Behaviour management isn’t easy in any sector, but there is one advantage that usually accrues in the school stages: the age gap. Mileage will vary, but generally - and I mean very generally - it is easier to get younger children to follow sensible instructions than older children.

Exceptions to this rule peep from every stitch, but the smaller the pupil, the more awed they tend to be by adult instruction. They’re more used to being directed in their behaviour, safety, diet and movements.

As children age, like tiny cheeses, they start to acquire a more robust sense of identity. They develop preferences, aversions and the ability to self-govern. Teachers in primary and secondary settings have a lot on their plate, but FE teachers often work without that sense of natural authority. Put simply, it’s much harder to run a room when the behaviour expectations are more difficult to enforce.

So what are the best strategies? How can a teacher in FE optimise behaviour in the classroom, the workshop or the theatre?

1. Aim for a shared norm
   
   The most important thing to remember is that running a room involves creating a consensus of social norms; building a culture, in other words. There are many ways of doing this. One approach is to police the room with lots of sanctions and rewards, but this is frequently less effective with students in their late teens and beyond - as anyone who’s tried to make an adult sit a detention will testify.

2. Tell them
   
   The simplest way of establishing norms is to set them out clearly at the start of the learning relationship. Tell the group how they’ll be expected to perform, what you will need them to do routinely and the procedures for various common scenarios.

   For example, you might outline what they should do in the “unlikely” circumstance that they are late, or unable to complete homework or miss a lesson. Or you could let them know how you want to begin every session; how you want to be addressed; how they should address each other; or the policy on mobile phones. This might sound obvious, but it’s not - and it won’t be to the group, who will all have different expectations of what acceptable behaviour means. This is one of the biggest, easiest tricks that teachers of all stages often miss: telling your group what you want them to do, and then asking them to do it, repeatedly.

3. Sell the benefits
   
   Spend time at the start of the course talking about your expectations. Sell them. Tell the class why they are important, all the great things you can achieve by following them and why doing so is in their interest. Many older students will have gone through school being told off but not told why. It can be refreshing for them to hear that their behaviour is actually linked to goals they want to achieve.

4. Repetition, repetition, repetition
   
   Remind the group of these expectations constantly. Refer to them every day and try to use the same language when you do, so they become a mantra. Catchphrases such as “Phones down so we can focus” or “Everyone listening to this instruction please, so we can get this done before lunch” can act as cues, triggering a recognition that the room has rules.

5. Get tough, softly
   
   Use soft sanctions to reinforce your instructions. Older teenagers and adults don’t take kindly to dressings down, so any kind of misbehaviour must be dealt with carefully and subtly. The best way to achieve this is to use what I call “basement” consequences. If someone is talking over the start of your lesson, rather than calling them out or threatening a formal sanction, go in soft and global: “I need everyone listening, so I can begin, thank you…thank you.” This offers a gentle nudge rather than a baseball bat.

This is an edited article from the 18 November edition of TES. Subscribers can read the full article here. This week’s TES magazine is available in all good newsagents. To download the digital edition, Android users can click here and iOS users can click here

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