If you ask pupils in school, the word ‘behaviour’ is usually associated with detentions, names on the board, being sent to the Head of Year, meetings with parents, being on report, sending to the inclusion ‘unit’ and possibly permanent exclusion. I’m not criticising the process, I’m just giving a simple example of one way of interpreting the noun.
B is for behaviour – Moving along to a college environment, if you ask the older students, they would (probably) wish for something different. So the ‘behaviour’ word should change its perception and ought to be encountered in conversations about positive steps and expectations of conduct. That’s not to say that meetings with parents and/or reports don’t happen, but the focus should be entirely different.
Most young people already know the classroom rules, and enrol to college with the mistaken belief that the charters and routines are Actions Which You Must Not Take. But if we want to look at ways of changing and improving the behaviour of ‘hard to manage’ students, we should start with Behaviour Which Helps You To Succeed.
In this way, anyone who finds it tricky to ‘behave themselves’ will be given at least the best opportunity to get it right.
What do you think?
