Kids and cars - no difference… ok, what’s this about?

The heading should have been longer but I didn’t have the room. I still stand by the heading but must add that it’s not the physical comparisons I’m talking about but the aspects of learning to drive a car and learning to manage children’s behaviour. The principals of learning the two skills are pretty much the same and if you’re not taught properly the results can be catastrophic.

So what exactly do I mean. Well, to learn either skill (and pretty much any other skill as well) you have to firstly learn what to do, go and practice doing what you have to do and then carry on doing it…. simple, eh? In short, learn what the techniques are, practise them to become proficient and confident and then implement them consistently.

What would happen if you hadn’t practised your driving skills or didn’t follow the rules. If you didn’t steer you’d lose control and the car would crash. If you hadn’t been taught driving skills properly and you hadn’t practised you’d be a danger on the road. You have to follow the instructions consistently to be confident and competent. The same applies to managing children’s behaviour in classrooms.

So why are so many people struggling with managing classroom behaviour? The answer is simple - there isn’t sufficient behaviour management training of a good standard. Student teachers, support workers, dinner supervisors, through to those with years of experience and into management positions - none of them with enough knowledge and expertise in managing children’s problem behaviour.

An added problem is those offering advice on behaviour management. What person would be best equipped to teach you to drive a car? Perhaps someone who drove a car each day, taught others, and had the skill? Or a person who couldn’t drive or hardly ever drove a car, hadn’t the skill to show you how and knew no more than you?

I know, it sounds crazy. But, so many reports I see are full of inaccurate advice about managing children’s behaviour. So often I tell schools to ignore the advice they’ve been given. Wrong advice is as damaging as having the non-driver teaching you driving skills. Car crashes are caused by lack of driving skills. Children’s and adults’ health is being damaged because the lack of behaviour management skills.

What do I do that’s different? Every day I do the job of managing children’s behaviour. I’m observed by teachers and students. They receive my help in their classrooms. They asked me to write it all down and that resulted in Behaviour Bible. They’ve generously commented on my techniques and how they’ve been helped to manage behaviour.

It’s important that classrooms aren’t in chaos and that people know that they can learn to manage classroom behaviour - just like you once learned to drive ….

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