For those of you unable to attend the parent forum about behaviour after school on Friday, I provide here a summary of what I shared with the parents there and what was discussed. I would like to apologise if we caused any undue anxiety as a result of the last newsletter…it certainly seemed to cause a bit of a furore. It was not the intention; it was not anticipated and yet I am glad of the interest shown.
I’d like to start by making a couple of rather obvious points which might offer up some reassurance. Firstly please appreciate we are unlikely to be taking an approach that leads to worse behaviour in school- with 320 pupils milling around, this is clearly not in our interest. Secondly please rest assured, if you hadn’t worked it out already, that we care very deeply about your children’s welfare- it is what drives us, it is our job. Many of us work very long weeks- and all that time is devoted to finding what ways we can to give your children the very best education we can. If I see schools that are losing their way slightly, too often they are the ones where the needs of the staff have begun to be considered over the needs of the children. This doesn’t happen here- the dialogue, which is constant and deep, is about the children and little else. Having said that this new policy which is developing and the vision behind it is based on relationships – the quality of teaching and learning always closely correlates with the quality of relationships. Relationships are clearly two-sided: we are therefore finding ourselves considering for staff more or less exactly what we are considering for pupils and edging our way to something that will in all likelihood be called a relationships policy as opposed to a behaviour policy. A behaviour policy sounds still too like something we do to children, as opposed to something we do with them. The governors themselves pointed out something very similar when they considered the new draft vision statements last Monday (see below in ‘learning news’ for this draft), suggesting that all the statements could and possibly should be relevant for adults as well as pupils in school and in turn this would give it far greater potential impact.
The context of this behaviour policy is also important and could offer up a further reassurance. As I have said, although we know behaviour to be an emotive issue, the level of interest in this has taken us by surprise—and this is partly because, in school, we don’t see it is as separate from the many other changes and new approaches that have been trialled and introduced and shared with you over the last 2 years; all of which signposted us this way; all of which are complementary to our approach here with behaviour and in fact when all this practice is pieced together – it forms a coherent and very positive whole. Although the last newsletter specifically named Alfie Kohn, he is just one of many sources (including notably our own research) that we have drawn upon. The specific area of behaviour management theory we are interested in is the ‘behaviour for learning’ approach—(ref Tod and Ellis). This approach stresses that the single most important thing to do with reference to behaviour management is, as has already been indicated, to nurture relationships :-children’s relationships with themselves, their relationships with others and their relationship with the curriculum—this is where we are really coming from with all this.
There are a few other points worth dwelling on:-
–What we decide to do in school is, in some important ways, defined by the school context. Yes- children’s attitudes and behaviours are concerns that go beyond the school gates, but just because we choose to take a particular approach, in no way implies you should do the same. The school environment is different to elsewhere; it has its own challenges and advantages. And anyway children’s learning is also often context specific.
–We are not saying anyone has been ‘damaged’ by rewards—despite the title of Kohn’s book—what we are looking to do here is find a subtle but significantly different approach which might lead to better outcomes for all within school.
–We are not standing around blank faced and non-committal, avoiding the chance to praise children when we get a chance. We are still finding every which way we can to encourage and motivate our pupils; enthusiastically and animatedly. What has changed is that we are being that much more careful about how we speak to them to make sure that we have the greatest possible positive impact on them as individuals and develop positive relationships.
-We do see sidestepping an environment that allows pupils to readily compare themselves in a detrimental way with others is a step in the right direction; it is good for their self-esteem. This does not negate competition—some of the very best athletes I encounter are ones who are self-determined and constantly committed to self-improvement. We try to give our pupils ample opportunities to take part in competitive sport because we see it as beneficial. However this doesn’t mean competition need lie at the heart of school life.
-We recognise that any formula (however enlightened) applied without due consideration to the individual is likely to fail some individuals. We recognise that while we have to have a consistency of approach for the sake of our children, we also need to consistently use our judgement to make sure individuals are catered for and consistently be adapting and developing our approach to find the best possible effect on all children.
-I recognise by mentioning the reading of Alfie Kohn’s book over the summer- has lead some to question him as a source of wisdom. But in reality he is just part of a much bigger picture- we draw on many sources for our thinking including critically Carol Dwecke and Ellis and Tod—and the behaviour specialist Rob Long who gave an INSET to staff last January. Even more importantly we have an active research culture now thriving in school which means we have worked directly with Shirley Clarke- (one of the country’s leading educational experts) with staff from across Gloucestershire—this is very exciting stuff and improves the job we’re doing. This is in no way a ‘flash in the pan’ moment after a quick read of a book over the summer holiday – with our approach to assessment without levels; with reports that don’t allow children to compare themselves with others; with our commitment to pupils taking interest in their mistakes and self-evaluating their learning, this is very much just the latest effort in the same direction.
There are two key outcomes we think are more possible with this approach:-
- Pupil autonomy—expecting the children to self-evaluate/ describe their own learning asks for them to be thinking independently about their learning and achievements (rather than necessarily waiting for us to prompt them); for this thinking to be that much deeper than previously (my conversations with pupils when they now visit my office are much more demanding for me and them); for them to articulate it to another person (rather than simply receiving our wisdom). The outcome appears, at this early stage, (although of course with our work on growth mindset etc over the last year we already have a very real sense of the benefits of this way of working) to be pupils who are much better able to think about and understand themselves as learners (as opposed to pupils who when asked why they got a sticker or certificate often couldn’t remember why) and therefore learning of a higher quality. Trying to provide pupils with feedback rather than outright praise pushes them to self-evaluate their achievement rather than handing down our judgement on it.
- Pupil self-esteem—ultimately there is a risk at the point of doling out an extrinsic reward/ grade/ score etc—that the person being rewarded feels buoyed up but someone else feels deflated- especially when the reward is given publicly—at the same time there can be a drop in trust because rewards are by their very nature rather arbitrary—who really ‘deserves’ a reward is a very complex conundrum. We want a school full of confident, interested people, not a school full of winners and losers.
In the meeting, as could be expected, there was a range of responses from parents including positive feedback, reasonable concerns and good ideas. I provide only a summary here:-
- With the loss of certificates, there is concern parents will have less of a ‘window’ into their children’s achievements and learning than before.
- Certificates can be re-visited (stuck on fridge/ wall etc) in a way that a text can’t and each time, the child feels that pride again.
- Couldn’t certificates continue alongside the new approach without affecting mindsets- especially given the school have tried hard to carefully qualify any rewards in the gold book and in person?
- What about younger pupils who are not going to find self-evaluating their learning more difficult and who need something more immediate? A: We will be flexible in our approach- consistency of approach will also involve us consistently using our judgement to cater for different age groups/ needs.
- Are punishments going to be attended to in the same way as rewards- as in as two sides of the same coin? A: Yes, the school does not dole out consequences regularly and in many ways our approach to pupils making mistakes with their behaviour predates any work on rewards and is better developed. Broadly speaking though- yes- whatever approach we take with rewards must be mirrored by our approach to consequences of any kind.
- Many businesses are looking at similar approaches to be taken with their employees leading to greater motivation and self-determination. A: the school also is looking at the way it works with staff – mirroring this work with children’s behaviour.
- If we feel supportive of this as a way forward, could the school provide parents with any literature that might help with parenting strategies that could mirror the school’s approach.
A: I will find the best literature and make some recommendations soon.
We will continue to consider the above and will be systematically reviewing our approach throughout this term- primarily through conversations with the children themselves and through class meetings. We will also be looking closely at how we work with children when they are struggling with their learning behaviours towards the end of this half term. I will keep you up to date, as always; we will feed back directly on where our thinking has reached regarding possible issues and ideas in a few weeks time, and we will hold another parent forum about developments in our practice each term from now on.