Teachers are struggling with student behaviour and we’ve been lying to them.

Teachers are struggling with student behaviours.

Why?

There are plenty of reasons, but at the core, we’ve been lying to them.

I was recently at an expo event for first and second year teachers, engaging in conversations about wellbeing. In each of these conversations, I asked the teachers how they were going and what they’re “noticing” about wellbeing, deliberately using a pretty open question to see where they would take it. 

Every single teacher chose to talk to me about the wellbeing challenges, and every single one of them made reference to student behaviour. They described it as surprising (more severe than they expected), exhausting, and taking up a long time in their already time-limited lessons. 

It was interesting to listen to these teachers, having recently also delivered a series of workshops on behaviour to groups of teachers. I don’t claim to be an expert in human behaviour by any means, but I have certainly dealt with years of supporting some young people facing challenges, presenting with dysregulation, oppositional defiance, attachment disorders or just general frustration with the schooling system. I’m happy to share what I’ve learnt and what I know, because at the core, feeling competent to respond to the human beings in front of us has a direct impact on our wellbeing (and theirs, of course!).

But firstly, I want to highlight how we’re lying about teaching (and the education system).

Most of these first and second year teachers I spoke with were hoping to enter the field as a content expert, someone passionate about sharing knowledge and really wanting to focus on the craft of executing a wonderful lesson plan. And pre-service degrees generally prepare teachers for this experience.

But, what is really at the core of teaching jobs? Human beings. Young human beings. And they are complex.

We send children and young people to a hub with 100’s (sometimes 1000’s) of other children and young people (a very stimulating environment) and we ask them to sit still, be quiet, and engage in content for up to 5 hours per day.

In doing so, we neglect the humanness of these children and young people. We’re ignoring some of their needs and social drives, so yes just by sheer design, we’re going to see some behaviours play out (even from some of our most regulated and educationally driven students). Add to the complexity that at least 72% of these children and young people have been exposed to an adverse childhood experience (ACE) which can greatly impact their experience of school.

We’re not going to execute that wonderful lesson plan without a deep understanding of human behaviour and some pretty refined interpersonal skills and self-awareness. 

And worse than that, we will likely have lower levels of wellbeing without these skills and knowledge. 

So, what did I do to manage this complexity in my teaching practice? Here are three things that worked for me.

Upskilled in trauma-informed practice.

I learnt as much as I could about trauma, ACEs, regulation, and dysregulation. The more trauma-informed we are, the more we will understand why someone is behaving in a certain way and why they may not be able to self-regulate. Knowledge supports us to have an empathetic response and to recognise the needs (not just the behaviour) of the person in front of us.

Treated behaviour as a subject

This one is really important. When we teach a subject, we understand that students don’t start the semester with the knowledge and the skills that they will have by the end. That’s where we come in. The idea is that by the end of the semester, there should be a measurable difference in where they started to where they end.

So, what if we treated behaviour the same way? As a subject that needs to be taught.

Students deserve to have the opportunity to make mistakes with their behaviour, the same way they might make a mistake using a maths equation or trying to formulate an essay for the first time. Taking the view that a student is still learning the skills of regulation and self-management provides us with the opportunity to work alongside them while they progress.

I would always embed some regulation, emotional awareness and relationship skills into the curriculum and provide 1:1 support to the students who need it most.

Met the unmet needs

There are a few different ways to look at our needs. I like to consider them in the categories of social, emotional, safety and physical. When observing the way a student is behaving, you may be able to recognise which of their needs is currently unmet.

If a student is pacing around the classroom and struggling to sit down, maybe they have some excess energy in their physical body. Why not let them exercise for a few minutes before starting an activity? Why not structure your lesson so all students can have a little movement before class?

Maybe that group walking in after recess frantically talking have just had a social conflict and they are not going to concentrate until it is resolved. How many of you can focus when you’ve just had a conflict with a friend or a loved one? Why not support them to have the opportunity to unpack and repair before starting class?

I know it’s not easy work. But, we’re not making it any easier when we ignore the complexity. All teachers deserve to be equipped with the right preparation to respond to the social dynamics, needs, and complexities of the humans in front of them. They all deserve to have space in the curriculum to teach behaviour and sometimes just play with the young people in their class. It’s not all executing beautifully prepared lesson plans. Not until we get these things right.

Wanting to know more on enhancing staff wellbeing or trauma-informed practice in your workplace? Get in touch with Megan at Wagtail Instiute: www.wagtailinstitute.com or megan@megancorcoran.com.au