Positive Behaviour Management: Building Meaningful Connections in the Classroom

Through Prospero Learning’s Positive Behaviour Management course, we discuss how teachers, teaching assistants or supply teachers can manage behaviour in a positive way so that they can support students to feel comfortable, safe and confident at school, enabling them to access their work and make the best progress possible.  

One of the best ways in which we can positively manage behaviour in schools and support students is to build meaningful connections in the classroom. The relationships that students have with their school and teachers can have a huge impact on their outcomes and behaviour whilst they are with you.

It is for this reason that we need to support students by building strong relationships, founded in mutual respect- showing them that we care about their well-being as well as their attainment and progress. The best way to do this is to take the time to speak to them, get to know them and show a genuine interest in hearing what they have to say.

We should aim to build these relationships from the moment that we meet our students and continue to foster and maintain them every day. Sometimes, this isn’t always possible, or there may have been a breakdown in the relationship, meaning that we need to try even harder to re-build and re-grow the relationship. Aside from taking the time to have meaningful conversations and listen to the needs, concerns, and interests of pupils, what else could we do to foster strong, collaborative, and caring relationships that support students?

Ask students for their opinions

This could be about any topic, or even about you and their learning! You could carve out time in your day to have a conversation with the class about how they feel about school, whether they think behaviour is managed in a consistent way and what they would like to see done differently in the classroom.

You could give them the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas in an open forum or allow them to do so anonymously if they’d prefer. By doing this, you’re giving your students a forum in which they can genuinely share the opinions with you in a safe way so that they feel heard. If you’re going to allow for an open forum or discussion, then you should ensure that you state the ground rules (such as remaining respectful) and think about how the discussion will be structured and managed.

Always model the behaviour you expect to see

If you expect your students to speak in a kind, respectful manner, and not to shout or take out their frustrations on you, then you should model what this looks like to them. By doing this consistently, you will be able to gain their trust which is the foundation for any strong relationship.

Give students opportunities to share

Create the time and space for students to be able to share with you and/or their peers any worries that they have or anything that they’re really proud of. This could be time at the end of a lesson to present their work to the class, or it could be dedicated activities that give students some time to reflect on their emotions. One great activity for this is: ‘I wish my teacher knew…’.

This is an activity where you invite students to write to you, telling them anything they wish you knew about them. You could then use these as a starting point for conversations that you have with your students where you can ask them more about the things they have shared. You could also give them the opportunity to write to a teacher with whom they wish they had a better relationship.

Encourage them to include information about what they like, the activities they like to do in their lessons, what they want to achieve (in those lessons/that subject, or even in their live in general) and what it is they like best about that particular teacher. You may also wish to encourage them to be honest and take ownership of any mistakes they feel they’ve made with that teacher, maybe in terms of their behaviour choices, so that they understand how powerful taking responsibility and apologising (without caveats or defence) can be.

Listen

If there has been a breakdown in communication, or an instance of challenging behaviour (whether that be between a student and yourself, another adult or their peers) give them the opportunity to discuss what happened and share with you how they felt. You should always wait until the student is calm, and in a place where they can engage with the discussion. Set up clear boundaries for the conversation, making it clear that you’re providing a space that is safe for everyone to discuss their feelings without judgement.

This can be especially useful in finding out what feelings are behind the behaviour, allowing you to put strategies in place to support them with these and hopefully prevent another breakdown from occurring.

If you want to find out more about positive behaviour management, head to Prospero Learning to take a look at our course on the subject. We have dedicated courses for class teachers, teaching assistants and supply teachers, filled with theory, hints and tips and advice for managing behaviour in a positive way.  

For more from Prospero Learning, head over to our website to register with us, sign up to free on-demand courses, check out our library of blogs, or find out about the live CPD courses we have coming up. As ever, the cost of our online webinars and in-person courses is fully refundable (minus the booking fee) for attendees who register with Prospero Teaching.