In this entry I expressed my disagreement with Steer’s (2006) claim that behaviour was effectively managed and that it was rarely extreme in nature. This is the usual view of the educational establishment.
However, whenever teachers themselves are asked then the news on behaviour becomes very different:
A survey of 813 ATL members in primary and secondary state schools published in March 2008 found that:
- 51% of teachers were dissatisfied with the behaviour policy of their school or college.
- 64% had considered changing profession because of behaviour, and a similar proportion had seen colleagues leave because of behaviour.
- 100% had dealt with disruptive pupils.
- 29% had dealt with physical aggression.
- 35.3% with physical intimidation.
- 75.3% with verbal abuse or threats
- 94.5% had dealt with disrespect such as “use of mobile phone in class, ignoring teacher’s requests”
A Teacher Support Network survey in March 2007 found that of 433 teachers who responded:
“92 per cent had been verbally abused by pupils and 49 per cent had been physically abused. Of those who had been physically abused, 53 per cent had been assaulted with a thrown object, 26 per cent with a ‘weapon’ such as furniture or equipment, two per cent with a knife and one per cent with a gun. The attacks included stabbing with scissors and nails, strangulation, hands trapped in doors, and one teacher had a fire extinguisher turned on them.”
A 2003 NASUWT survey of 300 schools counted 126 physical assaults, 62 sexual insults or threats and nine cases of racist verbal abuse in a ten day period.
A 2008 NUT survey found evidence of how frequently poor behaviour was encountered. The following percentages reported the following behaviour:
|
Behaviour |
Daily |
Not daily but at least weekly |
At least once a year |
|
Refusal to work |
30% |
29% |
84% |
|
Inappropriate interruptions |
56% |
24% |
91% |
|
Offensive Language |
34% |
26% |
82% |
|
Answering back |
47% |
26% |
90% |
|
Verbal Abuse |
12% |
19% |
60% |
|
Damage to property |
9% |
21% |
64% |
|
Open defiance and persistent/malicious disruption |
19% |
24% |
72% |
|
Disruption to lessons |
43% |
25% |
88% |
|
Unwanted physical contact |
4% |
7% |
33% |
|
Pupil threatening violence to another pupil
|
16% |
29% |
81% |
|
Pupil actual violence to another pupil
|
13% |
26% |
73% |
This data appears far more shocking when you realise that it will not be evenly distributed. There will be schools that have far more than their fair share, and skills where this behaviour is rare. Certain types of behaviour will be far more common in secondary schools than primary school. For a large proportion of teachers in tough schools the disruption to teaching, and the stress and strain caused by poor behaviour is the core demand of being a teacher. All other priorities are secondary to protecting yourself, your students, and their learning from the consequences of their behaviour.
References:
Alan Steer (chair), Learning Behaviour: The Report of The Practitioners’ Group on School Behaviour and Discipline, DFES
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