In the post-COVID lockdown era, much has been written and discussed about how difficult it has been for teachers, both new and established, regarding classroom behaviour and management.
Schools are under enormous pressure to recruit teachers who are leaving the profession faster than they can be replaced. Unfortunately, many experienced teachers are questioning how much longer they can stay in a profession that not that long ago was a career path they looked forward to continuing indefinitely. Many younger people who have recently enrolled into teaching courses are also questioning whether they have made the right career choice.
After the lockdowns, boys need structure more than ever.Credit:Istock
The extra burden on teachers relating to numerous compliance issues and “box ticking” leaves little room for the one aspect of the job that drew them to the profession in the first place, actual teaching.
Boys in particular are presenting teachers with an ever-increasing catalogue of behavioural issues which are testing the resolve of even the most experienced educators. As a teacher with almost 40 years’ experience in the classroom and coaching boys, youths and men (including two years in the pre-release program at Pentridge Prison), I feel well-placed to give some insight as to why teaching in the post-lockdown era has become such an onerous task.
I believe that many of the behavioural issues arising from students returning to school post-lockdowns can be directly linked to the various strategies that different schools adopted in this transitional period.
Some schools believed that due to the stress students experienced during lockdown, it was important to relax standards relating to punctuality, attendance, phones, uniform and a range of other school expectations. While I agree that some students were adversely impacted by the lockdowns, and everything at our disposal should be used to support these students, from my experience the vast majority of Victorian students assimilated well after returning to normal school life. In my opinion, relaxing standards for returning students was a major mistake that many schools made and there is significant anecdotal evidence to suggest that schools that adopted this policy are now suffering the consequences.
Exacerbating the issues for teachers is the indifferent detachment some parents show towards their son’s bad behaviour. It is understandable after the incredibly challenging experience of protracted lockdowns that the last thing parents want to do is address their son’s poor behaviour at school. However, parents unwilling to engage with educators remove one more tool we have at our disposal to rein in the poor behaviour of students.
Boys in particular not only need boundaries, they also want them. This is drummed into teachers every year by the various behavioural experts who routinely visit primary and secondary schools across the country. When schools unnecessarily shift the boundaries, it only confuses boys, who need constant reinforcement about how far they can push their behaviour. Unfortunately, it’s the old, “give an inch, take a mile” scenario.
Conversely, from my experience, schools that adopted the “business as usual” approach don’t seem to be encountering the same issues with their students. In those schools, it was made abundantly clear to students that when they returned after lockdown, the same expectations and consequences for poor behaviour would still be in place.
One of the main concerns about our young people these days is that they lack resilience, and while this may be the case, many schools are making the problem worse by giving students even more opportunities to avoid accountability. Not that long ago, poor behaviour was dealt with proportionately through detentions, suspensions and even expulsions where required. In today’s educational setting, the worst punishment some students can expect to face is a “restorative chat” with an aggrieved teacher. Is it any wonder then, that many educators feel increasingly frustrated and demoralised?
No one is advocating a return to the draconian days of “spare the rod, spoil the child” but I believe the pendulum has swung too far with respect to not administering appropriate sanctions for behaviour that is clearly beyond acceptable. Generally speaking, boys have a very strong sense of justice, and if we keep allowing poor behaviour to continue with little or no consequence, they will actually lose respect for the very institution that is supposed to be preparing them for life beyond school.
Gary Warren is an educator of 40 years who teaches at a private boys’ college in Melbourne.
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