Critically analyse and evaluate a range of behaviour management strategies and their effectiveness for both learners and teachers in a contemporary education setting.
In 1987, the Professional Association of Teachers expressed trepidations regarding discipline in Britain’s schools. More than two decades on, the management of difficult and disruptive behaviour continues to be an issue in classrooms (Swinson and Cording, 2002; Watkins, 2011). Inappropriate behaviour affects the classroom climate (Haydn, 2014) and is detrimental to the teaching and learning processes in schools, subsequently affecting the learner, other students, and the teacher (Elton Report, 1989). Therefore, acknowledging that without good discipline in schools, the standards …show more content…
This can be a result of educators forgetting to praise or reward a student for their work or for certain behaviours. BfL and Assertive discipline provide an overarching system to manage behaviour. However, the behaviour management approaches have received a number of criticisms. Ellis and Tod (2009) identify how these approaches have the potential to become mechanistic and formulaic, by detaching behaviour from learning and the curriculum, they may not encourage discussion or problem-solving. They proceed to argue that the curriculum is central to behaviour; BfL and Assertive Discipline use the principles of behaviourism to create the preconditions for learning, but do not explain how learning is taking place. Furthermore, both approaches are contradictory to research that suggests behaviour is generally good within schools (Elton, 1989; Ofsted, 2005; Steer, 2009) and insist that pupils need to be managed prescriptively. Additionally, BfL and Assertive Discipline ignores the sophisticated and complex understanding teachers employ to manage behaviour, which are often based on an understanding of the deeper cognitive and emotional motivations of learners. With this behaviour management approaches, teachers are expected to be more automata than professionals or even humans (Watkins and Wagner, 2000) which contrasts the effective approach detailed by Ofsted (2010) that positive and trusting student/teacher relationships in PRUs are beneficial to managing
In 1987, the Professional Association of Teachers expressed trepidations regarding discipline in Britain’s schools. More than two decades on, the management of difficult and disruptive behaviour continues to be an issue in classrooms (Swinson and Cording, 2002; Watkins, 2011). Inappropriate behaviour affects the classroom climate (Haydn, 2014) and is detrimental to the teaching and learning processes in schools, subsequently affecting the learner, other students, and the teacher (Elton Report, 1989). Therefore, acknowledging that without good discipline in schools, the standards …show more content…
This can be a result of educators forgetting to praise or reward a student for their work or for certain behaviours. BfL and Assertive discipline provide an overarching system to manage behaviour. However, the behaviour management approaches have received a number of criticisms. Ellis and Tod (2009) identify how these approaches have the potential to become mechanistic and formulaic, by detaching behaviour from learning and the curriculum, they may not encourage discussion or problem-solving. They proceed to argue that the curriculum is central to behaviour; BfL and Assertive Discipline use the principles of behaviourism to create the preconditions for learning, but do not explain how learning is taking place. Furthermore, both approaches are contradictory to research that suggests behaviour is generally good within schools (Elton, 1989; Ofsted, 2005; Steer, 2009) and insist that pupils need to be managed prescriptively. Additionally, BfL and Assertive Discipline ignores the sophisticated and complex understanding teachers employ to manage behaviour, which are often based on an understanding of the deeper cognitive and emotional motivations of learners. With this behaviour management approaches, teachers are expected to be more automata than professionals or even humans (Watkins and Wagner, 2000) which contrasts the effective approach detailed by Ofsted (2010) that positive and trusting student/teacher relationships in PRUs are beneficial to managing