The New Year Fallacy

Introduction

Sometimes I have the privilege of coaching teachers. Currently, I’m never in one place long enough to do it on a sustained basis but hope that I can be of some use alongside a more structured programme. There was a member of staff last academic year who I dropped in on semi-regularly and I ended up giving her the same action steps after each visit. Because of this I tried giving it in different ways over time to see if that made any difference. It never did. I found out her university tutor and her mentor were all giving her the same feedback too.

Her planning and delivery was great but lessons kept being being derailed by the same few students. The school had a clear behaviour policy involving a warning and then dismissal from the class but she wasn’t using it. She agreed with the action step (the use the policy), she observed others using the policy and she observed me, with her class, using the policy too and we scripted and rehearsed the delivery of sanctions to students. None of it seemed to work. This lasted all year.

I visited the school a few months into a this academic year expecting to see the same issue again. I did not. Instead her classrooms where a haven. All that great planning and delivery was landing to every student and her room was the epitome of calm.

What was it that had changed? I caught up with her recently and asked what it was. Some missing piece of advice? Some quality CPD she’d received? Something else? I was wondering what it was that I had done wrong.

She said “I needed the fresh start, I knew what I should have been doing, but because of how those kids from last year saw me, I was never able to change what I did, I know they knew I wasn’t that person. I needed new classes”.

This really resonated. I remember the anxiety at the start of the year trying to ensure behaviour is perfect. I also remember, probably 2 weeks into teaching sometimes, that I’d now lost this class forever and that I’d have to wait another year before I try again. It didn’t take long before I would write off ever being able to get a class back to where I wanted them.

This teacher managed in 1 year what took me about 8 and should be applauded. This post is challenging the narrative that we need to wait until the start of a new year and suggests ways that you can turn around culture in the classroom at any time of year, in a matter of weeks.

This post is broken down into things to do before that first lesson where you want to instigate change, during it, and then after. But first, there is a mindset issue that needs addressing.

Challenging a Fixed Mindset

Now, none of the tips we’ll explore below would actually have helped the teacher I referenced if their mindset wasn’t different in the first place. She was given a lot of these tips, though not all at once and it had no impact. The idea of enacting one small change at a time maybe wasn’t appropriate in hindsight and a full strategy was needed for her to see the change that was possible with a class halfway through the year.

What I do know is that it’s never too late to create the culture you want in the classroom. It takes a bit of time and a bit of prep but, I believe within 4 lessons, you are able to transform any classroom into the culture that you want it to be. If it takes longer, that’s no bad thing, if it take less time, fair play to you.

It’s important to remember a few things about human beings whilst you read the below:

• We Want to Fit In – We are social animals who want to fit in, we will adopt the perceived norms of the group almost unconsciously. Spotlight the good behaviours you want to see and others will fall in line. Highlight the 25 students not talking, rather than the 5 that are. If a disruptive minority get the majority of attention it will skew perceptions of how to act. Even if it means making up positive behaviours that you cannot quite see e.g. “I am only waiting for 3 students now to be silent” even when you know 10 are talking can work wonders.
• Recency Bias – We are fickle when it comes to memory and are biased towards what has happened recently. This is great when you want to instigate change as 3 good lessons can outweigh 20 poor ones from the past. Knowing this can help reassure you that no matter how many lessons have gone wrong in the past, there is no time like the present to change this.
• Utilise the Peak-End Rule – We don’t remember events that well. The end of an event and the emotional high of it are the two moments that “stick” the most. Trying to create a moment of joy in the lesson and ensuring you end positively, no matter how the lesson actually went, can work to your advantage. Students can end up having a misplaced sense of what norms are in your classroom if you focus on these two things.

All the ideas above are from behavioural economics. In my opinion this is an unused field in the world of education – read more about that here

On top of all the above about humans in general, it’s worth remembering that, as students, they want to learn. They want to do well. They want to succeed. This doesn’t stop them doing things in the short-term to self-sabotage but, they want you to do well. To lead them. To hold the line. And, having been trusted with the responsibility of educating them, you owe them all that.

Preparation

1. Ensure Content Isn’t a Barrier – Plan lessons where the content is definitely not going to be a barrier to success. If this means pausing how ambitious the curriculum is temporarily, then so be it. It will be worth it in the long run and you need to be sure in the lesson that students are able to access the content you put in front of them.
2. Tell Someone – Let someone know you are doing this, a mentor, HoD or SLT. Where possible, have them get “on-call” or someone in charge of behaviour to be nearby ready to quickly whip anyway any students not playing along.
3. Set Boundaries – Map out the expectations you want from students at each point of the lesson. When should there be silence? When should they be participating? What does participation look like? Rehearse making these expectations explicit to students before each phase of the lesson. I’d advise making things very black and white to begin with. Group work and paired talk is harder to manage so silence or one person talking at a time is your friend here.
4. Practise – Rehearse giving short, non-personal warnings and reminders that do not require a student response.

During the Lesson

1. Praise – Praise, praise, praise! Whilst it’s understandable you’re going to be on edge, a lot of behaviour management is preventative and if you want to establish new norms of working in your classroom you need to spotlight these where they exist. Praising the good as early and as often as you can is vital. You want to create a room where doing the right thing brings attention, not the opposite.
2. Minute 0 – Be ready to hold the line from the first second, and to hold it on the smallest of things (untucked shirts, top buttons…). This can feel harsh but is necessary. The students can rise to the challenge and you need the catch the first student choosing not to meet this as soon as you can.
3. Stay Calm – Keep your cool and do not get drawn into long arguments. 3 warnings that lead to a dismissal could be as simple as “I asked you to tuck your shirt in, it’s now a warning”, “that’s not how we respond to sanctions here, that’s your final warning”, “it’s rude to talk over someone, you now need to leave my class”.
4. Check for Understanding – Use mini whiteboards to check every students’ understanding. Break those checks down to be accessible and matched perfectly to the independent task. This means you can let them work, safe in the knowledge that they can access the content. They do not need to be talking to their friend or asking anyone except you for help.
5. Stand Still – Sacrifice circulating for observing everyone. If there is a chance to walk around the room where you need to inevitably have your back to certain parts of the room, do not do this until you are absolutely certain you have the culture you want.
6. End on a High – End the lesson piling the praise on. No matter how much stuff happened during the lesson you did not want, there will be plenty that was fine. Leave the students with that in their mind, it’ll be their last memory of you and that lesson before the next one.

After the Lesson

1. Call Home – Phone home for students with a 3:1 ratio of positive to corrective messages. This is likely not sustainable in the long run but only needs to happen for the first week or so.
2. Check in –Catch students on an individual basis, with a head of year or form tutor if necessary, that did not act how you want and spell out very clearly, what you expect to see of them next time.
3. Reflect – Reflect on what happened. Was the content accessible enough? What lead to a “back and forth” with a student? Was the line held high enough at the start?
4. Go again – Do not drop your expectations of these students. Managing the behaviour of 30 adolescents is a never ending job but a 2-week blitz sure can make things a lot easier.

Good luck!

I’m always interested in what people make of this so please feel free to comment with thoughts, questions or incomplete musings. Follow this or my Twitter account Teach_Solutions for similar content in the future.