SHOUTING!

Sitting in the English base on a free period I hear for the third time today a teacher outside shouting at a student.  Really shouting angrily, nastily, in their face.  I’ve hear this from two other teachers too and I never want to become like this.  I do occasionally shout – always at home, always at my kids (although when I lived with my mum I did occasionally shout at her and my sister), always in extreme anger, and I always apologise afterwards because it’s never a good strategy to get what I want, more just an outpouring of rage.  Shouting is intimidating, threatening, and in my opinion on the spectrum of violent behaviour. I’ve never shouted at anyone in my previous professional life.  I would HATE someone to do that to me, and if they had I’d probably put in a formal complaint.  So why is it seen as totally acceptable to do this to young people?  Granted, they had usually really stepped out of line, and often been very rude.  But we teachers are supposed to be modelling how to behave. 

Exploring this with my mentor they said that the teachers are using shouting in an unemotional way – that it is all a show and they aren’t actually as angry as they sound.  I was recommended to try it out, to try this out as a kind of ‘personna’ from time to time, because, my mentor said, with some kids it’s the only way they will comply and it’s an effective behaviour management strategy. I am not going to.  It is not ‘me’. But what worries me is that being in a culture where this is seen as completely acceptable that I may start to think this is ok too, that I will lose my perspective and become a shouty teacher and abuse my power. 

I am very taken with Lee Cantor’s positive behaviour management, the use of rewards and clear, progressive sanctions.  I understand that tone of voice can be very effective – as a parent I have found this very effective.  What I like about this is it keeps the relationship with the pupil intact, and means that even after a warning for negative behaviour, there is room for positive rewards in the same lesson, and overall the balance should be more on the positive.  At Jordanhill we have been given a lot of information and support to use this approach to behaviour.  Speaking to another, fairly new teacher (who also studied at Jordanhill) I am encouraged that he has a different opinion, and doesn’t use shouting himself because he’s not found it effective, but finds the positive work much better for him.

I’ve no doubt that in my future career I’ll occasionally feel really angry with the kids I teach.  I will encounter really difficult behaviour and it’ll feel like nothing is working.  I really hope that in those situations I can still treat people how I’d like to be treated.