systemic interventions with a more specific focus. Here though the focus is clearly a very broad one – where the whole of the school community is targeted for engagement and improvement!Possibly, in years gone past, teaching might have been considered a ‘lonely’ profession, where individual teachers toiled away in their own classroom with their own students. In the past a stronger emphasis was placed on individual teacher performance. In contemporary times teaching has become a far more collaborative profession – involving teams of teachers working together, with their students and their parents more actively involved in the design, delivery and evaluation of teaching and learning. A critical message for pre-service and early career teachers is to recognise and embrace this shift in theory, practice and praxis.12 SueGetting ready for a new class? Then think planning, routine and consistency! I take five ‘steps’ to set up and establish a new middle-upper primary class …1 End of last term, the year before …Planning for a new class should start before the end of the previous school year. Arrange visits to meet your students-to-be. Introduce yourself and have them introduce themselves. Put names to faces. Set the tone for relationships by playing a popular song (with an appropriate message in the lyrics), and giving a positive pep talk about ‘how good our class will be’. Take time to play a fun game with your students-to-be. Set up good expectations!2 Day one …Explain clearly where you want your class to go. Revisit your pep talk. Be prepared. Have your resources and routines ready, and know them. These should stand fast until (at least) the end of term. A good start to each day is paramount. Good (productive) mornings can be helped along by regular breaks. Have a routine fruit break during the long morning literacy session. This is a good time to share a book and engage in talking and listening tasks. Finish the session 15 minutes before morning recess, then go outside for an active game. This helps to release the students’ excess energy after a solid morning session (especially the boys!) and is a great way to improve fitness. (I believe there is a connection between good coordination and learning ability.)3 Within week 1 …Discuss your expectations, class rules and consequences. Build these around a single concept. (More recently I have used the concept of pride.) Mind map your discussions and have the students put this in the front of their PD (Personal Development) book as a ready reckoner. Set up a weekly communication section in their PD books (or diary). This starts with a letter of welcome from you, a prayer, and a pro forma for regular communications with parents. Use headings such as interest level, application, behaviour, book work/presentation, handwriting and participation. A simple code/tick system, with space for brief comments, indicates progress to the students and parents (and you!) If an area of concern is raised twice, arrange an interview with the student and his/her parent/s. Good communication is a two-way process, so encourage parents to comment in return. This allows you to touch base with each student and family regularly, and to build a profile for each student over the year. Remember that this is a great PR activity as well as a continuing record of each student’s behaviour and work habits. Start out with weekly communications then maybe extend this interval to suit your needs and to strike a balance with the other reporting systems used in your school. I’ve always found these regular communications to be very popular with parents and an effective aid to good collaborative behaviour management.4 Within two weeks …Hold your first parent–teacher night. Explain your class expectations, rules and consequences, routines and procedures, and key learning area topics. This is an important instructional time for parents, so it should be clearly explained and positively worded. Just as with your first day with your students, explain clearly where you want your class to go. You want the parents (as well as your students) to know that you have high expectations.5 Within three weeks …Commence ‘Goal Setting meetings’ with each student and his/her parents. Use a pre-issued and prepared pro forma to identify both positives and areas of concern. Individual goals are negotiated, agreed on and signed off by all.Discipline …Is student discipline an issue? ‘You choose your behaviours – You accept the consequences!’ Here are some suggestions …I regard myself to be a disciplinarian. I have strong expectations of cooperation and respect. I give these to my students and I expect them in return. When dealing with student discipline, focus on choice. Students are continually making choices in their lives that lead them down positive and negative paths. Only they can change their path. They are the masters of their own fate. We (teachers and parents) can only respond to these choices.I have become, after many years of teaching, somewhat set in my ways! For my classes in general I have set consequences for repeated poor behaviour. My students know these. First a warning, then some public service – 10 to 15 minutes ‘on the broom’ for thinking time and coordination development. (This is really private time for the student to think about his/her choices and their effects on the class, you and themselves. I usually let them off earlier than I said. This makes me a hero rather than evil on legs!)Make your discipline discussions with students productive. Reprimand in private (usually later) without an audience. Use this time out for the student (and you!) to cool off. No one wins when one or both of you are angry. Respond positively when the student turns up on time with an appropriate attitude. Encourage them to recount their views on the issue, their choices, and the consequences. (Written recounts are often helpful.)For those few persistently difficult students … reward systems, points and prizes for individuals or groups, can be very effective. Alternatively, or in addition, simple individual behaviour modification programs can be used. For example, draw up a card with two columns headed ‘Hey, that’s good’ and ‘That’s not good’. Negotiate (with the student and his/her parents) up to three target behaviours with agreed negative (for example, loss of computer or TV time) and positive (for example, staying up 30 minutes, a small treat) ‘at home’ consequences. You score the target behaviours for each teaching session, using single ticks (or sad stamps) for poor behaviour but double ticks (or happy stamps) for good behaviour. Set the child up to win! At the end of the day the card goes home for the parents to follow up (and to sign off if need be). The student, his/her parents and you can use the cards to monitor and discuss changes in the target behaviours. (Older children often benefit from discussing written recounts for each session or day, including, for example, what happened, why the behaviour was good or not good, and their future intentions.)Sometimes difficult students can get to be just too much. Ask for help if you’re going under. Ask one of your colleagues to take the student out of your space for even a short time. Another voice sending the same message can sometimes do wonders … (PS: Send the student with some ‘good’ work/news, along with the bad. This gives the student and your colleague an even start).Prevention is always better than cure! Our school has engaged with the Habits of Mind program. This focuses on learning simple and effective techniques to assist with developing good learning and positive habits. The three techniques we are currently exploring are persistence, striving for accuracy, and trying to control impulsivity. An example of application is where our class (my students and I) are learning to wait five seconds before responding to any question. This acknowledges the importance of thinking time for everyone. I encourage you to investigate this program.‘You’re not here to be their friend. You’re here to be their teacher!’ Twenty-five years on I can still remember my supervising teacher saying this to me after a disaster of a prac lesson. The key to a good classroom (or any relationship!) is communication and consistency. For many students we are the only consistent person in their lives. You’re not just their teacher. You are also a counsellor, a social worker, and a confidante – not only to the students – but often to their parents as well!Find your comfort zone… Your most important goal should be to find your comfort zone. Be yourself. Be clear, consistent and open to negotiation because in a good classroom everyone wins. Give your personal best. Expect personal best from your students and give them ways to achieve this. Enjoy the day. If you do, they will. Have fun!CommentarySue’s lengthy experience has led to the development of a strong philosophy of teaching that informs her clearly articulated approach to classroom management. This approach is somewhat eclectic, drawing on both psychoeducational and behavioural theories and strategies. Positive relationships are clearly most important to Sue, as is effective communication and classroom organisation. Sue also demonstrates a strong ecological perspective through the emphasis she places on parental and family involvement. Her primary strategies are clearly preventative, but she explains a number of prepared interventions for children with persistently difficult behaviours. Ultimately, Sue advises teachers to find their ‘comfort zone’ which is a sound and achievable goal for reflective practitioners like Sue! Sue’s story sounds like it was ‘written’ to match the Lyford model … but it’s all her own story!13 MicheleClassroom management tips for early career casual teachers; in no particular order!Organise at least two- to three-day sets of lesson plans/games to suit K through to 6 so you are prepared when schools phone.Most schools restrict photocopying but in reality it is very hard for schools to monitor your usage! If you can fudge your way through to doing extras whenever you can – they can be set aside for other days.Make friends with the office staff early because they are your key to smooth transitions. I send a small Xmas gift as a thankyou for all their help. Hey! A little bit of polishing goes a long way! They will often photocopy something for you mid-morning if you are friendly with them!You cannot employ the management methods you would generally use for a full-time class – you have to make an impression and quickly. This begins at the start of the day … executives are there early … you be there early…impress them with your keenness … you want them to have you back …Know the class and school classroom/behaviour management plans.Know who to send kids to straight away.Ask for your duty roster before they tell you … inevitably you will get 1st or 2nd half lunch but look enthusiastic and willing!Find out if there are any extra curricular activities that day … dancing, gymnastics, music, scripture … Be in the classroom early. Write the day’s program on the board … look organised even if you are nervous!!When you have board stuff ready there will always be kids hanging around you. They are often the ‘conshies’ and the ‘Mary Wonderfuls’ … enlist every bit of their help! Ask them: Do we have books to use when a casual comes? Do we have monitors for the week? What happens with the class lunch orders? Make them your priority and your main helpers.Don’t let the class come barging into the room on the bell without you being there … no matter what the usual routine.Kids need to know there are rules for you as well as the rules for the usual teacher.Explain why you keep the class waiting outside – but don’t be a nark!The class are expecting the day to be a bit of a bludge. Don’t let your strategy get in the way of a relaxed day.Tell the class exactly what you are doing there –that you are a casual but you expect to be back on a regular basis.It is imperative to have some rules in place. Keep them simple and few in numbers. Reinforce them and tell the class why.The day’s program on the board … If you are given a choice about whether to do your own thing or follow a plan left by the teacher do your own thing – otherwise they will eat you for breakfast if you don’t follow the teacher’s program and rules to the letter. They expect you to have different rules and routines and get great enjoyment out of showing you where you have gone wrong and ‘Our teacher doesn’t do it like that’ etc. etc.Have a clear plan of what you will do when someone is trying to really ruin your day. And they will because you are casual, and you don’t know the routine, and it might be fun to razz you!If students are really rude or defiant, remind them of your own rules as a casual teacher. If they persist remain neutral … a very hard thing to do if you are nervous and stressed. Send them straight to the executive or the pre-nominated mentor/buddy who will deal with them. Do it without anger or emotion and then go on straight away with the lesson. Do not look rattled!Make sure that you have a clear idea at the start of the day what the routine is for poorly behaved kids. The school will have a policy for casuals … be very clear on it.Be prepared to stay in at recess or lunch for children who have transgressed your rules. It may seem like the last thing you want to do but if you want to go back to that school you have to appear consistent … they need to know that Mrs Blogs carries through with her consequences. Make sure it is for only the worst transgressions or they will think you a nark.Never ask them to get out their XYZ book without knowing where they are. Inevitably they will be in one area of the room and they will have great fun all stampeding to that area and fighting over getting their books out.Either nominate book monitors at the start of the day or get them to go one group at a time. If the groups of tables do not have names it is a fun idea to do this as an activity at the start of the day and explain to them that it will be easier for you to nominate them for awards/rewards and that it is only for the times you have the class.Have lessons in margins and page setups if this is not standard or they will use your presence as an excuse to write any garbage and this will look bad in the eyes of the returning teacher.Use games as a reward only as over-use can cause kids to get out of control. If you start off with real work they get the message. Always have fun stuff as reward for them to look forward to.I use my Mystery/Prize box for all ages – they love prizes and gifts. Make them work for it over the day. Have them write their names on a name plate for their table and respond often with stamps – even the ‘horrid’ kids. Catch them doing the right thing!Find out about the children – brainstorm … do getting to know you games … just like your own first class. Use the explanation that you will be back to teach them and want to get to know them.Use their names as often as you can remember them. Cheat … look at their pencil cases!Read! The ones who are often disruptive are also often the slower learners and love stories. Be prepared to act them out. They will not mock you if you really make an effort to use the voices and actions.Always have sheets for the early finishers. Mathematic patterns that they can colour in are a great hit. Don’t let them draw randomly or the drawings will begin to be a cause of laughter and disruption.If some children get great pleasure out of telling you things are too hard or too easy or too boring, tell them because you are new you will have to spend a little time getting to know them and what they like and can manage. Kids respond quite well if you reason and give a sound explanation.Make sure they are aware that you will be back. Tell them you will be and that you look forward to doing some other things with them.Ask them to make a list of the activities that they would like you to do when you return. Stress that you want sensible ideas please – no silliness or things you cannot possibly accomplish.Make sure you follow through on return because they will remember and will also remember the lessons you gave them – even if it were last year if they are a composite class!Leave plenty of time at the end for cleaning up. There is nothing more annoying than a classroom teacher coming back to find a mess from painting when all you could think of was how to get out of the class quickly and home to a glass of ‘shardy’!I make a point of saying goodbye to the executives and any teachers in their classrooms as I am leaving – it leaves a good impression. CommentaryMichele’s classroom management tips for early career casual teachers essentially mirror the major concerns and issues facing teachers appointed to full-time positions, except that the limitations and opportunities available to ‘casual’ teachers to build positive learning environments differ. Obviously (according to the Lyford model), positive relationships and good communication are important for all teachers but time is ‘of the essence’ for casual teachers – especially those employed on a day-by-day basis. Curriculum, assessment and pedagogy are also important for all teachers, but casual teachers usually have fewer choices with respect to curriculum and assessment, and probably even pedagogy. Good classroom organisation is essential for all teachers, although casual teachers will usually opt for a very simplified and structured approach. Reflexivity remains equally important – although the focus for casual teachers might be more on standards, routines and procedures. Casual teachers are most unlikely to engage interventions but should have a clear understanding of school-wide policy and procedures relating to challenging behaviours. (Comparable ‘tips’ could, of course, be listed for casual teachers in secondary school settings, notwithstanding the obvious differences between relieving for a secondary colleague for a one-hour lesson vs. the full-day demands of primary casual teaching.)Early career teachers who take the opportunity to develop their skills and competencies as short-term casual teachers almost invariably find the transition into a full-time continuing position much easier for this experience. We encourage you to take this opportunity too!14 ChrisAfter years of teaching mainly older children I discovered the challenges (and delights!) of teaching science to 20 little Kindergarten girls, one afternoon per week. My first and biggest challenge was just to get their attention! I needed this to teach them – through explanation, demonstration and discussion, and to manage them – by giving instructions for setting up, experimenting with, and putting away equipment.I started by saying something like ‘OK, everyone stop what you’re doing and look at me’, in a loudish voice – not yelling but just projecting over the noise level. Nothing changed! The girls just continued talking and working away as if I hadn’t even spoken. I repeated my request – to no avail – when, thankfully, my colleague teacher came to my rescue! She made it look so simple! I needed to learn these strategies! It was all about routines, for example, the clapping routine: clap, clap – clap, clap, clap. The children would stop what they were doing and clap along with the teacher; the singing routine – (to the tune of Fre`re Jacques) ‘Are you listening? Look at me. Show me that you’re listening. Pencils down please.’ The children would stop what they were doing to sing along and repeat each line. The last line was changed as required; the sensory focus routine – ‘Eyes to the floor. Eyes to the ceiling. Eyes left. Eyes right. Eyes to me!’ The children would stop what they were doing to follow after each instruction.The children almost invariably responded to the class teacher’s lead – as if it were a favourite game. Once the routine had finished the teacher would jump in and say, ‘Now, please pay attention to Ms P…’ That was my cue to take over. I soon learnt to use these routines. They work because the children become familiar with them. They quickly and effectively gain the children’s attention and can be reinforced by directing praise to the most responsive individuals or groups. Mix up routines like these to keep the children interested. This way they’ll respond enthusiastically rather than mechanically or with monotony. Kindergarten children need a lot of training and practice to develop and consolidate desired behaviours, and to discourage and extinguish unacceptable behaviours. This involves setting expectations, modelling, praise, appropriate reprimands and clear consequences. This training and practice should occur constantly and simultaneously with other teaching focusing on curriculum content.I see it as my job to make our science lessons fun, interesting and encouraging for the students, and the children’s job to help me do this – with the minimum of fuss. This is easier said than done with kindy! Let me give some examples …One day (after successfully gaining the children’s attention!) I was explaining the next part of an experiment when Nancy, an outspoken bossy child, used to getting her own way, jumped up from her seat. She strode across the room and then started to complain in a loud voice about some small thing the girl next to her had done. I responded by gesture – by putting my hand out in a ‘stop’ position, and verbally – by saying ‘Excuse me! I am talking to the class. Please go back to your desk and don’t interrupt me’. Nancy stopped in her tracks, opened her mouth, wheeled around and went straight back to her desk. The look on her face said, ‘Whoops! This isn’t the right time to tell Ms P ... Maybe my problem isn’t so important right now’. When I asked Nancy about her problem about 30 seconds later (when the class were busily continuing with their experiment) she said she had forgotten about it and didn’t want to discuss it any more. Nancy was learning that Ms P was concerned about her needs, but that she was not the only girl in the class. She was also learning that she was part of, but not in charge of, the process of learning and teaching.I do a lot of leading by example. When I give instructions, I look to see which children are doing what I asked. I make a point of praising them. This helps the children to work out what I am looking for. Most children want to do what you ask to please you, but sometimes you have to help them to do so. For example, ‘Look at Linda and Ruth. They have found a partner and are sitting on the floor together – exactly as I asked’.I also like to use the apology strategy to encourage desired behaviours. ‘Oh I’m sorry Karen. I would love to have asked for your answer but you didn’t have your hand up.’ This reminds Karen (and the other children) of the desired behaviour, tells her that she wasn’t showing it, and explains why she wasn’t picked. I focus on the behaviour – not the person. Karen can’t change herself – but she can change her behaviour.Timely responding is an important behaviour that needs to be developed in Kindergarten children. Some children like to exert an authority by taking their own good time to follow instructions. This can become quite frustrating and disruptive. One way to improve response time is by turning it into a challenge. Children love to compete against each other (and themselves). For example: ‘OK, You have until I count from 10 to one to put the ping pong balls over there; put the rulers over there; push your chairs in, and; sit on the mat. One, two, three …’ Vary the counting speed to change the pace, make it more fun, or to vary the challenge. Sometimes I use a watch to time specific tasks, like putting away books, pencils and tidying up desks, and to encourage the children to try to beat their previous best time.Always model good behaviours – especially manners. I say my pleases and thankyous to the children and expect the same in return. It is then easy to encourage reciprocal manners from them. When handing out equipment, the first child who says ‘Thank you’ (rather than just walking off) gets praised, for example, ‘Lovely manners Carol’, or ‘I like the way you said thank you’.Consistent and constant attention to classroom management is the key to establishing a good classroom environment. With Kindergarten it’s all a game, but it’s a serious game that can make or break you as a teacher. Managing Kindergarten children is far more demanding than managing secondary children. For me, the move from secondary to primary teaching was going up not down!CommentaryChris’s case study emphasises, particularly when working with younger children, the important place of effective communication in setting up positive relationships. Chris’s challenge was primarily to facilitate teaching and learning by efficiently gaining the children’s attention to instruction. Her approach, informed by her experienced and successful colleagues, emphasises the relevance and efficacy of behaviourist theories and strategies in developing children’s learning skills. Chris closes her case study by emphasising that ‘consistent and constant attention to classroom management is the key to establishing a good classroom environment’. In many ways this similarly emphasises the necessity to establish an organised classroom with clear standards and routines. As Chris points out, an emphasis on preventative practices (whether based on behaviourist or psychoeducational theories) is preferable to an emphasis on interventionist strategies.15 MariaClassroom management is about building relationships. Your first day is SO important!I take every opportunity to build relationships with my students. Classroom management begins on the very first day – sometimes even the year before! My first day looks something like the following. The day begins with the children choosing to sit wherever they like. Of course, this automatically shows me the preferred social groupings within the class, and affords me an insight into potential problems – even before the end of the first day! Our activities begin with a discussion of what a good classroom looks, feels and sounds like. Often this means using a Y chart to list the children’s thoughts. With older children we also discuss previous classrooms and what aspects have ‘worked’ for them. We might list these aspects on a chart or on the board.I then divide the children into groups of four to six – depending upon class size. The children are asked to list six to eight classroom rules they would like to have to help the classroom operate smoothly. I encourage them to write them as positively rather than negatively. For example, ‘Always raise your hand to speak’ rather than ‘Don’t call out in class’.We then come back together as a class, firstly to list all the common rules and then those that stand alone. We discuss how some rules might be included in others, for example, ‘Respect others’ can include things such as ‘Listen when others are speaking’ or ‘Don’t swear’. We then vote and choose five rules that will become our class rules for the coming year. These are written onto a chart and all the children are asked to agree to these by signing the chart. After we have agreed on our rules we then list five consequences for breaking these rules. I have found that the children are often their own harshest judges and these consequences may need to be negotiated a little through some discussion. Another factor to be taken into account is the school-wide behaviour management plan and what are deemed as consequences in that plan.When problems occur (which they inevitably do!) children are asked to find the class rule that they have broken and to relate how this has affected both their relationship with their peers and their academic progress. They then negotiate an appropriate consequence related to their misdemeanour. We regularly revisit these rules and consequences, at least twice a term, to remind ourselves of what we agreed to.I firmly believe that the key to all aspects of continuity in classroom management is to maintain a consistency of approach, and to always show respect for the individual. While there are times when a slightly raised voice can assist you to get attention, yelling at a child who has done the wrong thing rarely achieves anything.Time out can be a time for both the student and the teacher to take a breath, calm down and look at things in a rational way. I use a sheet that asks a couple of questions to help the child focus on what was happening at the time of the misdemeanour. This helps when we come together to discuss the incident further. Occasionally, for really difficult behaviour, I will tee up other colleagues who are willing to assist me by having the child visit them for a short period. For those children who are entrenched in their behaviour, a visit to an executive member and/or a three-way interview with parents is essential to assist them to break the cycle. Talking individually to the child or children involved, and hearing all sides of the issue, shows that I care about what is happening and that I respect the concept of justice for all. Children are always vocal about things being fair, and they really do watch and recognise if I am giving this lip service or truly believe in it.I regularly rearrange the desks in my classrooms, and move the children around. This tends to minimise potential problems, and allows the children the opportunity to socialise with all the children in the class rather than just with those they feel the most comfortable. Again, it’s about relationships. The more children know about each other, and the more they spend time with each other, then the more likely it is that they will respect the rights of each other to hold their own views and to be different from each other. The children actually look forward to the regular moves and have even requested the change if I looked like not changing it as often as they would like! The occasional trade-off is that they get to sit near a friend or two if they can prove they are responsible enough.Another key aspect of my classroom management is ensuring that the children are adequately catered for in their academic endeavours. Without being organised and having learning activities well planned, the children have more scope for being involved in behaviours that are inappropriate and disruptive to themselves, their peers and the classroom environment. If the children are given clear guidelines for my expectations, and clear boundaries within which to work, they feel positively challenged to meet these. Support for those with specific needs also restates my belief in the concept of fair and just treatment.The last, but possibly the most important aspect, is that I find ways to enjoy being with my students. I try to have some fun with them – every day. I let some of the little things slide. If a child accidentally lets the word ‘shit’ slip, I might quietly ask, ‘Where?’ An occasional joke doesn’t hurt to break the ice and to show the children that I am human. A long time ago, when I was still a student teacher in my second year of study, an experienced teacher gave me this great piece of advice … ‘Teaching is a performance – an act – and there are times when you need to be a clown’. I have never forgotten this and I believe it has stood me in good stead these past 19 mentaryMaria’s original title for this story: Relationships, respect and fun! – emphasises much of what works so well for her. For Maria classroom management is about building relationships and this demonstrates her commitment to a clearly preventative approach. Closely linked to this approach is her ecological perspective. Maria is a keen observer of student–student relationships and recognises the necessity to foster respect between all members of the classroom and wider ecologies impacting upon her students. Maria emphasises the establishment of an organised classroom very early in her approach to classroom management, through the collaborative development of clear, consistent standards and behavioural expectations. The centrality of effective communication is also explained. Continuing this preventative emphasis, Maria also points to the importance of quality curriculum and instruction in classroom management. The theme of positive relationships, though, runs deeply through this story. Maria’s close is poignant, ‘… possibly the most important aspect … I try to have some fun with them – every day.’16 LaraineI lead the District Behaviour Team in a large rural area of NSW. This referral came from a small central western NSW country primary school principal who sought support for his five Stage 1 teachers to manage eight students with persistently challenging behaviours. The referral specifically sought social skilling for the students to be conducted on a withdrawal basis. The five Stage 1 teachers ranged in experience from a second-year beginning teacher to an assistant principal with over 20 years in the classroom. The school had a significant Aboriginal population and was supported by a full-time Aboriginal Education Aide. The school curriculum structure included all of the Stage 1 students in literacy and numeracy groups based on needs. These two groups ran each day through until lunchtime. In the afternoons the students returned to their home classes for other KLA work. Additional support was provided to the Year 1 students through the Reading Recovery program.My colleague (Support Teacher Behaviour – STB) and I made our first visit to the school for initial observations. We were timetabled to observe in all five of the Stage 1 classes over the day and to conduct playground observations at recess and lunch. This gave us both the opportunity to observe all of the eight focus students in all settings. It was a long day! On the drive back to our base school, we reflected on what we had seen that day …Lessons were engaging, creative and adjusted for individual needs.All teachers were calm, respectful and non-confrontational with the students. The majority used a simple effective choice strategy to gain compliance.All classroom teachers had a classroom management plan (but these plans were individual to each classroom).The only rules displayed were generic school rules.There was confusion among the staff over responsibility and due process for inappropriate behaviours in playground and non-home classrooms.Some students could have up to five teachers on any one day (inclusive of relief periods, Reading Recovery lessons, and library sessions).Our most significant conclusion was that five of the identified students could, in certain learning environments and with certain teachers, behave appropriately. The remaining three students were experiencing behavioural problems due to other factors including cognitive ability, behaviour disorders and emotional disturbance.Once we’d created this big picture we brainstormed the functions of the inappropriate behaviours we had observed (from the identified students and other Stage 1 students). The hypothesis we developed was, simply, that the students were unsettled by the change of classrooms and teachers for literacy, numeracy and home classes. There was also confusion about individual teacher expectations, boundaries, and the behaviour management processes.We decided that a common approach to behaviour management was needed for all of Stage 1, that is, common rules, expectations, consequences and visual aids as well as a common language of discipline. The visual aids were to be five Boardmaker faces, ranging from a happy purple face to a red, very sad face. For each step in the behaviour management process (signalled by one of the Boardmaker faces) there was a corresponding consequence, starting with a rule reminder, then a warning, short time out in a buddy classroom (or in-class isolation if appropriate), to exit from the classroom to an executive teacher. The eight identified students’ names were labelled and laminated, and were to be attached to the happy, purple face (using Velcro dots) at the beginning of each session. In the event of misbehaviour the teachers were to move the offending student’s label to the next face. Each class was to be supplied with an identical set of visual aids and labels. Now all we had to do was negotiate collaborative agreement and participation from the five Stage 1 teachers and the executive staff!The teachers were released in pairs to work with my colleague and I to identify agreed targeted (inappropriate and unacceptable) behaviours and then to rank these from those that required low-level intervention to those that would require immediate exit for the safety of all those involved. These behaviours were matched to the steps in the plan. We also negotiated a common language that the teachers would use with the students. The plan was finalised at a whole-stage meeting. It was also agreed that there was need to explain the new plan (that was to be implemented at the start of the next term) to the parents as well as the students. With an agreed Stage 1 behaviour management plan on the table, my colleague and I proceeded to develop the resources required. The teachers took responsibility for the explanation of the plan to the children and parents. We also agreed to review the plan midway through the next term.The Stage 1 behaviour management plan was implemented after the holiday break. We made a number of visits to support the teachers, working in the classrooms to model the common process and language. We came together to review the plan as agreed. It was exciting to hear the positive reports from the teachers about the improvements in the children’s behaviours. It was noted that no student (other than the special three) had been beyond step two of the plan and that all of the students understood the process (to the point of explaining it to casual teachers and being adamant that it must be followed!) One outcome surprised us all. The students were responding to the sound of Velcro separating, so the verbal reminder step had become redundant! Velcro was the ultimate auditory aid!Three key factors were identified that facilitated the success of the intervention: the teachers were willing and able to be reflective and open to change; the principal provided full support with funding, release time and material resources; and the collaborative team approach facilitated meaningful assessment, planning and evaluation. (Note though that three of the focus students remained challenging. Consequently they were referred on for additional individual support. Progress is being made …CommentaryLaraine’s consultative role in supporting schools and teachers with behaviour and classroom management is a diverse one. The focus here was on responding to identified needs on a stage (systemic) basis rather than small group or individual basis. The key theories underpinning the Lyford model clearly support the use of a school-wide or systemic approach to improve behaviour regardless of the focus. The school originally sought an intervention using psychoeducational strategies, but consequent to collaborative negotiations, a classic behaviourist intervention was implemented. Explicit throughout the intervention was thorough planning and negotiation – analogous to the classroom practices described in this text.Although an intervention, the key outcomes of this referral – better teaching, learning and management in Stage 1 classrooms and throughout the school – would ultimately become a key preventative practice within the school. Furthermore, the participating teachers’ willingness to be reflective and reflexive, and to engage collaboratively in assessment, planning and evaluation (the plan-implement-review process) were identified as two of the three key factors in the success of the intervention. Notwithstanding this success, three of the identified students still required more support than that provided by the intervention. For these students, the necessity to take a broader ecological perspective had already been acknowledged, and their subsequent individual behaviour improvement plans would undoubtedly have reflected this.17 MarieColleen had been highly mobile in her schooling. Her new school was the sixth she had attended when she arrived at the beginning of the year in Year 5. She had a mild intellectual disability and right hemiplegia (cerebral palsy). The hemiplegia was classified as mild, but was complicated by the lack of suitable therapy. Her gait was clumsy, her writing skills poor and she was frequently in pain. Colleen was also a highly anxious student who perseverated about her many and varied concerns, including the recent breakdown of her parents’ marriage.Colleen was placed in a Stage 3 composite class where there were several students with challenging behaviours. She had difficulty attending to tasks and became extremely disruptive and difficult in the classroom. She did not manage the set work and her avoidance skills were highly developed. Her social skills were poor and she did not have a peer group in or out of the school. She was not involved in any out-of-school activities.A call to her previous school revealed similar behaviours, though they appeared to have deteriorated after she moved schools. She liked her previous (male) teacher and this appeared to be a controlling factor as Colleen was keen to please her teacher.Her new teacher was an enthusiastic graduate who had obtained a block of work teaching the class. She was assisted and supervised by an assistant principal. However, Colleen’s repeated attention seeking and disruption were problematic and action was needed to make sure that Colleen met her learning goals, the rest of the class could learn without repeated interruptions, and the teacher’s wellbeing and morale were supported.A Learning Support Team meeting was scheduled and Colleen’s mother was invited to discuss Colleen’s ongoing needs. The need for a new ankle-foot orthosis was critical as Colleen’s right leg muscles were continuing to contract. This was not only interfering with her ability to walk, but was also causing her intermittent pain. She compensated for poor right hand movement by using her left hand for writing, but found it difficult and would avoid any writing activities. Colleen’s avoidance strategies tended to be very disruptive; that is, she would call out, move about the classroom, run out of the classroom (and occasionally run out of the school grounds) and verbally abuse her teacher and the school executive.As well as providing referrals to appropriate agencies for Colleen’s mother to access medical attention, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, the Learning Support Team put in place a Behaviour Management Plan and referred Colleen to the District office for further help from a Behaviour Support Teacher. Teacher’s aide time was allocated through the Learning Assistance Program and she was also placed on the Support Teacher Learning Assistance caseload. An Individual Learning Plan was developed in consultation with the class teacher.As part of the Behaviour Management Plan the class teacher identified a buddy student for Colleen. This was one of the school prefects who was also a library monitor. Colleen was seated at a table next to the prefect in the classroom and was able to receive some help when she was in difficulty and before she became frustrated. The buddy also included Colleen in her lunchtime activities in the library, thus providing Colleen with a valued role, and eliminating some of the difficulties that had been encountered on the playground. This was an interim measure while a Social Skills Program was developed by the Behaviour Support Teacher to assist Colleen to develop and maintain appropriate peer relationships on the playground.In return for the assistance from the buddy, Colleen was able to earn time for herself and her buddy in a desired activity. A daily record was kept of on-task behaviour and work completed. At the end of the day Colleen and her buddy were able to have 10 to 15 minutes supervised free computer time. As this was highly valued by both girls, they worked together to achieve their goal.The principal also became a key contact person, and several times a day Colleen would bring completed work to show her and receive feedback. This also provided Colleen with an opportunity to have some time out from the classroom, and to move and stretch. The school counsellor allocated some of her time to see Colleen regularly to deal with her anxiety. The court also appointed a counsellor to assist Colleen through the access and custody process, and with this support she became far more settled. She valued her time with the principal and school counsellor, and would often ask to see them voluntarily to discuss some mishap or incident.Colleen’s behaviour improved considerably with this program, however, she was not making satisfactory progress in her academic work and personal development. After assessment by the school counsellor, her Learning Support Team (including her mother) decided to apply for a position in a class for students with mild intellectual disabilities. This decision was made because her buddy student would be moving to high school the following year and it was agreed that this was likely to be disruptive for Colleen. She had also developed some behaviour self-management strategies and skills so her learning was now of key concern. The Learning Support Team considered the appropriate and more intensive instruction available in the support class would best help her to meet her learning goals.The support and inclusion of Colleen was not the responsibility of one teacher, managing one student, in one classroom. It took a team-based approach and effort. All available resources from the school, community and local District were accessed to support the teacher – and to achieve the best outcomes for the mentaryMany of the issues that Colleen was coping with were not related to her schooling, but were a result of family influences. Her mother had not followed up with medical and therapy care because she was overwhelmed by the marriage break-up and consequent court case. However, this was having a profound influence on Colleen’s ability to manage at school. She was also grieving about the loss of her family unit and was in physical and emotional pain. This, in turn, was affecting other students and members of the school community.Therefore, the school (and particularly the principal) has a responsibility, through the Learning Support Team, to access whatever supportive resources are available. Yes, it was time consuming – yes, it took away from the ‘real’ work of teaching and learning – and yes, schools are not generally equipped or resourced for this role but if schools do not take on the role of referral and, to some extent, resourcing families, then the job of teaching and learning is less effective because of the detrimental influence it can have on the wider school community.These complications highlight the central importance of an ecological perspective in attempting to meet the diverse needs of students – and ultimately upon effective classroom management. The school clearly tried to take account of a complicity of factors at all ecological levels. In this case the line between prevention and intervention is ‘blurred’. Colleen’s challenging behaviours could not be successfully addressed by her classroom teacher alone, and the key theories underpinning and elements of the Lyford model clearly support the use of a school-wide or systemic approach to managing behaviour.18 WillIt’s late in the day, and Mr Hubbard announces to his Year 4 class that they will begin a new Science and Technology unit on magnets and magnetism. Many of the students seem quite excited. He asks the class what a magnet is and several students call out answers, which Mr Hubbard quickly scribbles on the whiteboard at the front of the room. After he is sure that he has solicited all of the responses, Mr Hubbard asks the class to listen very carefully while he discusses some of the safety precautions for the ensuing unit. Mr Hubbard notices that Brett is talking quietly to his neighbours and squirming around in his seat the entire time he is reviewing safety issues. Twice he asks for Brett’s attention, but he never seems to get it.After detailing the safety precautions Mr Hubbard asks if the class has any questions. Following a brief silence he proceeds to describe how the groups will go about predicting whether a collection of small objects are attracted to a magnet or not, and then testing each object one by one. Mr Hubbard asks the class to quickly but carefully move into their science groups. These mixed-gender groups consist of three or four students who are expected to work together as a team.Alexis, Katherine, Brett and Michael are all in a group together. They sit towards the front of the classroom – the spot Mr Hubbard insisted upon some time ago. Brett is the focus of a great deal of Mr Hubbard’s attention. Alexis attempts to focus the group on the task of predicting whether they think each object will be attracted to a magnet or not, and what the reason for each prediction is. She suggests that they each make a chart in their journals to record this information.Brett tells her that he thinks this is a stupid idea. He tries to get the attention of a mate across the room by tossing the objects they are supposed to make predictions about. Several of the objects hit Tim on the head and back. Alexis, who doesn’t seem intimidated by Brett, alerts Mr Hubbard to what’s going on and immediately suffers another hushed string of abusive comments from Brett. But Alexis continues to try to get the teacher’s attention. The same cannot be said for Michael. He seems to have given up trying to intervene in Brett’s misbehaviour after several episodes where Brett either verbally or physically abused him. Michael used to really like science, but he can’t stand working in this group. Michael seems to now take the path of least resistance – silence. Katherine also usually stays silent the entire time they are in this ‘cooperative’ group.Mr Hubbard finally takes notice of Brett’s latest misbehaviour and sternly demands that he start to behave and complete the activities as intended. This is a very familiar situation for all involved – almost like a looping soundtrack playing the same thing over and over again. Mr Hubbard is angry with Brett and upset with himself for feeling angry. Not surprisingly, as soon as he walks away Brett resumes taunting his tablemates. Alexis continues to offer some active resistance to this attempted hijacking of the lesson by demanding that Brett ‘grow up’ and that they make predictions and then test the objects. She gets Katherine and Michael on side, and they start to talk about their predictions.Frustrated that Alexis seems to be forging ahead undaunted with the intended lesson, Brett resorts to pushing the entire tray of magnets and assorted objects off of the table, sending it crashing loudly to the ground. He slams his fists down on his desk, and then puts his head down on the desk, muttering his dissatisfaction loudly.This is the last straw for Mr Hubbard. Extremely frustrated, he walks over to Brett and stands near him, but says nothing. This seems to allow them both to cool down. Then he addresses the rest of the class, urging them to stay on track and finish up the lesson. He pays particular attention to the group that Brett is in, making sure they don’t have any questions and that they get back on track. Mr Hubbard then unobtrusively asks Brett whether he wants to go to the side of the room or out in the hall for a couple of minutes to compose himself. Brett signals his desire to do this and moves quietly to the window seat. Mr Hubbard continues to circulate around the classroom.Mr Hubbard also makes some mental notes to himself. Obviously, this hasn’t solved the problem but he feels he defused the immediate situation by treating Brett and the rest of the class respectfully. He notes that at the end of the day, when the class is dismissed, he will need to talk with Brett and to be a reflective listener to ensure that he is really hearing Brett’s concerns and anxieties. But Mr Hubbard also realises that this situation also calls for some long-term vision, as the solution will not reside with Brett alone. He will involve Brett’s grandparents, with whom Brett lives, in conversations to help find ways forward so that Brett can meet with more success and less frustration in the classroom.Mr Hubbard also feels it is appropriate to start to engage in whole-class discussions about emotions and how to deal with them. Undoubtedly these are issues that affect more students than just Brett, and Mr Hubbard also wants to signal to all members of his class that these are important topics that are worthy of class time to be discussed. Mr Hubbard realises, however, that this is not simply a matter of emotions or of managing emotions. His thinking has shifted from blaming Brett for these behaviours to seeing the issues in the context of masculinity and masculine identity formation. Consistent with this shift in thinking, Mr Hubbard will also explicitly discuss with the students issues related to what it means to be a boy or a girl in order to help illuminate the significant effects and by-products of these processes.And true to the more holistic vision of an ecological model of classroom management, Mr Hubbard also endeavours to think deeply about the content and structure of his lessons, ensuring that he is tapping into the interests and addressing the needs of all of his students. This is no simple matter, he knows, but one that will be worth his efforts and will pay off immeasurably in the end for Brett, for his classmates, and for all those students Mr Hubbard will teach in the mentaryTeachers, other school personnel, and even peers label certain kinds of boys as ‘bad boys’. You can probably think of several examples right now, or maybe you were labelled as one yourself! The label seems ubiquitous, easily identifying what is often framed in natural, even pathological terms – the bad boy.Karen Gallas described the bad boys in her class as ‘a small but influential group that first captured my attention as they boldly and effectively sought to control the social and instructional climate of the classroom’ (1998, p. 32). She also noted that rather than embodying some natural fixed identity, ‘these boys are experimenting with the character of the bad boy to see how it fits’ (1998, p. 36). We must be mindful that labels such as ‘bad boys’ have a homogenising effect, focusing us on what the label represents rather than the uniqueness of the individual that we label in a certain manner. By losing sight of the individual we lose sight of the issues particular to that individual that need addressing.How does Brett embody a typical bad boy? He is restless, often appears to not be paying attention, he bullies his classmates, refuses to do the assigned work, and throws tantrums. Seems pretty clear-cut, doesn’t it? Or does it? These are the symptoms that Brett is displaying, but what are the issues or problems? To answer this, there are probably some questions we would like to ask specifically about Brett.What does Brett already know about magnets?Is Brett proficient at working cooperatively in groups?Why does Brett demand so much attention?Are these behaviours also being witnessed when he is at home?Is Brett like this in other school subjects?Why does Brett feel the need to gain power by bullying his classmates?Can Brett read?What is Brett’s social status within this classroom?What are Brett’s strengths? What does he love doing?The range of these questions illustrates their potential to tap into a variety of different sources of information to try to understand the ‘problem’, or phenomenon of Brett’s troublesome behaviour. Notice that not all of the above questions frame Brett or his behaviour as the problem, nor are they all posed in a way to suggest that his behaviour is entirely his fault. For instance, enquiring whether Brett has much background familiarity with the topic of magnets or whether he has practice working cooperatively in groups shifts our focus from Brett’s apparent deficits to an examination of the choices made in planning and implementing the lesson. Thinking broadly about this case, then, entails not locating Brett as the problem, but rather to locate his behaviours in the larger ecology of the lesson, class, school, home and community as they interact with Brett’s life.This acknowledged, we must also ask from whose perspective is Brett seen to be a bad boy? Do you think Brett sees himself as a bad boy? And we also must recall that an ecological model of classroom management requires that we look at a range of interrelated factors – social, cultural, individual and group factors – not just at the individual (which is where we often rush to ask the first questions!). It is easy to produce a list of what Brett isn’t doing correctly, but what about the other aspects of this lesson and the classroom? It is important in this model not to elevate some factors (Brett’s individual factors) to a greater significance than other factors (contextual classroom factors). Some questions that we might ask about these other factors include:What is Mr Hubbard’s relationship with Brett like?How well does Mr Hubbard know Brett?Are all of the children in the room successful at working in small groups?How much experience do the students have with sharing roles within a group?How long have the students spent in their seats today working?Is everyone interested in the topic of magnets?How do other members of the class get along with one another?Is Brett a member of the dominant cultural group that comprises this class?How are low-status students treated in this classroom?One goal of promoting positive behaviour is the need to establish learning contexts that out-compete the possibility of inappropriate behaviour. These contexts are composed of curriculum factors, teaching factors and communication factors. When considering specific curriculum areas, we must be mindful of the structure and organisation that may be unique to each of them. In the case of school science and technology, for instance, we must consider the ways that this curriculum area structures and is structured by norms of masculinity.That is, curriculum areas are not neutral, a-historical collections of content knowledge. Instead, they are covered with the historical fingerprints of the groups that shaped them and can themselves perpetuate many of the inequalities that were present when they were developed. Maybe the science and technology lesson needed to be made more accessible to Brett, and possibly other students.After considering these contextual curriculum factors, we might also ask questions about the teaching strategies. In this lesson the students were all placed in small groups of three or four to complete the lesson. These were pre-arranged groups and each member had a specific role to play within the group – materials manager, organiser, scribe and tester. But just because students are in a group doesn’t mean they will work together; just because they’re supposed to share decision-making responsibilities doesn’t mean that will happen; and just because they are each assigned a specific role within the group doesn’t mean they’ll successfully perform it. Although teachers cannot be everywhere at once, they have a responsibility when employing group work to circulate and check in on groups frequently to ensure their smooth and effective running. Smooth functioning within groups might also be enhanced by explicitly addressing this issue in a classroom code, as described in chapter 6. Specific roles in groups – in the case of this science and technology lesson the materials manager, organiser, scribe, and tester – can be linked to the idea that classmates respect each other and help each other to learn as enacted via the classroom code.But this is not to restrict our focus solely to the teacher’s curricular and pedagogical decision making as a way of understanding what is going on with Brett in this classroom. We don’t want to deny that Brett has agency and that he is actively engaged in creating and maintaining his identity, his ‘self’. Instead, by taking an integrated approach to the situation we are compelled to ask a much broader and more comprehensive range of questions about the situation to acknowledge that the solution will probably not be found in Brett alone. Simply punishing him or publicly identifying him as a bad boy is not likely to make this classroom a more pleasant place to learn for anyone. The issues aren’t monolithic and clean-cut, and neither are the ways forward. For discussion …Imagine that you are a student teacher in this classroom with Mr Hubbard. Taking an ecological approach to the classroom, what are some of the issues around classroom management that immediately jump out at you?What questions would you ask about Brett to help with your decision making? What questions would you ask about the curriculum, the teaching methods and even Mr Hubbard and the rest of the class to help with your decision making?If you wanted to conduct some action research in this classroom, what are some of the questions that arise in this case about issues related to gender that you might investigate further? What are some of the methods you might use to gather more information to answer these questions about gender and classroom management? What role could Mr Hubbard play in helping you answer your action research questions?Think about the variety of possible paths forward given this scenario and list the strengths and drawbacks to each way forward.What do you think of Mr Hubbard’s solutions? What would you have done differently, and why?In light of the ecological model of classroom management are there any factors in this situation that need further consideration? If so, describe them.19 Vic ArthurVic Arthur was principal of Eglinton Public School when it received the Director-General’s Award for Excellence in Student Welfare. He has since retired after many years in the teaching service, including many years as principal of a number of country primary schools.Eglinton Public School developed The Virtues Program – a systematic, developmental, long-term and whole-school approach to teaching values to children. It is based on The Family Virtues Program of Linda Popov. Since initiated at Eglinton in 2000, more than 70 schools across NSW have adopted and adapted the Program to meet the needs of their students.The Virtues Program at Eglinton PS provides students with a basis for good learning, and a scaffold of values to assist them in developing their life skills. A series of 48 virtues (from 70 put forward by Popov) are taught systematically and developmentally from Year 3 to Year 6. Kindergarten to Year 2 students are also introduced to a selection of these virtues, but less systematically (these younger students also participate in the NSW Department of School Education APPEAL Program, which ties in closely to The Virtues Program). The earlier virtues investigated by the Year 3 students are more simple and concrete, while the later virtues investigated by Year 6 students are more complex and abstract.These virtues are: Level 1/Year 3 kindness, caring, friendliness, courtesy, tolerance, trust, respect, obedience, honesty, enthusiasm, cleanliness and gentleness; Level 2/Year 4 consideration, love, responsibility, patience, reliability, trustworthiness, helpfulness, self-discipline, confidence, assertiveness, forgiveness and generosity; Level 3/Year 5 peacefulness, joyfulness, excellence, justice, loyalty, thankfulness, flexibility, truthfulness, purposefulness, orderliness, moderation and determination; Level 4/Year 6 tact, mercy, honour, service, humility, compassion, courage, faithfulness, steadfastness, modesty, detachment and idealismAll of the teachers are trained in the Program to ensure an informed and consistent approach to teaching and learning about virtues and values. The Program is explained to parents, families and community members at the annual parent information evenings. The virtues are also explained to parents and families in the weekly school newsletter, who are encouraged to discuss these with their children. A whole-school timetable ensures that new virtues are introduced (three weekly) in a coordinated and systematic way. During each weekly school assembly, the principal talks to the children about the current virtues. Focused classroom activities continue throughout each three-week period. These activities include questions for reflection, broad discussions, and specific discussions about pertinent quotations from famous people. These and other teaching ideas are explained in Popov’s 1990 book, The Virtues Project: An Educator’s Guide. Although systematically and developmentally delivered, the Program is flexible enough to allow teachers to vary content and delivery if required. When bullying, for example, became an issue, teachers focused on closely related virtues such as tolerance, assertiveness and consideration.The Virtues Program ties in closely to the school discipline policy and procedures. Virtues provide a positive focus for discussions with students who had demonstrated inappropriate behaviours. Teachers find that the Program is particularly useful when talking to students about conflict situations. They can focus on discussing positive virtues rather than apportioning negative blame. Students are asked to identify and explain how an appropriate virtue could assist them to solve a conflict situation. It is important to note that the number of conflict situations at Eglinton did not diminish so greatly. Some conflict is inevitable in busy places such as schools where children are continually developing, changing and learning. What did change was that the children learned to resolve conflict in more constructive ways.The Virtues Program at Eglinton Public School has had, and will continue to have, a range of positive outcomes for all members of the school community.In the shorter term: the Program provided a scaffold for the improvement of student welfare activities throughout the school, students came to understand that there were universal values that crossed the boundaries of cultures and nations, the school developed a systematic and developmental curriculum of values education, and teachers and parents were committed to the process of values education.In the medium term: students learned to articulate a variety of virtues (or values); students learned to articulate reasons why each virtue was of value to them; students used the language of virtues in their everyday school language; students understood the value of virtues in assisting them in their (current and future) everyday life; students understood and articulated how virtues could assist them in becoming effective learners; there is a reduction in the degree of bullying and generally aggressive behaviour; teachers used the terminology and language of virtues as a basis for effective student welfare counselling; when teachers had discussions about misbehaviour with students, they focused on the value of virtues rather than on the students’ misbehaviours; the school promoted the language of values in its school culture; and parents and community members supported the teaching of values, and reinforced these at home and in the community.In the longer term: parents and community members will continue to learn values from the students; students will continue to apply sound virtues and values as a basis for their everyday behaviours; students, as parents of the future, will be well prepared to support their families; there is increased personal and community pride.The Virtues Program has proved to be a success at Eglinton Public School because there was a committed staff and strong parent and community support. Its strength is in its systematic and longer term perspective. Furthermore, the Program has provided a positive focus for student learning, particularly about relationships with others, behaviour and mentaryThe Virtues Program is an exemplary example of a systematic, whole-school approach to values education (and discipline) – an approach that finds strong support in the psychoeducational theories underpinning the Lyford model. Values education, in turn, is widely recognised as a preventative approach to improving student social skills and behaviours. The Virtues Program includes students, teachers, parents and other school community members demonstrating a thoroughly ecological perspective. The school-wide Program focuses on achieving quality curriculum, particularly leading to the continuing enhancement of positive values and relationships for all school community members. Individual interventions for poor behaviours also take a psychoeducational approach.20 Michael‘All kids love outdoor sports. Nothing can go wrong!’ Can it? The actual outcome for my outdoor lesson was more like a battlefield with a bunch of high school kids refusing to play, about the same number lying or rolling around on the grass, others texting friends, and only a handful actually doing something that resembled soccer and touch footy. Oops! Where was my (classroom) management plan? It worked really well in my classroom but didn’t seem to work in the open spaces of the school grounds. I felt so lost. I had only a semblance of dignity left as I screamed across the playground for cooperation. Later on, like any good reflective teacher, I sat down and thought about what I could change for the following week’s lesson. I could just keep them all inside and ‘teach them a lesson’ by writing lines, but that went against my own philosophy of rewarding good positive behaviour and engaging my students. Maybe I should accept the idea that it was my entire fault and change my approach. I baulked at that idea because I’ve always believed that everyone needs to make an effort in life. Anyhow, the end result was a compromise built on a properly structured lesson plan specifically designed for outdoor sports. During the week I ‘revved up’ the students to look forward to the lesson and took suggestions as to what sport they most enjoyed. On the day, I sat the students down under a tree (away from their bags and mobile phones) and explained how I was disappointed in last week’s lack of participation and then set clear expectations about what I wanted in the upcoming session. I gave a brief spiel on the consequences of non-participation including time-outs, line writing (a school directive) and referral to the Head Teacher for persistent misbehaviour. For my finale (remembering that a mentor had once told me that for every positive comment there were four negative ones!) I hit them with the idea that I would be on the lookout to give Merit Cards to positive and enthusiastic students. We started our lesson, and I gave these Merit Cards out (in my ordered but slightly random way!) and yelled out words of encouragement. This was quite different to the week before! We all laughed and played the set games … it looked so much more like what I’d pictured rather than the battlefields of lessons past! At the end of the lesson, in recognition of their cooperation and enthusiasm, I rewarded them with their favourite game of handball … life was all good!Was it my new positive and encouraging approach to teaching that created such an engaging, enjoyable and successful lesson or was it just that the students were ‘in the mood’ on the day? I don’t think I’ll ever pinpoint the exact explanation or ‘recipe for successful teaching’. Maybe that’s the lesson I learned on the day. Maybe this is the mystery of successful teaching and what motivates people to become successful teachers … Hmmm…CommentaryThis story is not set in the usual classroom setting. Michael decided that he needed to set different but clear behavioural standards for his class when they were expected to learn outside. He adopted a rules and consequences perspective, which under these circumstances, proved very successful. Would you consider using different behavioural standards for different teaching/learning settings? How does Michael’s pragmatic approach reconcile against the steps for developing and implementing behaviour standards explained in this chapter? Think about the behavioural standards you might negotiate for alternative teaching/learning settings or milieus such as the playground, library, excursions, with casual/replacement teachers and so on.21 JohnMy first teaching position was at a boys-only independent high school. This school had a reputation as a ‘bloke’s’ school – where the (predominantly male) staff ‘took no prisoners’ and neither did the students! I chose to take a very assertive and controlling approach to my classroom management … I wanted to fit in. This approach wasn’t exactly what I thought was right for me but it seemed right at the time. I had heard the staff talk about Assertive Discipline at the first staff meeting and thought that it sounded OK, but I didn’t do my homework …From day one I made clear I was the boss, and that the room and the rules were mine. Any repeated transgressions incurred detention – three strikes and out – and privileges would also be lost. I applied this from my Year 7 classes right up to my Year 10 class. I wanted to be consistent – I knew that was the right thing to do. I wasn’t interested in making friends with the students. I simply wanted to get them engaged with their learning. After all, school’s all about learning – not about making buddies. I’d wait until later in the year for that … although that felt a little bit strange …After a couple of weeks it was clear – the boys weren’t going to step out of line. They knew I meant business – but something wasn’t right. My head teacher dropped by my room a few times and told me my discipline was fine – still, something wasn’t right. Their test results at the end of term 1 were OK – but something was wrong. My staffroom colleagues said I was doing fine – but I wasn’t … I was not the teacher I felt I should be.I looked back over my professional philosophy. Funny … I’d written this up for my job interview only a few months ago, but it looked now like it had been written by someone else, someone who wanted to get to know his students and enjoy teaching them and seeing them learn and maybe kicking the ball around on the oval with them at lunchtime … I looked over my classroom management plan. I rewrote it honestly. I started to teach, and relate to my students, how I had planned.It took almost the rest of that year to undo the ‘damage’ I’d done. Fortunately most of this damage had been done to me. I never really got to know those kids. But when I started the following year it was me who was teaching – and I got to know the kids – and they got to know me!CommentaryJohn describes a quite common scenario that faces many early career teachers – making ‘big’ decisions about taking a theoretical and then practical approach to classroom management. John had early intentions to follow his personal philosophy of learning and teaching but he soon fell into ‘following in behind’ his more experienced colleagues – particularly in the key area of valuing, making and building relationships with his students.Although John’s teaching (and his students’ learning) seemed to turn out ‘OK’, he knew there was just something wrong – he knew there was a lack of synchronicity between his professional philosophy, his theoretical approach to classroom management, and his classroom management practices. Eventually this created a substantial disturbance in how he felt about his professional behaviours.As much as possible early career teachers (and indeed all teachers) should seek out appointments where their personal professional philosophy is not compromised. In schools where the community (including colleagues, parents and students) hold diverse (and even competing) values, beliefs and views, this can be very challenging. This poignant story is a reminder of the critical contribution made by inputs including the knowledge and interpretive filters, and the cycle of reflexivity and plan-implement-review cycle.22 SallyDuring the Easter holidays, I was invited to take up a full-time teaching position at a Senior College to replace a teacher who was going on maternity leave for the rest of the year. The appointment began four weeks into second term. Previous to this appointment, I had been the assistant principal at a local Catholic primary school that had included a year as acting principal, curriculum coordinator and at times teaching Year 7 students. I had also spent several years as a Special Education/Equity Consultant as well as serving as the principal of a small bush primary school in far western Queensland. I had not been in a full-time classroom teaching position for over 15 years. However, I had been in several roles in which I gave early career teachers advice about how to manage classroom behaviour. It was now time to put my money where my mouth is!Although well versed in curriculum development in Years 1 to 10, the current curriculum of the senior high school was new to me. I was to teach English, Vocational Education, Early Childhood Studies and Legal Studies, all of which were relatively new content areas to me. Knowing that good planning was the foundation of a successful learning environment, I spent most of my time prior to commencement reading senior English literature novels and the Year 11 Legal Studies textbook.A day before I was to start the deputy principal told me that the school had run out of Teacher Handbooks (which included the behaviour codes and basic school routines) and were now writing a new one. This though wasn’t yet available! He said that because of my experience, ‘You’ll be right’ – even though I didn’t know the school rules, class changeover times or the students’ names. I knew he was wrong!On my first teaching day I was given my timetable and class lists 15 minutes before I began! I was to teach six out of seven lessons each day including first period. The Social Science coordinator also informed me that the Faculty was no longer using the Legal Studies textbook for Year 11 and that a new one had been ordered. This also wasn’t yet available! I was suddenly feeling a great empathy for relief teachers. I knew that I was entering the classroom unprepared. Just as I was walked into my room, I passed a first-year teacher who I had counselled earlier in the year at another school. Seeing the anxiety on my face, the young woman quoted my own words back to me, ‘Just remember – the first term is always the worst …’Regardless of the class or subject, I based my first lessons on three fundamentals that were a part of my personal philosophy. First, I set up positive relationships with my students. (The most important influence on a child’s successful learning experience is their relationship with their teacher/s). Second, I quickly got to know my students’ strength and weaknesses. (Teaching strategies need to cater for a variety of learning styles and abilities.). Third, I gave clear instructions and reinforced the behaviours I believe lead to a positive learning environment. (Classroom rules and routines need to be structured and clear to both the students and the teacher.)My first week’s lessons were modelled on a generic plan:Introduction – I welcomed my students and introduced myself. I called the roll. (The class lists included photos of the students that made it much easier to learn names.) I explained that I was new to the school, didn’t know the rules, but would find out in the next day or so. I then informed the students that, in the meantime, I expected all of the students to raise their hands to speak, and to listen to others when they spoke.Activity 1 Discussion (10 minutes). I discussed with the students what they most enjoyed about the course so far – no matter what the subject. Students inevitably discussed their views on both the positives and negatives of the course. Most of the students were honest and fair in their comments. A few made comments that were designed to stir the class or put down others – including the previous teacher.Activity 2 Writing. To quickly check for strengths and weaknesses I asked each class of students to do an open-ended piece of writing which was to be handed in at the end of the class. I read a short story and asked the students to change the ending. In Legal Studies I read a case study and asked the students to write an analysis of the issues.When I reviewed these writing samples over the following week, I noted any obvious writing difficulties and strengths such as major spelling problems – which may indicate auditory disabilities; simplicity of response or lack of response – which may indicate, boredom, behaviour problems, intellectual disabilities or other learning problems; outstanding responses in terms of vocabulary, content and concept development – which may indicate giftedness. In the first few weeks I targeted any students I noted from this first writing sample, in order to get to know them better and to support them. To gain more insight I also asked those students’ other teachers about them.My initial behaviour management strategies were simple: As mentioned above, I asked students to raise their hands to speak, and to listen to others when they spoke. Furthermore, for example, I …Praised individual students for raising their hands to speak. That is, I asked the students to say their name and thanked them by name when they finished speaking, for example, ‘Thanks for raising your hand. What’s your name? What do you enjoy? Thank you Jane.’Restated and responded positively to positives from the class. That is, when a student said, ‘I like to do the case studies in Legal Studies but I hate the reading’, I listened and said, ‘Thanks for telling us that you enjoy the case studies. Does everyone agree? Yes? Good! What else do people enjoy?’ I made sure I smiled. (Too much praise would be over-the-top for older students.)Strategically ignored negatives. When a student called out, without raising his hand, ‘I don’t like any of it,’ I called on another student by saying, ‘Thanks for raising your hand. What do you enjoy?’ When the first negative student called out again, I simply said, ‘That’s fine, I’ll see you after class and we can discuss it’. Then I broke eye contact with that student and focused on the student offering positives. I reminded the disruptive student to stay back at the end of the lesson by saying, ‘May I please see you, Cameron?’ in a non-threatening tone. When Cameron’s friend also sought to stay, I asked him to wait in the hall.Showed a genuine interest in this student when we met after class. He admitted that he was just trying to be ‘stupid’ to disrupt the class. I asked him what he did like and thanked him for sharing his view. This minor corrective measure only took a minute.By the end of each lesson, I had a writing sample from each student, ideas about who were positive influences and who were negative influences in each class, and ideas about which students were likely to have challenging behaviours (I also had a host of other questions that needed answers!).A number of challenges were identified and needed to be addressed. These arose simply because I did not know the school behaviour policies and practices. These included several students asking to leave before the class change-over time (the school has a no-bells policy), mobile phones being used in class, and eating in class.Although embarrassed for not knowing, I quickly found out about the timetable and policies and procedures from a friendly teacher. I simply informed each class at the beginning of the next lesson what the school rules said about these matters. (Surprisingly, the school did allow eating in class if the student had teacher permission. Mobile phones were to be turned off during class but students were allowed to use them between classes.) In future lessons issues became only minor problems and were easily dealt with by consistently following the school policy and procedures.Once established, explanations of rules and procedures were kept to two or three sentences and the focus of classroom conversation was redirected to academic work. When rules were broken, I consistently followed school policy and procedure. If a student had been involved in disruptive behaviour and required a negative intervention, I made a point of looking for something positive to praise about that student’s behaviour as soon as possible in the lesson. This was intended to re-establish a positive relationship.The writing samples and initial class discussions indicated several students with individual learning needs: an exchange student who didn’t speak English, one or two students in each class who were quiet but didn’t hand in any work or participate in any way, and one or two students in each class with learning disabilities such as auditory perception difficulties or borderline intellectual difficulties. As I planned my lessons over the next two terms I took time to think about these students and how I would modify my expectations and/or support their learning.At times I would notice these students were not engaged with learning, so I would speak to them quietly and individually about how they could proceed. The school learning support teacher also gave me valuable information and advice about individual students and how tasks and activities could be modified. I always kept spare copies of her notes for students who had difficulty writing or who were frequently absent (although I didn’t publicise this to the whole class). I used storyboards as well as notes to analyse legal case studies and childcare situations. I loaned videos and DVDs of novels and plays to selected students in English prior to class analysis and readings.Planning, of lessons and classroom management, makes all the difference to learning. However, like all teachers, I struggled to find the time to plan thoroughly. I continued to struggle with learning the content of Legal Studies. Fortunately, my Legal Studies students had the least individual learning needs. I also found that spending a few minutes at the beginning of each lesson saying hello to the class and saying a few quiet words to individuals who needed encouragement or a specific focus also made a difference. One of my classes was located in a far corner of the school. The students and I were often late to that class due to the time required to get there. Without the first few minutes of the lesson to re-establish relationships and set up expectations, whether academic or behavioural, I found the class remained slightly unwieldy throughout the year. Individuals with tendencies towards disruptive behaviour continued to push limits and often arrived late to class.Despite many years of experience and expertise, when it came to full-time teaching, I still had to do the hard yards of planning and getting to know each of my students. Classroom management centred on consistently following school policy and procedures while using praise to establish positive teacher–student relationships. Indeed, the first term was the worst, in terms of hard work, planning and getting to know individual needs, but in a short year I have grown very fond of my students and had thoroughly enjoyed my full-time teaching. If I ever went back to full-time administration the first thing I’d do would be to write the Teacher Handbook!CommentarySally’s challenge was approached on the basis of her clear personal philosophy of teaching and learning, which emphasised the importance of building positive relationships, knowing her students strengths and weaknesses in order to deliver quality curriculum and instruction, and establishing an organised classroom with clear standards and expectations. Planning is, in Sally’s opinion, ‘the foundation of a successful environment (and) along with behaviour management makes all the difference to learning’. By knowing her students, she felt she was better able to support their individual needs. Her approach to classroom management was then primarily preventative – but framed within the ecological context of a knowledge of the students and the whole-school behaviour policies and practices.23 JoannaAs an experienced teacher’s aide my approach to classroom management is to use a combination of basic strategies to minimise and/or prevent unwanted behaviours. The following seven strategies have (up until now!) worked well for me – well prepared lessons (that meet the varying needs of students), a seating plan, effective communication, simple class rules, use of school-wide behaviour policy and procedures, achievable expectations, and building a rapport with students.1 Well-prepared lessons that meet the varying needs of students I believe that well-prepared lessons are the centrepiece of successful classroom management. They are essential for achieving maximum learning outcomes that, in turn, prevent and/or minimise unwanted behaviour. If tasks are too difficult, or for that matter too simple, students drift off task and often start to disrupt the class. This can cause a domino effect of unwanted behaviours, so make sure your lessons are well prepared and that they keep moving along. This way all of your students, including those with special needs, are kept busy and learning.For students with special needs, ask yourself, ‘What are the most important concepts I want them to understand?’ Have worksheets that use simpler language, and reading tasks that support what you have been verbalising. As much as possible make your lessons interesting and fun. Enabling students to experience success with their learning gives them the opportunity to feel good about themselves.2 A seating planFor my students, sitting in single file is the most effective and it gives me the best control. Much time and energy can be wasted in the classroom dealing with unwanted behaviours, which in turn have a negative impact on student learning. The students who are potentially the most disruptive sit up the front close to me so that I can keep an eye on them. This gives me plenty of opportunity to give them positive feedback when they do the right thing.Seating students this way also requires them to take more responsibility for their own learning. They can’t readily copy from others, and if they find a task difficult they are more inclined to ask me for help. This makes it easier to assess each student’s progress and whether they understand the concepts being taught.3 Effective communicationHave a good knowledge of what you are teaching. This gives you an air of confidence when speaking to the class. It is important to be bright and confident, so use good eye contact and the students’ names. Smiling and laughing are the most important ways to engage with your students.When you teach new concepts speak in simple terms and use language that the students understand. Once they understand the basics you can then build on this. Write basic notes on the board, and avoid dictation as many students find this very difficult. I often speak about what I am writing on the board and ask questions as I go. Doing this draws the students into the lesson and encourages positive communication between us.One of the most important things is to encourage students to put up their hand to ask for help when they don’t understand something. I assure them that if they don’t understand, there is bound to be others who don’t as well. Their peers are invariably grateful to them for asking! Always respond positively to their questions and answers, even if they are a bit off track. You can always use or reword something of what they say. This keeps their self-esteem intact.By creating an environment where students feel comfortable to ask questions and contribute to the lesson, you are increasing their confidence and building up that positive two-way communication which makes teaching and learning exciting. This feedback is also vital to assess how well the students understand the concepts being taught, and if their needs are being met. I continually monitor this in myself – and in the students.4 Simple class rulesI think only a small number of rules are necessary, and these must be introduced right at the beginning so that no one is in doubt about your expectations of them. The following rules usually work well: When I am talking, eyes to the front and listening; If you have something to say, please put up your hand; When another student is speaking, be quiet and listen; No put-downs; Have a go; Always do your best; and Good manners please. (Sadly, simple good manners are less evident among young people today. Good manners are the basic courtesies of our society and I feel these must be modelled and encouraged in the classroom. Create an environment where students show respect for you – and each other.)5 Use of school-wide behaviour policy and proceduresIf a student is not settling, I first ask them in a positive way if they need some help (task difficulty is a frequent cause of unsettled behaviour). If that is not the problem I ask the student to settle down and reinforce what I have asked them to do. If the student persists with the behaviour I don’t hesitate to use our school-wide time-out procedures. All our staff and students understand the procedures and consequences. Don’t fall into the threatening cycle. By repeatedly threatening and failing to use time-out (or any other prescribed consequence) you blur the boundaries of what the students see as acceptable behaviour. Enforcing the procedures reminds all of your students about your expectations – and their obligations.6 Achievable expectationsHigh but achievable expectations of your students, including those with special needs, are very important. Expectations – to always try your best, complete realistic homework, and to be polite – send a strong message to all of your students that you believe in them. If you have low expectations and set low goals for your students they will respond accordingly. The use of negative language certainly has an adverse effect. I know of a situation where a class was told that they were a ‘waste of space, hopeless and rude’. Consequently, this was exactly how they behaved. Give all of your students something to be proud of – especially themselves.7 Building a rapport with studentsAlways look for the positive side of your students. With some this takes a little time to find – but it is there! Once you have found it you can encourage this side of their nature. Don’t hold a grudge against them. Start off each day with a clean slate. This gives them the space and opportunity to turn their behaviour around. Finally, show respect to your students. This will have a big impact on their behaviour towards you.I like to find out as much about my students as I can, particularly things about which they feel passionate. It takes time to build up this background knowledge but it can be a successful strategy to prevent unwanted behaviour. One student I worked with was easily distracted, and would rather fool around than settle down to work. I approached her to see if she would like any help, then very casually asked her how the soccer went on the weekend. This student loved soccer. The unwanted behaviour stopped immediately and we were soon having a friendly chat. I then re-introduced her to the task. I found that she had a more positive approach and was willing to have a go.There are many strategies that make for successful classroom management. Be flexible, as some situations need a trial and error approach. Don’t lose heart, and always remember to laugh with the kids – it’s a great bridge builder!CommentaryJoanna clearly articulates a blend of principles of successful classroom management that align closely with those of the Lyford model. She strongly emphasises prevention of, rather than intervention for, unwanted behaviours. Joanna advocates establishing an organised classroom – through the use of strategic seating plans and simple classroom rules within the wider context of school-wide rules and procedures, and achieving quality curriculum and instruction – through well-prepared lessons that meet the diverse educational needs of all students in the classroom and by setting high but achievable expectations for all. She also emphasises the importance of effective communication in building rapport with students and ultimately to establish positive relationships. You can see that Joanna’s seven principles of good classroom management can apply in both secondary and primary settings, and that her views as an experienced and excellent teacher’s aide are consistent with those of other teaching professionals.24 SteveYear 9 Woodwork was the class from hell. Twenty boys, one third were functionally illiterate and only a few ‘bright ones’. The whole class behaved as if they were feral. There were no ringleaders and they operated with a pack mentality. They’d throw wood and sharp tools about the room – randomly, at others, at the teacher (behind his back) and into the spinning ceiling fans. The classroom was mayhem every period. It took the teacher up to 20 minutes to mark the roll and he rarely nailed any individual for misbehaving. The boys would vandalise the tools and each other’s jobs. Not one student ever took home any completed, intact job. The teacher was struggling, to say the least, and had virtually no rapport, control or authority. It was only when Steve (as Head Teacher) entered the classroom that they would stop misbehaving, but even then they wouldn’t start working.By the end of Term 2, Steve’s next hands-on strategy was to commence team teaching with his stressed colleague. Although this settled the class somewhat, they continued to whinge and do virtually no work. They continued to vandalise tools, equipment and each other’s work – but more secretively! After three weeks, Steve decided that it was impossible, under the current circumstances, to establish a rapport with the class. The situation was by any account unsalvageable. This was one of the hardest calls Steve had made in his 25 plus years on the job. He exercised his authority by transferring the class teacher onto one of his easier classes timetabled at the same time. Year 9 Woodwork was now his – four periods per week – until the end of Year 10. Steve was on a mission – to rebuild this class from the ground up. He knew this would take at least the rest of the school year and probably longer. They were always going to be a high maintenance group. There was no magic pill (or silver bullet!) but something big had to be done.At the beginning of Term 3 the class was removed from the workshop room. Steve had decided they needed a consequences reality check and to (re)learn to follow instructions. He explained to them that trust was earned, and that they had to earn his trust to return to the workshop. Steve assigned set seating, so he didn’t need to call the roll, and decreed three class rules – in their language – ‘Sit down, shut up and do your work!’ Otherwise school rules and consequences applied. His expectations of routine were made clear. Come into the room on instruction, sit down, shut up, and start your work immediately. Authoritarian as it was, Steve judged that at this time, this was what was needed.The set work was continuing basic workshop safety theory. The boys whinged, complained, played the go-slow game, and lost their worksheets. Steve ensured that the work was set at their level. ‘Won’t do’ and ‘can’t do’ were clearly differentiated. After about three weeks, Steve reintroduced the class to his workshop. His workshop was clean, organised, and restocked with repaired tools and equipment. The boys were assigned bench spaces in strategically sorted groups and told one more rule – Don’t touch my tools, equipment, or space unless I tell you to do so. (Steve emphasised that his teaching space was only for teaching – not administration.)Steve upheld a simple belief – that if the students were busy (working) the cost of material consumables was negligible compared to the cost of vandalism, so he made sure that more than sufficient materials were prepared in advance. He articulated a simple work ethic to the boys … He wanted ‘quality work – near enough was not good enough’. He repeated this as a class mantra time and time again; that is, quality, not speed. He started them on a simple practical project. Work commenced immediately while he primarily monitored and enforced simple routines and procedures. These routines and procedures included, for example, clearly articulated work progress expectations for each lesson; work pieces collected from two students at a time from the students’ set storage space; whole-class demonstration of next work process at the beginning of each lesson; the class was set to work together; each (small) piece of work was to be brought to Steve for quality inspection – poor work was trashed and new materials issued to be redone to a quality standard; routines and procedures were constantly monitored and enforced; an attendance check was conducted regularly during the lesson (to reduce partial truancy); all work ceased 10 or so minutes before the bell; Steve’s workshop was cleaned and tidied at the end of every lesson – by all the class together.Over the next seven weeks (the rest of Term 3) Steve continued to closely monitor and enforce the class mantra, routines and procedures. He responded to different work rates by providing additional demonstrations for students working at different rates and by making the faster students assist the slower ones. He was also hoping that this additional interaction would promote the development of some rapport between the boys – who otherwise showed little collaborative effort. The workshop was still his, but Steve started to provide some opportunity for students to take shared responsibility for the workshop facilities. The students could by now collect their work at the beginning of the lesson together, but still waited for group instructions to commence work.The students finished that third term, for the first time that year, by each taking a completed (and reasonable quality) project home. They were still not angels. Steve couldn’t turn his back on many of them, and without vigilant monitoring and enforcement of the class mantra, routines and procedures, things would slide back to anarchy within a short time!In term 4, Steve modified his three class rules to the three Rs: Respect yourself, Respect others, and take Responsibility for your actions. (These adolescent boys tended to deny responsibility, for poor behaviour and poor work, by claiming ‘It’s not my fault!’). By now the boys were (at least) routinely working. (Steve upheld that disengagement from learning was among the worse cancers to effect teenage students.) Steve also introduced positive recognition and rewards for good behaviour and work. Even the school deputy, who was normally only involved to administer discipline to these boys, was invited to issue school merit awards to the class members.The students had begun to develop their own positive (quality) work expectations, a knowledge of class rules, routines, procedures and expectations, and looked forward to woodwork. They were not and were unlikely ever to become a good class, but they had matured to show some reasonable respect for Steve and themselves. (Six of the 20 students came on the last day of the school year just to complete their projects. Some of the class members on individual education programs regularly sought to attend extra woodwork classes rather than other previously preferred alternatives to regular classes.) Over two terms they had developed into a workable class and showed personal responsibility for maintaining a quality classroom.Ultimately 14 of the 20 boys graduated from Year 10. Six of these achieved a (top) Grade A for their School Certificate woodwork assessment. Many of them also continued to be suspended for repeated poor behaviour in the school generally!Steve’s rebuilding of this class had taken more than two school terms. He emphasised a few key points. Be aware of the students’ moods and the rhythm of the lesson. If you lose this focused awareness, they will take advantage. Know your students – their interests and skills. (For these boys, these were cars, football and movies!), and finally, engage them in their work because disinterest is mentaryThis story embraces and reflects most of the elements of the Lyford model. From one perspective, Steve’s taking over of the class was a strategic intervention using both behaviourist and psychoeducational strategies. From another perspective, he was (re)building this class – albeit a very challenging class – from scratch. Steve initially focused in on the simple (dysfunctional) dynamics of the class but ultimately took a more ecological perspective that took account of the students’ interests, motivations and skills. Steve was well aware that there was no quick fix for this group of students and that he needed to build positive relationships through effective communication. He articulated a clear philosophical position on the key issues at hand, and was demonstrably reflective over an extended period. Furthermore, Steve achieved a quality (appropriate) curriculum through quality (differentiated) instruction. Steve did not persist with his key intervention for too long and ensured that it was integrated into his whole class management plan as soon as possible. He planned his rebuilding carefully, implemented it consistently and persistently and reviewed it regularly.25 Margot FordDeveloping a sense of belongingnessOne of the most important feelings a child must have in the classroom is a sense of ‘belongingness’ – a sense that he or she is an integral part of the community of that classroom and school. This has already been acknowledged by Glasser, Dreikurs and other writers reviewed in this text, but examining this from the point of view of the inter-connectedness with wider social relationships is an important goal for teachers who are trying to facilitate positive classroom ecosystems. Belongingness cannot only be achieved by mere presence in the classroom; rather, children have to negotiate a place for themselves within this contrived social group.Children who are ‘different’ from the mainstream have a more difficult job of achieving belongingness. Children of colour (no matter what their cultural background), children who have another language besides English, and children with a disability are all challenged to fit into the imagined norm that exists even in the first year at school. We use the simple scenario below to reflect on the various strategies required to support children of difference in their quest to belong in a mainstream Australian classroom.Mahalia, a five-year-old, comes home from school one day and says: ‘John won’t play with me because I have brown skin’. One of Mahalia’s parents, very upset, contacts the school to complain. What does a teacher do in such circumstances? It may be that the teacher will chastise John and say: ‘We all respect one another in this classroom, so we must be nice to each other’. The teacher may then say to Mahalia: ‘Just ignore John and find someone else to play with’. But does this really tackle the issue? (Note that this is a real scenario so pseudonyms are used.) Mahalia responded by doing things such as trying to wash off her brown skin, repeatedly saying: ‘I hate my skin. Why can’t I be normal?’ (From this one incident, Mahalia spent the next three years coming to terms with her appearance, while for John the incident was quickly forgotten.) Mahalia’s sense of belongingness has been severely undermined and will take a long time to be re-established, while the underpinning message of John’s comment goes unchallenged. (Reflection: Before reading further, think for a moment about what you would do in this scenario.)Teachers must be proactive in establishing a safe, secure community in the classroom, in which all children feel comfortable and welcome. The strategy used by the teacher in the scenario above will not achieve that, so what can we do? Classroom ecology involves two aspects: the management plan and the curriculum. A collaborative approach rather than a competitive one – as part of an overall management plan and as part of the explicit teaching – paves the way for a more cohesive class.In a competitive environment there will always be winners and losers. A reward system for individuals or groups encourages competition and may serve short-term needs, but does little for whole-class cohesion. Similarly, if the teaching program has groups or individuals working to gain points for their team (even if the teams are of mixed ability) this too can be divisive. Often those on the outer – those children who are different from the mainstream – tend to do less well, and are more likely not to be in a winners’ team. There seems little point in having a competitive approach in a class where it is contrived that every team wins at some point. If the emphasis is on collaboration – where there are a lot of whole-group activities with a common and central purpose – the class learns that everyone’s input is valuable, and children of difference are more likely to feel valued and included.Alongside cooperative activities there needs to be plenty of room for individual choices. One of the conundrums when dealing with children of difference is that while they want to be the same as everyone else, they also want to feel special and valued. There is a fine balance between these two seemingly contradictory needs, but both are important for establishing a sense of belongingness. One of the easiest ways to achieve this delicate balance between children wanting to celebrate who they are and to be like everyone else is by providing a lot of opportunities for children to choose the way they carry out any given task; that is, to have a more child-oriented and child-directed program. More open-ended tasks mean that children will choose a way of completing each task that is meaningful to and comfortable for them, and that enables them to draw on their unique experiences and knowledge. The more teacher-directed the task, the less opportunity there is for individual interpretation and the more chance there is of teacher bias influencing learning outcomes. Read the following scenario. Teachers need to become socially critical about the material children are taught. This can happen by asking some key questions about any program content. Are various points of view or interpretations represented? Is there diversity in role models in terms of gender, ethnicity and class? Are other ethnic and racial views valued and addressed?Suddenly there are two new children from Indonesia in your class. To make them feel they belong, you plan a unit of work on Indonesia. Targeting individual children in the class may generate unwanted attention and therefore be counter-productive. On the other hand, it may be an excellent choice. However, one would need to speak to the children, their parents and to other teachers before doing anything like this. A more creative, inclusive and child-oriented approach might be to develop a unit of work called ‘Places important to me’ that allows students to focus on their own background in a way that is most comfortable for each individual.In the early years of school, focusing on activities that examine sameness and difference provides social spaces to explore issues openly. Sameness and difference can be purely physical for young children, or children may interpret the social messages around them in their own ways that have deeper, multi-levelled meanings. Adults can misinterpret these messages, so open communication and constant checks on understanding are an essential part of negotiating the meanings children obtain about sameness and difference.Another key aspect in classroom ecology is the use of resources and curriculum and program content. Children have a sense of belongingness in the classroom when they can relate to the topics, people and resources in the classroom; when there are plenty of role models with whom they can identify; and where they feel proud of their own identity personally, ethnically and racially. One factor that can impede this process is societal bias. Read the following scenario …Think for a moment about the black scientists you know of. Can you think of five, two or even one? Chances are none spring to mind. Is this because they do not exist or is it because we have a white bias in our view of the world? Now think about the female scientists you know of. You might think of Marie Curie, but are there others? Again, celebrated scientists seem to be men, or in other words there is a bias that favours males. What is the implicit message that students in your class might get about who does science? In terms of a sense of belongingness, who are the children most likely to feel an association with science: girls or boys, children of colour or white children? * For examples of the work of black and female scientists, see inventors.cs/blackinventors/index.htmBeing subtle about program content can help overcome the exotic sense we have of some cultures and avoid the sense of ‘the other’ as different. Think for a moment how many people or children you see wearing their traditional costumes: very few? And yet almost always we look at diversity through the ‘spaghetti and polka’ approach, thinking of culture in terms of costume, food and dance. Presenting a culture in this way is superficial and feeds stereotypes. A unit of work on ‘Favourite food’ can provide choice and can lead to opportunities to explore where various dishes came from, but it emphasises how normal it is in Australia to eat a diversity of foods. It is just as likely that the new children from Indonesia favour McDonald’s hamburgers as much as gado gado, while Anglo-Saxon children may regularly eat Thai food.Indigenous themes can be quite problematic. It is always wise to involve local Indigenous people in any activities in this area. Often units of work on Indigenous peoples overemphasise the exotic, traditional way of life. We need to question why we do this, as it may feed stereotypes. It is probably more productive to emphasise the contributions Indigenous people make to contemporary Australian society. Bringing in Indigenous police, mechanics, hairdressers, actors and sportspeople delivers clear messages of diversity and inclusion, and provides strong messages about the normalcy of Indigenous people rather than their difference. Even very young children understand quite a range of multicultural concepts, so when planning a program aim to develop units of work, themes and activities around the following ideas …Everyone is lovable and capable.Everyone is important.Everyone has feelings.People are similar. People are different.Some physical attributes stay the same; some change.It is important to try new experiences.We can learn about the daily life of people we know.Culture comes from parents and families.There are different kinds of families.Families live in different ways.Many different people live and work in our community.Some things are fair and some things are not.People have different points of view.Some people have different ways of doing things.(Adapted from York, 1991, pp. 79–82)Resources are the key to an inclusive program. They have the potential to show, in subtle ways, how children of difference can belong in any classroom. All teachers must become magpies, collecting anything and everything to build up resources that may be useful, in particular those resources that reflect the diversity of Australian society, such as posters, books, music and magazine articles (avoid women’s magazines, as they predominantly show very skinny white women – another undesirable stereotype). Another way to build up a collection of diverse materials is to have a blank video in the video machine at all times so you can press ‘Record’ whenever you see a program that reflects diversity. Most communities have ethnic organisations and other community organisations you can also draw on for human resources that reflect diversity. (On reflection: Find curriculum materials that specifically address issues of racism at .au)Language and communication styles will vary among children in the classroom, and there can be quite strong feelings of alienation for children with a language other than English. Language and culture are interconnected in many different ways. They are the building blocks of a young child’s developing identity, so it is critically important that language as well as culture is valued in the school. If a teacher provides plenty of opportunities for children to use their first language in the classroom, then the child’s feelings of alienation will be reduced. The best way of doing this is to have school staff members who speak various languages. This is not always possible, of course, but there are ways to encourage the use of first languages other than English, for example …Try to identify community members who are willing to come in and interact with all the class, but especially with those children who share the same first language. Perhaps older, retired community members could fulfil a critical role here.Provide resources (such as compact discs, cassette tapes, books, videos and posters) in different languages that reflect your group.Keep an eye out for any performance events that have a multicultural or bilingual focus, and organise class outings to such events.Encourage all the class to learn songs and rhymes, as well as simple phrases, in different languages.The other side to encouraging the use of first languages is also to teach English as a second language. It is difficult to balance the need to encourage first-language use and to teach English, but it is important that both sets of language needs are supported. It is important to recognise that even if some children become relatively fluent speakers in English they may retain or favour another communication style.Now let’s revisit the first scenario about Mahalia to see how we can deal with it on a personal level. It is likely that Mahalia already understands that she is different, based on her skin colour, but this may be her first experience of such an overtly negative comment. Teachers need to recognise that children of colour take a personal journey that others do not take. Confronting the concept that some types of skin colour are not acceptable to some children (and adults) takes a lot of understanding. Remember that we are dealing with a characteristic that cannot be changed and that is permanently recognisable. This can have a very negative impact on a child’s self-esteem and confidence, and can sometimes have a serious impact on his or her ability in the classroom. Feeling that skin colour is a negative trait influences a child’s sense of self in other ways, and can prompt feelings of being unworthy and stupid. A teacher would need to be very sensitive to Mahalia’s needs. He or she would need to provide a lot of interesting, challenging and fun tasks that meet Mahalia’s interests so there is a high degree of success in classroom learning. Making sure that Mahalia interacts with those children in her class who are likely to provide her with positive comments would also help. Unfortunately for Mahalia this is unlikely to be an isolated episode, so she must also feel strong enough to deal personally with such encounters. Providing her with a repertoire of responses that are rehearsed – possibly as part of a whole class or group role-play – might be useful.All incidents (like those involving Mahalia) must be taken seriously. It is important to acknowledge what has happened and not to try to pretend something else was going on. So often children of colour give up reporting such incidents when these are dismissed or reinterpreted. In this way such children are effectively silenced (Delpit, 1988). A teacher or other professional could counsel Mahalia by emphasising that it is John who is sad and who has a problem that needs to be dealt with, and reassuring her that she is a valued member of the class, and pointing to occasions where someone complimented her on her appearance. Mahalia’s parents should be involved in discussions about how to respond to the situation, as Mahalia’s immediate and longer-term reactions need to be monitored. Communication with parents can help to develop positive strategies that are consistent across home and school.Each culture has some subtle rules of communication that inform the content. In Australian mainstream culture we all learn the style, although it is rarely explained to us. Think for a minute about how we interrupt another person when that person is speaking. We pick up subtle cues from tone and body language when a person has nearly finished what he or she is saying. We do not always allow a pause before the next speaker jumps in, and sometimes we may dive in before the speaker has completely finished his or her last word. If the conversation is heated we jump in sooner and talk over others much more. In the USA there is an even greater degree of tolerance for this jumping in and talking over: many Australians find this intimidating and aggressive. People from other cultures, particularly Asian and Indigenous cultures, tend to prefer a long pause between speakers. Think for a moment, then, about how an Asian child or an Indigenous child might feel and communicate in a mainstream classroom. It is likely that such children will be much quieter than their Australian mainstream counterparts. They may rarely contribute to discussion and debate, and it is likely teachers may misinterpret this behaviour as stemming from a lack of knowledge or as indicating inability in a particular area. One way to counter this is to contrive the pauses. On occasion, instructing a class to have a three-second pause between speakers in group work or in whole-class discussions may provide a social space for other children to contribute. Techniques such as this provide more opportunities for some children to feel their contribution is sought and valued in an explicit way. If the scenarios featuring Mahalia and John were to occur in a classroom environment with the features of communication discussed earlier, there would be far greater opportunity to discuss the situation in a meaningful yet safe way within a group that already has a strong sense of togetherness and cohesion. In this context, difference and sameness are understood and celebrated, and the interconnectedness between wider social relationships and classroom dynamics is already acknowledged. Assuming this environment does exist, what else can be done at the teacher–student level when such incidents occur?Mahalia’s parents are likely to have suggestions about what to do; their suggestions and ideas are to be valued. Next we also need to deal with John. John will need short-term and long-term strategies in order for meaningful change to take place in him. It is sometimes too easy to blame the home background when such incidents occur. We forget that in our society implicit messages abound that position people of colour as inferior to whites. This is compounded when coupled with cultural or linguistic differences. Certainly in the first instance John would be counselled about his comments – not necessarily to emphasise their racist nature, but rather in the context of class rules about not hurting others and about valuing others. It would be made clear to John that the comment is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It is rarely productive to ask why such a comment was made or where the child who made it had heard such comments, particularly with younger children. Rather, some close observations may elicit whether this was a one-off or if there are indications of a more serious problem.Immediately implementing a unit of work on sameness and difference for the class will help provide social space in which to monitor John’s attitudes, and also give him opportunities to learn about others in a non-threatening and constructive way. Even just adjusting a program to bring in positive role models, such as people of colour who have excelled in their field, could have a positive effect.It would be useful to inform John’s parents and also a senior teacher of the incident. Often parents are as concerned as staff about such incidents, so strategies and solutions can be sought together about how to proceed. Monitoring behaviour and keeping close contact with parents at this time is again important. It is also important not to be judgmental, to acknowledge to students and parents what has occurred, and to reinforce the idea that to judge others by their skin colour is simply illogical. If parents seem to share their child’s views, they will need to be told of classroom and school policy on such issues. Everyone is entitled to his or her own views, but if these have an impact on another child’s ability to learn or on that child’s ability to be accepted by the group, then that will be a problem for John. It should not be a problem for mentaryThis story focused on the impact of wider social issues on classroom dynamics. Even very young children are beginning to understand the complex hierarchical nature of our society, and that some people are more accepted than others. They use this knowledge in their interactions with other children, and sometimes when they are in conflict with one another. We have advocated a number of strategies for use within the classroom that will provide an environment where every child will feel a sense of self-worth and belongingness. Some of these strategies are child-directed, with the emphasis on providing a range of world views and on providing an inclusive program that supplies a diverse range of resources and that recognises the different language and communication needs of culturally different children. We also addressed how immediate steps can be taken to support children when conflicts arise based on notions of difference.Further readingsCarter, M. & Curtis, D. (1998). The visionary principal: A handbook for dreaming, organising and improvising in your center. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.Delpit, L. (1988). ‘The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children’, Harvard Educational Review, 58(3): 280–98. Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds) (1994). Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Derman-Sparks, L. (1989). Anti-bias curriculum. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.Donatelle, R. J. & Davis, L. G. (1996). Promoting healthy behaviour change. Chapter 7 in R. J. Donatelle & L. G. Davis (Eds) Access to health (4th ed.), pp. 2–31. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.Dunn, M. (2001). ‘Lessons from the past: Education and racism in Australia’, Education in Rural Australia, 11(1): 62–75.Eckermann, A. (1994). One classroom, many cultures: Teaching strategies for culturally different children. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.Giddens, A. (1989). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.Glasser, W. (1986). Control theory in the classroom. New York: Harper & Row.Harris, S. & Malin, M. (Eds.) (1994). Aboriginal kids in urban classrooms. Wentworth Falls, NSW: Social Science Press.Hayden, J. & Macdonald, J. (2000). ‘Health promotion: A new leadership role for early childhood professionals’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 25(1): 32–9.Hollinsworth, D. (1998). Race and racism in Australia (2nd ed.). Wentworth Falls, NSW: Social Science Press.Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) (1999). New country, new stories. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. Australian Curriculum Studies Association.Lippmann, L. (1994). Generations of resistance: Mabo and justice (3rd ed.). Sydney: Longman Cheshire.McGrath, H. & Noble, T. (1993). Different kids, same classroom. Sydney: Longman.Swan, P. & Raphael, B. (1995). Ways forward: National consultancy report on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Stake, R. E. (1994). Case studies. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.van Ausdale, D. & Feagin, J. (2001) The first R: How children learn race and racism. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.Wiseman, D. (1999). Research strategies for education. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.World Health Organization (1984). Health promotion: A discussion document on concepts and principles. Geneva: WHO.York, S. (1991) Roots and wings: Affirming culture in early childhood programs. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.inventors.cs/blackinventors/index.htm.au26 Myra DunnDeveloping a sense of wellness and wellbeingThis story describes a school’s attempt to build a quality learning environment for its students. The school was created in response to an identified need of the local Aboriginal community to work towards the wellness and wellbeing of Aboriginal children in educational settings. Essentially, this meant taking a holistic view of education. This perspective fitted well with traditional Aboriginal views of education (Harris, 1984) to which Western ‘lock-step’ methods of instruction are foreign. It was considered that providing culturally appropriate education for local Aboriginal children would contribute to the healing of their communities, which have experienced over 200 years of racism and oppression. Quality learning environments specifically designed for the community’s children would also contribute to the promotion of positive behaviour in school generally.Armidale Aboriginal communityLocated in Armidale, a rural town of about 20&&000 people, Minimbah Aboriginal Pre-School is situated in the reserve area a couple of kilometres from the town’s central business district and is part of a growing educational centre that also includes Minimbah Aboriginal School (K–6), a nutrition centre and a library. Educational achievement is very low among the reserve people, many of whom are semi-literate or illiterate (personal communication from the school principal). Educational achievement among the town-living Aboriginal people is higher, although still well below that of the town’s non-Aborigines. As in many Aboriginal communities across Australia, unemployment is very high (Department of Employment, Education and Training [DEETYA], 1995).Minimbah Aboriginal Pre-SchoolMinimbah Pre-School caters for over 70 children between the ages of three and five years. There are programs for three groups of children: the three-year-old group, the four-year-old group and the Transition Class. The Transition Class was established in 1991 for reasons related to social, emotional, physical and intellectual development. The preschool is part of the larger Minimbah Aboriginal School, which caters for children from Kindergarten level through to Year 6 (K–6). The school community was concerned that in the early years of schooling its children had a culturally appropriate education. Consolidation of self-esteem and self-confidence grounded in a clear sense of Aboriginality were considered crucial for later education in mainstream non-Aboriginal society. It was recognised that in the wider society children would be educated in a system not oriented towards their own sociocultural group and that they were likely to be subjected to racism and discrimination.As a result of these concerns, the principal of Minimbah, in conjunction with the school community, instituted the Transition Class with the express aim of supporting later primary schooling for Aboriginal children. The Transition Class has been a significant factor in the education of Aboriginal children in Armidale since its inception. Since the mid 1990s Minimbah has grown from a preschool with three-year-old and four-year-old groups and a Transition Class into an education centre that offers childcare and education from early childhood to the end of primary school using a system of culturally appropriate family groupings in classrooms. The school’s management committee has an educational philosophy it describes as holistic (School Policy, 1999). The committee perceives that such a philosophy means the school must endeavour to care for all aspects of a child’s wellbeing in order to promote healthy growth to maturity.Emotional wellness and wellbeingBeing able to understand one’s feelings and express emotions is an important ability for any individual to acquire in early childhood (Sorin, 1998). Emotions that the child has felt but not understood may affect a whole range of abilities, behaviours and learning in later life. Various cultures have evolved different ways of expressing, showing and controlling feelings. In keeping with Minimbah’s holistic philosophy, emotional wellness and wellbeing are inseparable from issues of social, mental and spiritual wellbeing. In any Aboriginal context in Australia there is a high incidence of family crisis because of depressed social conditions. Minimbah works to alleviate the emotional disturbance accompanying such crises in a number of ways: periodic staff in-servicing at Minimbah in managing and understanding behaviour disturbance in children, and in maintaining and establishing a secure emotional environment; inclusion of appropriate Aboriginal cultural perspectives from a range of Aboriginal peoples; and seeking advice from professionals outside the Aboriginal community where deemed necessary.Emotional care is also evident in the ways in which close contact is maintained with families. Direct contact with parents often occurs on an informal basis, since the people in the community have had negative formal experiences in their own schooling and do not respond to requests for formal contact. For example, the bus driver who picks up and delivers children to Minimbah is frequently the first point of contact every day with families. The driver takes part in any in-servicing that relates to interacting with parents and to children’s emotional wellbeing. She reports to the principal each day about any family events that may have a bearing on the emotional wellbeing of the children she transports, and is a valuable go-between for families and the school. Behaviour management challenges and accompanying socioemotional issues are the subject of a major school effort. Qualified Aboriginal community workers are needed to work with families on parenting and child-rearing issues. This involves cooperative planning between Aboriginal health authorities and the school. It also involves program planning in consultation with local experts in behaviour management, who are enlisted on a voluntary basis. Each Friday afternoon a staff meeting is held for several hours during which all staff are briefed on issues to do with children and their families. Staff frequently know what is going on in this small community and are able to distribute the necessary knowledge to support both children and other staff.Like many other Aboriginal communities, Minimbah comprises a number of different traditional clan groups placed together by the draconian activities of past governments, which forced many Aboriginal people from different cultural and social groups to live together on government reservations. Today these groups often form the communities of Aboriginal people in country towns. There are four distinct traditional clan groups in the Armidale community, and it has taken many years to get children from all groups to attend Minimbah. Supporting and developing emotional wellness and wellbeing can be very challenging. The principal belongs to one of the clan groups and must therefore interact very carefully with members of the other three groups. As a direct result of this, the school’s successful operation in the community is dependent on the perception that private family matters are treated with sensitivity, awareness and confidentiality. Staff members are briefed individually about the extent and use of confidentiality, and they are in-serviced regularly as a group. Such in-services frequently involve using dilemma situations for staff to solve or to indicate a pathway for action. The school has a confidentiality policy that is included in employment conditions for new staff. Funerals are significant social and cultural events in Aboriginal communities across Australia (see Iosifidis & Rogers, 2000). Minimbah makes provisions for its students and staff to attend funerals and observe mourning periods. As Brown and Brown (1996) advise, staff are provided with professional help to assist bereaved children and adults where appropriate.Social wellness and wellbeingSocial wellness and wellbeing are important concerns for Minimbah, since it is an educational setting for an Indigenous group of people who are a cultural and racial minority in Australian society. The school exists for the purpose of providing culturally appropriate education in a society that has been unable to provide adequate or relevant education for its Indigenous people through its public education institutions (see DEETYA, 1995, 1997). In addition to a culturally appropriate education, Minimbah provides a culturally safe environment where, for example, Aboriginal child-rearing practices are accepted as the norm, and where socioeconomic position is not questioned by staff (who are Aboriginal) (compare Martin, 1999). Social education emphasises the nature of the family and its role in Aboriginal life and prepares children through a program of culturally appropriate care, and curriculum planning and implementation, to become contributing members of Australian society. At a developmentally appropriate level, curricula emphasise Aboriginal people’s substantial contributions to Australia as a nation (Curriculum Policy Document, 1998). In addition, this content has not been filtered through middle-class, non-Aboriginal teachers’ perspectives, since all teachers except one are Aboriginal. Armidale is fortunate in the sense that it has, in its Aboriginal population, a number of highly qualified professionals. These people work in various capacities in education, health and other public service jobs. In addition, a number of community members work voluntarily in groups that serve the population as a whole, such as Lifeline and St Vincent de Paul. Thus Aboriginal children are able to perceive themselves and their families as contributing significantly to the wider common good. As an institution, Minimbah is exceptionally important in Armidale’s Aboriginal community as a stable, enduring and dynamic community development project. The centre employs more than 14 Aboriginal people in many different capacities and thus makes a substantial monetary contribution to the poorest section of the community. It is an institution that constantly has visitors and is a model of what can be done by vibrant Aboriginal communities if motivation and skills are present (personal communication from the principal). In addition, it is a nationally significant development in Indigenous education and has attracted international attention. Thus in the social context of Australian society in general, Minimbah is attempting to provide a range of activities and professional ways of working that cater for the social wellness and wellbeing of its community. At an individual level, Minimbah also works towards the social wellness and wellbeing of children and their families as well as that of staff. School policy demands that children’s social development is closely observed and related to their emotional wellbeing. Children faced with social challenges are identified, and special provision is made for their continued development and that of their families. Appropriate counselling, behaviour management practices and medical expertise are employed where possible to assist those children and families who need it. However, such expertise (for example, speech pathology services and behaviour management expertise) is often difficult to find and impossible to finance in small country towns. Some experts give their help voluntarily, but there are always some situations where assistance cannot be obtained.At the school level there are many activities where staff, children and their families interact on a social and educational level. Minimbah coordinates social activities for its community in relation to Christmas and Easter functions and National Aborigines Week. In addition, a number of more formal functions relating to the whole Aboriginal community emanate from the school. These range from the Debutantes’ Ball to the Aboriginal Rock Eisteddfod and the Careers Pathways Conference for Aboriginal high school students and their families. These community-level activities are a source of much pride in the Aboriginal community and provide an avenue for developing social confidence in adults, adolescents and children. Thus Minimbah has created for itself a vital role as a major local Indigenous institution in its community, providing the setting for experiences that would not otherwise occur through the other two major local Indigenous institutions – the housing cooperative and the football club.Minimbah, then, operates to ensure the development and maintenance of social wellness and wellbeing through providing educational experiences at individual, family, local, state and territory, national and international levels. At this school, establishing social wellness and wellbeing occurs through a complex network of interlocking activities that involve cultural recognition and participation at a family and/or individual level and in the wider community, all of which is consistent with ecological perspective that underpins the Integrated Model of Classroom Management.Physical wellness and wellbeingAs indicated previously, there are a number of areas in which Aboriginal communities in Australia fare less well than non-Aboriginal ones. One area that stands out is that of physical health: Aboriginal communities have high incidences of infant morbidity and mortality, diabetes, and low life expectancy in comparison to the dominant majority. Since many aspects of wellness and wellbeing discussed here are predicated upon physical health, it is therefore an area of prime concern at Minimbah.The principal has been involved in Aboriginal health issues for many years. She sits on the local hospital board, lobbies members of parliament, speaks about Aboriginal health issues at conferences and meetings, and is known nationally for her particular interest in otitis media. Minimbah runs a nutrition program that includes providing healthy, balanced meals for children. The curriculum includes learning experiences based on a balanced and nutritious diet. A parent-education program in nutrition also relates some behaviour problems to food intake. A teeth-cleaning program operates along with a nose-clearing program that is aimed at fighting the high incidence of otitis media that occurs in children in Aboriginal communities. Eighty per cent of children at Minimbah have been identified as having hearing problems associated with otitis media. Despite numerous local and some national attempts to institute testing and treatment programs for this condition, social and systemic problems continue to interfere with plans to attack this common problem. Children can only be treated if their parents take them to the doctor, yet many Aboriginal people refuse to use the health system, and parents in families in crisis do not see this as a priority in their daily struggle to deal with other, more pressing, problems. Similar problems exist in implementing immunisation programs. At Minimbah, the challenge to maintain and establish basic health care has been taken up by the principal and her management committee, and continues at many levels.There is an extensive program of physical activity at Minimbah. Typically, Aboriginal children spend much of their time outside (as do adults) and a rich program of physical activity is highly valued in communities where social life often revolves around the local football team’s performance. The provision of a culturally appropriate physical environment at Minimbah is discussed later when environmental wellbeing is considered.In summary, Minimbah targets diet and nutrition, basic health care and physical activity in order to promote physical wellness and wellbeing. The principal is actively engaged in promoting physical wellbeing, which will ultimately benefit all Aboriginal communities.Spiritual wellness and wellbeingSpirituality is said to be a sense that there is something more beyond our physical selves (Ryan & Stower, 1998). Moore (1996) talks about ‘values of the soul’, and Aboriginal spirituality is often talked about as being ‘kinship with the land’ (Stockton, 1995). The Aboriginal community in Armidale embraces all of these perspectives on spirituality. Many in the community perceive themselves as Christians who at the same time still feel a deep sense of connection to the land and the old ceremonial sites. At Minimbah, Christian values are certainly evident in the school’s philosophy and policies. However, spirituality is also considered to relate to the nature of the individual’s connection with the environment (Wilson, 1996), and is associated with interaction between the environment, identity, emotions and one’s inner self.The purpose of including spirituality as an important concept in the curriculum at Minimbah is to assist children to get in touch with their inner selves, to help them relate to others and their environment, and feel comfortable with themselves as people (see earlier discussions on social and emotional wellness and wellbeing). Helping children to lead happy and contented lives means enabling them to think about what is good for them as individuals, how they may contribute to the wellbeing of others (Ferber, 1996) and how they may best relate to others in their world (Corrie & Leitao, 1999).In addition to the children being taught by teachers who are Aboriginal, there are frequent interactions with elders and with cultural materials and artefacts of spiritual significance. Journeys are made to places where people traditionally met for spiritual activity. The community social activities mentioned earlier encourage a spirit of pride and respect for children’s and adults’ Aboriginal cultures and lifestyles. When this is accompanied by acknowledgement from the wider community of the richness and variety of Aboriginal cultures and lifestyles, spirituality in its broadest sense is nurtured.In an individual sense, spirituality is encouraged by a host of creative activities in the various programs that have been developed at Minimbah. Children and adults are also encouraged to meditate and to pray whenever they feel inclined. Quiet times are provided for such activity. Many activities are associated with developing and caring for one another and are also linked to an exploration of developmentally and culturally appropriate moral and ethical issues. Thus in an individual and a social sense many of the activities and programs run at Minimbah encourage and support the development of a full and healthy spiritual life. The provision of culturally appropriate education goes a long way towards establishing spiritual wellbeing. One of the parents commented: ‘Children and parents do not feel “left out” or separate at Minimbah as they do at “the big school”.’Environmental wellness and wellbeingThe Minimbah School community is committed to viewing its social and physical environment in a way that is seen to be Aboriginal. Eastment and White (1998) discuss the nature of learning in Aboriginal physical and social environments. They reflect on the necessity to include natural materials, themes that involve the land, outdoor programs and other culturally appropriate activities based on the knowledge children come to school with. They include in social–environmental issues the possible impact of kinship obligations and important cultural events such as funerals. Many Indigenous communities in Australia are struggling to regain and reactivate the spiritual sense of connection with their environment that they had before 1788. Many never lost it; some say they have lost it altogether. Minimbah has made a point of viewing its immediate physical surroundings creatively in order that children may be helped to consider their present environment through traditional eyes. In a traditional learning environment, the community was the classroom. Children learned essential knowledge through play and through participation in community activities such as spiritual and social gatherings. They also learned through songs, story-telling and different kinds of artistic representation as well as through craft and toolmaking. Through learning in their social and physical environment they developed a spirituality that defined their relationship with the earth, their place in society and their responsibilities to that society (Eastment & White, 1998). Minimbah aims to use as many of the traditional ways of learning as possible as part of its culturally safe programs. The playground of the new primary school has been planned to include native plants that attract birds and butterflies. A cave has been planned where children may paint, draw and make handprints on the walls as their ancestors did. Elders have permanently etched animal and bird prints in the pathways so as to teach children traditional identification methods. Children and adults have learning experiences associated with the medicinal and social use of various plants and trees. Many social occasions are held outdoors where favoured foods such as tea and damper are prepared. Children are taught to grow plants and care for them and to use plants to beautify their surroundings. Many quiet times (associated with meditation) are held in the open air, and periods of intense physical activity are frequently conducted outside. Minimbah looks to creating a social and physical environment that will nurture the holistic education that fits so well with traditional kinds of education practices (Christie, Harris & McClay, 1987). A range of individual, social and environmental issues, all consistent with the Integrated Model of Classroom Management, have been discussed in previous mentaryThis extended case study provides insights for teachers into many of the important characteristics of Aboriginal communities by highlighting the ways in which an Aboriginal educational setting addresses the challenges that face it. An extensive program of holistic education is in the process of evolving at Minimbah, one that caters for children and their families as well as for staff and the local Aboriginal community. There are areas where real progress has been made, especially in relation to social and emotional processes. Conversely, domains such as physical and mental health continue to need careful and ongoing support. The whole shows a complex and diverse educational community that is constantly developing and achieving. Minimbah has been transformed into an independent community development project by the Aboriginal community of Armidale, in which a school cares for its community on a holistic basis through the establishment of a rich tapestry of educational and social activities.For discussionMinimbah is clearly a thriving educational community. What factors have contributed to its success? What are the general implications for our work in designing and achieving positive learning contexts?Review the information on communication processes in chapter 4. How important is verbal and non-verbal communication as a factor in complex situations such as the one in this case study?Identify and discuss the ways in which cultural diversity is addressed in several types of media you are familiar with. For example, consider television, books and magazines in terms of the images they present and the underlying messages they convey.How important is it to view individual student attitudes and behaviour as a collective classroom responsibility when planning an inclusive classroom?Identify and discuss the current cultural bias in classroom resources that often fails to recognise the contribution made to society by people of colour, by people with disabilities and by women. Identify resources and information that counter this bias.ReferencesBrown, L. & Brown, M. (1996). When dinosaurs die: A guide to understanding death. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.Christie, M., Harris, S. & McClay, D. (1987). Aboriginal children: Milingimbi and beyond. Mt Lawley, WA: The Institute of Applied Aboriginal Studies, Western Australian College of Advanced Education.Corrie, L. & Leitao, N. (1999). ‘The development of wellbeing: Young children’s knowledge of their support networks and social competence’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 24(3): 25–31.Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) (1995). National review of education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples – Final Report. Canberra: DEETYA.—— (1997). Mapping literacy achievement: Results of the 1996 National School English Literacy Survey. Canberra: Management Committee for the National School English Literacy Survey.Eastment, L. & White, N. (1998). ‘Reflecting diversity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learning environments’, Every Child, 4(4): 6–7.Ferber, J. (1996). A look in the mirror: Self-concept in pre-school children. In L. Koplow (Ed.) Unsmiling faces: How pre-schools can heal, pp.27–41. New York: Teachers College Press.Harris, S. (1984). Culture and learning: Tradition and education in north-east Arnhemland. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.Iosifidis, A. & Rogers, C. (2000). ‘Helping children grieve’, Every Child, 6(3): 15.Martin, K. (1999). ‘When “why?” becomes “why not?”: Cultural safety and Aboriginal early childhood services’, Every Child, 5(4): 6–7.Moore, T. (1996). Nature spirits. In The re-enchantment of everyday life. pp. 3–13. Sydney: Hodder & Stoughton.Ryan, M. & Stower, L. (1998). ‘A vision of the whole child: The significance of religious experiences in early childhood’, Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 23(1): 1–4.Sorin, R. (1998). ‘Emotional literacy in the pre-school years’, Every Child, 4(3): 4–5.Stockton, E. (1995).The Aboriginal gift: Spirituality for a nation. Alexandria: Millennium Books.Wilson, R. (1996). ‘The earth: A “vale of soul making”’, Early Childhood Education Journal, 23(3): 169–71.27 DarylThe kids here (in a medium-sized rural town in a depressed socioeconomic area) have got some go! The kids on the coast are pussies! Interesting to think how I’ll approach teaching on the coast next year … If they’re not stabbing each other with scissors, jumping out the window or using tomato stakes as spears, it’s all good!To put this into perspective, I’m in the ‘Keys Room’. The kids learn about the five keys to success. Another description is that my room’s for the ‘behaviour students’ – the ones on in-school suspension or maybe they just need a bit of time-out. The feedback is that whatever I’m doing seems to work. I have ‘repeat offenders’ of course, but after spending time in my room they seem to settle into the class routine and do whatever’s expected of them.I’m really enjoying my role and it’ll be with mixed emotions that I leave at the end of the year. So many sad stories, so many problems that these kids endure that I want to take half of them home with me. Some bloody great kids, even the naughty ones, who I have come to admire and cherish as great kids – great students. I find it is very hard not to become attached and over-supportive. It’s the same with most of the staff. So many downers, but so many successes. However small, you hold them dear. I’m coming to love this school and all that it offers and what I can offer. That makes it hard to leave.Maybe the piss is starting to talk here but @#$% me I love teaching these kids! For such a shit of a town there are so many rewards. I know why I became a teacher!Reflection‘Interesting to think how I’ll approach teaching on the coast next year …’ Consider Darryl’s remarks about his students and their behaviours and contextualise these within your knowledge and understanding of sociocultural theories and influences. Can you comment on/explain Darryl’s conundrum? How might this experience impact Darryl’s approach to teaching on the ‘coast’ in the following year?28 LenaLena, a pre-service teacher on her first professional experience placement, was in a classroom where the students were diligent and engaged in their studies. The students treated each other with respect, and supported each other without prompting when help was needed. Lena asked her colleague teacher what plans and strategies she has put in place. Her response was simply, ‘Oh I don’t do anything special. It just happens’.ReflectionHow do you think Lena feels and thinks about this response? What might your feelings, thoughts and response be if you were Lena in this scenario? How could the colleague teacher have responded differently, to be more instructive and/or elucidating?29 RajeevRajeev was on his second professional experience and was in a Year 1 classroom. Ben was in his first year of school and comes to the school most mornings with only bits of the school uniform on. His school t-shirt is often torn and dirty. He sometimes wears thongs and not proper school shoes. Rajeev was surprised when his colleague teacher continually told him off. ‘Ben, you have to wear the proper school uniform. If you come to school again with thongs and dirty t-shirt, I’ll send you to the principal.’This wasn’t what they had told us in uni, Rajeev thought, but he wasn’t sure what should be done. He remembered when he was little and his family had first come to Australia. They had to work hard to make ends meet and he too had gone to school sometimes with worn-out clothes. He did remember feeling ashamed and wondered if a teacher had made him feel bad about his clothes.ReflectionWhat is your reaction to the remarks made by Rajeev’s colleague teacher? How do you think Rajeev feels about these? Have you ever been the subject of remarks like this? Can you recall a comparable scenario in a setting other than a school? ................
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