What you have learned in this section
- To think about some of the undesirable behaviours that children and young people might display in the classroom, and possible reasons for this behaviour. You started by identifying your own examples of undesirable behaviours, before thinking about what makes a behaviour undesirable. You then went on to consider Rudolph Dreikurs’ four goals of misbehaviour and used case studies to challenge your thinking about how you might deal with real-life scenarios.
- Approaches to behaviour management in the classroom. A key role of the teaching assistant is to support the teacher and to enable children to engage with learning. Two very different approaches to promoting positive behaviour in the classroom were introduced: reward charts and SMART targets, and restorative practice.
- That there are many reasons for behavioural issues in children, one of which is mental health issues. A case study focused on anxiety stimulated your thinking around behavioural symptoms that may be a cause for concern and introduced the importance of listening to children.
- Where to find additional resources. Behaviour management is a vast topic and so this section signposted to websites and resources that you can use as and when you have the need.
We hope you have enjoyed the variety of activities in this section and that it has raised your awareness of the complexity of managing children and young people’s behaviour. We also hope it has introduced you to some ideas and practices that may be new to you.