In the best of times, disruptive student behaviours are challenging to effectively act on. And now, this is compounded by our current reality: a politically correct age, where a lack of respect for authority reigns, where the focus is based on reaching benchmarks, ever-increasing students presenting with disabilities — during which many of us are just trying to hang on and stay in the profession. All this has managed to reduce our patience, tax our energy, and increase our reactivity.
I stress that the importance of being proactive and on the front foot is of the essence when it comes to both knowing students and keeping them safe.
They can manifest emotionally: apathy, negativity, even hostility. They can manifest quietly or loudly. And more often than not, they manifest repeatedly.
These manifestations are exhausting—for you, for them, and their peers.
So the first part is about knowing the students. Build a rapport with them!
I will never forget my first day of teaching (over 40 years ago) as a fresh-faced young 20-year-old, excited and nervous all in one, walking past a tiny scruffy little lad who looked me up and down and said, “Oh God I hope you’re not my teacher this year.” Imagine my joy when I opened my door on day one to the face of the tiny scruffy little lad! Time for some rapport building and fast!
Building rapport is not a teaching and learning strategy in the technical sense. Teachers don’t specifically plan for building rapport and no significant part of any lesson is devoted to it. It is however one of the most effective strategies for motivating students. Rapport can be thought of as a harmonious relationship that enables effective communication, improved work outcomes and the quick resolution of issues. Rapport is based on trust and respect. It involves learning about another person – their interests, likes, dislikes, personality, moods, views, opinions, values, goals, history, and so forth. It is a professional relationship that allows problems and issues to be easily resolved or avoided altogether.
Developing a relationship with students goes a long way to making your job easier. Early in the piece use a variety of avenues to ‘get to know’ the students - little surveys, activity sheets, create a little visual about me they can talk to 1:1 with you are but a few ideas. Be available before school to just talk in the early stages - this helps find out what makes the child ‘tick’.
There are some simple ways that teachers can build rapport in a shorter timeframe than would otherwise naturally occur:
One technique is to ask a quick question before helping a student with their work, such as ‘How are you today Fred? Did you win your basketball game?’. This type of low-key rapport building is not only polite and professional but easily implemented when circulating around the room. Because it takes 20 seconds, it doesn’t impinge on learning time in any material way.
For some teachers, building rapport comes naturally. For others, a concerted, strategic approach is needed. Here are some ways to help you build rapport with learners:
Seasoned teachers want to quickly build rapport for another important reason – behaviour management. Students improve their behaviour for teachers that they like and respect; there is less off-task behaviour and directions are followed with less argument.
As a deputy principal, I used to be a spotter for the PE teacher at the school pool. I used to love watching him operate. He was an excellent teacher with incredible skills but also a way of having students ‘eating out of the palm of his hand.’ When the class arrived he would say, “Gee 4R so great to see you! I’ve been looking forward to working with you today. Best class in the school!” The swell in the students was noticeable (even the tricky ones). He’d refer to each student by name with a personal touch on how they work effectively in class. As they left after the hour-long lesson, he would tell them how well they worked with some feedback on what he would be looking for in the next lesson. The next class would come in and he’d greet them exactly the same way. And the response was exactly the same.
Example
Consider a fight breaks out in the playground between two students. Teacher 1 tries to break up the fight, but their commands are ignored. Teacher 2 arrives a short moment later and calmly says ‘That’s enough’, which is all that’s needed to end the fight. Teacher 1 feels infuriated. Why did they stop for one teacher but not for the other? It could be a coincidence, but most likely it has to do with the fact that the second teacher has built a high level of rapport with the students in question – the teacher is ‘cashing in’ on rapport ‘credits’ so to speak.
A teacher with ‘street cred’ doesn’t appear to work as hard with issues because they have invested time and energy proactively.
Another key aspect is becoming familiar with students' individual education plans. Often our most challenging students will have plans supporting a specific disability, be it academic, physical or behavioural. These provide a wealth of information about the student. There might even be specialist reports that will be mentioned in these which are worth investigating with the parents.
Material documented on a student can help with the management of the behaviours. Take time to read, take notes written and mental and apply these. Often the school leadership response to a student’s behaviour is ‘What did you do’ probably reflects (either correctly or incorrectly) the expectation that this documented process wasn’t followed.
Creating a safe and supportive learning environment isn’t merely a box to tick; it’s the foundation for fostering genuine learning and personal growth. We know perceived unsafe situations cause the fight, flight or freeze response. None of these are conducive to learning behaviours.
Creating such an environment shields students from harm, both physically and mentally, ensuring that they feel protected, respected, and understood. It goes beyond mere physical safety to emotional and psychological safety, where students
Without this foundation, true learning remains elusive. So, every teacher must prioritise and nurture such spaces, recognizing their profound impact on educational outcomes and student behaviour.
The protective behaviour slogan of ‘we all have the right to be safe and feel safe all the time’ should apply to our classrooms for students and staff alike. This relates to physical surroundings (where Health & Safety regulations apply), structural surroundings (where supportive prompts can be found) but also emotional supports are considered.
Emotional supports are often unseen and unknown within classroom settings. They range from affirmations, structured supports in the classroom (as per individual plans), tone of voice (avoiding things like sarcasm) and the establishment of clear classroom rules and boundaries of behaviour (entered into with the students).
It is important to always be ‘the adult in the room’ despite how challenging things may become. This is not always easy as teachers are human and feel stress and strain. Teachers who feel powerless move from this mantra of being the adult in the room and that’s where most problems fester as they cling to power, in turn causing a student to feel powerless and their response isn’t so measured.
Not everything always goes to plan and some students need to be treated differently. Remember that one cannot work if not in the right frame of mind. Some students will become highly disruptive when ‘made to work’ when they are not ready to work. Others will just withdraw and do nothing but look busy. Instead of getting confrontational, realise that this student isn’t ready (or willing) to learn at this point.
Pressure looms with expectations of students reaching benchmarks I hear you say. Is an angry child, a hungry child, a child who has been abused at home, a child whose pet has died that day etc ready and able to learn? Until that matter is attended to, learning will be piecemeal. Flight, fight or freeze applies to these situations. Your fallback is the rapport you have developed. Genuine care and concern and built-in respect will win far more than it loses.
There will be times when violent behaviour occurs. In these cases your primary concern is safety. ‘We have the right to be safe and feel safe all the time’ is what you need to remember. You have the right to a safe workplace under the WHS Act. Situations that place this in jeopardy require reports and risk assessments to be made - even in the event of near misses.
Just remember: The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) sets out the requirements for healthy and safe workplaces. It outlines what employers and employees must do to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers and other people who might be affected by the work your business does. All workers are protected by the WHS Act, yourself included. In accepting behaviours that endanger your safety (by not formally reporting) you are in fact in breach of the Act and not doing yourself or the profession any favours.
If you are a member of TPAA and need assistance, please submit a Member Support Form on your dashboard, or contact us at hotline@tpaa.asn.au
Difficult students come in all ages, shapes and sizes. Preventions are better than cures so remember that it is the thankless task of building rapport which is the key. Try to be proactive as opposed to reactive.
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Rob from TPAA - Teachers' Professional Association of Australia