Introduction: Behaviour management strategies

On this page

  1. Six components of ‘Behaviour management strategies’
    1.1 Pitfall if one of these components is missing
  2. Start with ‘Behaviour management strategies’ in two periods
  3. Addressing a student or the group on behaviour and effort in four situations
    3.1 Table approaches to teaching / addressing behaviour
    3.2 Restraint with giving Tips and handing out a ‘Future behaviour letter’
  4. Time investment in Behaviour management strategies for teacher and student
  5. Use of color when adressing behaviour or commitment
    5.1 Colors of a traffic light-  abacus
    5.2 Colors of a referee’s cards – letter
  6. Astrid Boon – Importance of order
  7. Summary
  8. Credits

With ‘Behaviour management strategies’ a teacher addresses a student’s behaviour or commitment. With ‘First steps’ a teacher prevents a disruption from affecting the lesson (Preventive). With ‘Next steps’ a teacher effectively resolves a disruption so that it does not recur (Curative).

From ‘Practice period 1’ I address each student individually on behaviour and effort. From ‘Practice period 2’ I also address the group as a whole on behaviour and commitment. With ‘Behaviour management strategies’, I clearly indicate my boundaries, I resolve disruptions to the lesson in a friendly and fair manner and I ensure that my students get to work. With this method of ‘Friendly and fair teaching’ all attention goes to the lesson and I do not allow myself to be tempted into discussion.

Introduction video

For more information check out our other introductory videos here.

Current approach:

How do I manage behaviour now?

Future approach

How do I address a student on behaviour and commitment in the future?

Introduction

‘Behaviour management strategies’ is one of the five perspectives of Friendly and Fair Teaching (FFT)

Image 81: Behaviour management strategies (overview)

FFT divides all aspects of education into five perspectives. In this image, a chain has been created from these five perspectives. The top link of this chain refers to ‘Behaviour management strategies’ (A+B). The top link can be compared to the brake of a car with which you can brake gradually. If you do not have a brake, it is not wise to drive a car. The top link of the chain can also be compared to the top two colored lights of a traffic light (orange and red). The other four green links are: Observing, Lesson content, Establishing fairness and Establishing a friendly tone. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Each link is indispensable in education. As a teacher, you pay attention to all five perspectives in each lesson. Read more about the colors of the links.

Figure 2: Links

Leaving the brake off

Imagine you are a teacher who warns a lot and usually does not attach any consequences to the warnings. When you have yet another disruption, you get fed up and send a student out of class. That moment can be compared to hitting the brakes hard.

With FFT, you brake predictably and gradually (gestures – Tips – Future behaviour letter). That is pleasant for you and for your students. They notice that you work systematically and do not lose your balance when you address a student’s behaviour or commitment. They notice that you act deliberately and not out of anger or frustration. The peace that this creates ensures that all attention is focused on the lesson. That peace increases the chance that you will reach retirement age.

This approach is about addressing an individual student’s behaviour and commitment in a friendly, fair and consistent manner, and effectively addressing the entire group. Information about ‘Behaviour management strategies’ can be found in various places on this site:

  1. The module ‘First steps’ discusses how to use gestures and Tips to address a student.
  2. The module ‘Next steps’ discusses how to address a student with a ‘Future behaviour letter’.
  3. A page with instructional videos.
  4. A module about how to start addressing individual students in ‘Practice period 1’. In this period you introduce the framework and the triangle.
  5. A module in about how you also address the whole group: ‘Practice period 2’. In This second period you introduce the abacus.
  6. A page about the ‘Ladder of action’ with a manual for its use.

With ‘Behaviour management strategies’ you prevent yourself from angrily exclaiming ‘I’m fed up’ and then proceeding to hand out punishment or to expel a student. With ‘Behaviour management strategies’ you ensure that you get along well with your students, that they pay attention when you explain something, that you can have a class discussion undisturbed and that your students work independently.

Whether you are teaching the entire class or have your students work independently, both approaches to teaching require everyone can to concentrate and make a good effort. Whenever there are differences in the approach to teaching, you will see the information in two columns: Teaching the entire class and working independently. Above the left column is an image of a beret and above the right column an ​​image of a cap.

‘Teaching’ and ‘addressing students on behaviour and commitment’ are connected. Teachers know from experience that order is not self-evident. Order is preceded by interaction, cooperation, discussions with students and reflecting on teaching.

With FFT you create a positive learning environment. In ‘Practice period 1’ you introduce the ‘framework’ and the ‘triangle’. In ‘Practice period 1’ you introduce the abacus. From the start you address students on behaviour and commitment.

Developing a personal style with which you address your students on behaviour and commitment can be a long process that involves trial and error. If you continue to have difficulty addressing students, teaching is a difficult task. FFT helps you to accelerate that process in two practice periods of eight lessons. In those two periods, you introduce the six different components of ‘Behaviour management strategies’ to your students. Both you and your students will have the opportunity to get used to these components in those two periods.

For both you and your students, ‘Being and Staying Friendly’ is an aspiration, a result of a joint learning process that takes time: a way of working that has to ‘settle’.

Two side notes on everything that follows:

In education, you will encounter children who are different in nature. Sometimes it is necessary to delve into the situation of certain students and perhaps you will make an exception for that one student. Education is tailor-made.
In order to be able to judge well as a teacher, you must perform at the top of your ability and be as healthy as possible. If you start a lesson tired, you will get irritated more quickly and you will enjoy teaching less. Your mood determines the course of the lesson. See influence of a teacher

Causes of disruptions

The cause of a disruption in the lesson can be with you: You are not friendly enough, you have not yet indicated a framework, you are not clear about what you ask of students per approach of teaching (Triangle), your lesson content can be improved: You place too much emphasis on ‘Teacher-centred education’ or you place too much emphasis on ‘Student-centred education’, you have not yet found a good way to address students’ behaviour and commitment (Behaviour management strategies)
The cause of a disruption can also be with a student: For example, a student has a learning problem or the student experiences the lesson as too easy or too difficult. Other factors that can be considered are personal circumstances such as being in love, conflicts between students, jealousy, the way classmates interact with each other, tension at home, being online too much or disappointing performance.

External factors can also be the cause of a disruption: fire alarm, unexpected change of classroom, bullying (via the internet), a new student in the group, a move, conflicts and wars in countries of origin, etc.

No matter how well you teach, a disruption can always occur. Whether the cause lies with you, with the students or whether the disruption has an external cause, it is reassuring to know how to resolve a disruption. Friendly and Fair Teaching advises teachers to resolve disruptions to the lesson in a friendly, clear and systematic way (Behaviour management strategies).

1 Six components of ‘Behaviour management strategies’.

Component 1

FFT advises applying ‘Behaviour management strategies’ in periods of eight lessons in secondary education. Depending on how many hours you teach a group per week, this period will be longer or shorter. During this period, you limit the possibility for each student and the group to disrupt the lesson. See below (also for primary education) how to determine the length of a period.

Component 2

With the ‘triangle’ you show your students what you expect from them per approach to teaching: ‘Please pay attention’ or ‘Please get to work’.

Component 3

You adhere to the framework (Friendly + Fair). Over time, your students will adopt your example. They will also behave friendly towards each other. Once you have introduced both the ‘framework’ and the ‘triangle’ to your students you have defined a positive learning environment. Then you address, when necessary, a students’ behaviour and commitment: You monitor the framework and the instructions visible on images of the triangle (Behaviour management strategies).

Component 4

You address students’ behaviour and commitment in four steps. With The First steps – steps 1 and 2 – do not take a stuent time. The Next steps – 3 and 4 – do take a student time These four steps come together in the Ladder of action:

  • Step 1
    You use a series of gestures of your choice to ask a student to stop talking, to stop disturbing or to ask a student to get to work. These gestures are inaudible and therefore all attention remains on the lesson. You discuss these gestures with your students so that they know and recognize them. See ‘using body language – step 1’
  • Step 2
    If a student is disrupting the lesson or disrupting a fellow student, you give them a ‘Tip’, a positive instruction such as ‘Please pay attention’ or ‘Please get to work’. Positive here means that you draw their attention to desired behaviour (and not that you respond to the undesirable behaviour). With such a Tip, you remind a student of what is currently visible on one of the two images of the triangle. Once you have given a Tip, you note it down on a class list. By noting down Tips, you create a file for each student with the aim of adressing students as little as possible. By counting Tips, you give each student a certain margin per period and clearly indicate your limits. Within that margin, a student can make mistakes and explore your limits. With the Tips, you address each student’s behaviour and effort. See ‘Using a Tip – step 2’
  • Step 3 – The measure with which you adress behaviour or commitment is the ‘Future behaviour letter’. You ask a student who is disruptive or who does not work on an assignment to write you a letter. In that letter, the student describes what happened and how this can be resolved better in the future. The student hands in that letter to you. This measure is effective because:
    – writing the letter takes a student time.
    – the student thinks along in solving the disruption.
    – the student signs the letter and you keep the letter. From that moment on, the letter is an agreement between you. At a later time, you can ask the student to keep to the agreement made.
    See Adjusting with a letter on future behavior – step 3
  • Step 4
    You give a student two chances to hand in the letter to you. If that does not happen, there are two options:
    – You ask the school management to take over the handing in from you.
    – You agree with the school management on another step that follows the failure to hand in the letter.
    See Student submits assignment to supervisor – step 4

Component 5

You aim to give a student only one Tip per lesson. To achieve this, you also need to know what to do if a student continues to disrupt. If you give a disruptive student a maximum of one Tip per lesson, this means that this student only has to write a letter in a third lesson after having received a Tip in two different lessons for the same approach to teaching (Teaching the entire class or working independently).

Component 6

Use the ‘abacus’ to address the group on behaviour per lesson. This limits the number of ‘Tips’ you give to the group per lesson. You are then ‘stricter’.

When teaching the entire class, you use the ‘abacus’ to indicate when the maximum number of ‘Tips’ per lesson has been reached. When there is a red image, students know that you can have one of them write a letter. To prevent them from being given the assignment to write a letter, all students usually stop disturbing.
When working independently, you use the abacus to indicate at the fourth Tip that it is too hectic to work and you interrupt independent work. You then continue with teaching the entire class. You do this because there is no point in having students work independently if they cannot concentrate. If the group wants to continue working independently for longer, they will have to limit the number of disruptions as a group. By counting the Tips during independent work with the abacus, you help them to concentrate. Tips that you give during independent work, you write down on the list for independent work. By setting a limit on the number of Tips with the abacus, you point out to the group that not working concentrated is ineffective and you point out that independent work is a privilege (less homework).

Advice: Before starting with the abacus, first consult a coach of FFT

1.1 Pitfall if one of these components is missing

What happens if you leave out one of the components of ‘Behaviour management strategies’?

Leaving out component 1

If you do not work in periods, if you warn each student twice per lesson – before taking a measure – then you can warn a class of thirty students sixty times without taking a measure. You are then constantly addressing students on behaviour or commitment. The content of the lesson is then lost. To avoid this, you work in (in secondary education) periods of eight lessons.

Leaving out component 2

Without the triangle, it is unclear to students whether you expect them to pay attention or whether you expect them to get to work. That is why you indicate what you expect from students when teaching the entire class and students are working independently

Leaving out component 3

Without a framework, a student may think: “unfriendly is also allowed”. That is why the framework is so important.

Leaving out component 4

If you do not use the steps of the action ladder:

  • Step 1 If you do not use gestures to address a student’s behaviour or commitment, you will quickly fall back on verbal warnings. You then interrupt your explanation or disrupt independent work. Verbal warnings are often accompanied by frowning, looking angry, threatening, making yourself big or displaying dominant behaviour. All of this makes the lesson grim and your students adopt this way of communicating from you. That is why it is advisable to use gestures in a friendly way when addressing students’ behaviour and effort.
  • Step 2 If you do not give students positive instructions (Tips) but warn them (name negative behaviuor), your voice will sound irritated, impatient or angry. To avoid this, give Tips in a friendly way instead of warnings.
  • Step 3 If you do use the ‘Future Behaviour letter’, but instead give nasty punishment work or send a student out of class, this will create estrangement between you and the student. That is why you use the letter instead of punishment work.
  • Step 4 You do not cooperate with the school management. If a student does not hand in the ‘Future Behaviour letter’, you can choose not to do any work there, you pretend to forget that you gave the assignment. You can also keep insisting that the student hand in the letter to you. If you react in these ways, the student will experience you as either weak or a tyrant. That is why it is important to cooperate with a senior member of staff, then both reactions are not necessary.

Leaving out component 5

If you give a student more than one Tip per lesson, there is a chance that the student thinks that you are paying special attention to him or her. A conflict is then lurking. You can prevent this conflict by not giving more than one Tip per student per lesson from the second lesson of ‘Practice period 1’ and by only letting this student write a letter in the third lesson that a student is disruptive (In the first lesson of ‘Practice period 1’ you do hand out a letter immediately). – By not giving more than one Tip per lesson to a student, you avoid conflicts. If you do not set a limit on the number of Tips you give per lesson, you can give many Tips that expire after that lesson and then the Tips lose their effect. To avoid this, you only give one Tip per student per lesson.

Leaving out component 6

If you do not use the ‘abacus’ to count the Tips within a lesson, you may have to give too many Tips and have to administer them all. That is why you use the ‘abacus’ from ‘Practice period 2’ to limit the number of Tips per lesson.

See Pitfall first steps – Pitfall next steps

2 Start with ‘Behaviour management strategies’ in two periods

Figure: components – Practice periods

In ‘Practice period 1’ you only use the first five components. ‘Practice period 1’ is intended for teachers who do not yet have experience with ‘Behaviour management strategies’.

In ‘Practice period 2’ you use all six components. ‘Practice period 2’ is intended for teachers who have completed Practice period 1 and who want to spend less time giving and noting Tips. These teachers introduce the counting frame in ‘Practice period 2’.

3 Address a student or the group’s behaviour and commitment in four situations

Two approaches to teaching were discussed earlier:

  1. You are teaching the entire class
  2. Students are working independently

Two types of addressing students were also discussed:

  1. Addressing a student individually about behaviour per period
  2. Addressing the group about behaviour per lesson

If you combine these two approaches to teaching and these two ways of addressing students, four situations arise in which you address students on behaviour and commitment.

The table below provides a further explanation of these four situations. The table shows you at a glance how many Tips you give at most in four different situations and which steps you take after the Tips. The table provides advice on distributing a ‘Future behaviour letter’ printed on different colours of paper in different situations.

3.1 Table of approach to teaching / addressing behaviour

In Practice Period 1, you only use the green part of the table.
From Practice Period 2, you use both the green and blue parts of the table. You then address both individual students on behaviour and commitment as well as the entire group.

Figure: Table of practice periods/approaches to teaching – addressing students on behaviour and effort

3.2 Restraint with giving Tips and handing out a ‘Future behaviour letter’

If you are planning to give a Tip, you can show this by lifting the triangle or the abacus, or by showing your Tip book or the list of Tips for working independently. This usually has an effect. If a student responds well, you give a nod. In this way, you prevent giving a Tip with body language.

If you are planning to hand out a ‘Future behaviour letter’ you can pick up the letter as a preliminary announcement. If a student stops disturbing because of this visible action, you put the assignment away again. With a nod or a compliment (thumbs up) you thank the student. With body language you prevent handing out a letter.

If you have already given a Tip to a student within a lesson, avoid giving that same student another Tip in the same lesson. If you give more than one Tip to the same student within a lesson, this student will get the impression that you are specifically interested in him or her.

Sometimes a student will not respond to your signals. What you can do then can be read here: Student continues to disturb.

In exceptional cases, you can also give a student more than one Tip per lesson. Giving one Tip per lesson is an intention of yours. You do not promise this to your students.

4. Time investment behaviour management strategies for teacher and student

‘Behaviour management strategies’ takes up little time and energy.
If you address a student’s behaviour with a gesture or Tip, it takes the student no time.
If you address a student’s behaviour with a ‘Future behaviour letter, it does takes the student time.

Because writing a letter takes a student time, the four steps to address students are effective. This effectiveness is only noticeable after you have given out an initial assignment and it has been submitted by a student. That is why in ‘Practice Period 1’, you start in the first lesson with handing out a letter – if necessary.

Astrid Boon discovered that only an assignment that takes the student time is effective. Her measure, has been altered by VOH as the ‘Future behaviour letter’.

5 Origin using colours

FFT uses colours as a signal to students both in the abacus and in ‘Future behaviour letters’. You print the ‘Future behaviour letter’ on paper with different colours. Those colours will later tell you something about the moment you handed out the assignment. The colours mentioned below can be seen at the overview on the top.

Abacus

The colours of the images of the abacus with which you count Tips are derived from the colours of a traffic light:

  1. green, orange, and red when teaching the entire class,
  2. green, light green, yellow, orange, red when students are working independently (gradual transition from green to red).

Future behaviour letters

  1. When you are teaching the entire class, The colours of the Future behaviour letters you hand out are derived from the cards a referee hands out in soccer: yellow and red (On orange paper you can better read the text).
  2. When working independently, you use a future behaviour letter on white paper.

Once the assignments have been handed in, you keep them. The colour of the paper shows you in what circumstances you gave the student the assignment.

5.1 Abacus – traffic light

Kees de Heus told FFT that primary school teachers use the colours of a traffic light as a signal to the students. FFT adopts this concept with the abacus.

Why is the effect of the abacus comparable to a traffic light?

Why do cars stop at a traffic light when there are no police around? It is for security reasons and to avoid a fine. The effect of the abacas can be compared with that of a traffic light. Students see the value of order and want to avoid having to spend time writing and handing in a letter.

By counting the Tips with the abacus, you set a limit for the entire group. Students can see from the colour of an image of the abacus the space to disrupt is limited and when it is wise to stop disrupting. With the abacus you ensure collective responsibility.

Five perspectives vital to education

All five perspectives of FFT are vital to education. In this image you see a chain with the colours of a traffic light. In the top link you see the colours:

  • yellow (orange) which represents the use of body language and giving tips.
  • red which represents the distribution of a Future behaviour letter.

Figure 2: Links

5.2 Paper Colour of Future behaviour letters – referee

When teaching the entire class

An important moment in a football match is when a referee issues a yellow or red card. These colours appear as follows at FFT when you teach the entire class and need to reinforce positive behaviour:

  • Handing out a yellow card: The first Future behaviour letter you hand out when teaching the entire class is printed on yellow paper.
  • Hand out a red card. The second Future behaviour letter you hand when teaching the entire class is printed on red (orange) paper. Once you have handed out the red assignment, stop teaching and ask your students to do homework in silence. This prevents further escalation.

N.B. In football, a player who receives a red card must leave the field. Nothing like that happens at FFT. The student simply remains in class.

When students are working independently

When students are working independently, you hand out a Future behaviour letter printed on white paper. After having given four Tips within one lesson, you interrupt independent work. Then it is apparently too busy for students to concentrate. For the rest of the lesson, you teach the entire class.

You strive not to send a student out of class. That doesn’t mean you never do it. There are situations in which FFT recommends removing a student from class.

6 Astrid Boon – reflective writing assignment

As an Ortho pedagogue Astrid Boon was aware of the problems that arise if a teacher is unable to maintain order and what the consequences are for teacher and student. Astrid noted that a teacher often only has two ways of reinforcing positive behaviour: either warning a student or sending a student out of class. Astrid indicated that several intermediate steps are missing. In her books Astrid Boon describes the importance of order and explains why she recommends using her ‘Reflective writing assignment‘. This assignment and the Ladder of action fill the gap between warning and sending a student out of class.

7 Summary

The Ladder of action consists of four steps with which you reinforce positive behaviour.

  1. Using body language
  2. Giving Tips
  3. Future behaviour letter.
  4. A senior member of staff takes care of the handing in of the letter.

With the Ladder of action, you solve disruptions in the lesson and focus all your attention on the lesson.

To reinforce positive behaviour, you need an assignment student rather avoid. At FFT this is the ‘Future behaviour letter’ (step 3 of the Action Ladder). I is a time-consuming assignment students try to avoid.

Handing out a Future behaviour letter as little as possible

  • Steps 1 and 2 prevent you from handing out a Future behaviour letter (step 3) too often, these first steps act as a buffer.
  • If you never hand out a Future behaviour letter, steps 1 and 2 lose their power. That is why FFT recommends novice teacher to start with step three: Handing out a Future behaviour letter (start with a framework for positive behaviour and Ladder of action ).
  • Step 4: If a student does not hand in the letter to you, ask the student to hand in the letter to a senior member of staff. By doing this you avoid a conflict with this student.

8 Credits

Rense Houwing -Editor Friendly and Fair Teaching
  • Rense has made the distinction between steps that cost a student no time, and steps that do cost a student time.
  • Thanks to him, Observation is now a separate, observation-oriented, perspective of Friendly and Fair Teaching. Observations precede reinforcing positive behaviour.
Astrid Boon – Orthopedagogue Astrid Boon indicated that a teacher often has only two ways of addressing behaviour: warning (too many) and sending a student out of class. Astrid indicated that intermediate steps are missing. FFT fills that gap with the Ladder of action.
Peter Teitler
 Peter Teitler uses the name “Escalation ladder”.  Teachers use his escalation ladder to adjust student’s behaviour. Friendly and Fair Teaching takes the idea of a ladder from Peter Teitler. FFT omits the idea of “escalation” and replaces it with “action”. FFT’s new name is ‘Ladder of action’. When applied by Friendly Fair Teaching, all steps of the Ladder of action have a friendly and fair character.