As teachers, our primary aim is to make learning happen.

We want our learners to know more and understand more than they did when they entered the classroom.

We want to teach them.

To open their minds, expand their horizons, and help them to make great progress.

That is the key motive animating our actions.

Many learners share this motive, but not all.

Many learners prioritise this motive over others, but not all.

Many learners want to learn and succeed but don’t yet have the means to ensure their behaviour always supports them in this goal.

The most effective learning takes place in a classroom where behaviour is well-managed.

This does not necessarily mean that the teacher has complete and total control.

It does mean, however, that the teacher is continuously working to create and sustain an environment in which learning is everyone’s focus.

Part of this involves planning and teaching great lessons.

Part of it also means recognising the role we must play in confidently and assertively teaching learners what great behaviour looks like.

This sometimes involves reinforcing existing ways of behaving, and it sometimes involves changing how learners act.

Both are easier to achieve if we give some thought to the motives from which behaviour stems and the fact that, developmentally, learners are experiencing a whole raft of psychological and biological changes that can influence their thinking and their actions.

Ultimately, successful behaviour management rests on a belief that we can achieve the standard of learner interaction and focus we want.

It might not be easy, but we must begin with a belief that it is possible.

This rests on the twin premises that behaviour is learned and, as a result, can be changed; just as our wider teaching rests on the twin premises that all learners can learn and, as a result, see their knowledge and understanding change.

That we go about achieving these two goals – excellent behaviour and the development of knowledge and understanding – in slightly different ways is a given.

That they are interconnected is also taken as beyond doubt.

Here we can provide a summary of the key ideas that are useful to keep in mind when we are trying to manage behaviour in the classroom:

• Behaviour refers to our external actions – it includes the things we do and the things we say.

Helping learners to understand what behaviour means is often overlooked, yet it can be useful in helping learners to develop self-regulation.

• Behaviour has a cause.

Causes can be internal (I’m hungry), external (a knock at the door) or a combination (I can see a biscuit on the counter, and I feel hungry at the moment). Thinking about the causes of learners’ behaviour can help you unlock the reasons why learners are behaving in a certain way.

• Behaviour communicates messages.

Some of these are clear, some ambiguous. Some intended, some not. Some known by the individual whose behaviour we observe, some not. If learners are not behaving as you want, ask yourself what messages they might be trying to convey. Also, consider whether your learners truly understand the messages their behaviour communicates. It might be an eye-opener for them to understand how you and others are interpreting their behaviour.

• All messages are interpreted. Interpretations may differ from what was intended.

Recognising this means recognising that sometimes learners lack the ability to understand how you and others will interpret their behaviour. It also means understanding that learners may interpret their behaviour differently to you. (This is not a descent into a relativism. It’s just easier to push back on negative behaviour if you can show learners why their interpretation is unhelpful and why your interpretation is more acceptable.)

• Much behaviour stems from motives. These are rooted in reason, emotion and sentiments.

Thinking about motives means thinking about why learners are behaving as they are. Don’t underestimate the role of emotion in driving human behaviour. We all seek things like status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness. Emotion is often a strong, unrealised driving force when it comes to classroom behaviour.

• Children and young adults are learning.

Their development includes learning about behaviour – every teacher is a teacher of more than just the curriculum. Maintain high expectations but also don’t expect learners to be perfectly behaved. Part of their job is to test boundaries and to ascertain what is and what is not acceptable. Positive behaviour management is always a continuous process.

• The behaviour of children and young adults is malleable and open to change.

And that is a great message to consistently express to your learners. Especially those whose behaviour falls below your expectations. After all, if someone is always telling you that you have the capacity to change, and is giving you the opportunity to change, it is much easier to do the things necessary to realise a change.