Navigating Challenging Student Behaviours: Tips for Teachers
Background
As a teacher, dealing with challenging student behaviour can be one of the most difficult aspects of your job. It can be emotionally draining, and it can also have a negative impact on the other students in your class. Most of the time educators resort to using consequences as a deterrence to undesirable or disruptive behaviours. However, there are several strategies that teachers can consider adopting to navigate these situations and help their students grow and learn.
Providing feedback
Firstly, teachers may provide feedback to students about their behaviour and performance. For example, a teacher may have a one-on-one conversation with a student who is not following the classroom or school rules, highlighting specific instances of misbehaviour and providing suggestions for improvement. It is also equally important to focus on the positive. While it’s easy to get caught up in the challenging behaviours that you are dealing with, it’s important to remember that there are also positive behaviours happening in your classroom. Make an effort to recognise and celebrate these positive behaviours, as this can help to create a more positive classroom environment overall.
Offering support
Educators can also offer support to students who are struggling with disciplinary issues. Challenging behaviours can be a sign that a student is struggling with something outside of the classroom. It’s important to offer support to your students and to connect them with any resources that they may need. This could include connecting them with a school counsellor or social worker, or providing additional academic support.
Implementing consequences
In some cases, teachers may need to implement disciplinary consequences for students who are not following classroom rules. When challenging behaviours do occur, it’s important to be consistent with consequences. This means responding to the behaviour in the same way every time it occurs, and ensuring that the consequences are appropriate for the behaviour. It’s also important to communicate the consequences clearly to the student, and to follow through on them consistently.
Communicating with parents
Teachers may also communicate with parents about disciplinary issues, in order to keep them informed and work together to find a solution. This might involve scheduling a meeting with the student and their parents to discuss the situation and come up with a plan for improvement.
Collaborating with colleagues
Often times, teachers have to work hand-in-hand with their colleagues to find the best solutions for disciplinary situations. This might include consulting with school counsellors or administrators, or working with other teachers to develop strategies that are effective across different classrooms and age groups.
Conclusion
In conclusion, navigating challenging student behaviours can be a difficult task, but there are several strategies that you can use to address these situations. By identifying the root of the behaviour, developing a relationship with the student, using positive reinforcement, providing clear expectations, being consistent with consequences, offering support, and even implementing smaller changes such as changing classroom seating arrangement, you can help your students to grow and learn in a safe and supportive environment. Furthermore, using a Student Discipline Management tool can be useful in tracking any student offences and provide an easy way to consolidate and implement follow-up actions. Speak with us to find out how Dive Analytics can support your school in this area today!
References
- “Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in the Classroom: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Implementation” by Helf and Cooke (2016). Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0031721716662448
- “Teacher-Student Relationships and Classroom Discipline: An Exploration of Implicit Bias” by Skiba, Arredondo, and Williams (2014). Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022466914547322
- “Preventing Problem Behaviors Through Effective Classroom Management: A Classroom-Level Model of Socialization” by Embry, Richardson, and Lauger (2013). Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-012-9668-8
- “The Effects of Classroom Seating Arrangements on On-Task Behavior and Academic Achievement” by Garrett and Osborne (2016). Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-016-9353-8
- “Classroom Management Strategies to Address Disruptive Behavior in Elementary Schools: A Review and Analysis” by McIntosh, Mercer, Hume, Frank, and Turri (2017). Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212144716302217
