Running the Room: The Teacher's Guide to Behaviour

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Good behaviour is the beginning of great learning. All children deserve classrooms that are calm, safe spaces where everyone is treated with dignity. Creating that space is one of the most important things a teacher needs to be able to do. But all too often teachers begin their careers with the bare minimum of training – or worse, none. How students behave, socially and academically, dictates whether or not they will succeed or struggle in school. Every child comes to the classroom with different skills, habits, values and expectations of what to do. There’s no point just telling a child to behave; behaviour must be taught. Behaviour is a curriculum. This simple truth is the beginning of creating a classroom culture where everyone flourishes, pupils and staff. While we [teachers] may be expert behavers, new teachers are novices at running the room. No wonder we make so many mistakes.' It’s all presented in a very amenable fashion. He is clear up right up front: “ None of this makes me any better than a good teacher in any school.” He also shares brilliant anecdotes from his time on the front line, like this one: Luke was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia making the move to London in 2022. Luke developed a passion for the human body after several long term personal sporting injuries and this led him to pursue studies in Exercise Science and Physiotherapy. Before I go any further with this, the book emphasises that removal should not be done on an ad hoc basis and it should be an unusual event in mainstream classrooms. However, sometimes there will be situations where a student needs to be temporarily removed from the class and a removal strategy should be in place before it is needed. This is something I want to work on as a Head Teacher. Do I have an agreed process with the teachers I supervise for the unlikely event that a student needs to be removed from class so that all students, including the student being removed, can continue learning? When such an event occurs, the class teacher should not have to think about who and where the student is to be sent to, what the student should be doing while removed from class, what happens after the removal, etc. It is important that students should know this process before they are removed (which hopefully will be never).

Luke's physiotherapy career has taken him across the east coast of Australia working in a number of areas including: Hospital Orthopaedics, private practice and sporting teams across a number of different codes. While based in London Luke has been working at The Wellington Hospital and has been trusted by London's top orthopaedic surgeons in post-operative rehabilitation.

The value of 'scripts' (preparing in advance what you want to say, so that you can lean on these when under pressure, such as when phoning a parent for a difficult conversation).

In my earlier years of teaching, I had reflection sheets for students to complete when they are in detention to facilitate a conversation to support them to choose more appropriate behaviours in the future. I have no idea why I stopped using these sheets (perhaps because as I became more experienced, the number of detentions I’ve had to give has decreased), but I have now revamped them and them printed and ready to be used. I’ve also decided to let my students know how detentions will be operated so we have a clear understanding before they happen. 3. Have a removal strategy in place before you need it Since 2022, Will developed a love for running for the benefits for his mental and physical wellbeing. He is one of those people who enjoys the mental clarity from a long run without any music, he says it's "meditation" for him. But he also enjoys going to run clubs around London and connecting with the community of like-minded people. The premise was simple: could an individual from one area pass as proficient in another, as judged by an expert panel? A vicar 'became' a car dealer, a house painter a conceptual artist, a bicycle courier a polo player, and so on. I don't think they ever tried to turn someone into a teacher, but at the time I was waiting for that programme to be made. 'Running the room', is the title of Tom Bennett's new book ('the teacher's guide to behaviour'), and it would have been fun seeing the trainers preparing a total novice to ‘run’ a classroom. For experts, this is second nature; for anyone else, it can be a terrifying prospect: The book talks a lot about how people’s behaviours can be different when they are by themselves and in different group situations. A classroom and a school are large group situations and teachers need to create and sustain a culture where it is the norm to do the right thing.All this is accompanied by strategies, tips and solid advice, bringing together the best of what we know works. It should save teachers old or new from reinventing or rediscovering things, improving their lives and those of their pupils. I’ve always been a big fan of routines and Running the Room reaffirmed this practice for me. Explicit routines prevent behaviour problems from arising and helps create the class culture and norms. My classes have routines for starting a lesson, ending a lesson, entering different classrooms, how to transition between activities, etc. I have sometimes thought I was going overboard with the routines in terms of their detail and how we actually acted them out. E.g. We would practise how to line up, enter the classroom, etc. We go through these routines and practice them at the start of every term. The book re-affirmed a lot of things I’m already doing and gave me new ideas to trial as a teacher and a school leader. Here are 3 things I’ve learnt from the book. 1. Routines, routines and routines We must act respectfully towards the vast plurality of value systems from which our students emerge ... it does mean teaching them to appreciate that the classroom - your classroom - has its own culture, and that here, if nowhere else, these specific values and beliefs should be held, and demonstrated through behaviour. It is specific to the space in which you teach.' We do not seek the happiness of the student - not directly. Rather, we aim to enrich their lives, minds and abilities in ways that will enable them to flourish independently of our direction, long after we cease to be part of their lives.'