A key piece of advice I give to any PGCE student I mentor is that when it comes to behaviour management the most powerful thing you can do is give the child a choice.
“Please do not talk when I am speaking to the class. If you choose to continue to do this then you will receive a [insert sanction here].”
This may seem very simple but I know we have all issued sanctions without giving a child the opportunity to reflect on, and fix, their behaviour. I have certainly made this mistake and all it does is create an environment where the children are not able to develop the ability to manage their own behaviours. It is our job to help them learn. Not just learn the content of the learning objective but also learn to become better people.
