Badly behaved pupils driving teachers out of profession
UNRULY children are forcing teachers to quit the profession, according to a report which recommends a classroom ban on mobile phones because they are fuelling “endemic” disruption.
Almost two thirds of teachers are considering – or have previously considered – quitting because of poor pupil behaviour, according to the report by the Policy Exchange think tank.
The report said that “low-level” disruption needed to be taken “far more seriously” because bad behaviour was eroding teacher authority while troublesome children risked spiralling into “more serious, potentially criminal, bad behaviour” later in life.
It recommended that all schools in England should either ban mobile phones entirely or limit their use to break times, after finding 78 per cent of teachers experienced pupils using the devices at least once a week and 15 per cent in every lesson.
The report also called for disciplinary measures to be applied consistently by all staff when other similarly disruptive behaviour happened, such as pupils chewing gum or arriving late.
Most schools had acceptable policies for dealing with bad behaviour and used a range of “sanctions”, including detention or writing letters home, but “not all schools effectively implement the policies they have”.
“A lack of consistency in the application of policies demoralises teachers and leads pupils to identify the system as being ‘unfair’ and to push boundaries as a result,” the report said.
Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, welcomed the report and said a £10 million government pledge to help schools share the best approaches to improving pupil behaviour would help address the situation.
Mr Hinds said: “Classrooms should be safe, calm and stimulating places for both our children to learn in and our teachers to teach in. Poor behaviour disrupts both learning and teaching, often most keenly affecting disadvantaged young people. Since 2010 we have taken decisive action to empower
teachers to tackle poor behaviour, and many schools are already leading the way in tackling persistent disruption. As these important findings from Policy Exchange show, we now need all schools to follow the lead of the bestperforming so that we can build on the rising standards in our schools.”
The think tank’s survey of 743 state secondary school teachers revealed 62 per cent had considered quitting because of bad pupil behaviour while 71 per cent said potential teachers were being put off the profession.
The report recommended that higher standards of behaviour should be required for schools to achieve the best Ofsted ratings in order to focus the minds of those in management.
The report said all schools should have a “clear policy” on smartphone use and this should be a “key component” in attempts to reduce disruption.
At present, schools deal with mobile phones in different ways with some operating an outright ban, some limiting their use and others “actively encourage” use as part of lessons.
But discussions with teachers, parents and pupils suggested there was increasing support for a “zero tolerance” approach to discipline.
A growing number of schools were taking this approach, which involves the introduction of very strict policies such as walking in silence in corridors.
However, the report said any approach to discipline ultimately needed the support of all members of the school community to be successful and many schools were successfully dealing with behavioural issues without resorting to “zero tolerance” methods.
Dr Joanna Williams, the author of the report, said: “Persistent disruption interrupts teaching and prevents pupils from learning effectively. It demoralises teachers and hastens the speed with which they leave the profession.
“However, our report also shows that there is considerable support among teachers, parents and pupils for schools to take a far tougher approach.”