The classroom is a social setting.

It contains many of the core features of culture and society.

Things we usually take for granted.

Attending to these and using them as the basis for practical interventions is the first step towards developing excellent behaviour management.

This involves taking a sociological approach.

Sociology aims to understand culture and society. It looks at what makes these up and at the relationship between the individual and the society in which they live.

Put broadly, society is the collection of families and individuals living together within a given area, usually a political entity defined as a nation state; and culture is the way of life of a group, including their norms, values, roles and attribution of status.

The people living within a society may have a shared culture, or there may be a dominant culture, a series of overlapping cultures, or a series of distinct cultures that operate side by side.

We tend to take our own culture for granted, because we are so familiar with it.

Travel broadens the mind in part because it gives access to cultures – ways of life – different from our own.

It presents us with an insight at the same time as it suggests a comparison.

That comparison is between what we are familiar with (our own culture) and what we have come to know (another culture).

A changed context is like putting on a different pair of spectacles. It helps us to see things differently. Sometimes to our surprise. Sometimes not.

The term culture can also be used to describe a smaller section of a way of life.

So, for example, we might hear of a ‘long-hours culture,’ ‘fan culture,’ or a ‘culture of neglect.’

When used in this way, the wider meaning of culture I have outlined above is pared down to mean a way of doing things in a certain setting or as part of a certain group.

We might say it signifies a way of doing things within a broader way of life.

I hesitate to use the word subculture here, because that refers to specific subsections of society who, in part, define themselves against the majority culture.

So let us continue with this idea that culture can be used to define both a general way of life and to mean the way things are done in a certain setting or group.

If the former usage covers the norms, values, roles and status that permeate the thoughts and actions of a large group, then the latter covers the norms, values, roles and status that are common to a smaller group or setting.

So it is that we can talk about the culture of a classroom.

The culture of our classroom.

We said at the start that the classroom is a social setting.

That setting possesses a culture of its own.

This may closely mirror the wider culture of the school, or it may be distinct.

It may be closely tied to the wishes and intentions of the teacher, or it may not.

But, being a culture of some sort, it contains:

• A set of norms and values
• Different roles
• Status, and ways that status can be achieved

Behaviour management is centrally concerned with the creation and maintenance of the culture you want.

A culture for learning.

A culture composed of the norms, values, roles and status that help you to achieve this.

Looking at behaviour management from a sociological perspective means thinking about the following questions.

Norms

• What are the norms in my classroom?
• Am I defining the norms for my learners?
• Or are some of my learners defining the norms for everyone else?
• Can all my learners say with confidence what the norms are?
• How regularly do I communicate the norms to my learners?

Values

• What values are important in my classroom?
• Are these the dominant values?
• Do they influence how learners behave and interact?
• Do learners know what the values are?
• Do the values I want for my classroom influence what happens in the classroom?

Roles

• What different roles do learners play in my classroom?
• Are all these roles positive?
• Do all learners have the opportunity to play positive roles?
• For example, can every learner access the role of ‘successful learner’?
• Do all learners understand what is expected of them – and how to meet these expectations?

Status

• How do you gain status in my classroom?
• Do all learners have their status recognised?
• Can all learners gain status in my classroom?
• Do some learners seek status through negative behaviour, for example, by being silly or calling out?
• Do learners know what they need to do to gain the status they seek?

These questions help us think critically about the culture of our classroom.

And how that culture can support positive behaviour management, or work against it.

Ultimately, the sociological approach helps us get at the foundations of behaviour.

It gives us tools we can use to make positive behaviour management easier.