Teachers knowing their students well can have a positive effect on classroom behaviour. This can be done by “Establish - Maintain – Restore” method. Positive and negative influences have a proportional relation to pupil’s behaviour. This behaviour management approach emphasises on early identification of negative events before their effect becomes extreme thus mitigating negative change and helps to keep the child in positive zone with help of counselling.  B4L strategy also leads to more effective choice of policies for maintenance adequate mental health of students by decreasing risk factors like bulling, discrimination, deviant peer influence, peer abuse and peer pressure etc. It can promote inclusion, improve school culture, positive role model, and clarify organisational principles ultimately improving the school for staff as well as pupils. 

However, this strategy emphasises more on better student-teacher relationship. At some point teacher may miss the root cause of disturbed student behaviour resulting in consistent undesirable behaviour by the student. Moreover, this theory revolves around the suppression of undesired behaviour hence, it does not work with elimination of adverse factors. So until the root cause is not ripped from the bud, undesired behaviour continues inspite of implementing multiple behaviour management strategies. Furthermore, one of the biggest arguments against classroom behavior charts is that it can harm student’s self-esteem. A behavior chart is displayed for everyone to see. Students clip up or down in front of their peers. As such, some students will feel degraded and resentful towards you. If this is the case, then students will feel less comfortable participating in class.

Managing behavior without removal of adverse influences and incidents is of no use. This theory has a NON HOLISTIC approach and gives no idea of how to NIP THE EVIL FROM THE BUD. Secondly, It is practically impossible for the teacher to keep a keen eye on his every students and provide them appropriate and need of the time support all at once. This may result in his mental instability. Also, This strategy requires aggressive training of teachers which may not be possible for low budget or financial problem stricken educational institutions. 

In addition, not everyone could be on victory stand. So public praise and rewards indeed enhance the behaviour of winners but this may demotivate the ones who are left behind resulting in disturbing harmony of the classroom. While implementing a policy, one should be patient enough to wait for the better outcome instead to replacing it after quite some time.

Intrinsic motivation approaches are rooted in cognitive psychology but are challenging to implement impactful in schools. With growth mindset in particular, it has become very popular for schools to promote a growth mindset but study results have been mixed. Dweck herself has warned that mindset approaches are difficult to implement: “It’s really hard to pass a growth mindset on to others and create a growth mindset culture. It’s not about educators giving a mindset lecture or putting up a poster – it’s about embodying it in all their practices.”

We should not look at the behavior of students as a problem, we should treat it with empathy. We should show them ‘compassionate curiosity’. This basically means that the teacher does not try to fix the students, but instead develop a collaborative relationship with their student and learn how what factors drive certain behavior trends. 

Having said that, a teacher also needs to work on the mental health of their students. The biggest problem that a student faces is stress. By setting goals that are either too high or goals that are too stringent, we are placing undue stress on the students that, ultimately, will lead to disengagement from the entire learning process. This can also lead to a sense of unhealthy competition which will downplay any kind of empathy that the teacher might want to develop in their students. 

The B4L also talks about adaptability.  The modern student needs to be resourceful and diverse. The pandemic has already created unprecedented scenarios for the students. The B4L talks about learning through diverse factors. Students have to filter out distractions, choose the best learning method for themselves and then proceed. 

If we look on SDT it brings this into our knowledge that competence, relatedness and autonomy, if not properly managed, can divert the child from learning. Emphasizing too much on achieving goals may result in stress and other diseases.  

Besides, effective behavior outcomes will be gained from positive relationships, teachers training, academic issues and learning behaviors. (EEF, QCA fig 7). If we consistently apply the behavior policy, it will surely reflect on positive behaviors of students. 

Syeda Fatima Batool

As we have witnessed through countless examples by stories from others as well as in our own day-to-day experiences, one’s behaviour is something that is one of the first things that is regarded by an outsider. Thus, good behaviour and etiquettes end up becoming as necessary as academic skills in today’s world. Behaviour for learning is one of the best ways to promote these skills and help the youth succeed in all important sectors— their academics, socials, and career paths. In order to achieve this goal, the establishment of a positive working environment is required which can only be initiated through thorough and planned strategies laid in place by educationalists. 

This is a very positive means of bringing about a supportive change in a student, especially one that may have a history of behavioural issues. As good behaviour is linked with many other positive qualities, the promotion of B4L where possible has been proven to lead to an increased positive change in students. Leading to them becoming more determined, steadfast and focused. This provides a sort-of friendly competition for them, encouraging growth in every stage possible.

While the impact of this style of teaching is mostly regarded as positive, just like anything else, there are also downsides to it as well. Too much competition, can be very unhealthy for an individual, let alone a young student who can easily bend under stress. Some students may feel that they are being pushed towards certain behaviours while other forms of it that they may feel more comfortable with are regarded as less credible. This may lead to an internal conflict, which can develop into other worse conditions. 

The main factor for the successful execution of B4L in my opinion, is a good teacher-student relationship. This theme can also be seen in the CIs that I reported, as I believe harmony between these two important figures in a school is the key role for any form of teaching or learning to succeed. Schools are regarded as a second home for a student, and in order to truly be deserving of that title, the bond between a student and their teacher has to be developed as well. After all, what makes a house a home is the presence of one’s family, and to truly achieve that setting and environment for a student at school, the teacher and student should act as each other’s family as well. This means keeping an eye on each other and helping the other when possible, even if the other doesn’t explicitly request for help as you never know when they may actually need it. From my personal experiences, I have also noticed that students are more well-behaved with teachers that they’ve developed a friendly relationship with, thus giving more room to apply B4L teaching where possible. 

·         All three frameworks essentially emphasize the importance of inculcating learning behaviours in children (preferably in early years)

·         The frameworks employ a focus on engagement, participation, independent activity, motivation, responsiveness, and autonomy

·         All of them emphasize the role of a learned other that can help the student relate better with self, with the curriculum and with their peers at various stages of their mental, academic and personal growth. 

Where B4L places a greater emphasis on 3Rs, SDT focuses building motivation through providing autonomy, relatedness and competence. Whereas the EFS focuses on providing children with executive brain functions early on in their lives by developing working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility.

Critiquing B4L:
B4L is a conceptual framework that focuses on social, cognitive and emotional factors to promote effective learning behaviours in a school setting. 

After having gone through EFS and SDT, I think that B4L limits its context to a school environment whereas the aforementioned frameworks tend to inculcate similar behaviours outside of the school setting too. For example, the EFS framework focuses on building executive functions not just to cater for the academic success of the child but also for their emotional and personal well-being. 

In contrast to B4L, SDT allows a greater emphasis on building motivation through inculcating autonomy. Though the B4L also identifies motivation as a learning behaviour, SDT provides a greater clarity between the role played by motivation and the growth of the individual.

Behaviour for Learning strategies are conceptualized as a set of techniques used by a teacher to both encourage and maintain positive behaviour and to address behaviour that is problematic in a classroom context. Attention is usually focused on rules, teacher language, rewards and sanctions. This positions the teacher as the manager and the pupil as the managed. 
 
 Teachers while planning a task must keep the interest of students' in mind to polish their skills rather than ignoring their interest
which lead to critical incident in a class room and student feel bored in a
classroom. A Student should be encouraged to explore new things and feel
confident and engaged. Collaborative work in classrooms  develop positive relationships with peers and positive
learning behaviour.
 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation builds up self-esteem of a child. Lessons which motivate students reduce disruptive behaviour as it keeps children engaged.

 Behaviour management: if you get it right, your life is easy, you’re free to do what you’re meant to do, which is of course to teach!’ (Cowley 2003).
A good way to build positive relationships with pupils is the EMR method,(Establish Maintain and Restore )which has promising results from a small study. 
 

 

SDT is based on internal desire to achieve the desired goal. It gives a lot of autonomy to the learner to take action based on personal goals and values. Consistent intrinsic motivation need to be maintained which is not possible for very young learners whose learning behaviours are tailored by suitable environment, positive relationship and rewards and incentives.  Executive functions help a child develop skills required for school achievement and, increases their potential for economic success. However, if the teachers are not trained enough to develop that particular skill or the environment is not conducive for learning; skill development can be delayed or reduced.
 
 

In the light of my critical incidences, I feel that Behaviour for Learning framework is more suitable to develop relationship of the pupil with self, others and with the curriculum. Education Endowment Foundation (2019) Improving Behaviour in schools report helped me to understand how to apply behaviour management strategies effectively to enhance student motivation, engagement and hence uplifting his academic accomplishments.  I feel that use of proactive strategies will help me to reduce the chance of misbehaviour occurring and reactive strategies will enable me to deal with challenging behaviour more effectively. By implementing approaches to behaviour strategically and consistently, I am optimistic that I will be able to develop a positive learning environment in the class.
Rumana Ahmed