Since 1981, Flynn and no, I have never administered physical punishment.
Or shouted.
You might find that difficult to believe.
I am not a 'bog standard' teacher (with all due respect to my mainstream colleagues.)
I served my time in some really rough residential schools and assessment units across the north west.
I am now an behaviour advisory teacher with a cluster of five Manchester primary and two high schools to my name.
At the risk of coming across as a wishy-washy liberal, what really does improve kids' behaviour is a ruddy big boost to their self esteem.
Badly behaved kids usually come from an aggressive family background with low expectations and have been sworn at and told they are little gobshite wasters. All of their lives.
Self -fulfilling prophecy.
It is truly amazing ..... and I could give you any amount of evidence to support my theory ..... that to restore kids' confidence in themselves and give them some hope for their future really works.
Something as simple as parading them to the Headteacher for getting an improved spelling score, or getting three behaviour 'smilies' this week instead of two last week.
It really does work but it takes one fark of a commitment from over-worked teachers to maintain.
It is my job to visit schools and ensure that this happens.
AND IT BLOODY WELL WORKS!
Not one of my little angels let me down last academic year.
Smack 'em?
Poor little bastards are subjected to enough abuse at home (sexual/emotional/physical) without their teachers adding to it.
A lot of them find sanctuary and comfort in school.
Give 'em a praise slip to take home for remembering their PE kit and it has bloody remarkable results re their behaviour.
And none of them would ever dare swear at me.
They recognise boundaries in school which they don't have at home.
High expectations for work and behaviour, clear rules and consequences for breaking them and consistent handling of 'situations.'
Works for grown-ups, too.
There are exceptions, of course, such as kids with ADHD or Autism who need different management.
Jayne x
Nice one flightly.
thats sad news. You dont expect them to go like that when they are that old. My great grandmother is 99, but we are all worried that she might do something silly as she doesn't want to live any longer. I swear if ever saw anyone lay a finger on someone elderly I'd...... 