Dr Bill Rogers: What would you do? The daily practicalities of behaviour management and discipline.

A blog from Osiris Educational

Dr Bill Rogers: What would you do? The daily practicalities of behaviour management and discipline.

Book Cover

 

“Memory” said Aristotle “… is the scribe of the soul” De Anima.

In the recently published Classroom Behaviour : (A Practical Guide to Effective Teaching, Behaviour Management and Colleague Support) a major 4th edition I have sought to scribe many, many memories of teaching in challenging schools as a mentor teacher over the last ten years.


Below is a cartoon drawing I made of one such class last year.  It’s Earth Day (2014) and I’m working with a new class, team-teaching as a mentor coach.

Cartoon

As you scan the drawing you can see a number of students calling out – mainly ‘asking’ their regular classroom teacher who is the other teacher (myself) … “Why’s he here?!”, “Is he going to be our teacher?!”, “What’s he doing here … you going or something?”

Several students are having private chats, seemingly ignoring my colleague as he seeks to introduce me to his very restless, kinaesthetically active class …  A couple of boys are fiddling, restlessly, with the window blinds, a couple of lads are distractingly ‘playing’ with small toys …  Some students were calling out to me – while my colleague was trying to explain why I was there – teaching with him that day …  A lot of energy and residual noise.


What would you do?


How do we deal with the restlessness of a third or more of the class?  How would you seek to initiate and sustain attention and focus so that actual teaching and learning can occur.  After all, I want to talk about Earth Day : our amazing planet within our solar system, and galaxy and light years , and …

To answer the many questions regarding behaviour leadership, within effective teaching, I’ve sought to answer such questions including the management of very challenging and confronting and defiant behaviours.

I’ve particularly sought to address the issue of the language of behaviour leadership, of discipline and appropriate assertion.  Nowhere is this more necessary than when a teacher is under the natural emotional pressure of a busy teaching period when distracting and disruptive behaviours are present.

The book addresses why some forms of language are more effective, positive and respectful and are more likely to engage student co-operation.

  • How to communicate clear expectations to a class of students in the crucial establishment phase of the year; those critical first meetings.
  • How to balance essential rights and responsibilities with our students.
  • How to manage argumentative students.
  • How to understand and address highly attentional and power-seeking behaviours.
  • How to hold students accountable for their behaviour; the use of behaviour consequences.
  • How to balance one’s natural (even just) anger with the need to utilise appropriate assertion (a whole chapter is devoted to this essential topic including how we communicate with angry parents).
  • How to build restorative practice into one’s behaviour leadership.
  • How to support students with diagnosed/symptomatic behaviour disorders.
  • How to build and sustain a supportive colleague culture.


Most of all, how to engage and sustain dignity and respect in our behaviour leadership.


This is a how to book; yes I’ve drawn on the well-established theories and psychologies of behaviour but always asking what do we do …?  What should we do when students are disruptive and challenging.

There are many, many factors that affect the lives of the children in our schools.  Their challenging behaviours are often the result of factors outside our ‘control’; we can however always seek to create a safe, sane, secure environment for them while with us.

If this book can enable the kind of behaviour leadership that can enable that kind of environment in our schools it will have done its job.

To get your copy of Dr Bill Rogers’ book, click here.


PS  The book also has a companion website that has video clips of classroom scenarios, podcasts, tools to use with (for) students in your classrooms and further readings.


Bill-Rogers

 

Dr. Bill Rogers is a teacher, education consultant and author.  He conducts in-services and seminar programmes across Australasia, New Zealand, Europe  and the U.K. in the areas of behaviour management, effective teaching, stress management, colleague support and teacher welfare.  He has also worked extensively as a mentor-coach in classrooms; team-teaching in challenging classes in Australia and the U.K. {He is a Fellow of the Australian College of Education and Honorary Life Fellow of All Saints and Trinity College : Leeds University and Honorary Fellow at the Graduate School of Education, Melbourne University}.

 

 

 

Bill has worked exclusively – in the UK – for Osiris over the last three years and will be in the UK from 4th Jan 2016 – 11th Mar 2016. To find out more or to book Dr Bill Rogers to provide In-School Training, call our schools team on 01790 755 783 quoting BillBlog.

Leave a Reply