It's All An Act: Practising The Art Of Successful Classroom Management

By Jim Wood

From trainee teachers to veteran, battle-hardened staff, the recurring nightmare is of a class of teenagers who simply will not do as they are told. The stomach-clenching, hand-trembling, knee-jittering question we ask ourselves at the start of each new year is, ‘What if the pupils walk all over me?’ No matter how confident we are in our own abilities, regardless of our position in the school, irrespective of the reputation we have built for ourselves, if we do not ask ourselves that question, then sooner or later we are in for a nasty shock. When it comes to classroom management, we are all in the same boat. We all experience classroom management challenges.

It’s All An Act offers a range of practical, no-nonsense, pragmatic strategies and techniques to try out, practise, adapt or abandon. It works on the premise that, to a great extent, classroom management is something we can do with pupils rather than to them. In response to the cry of, ‘What’s the point? That would never work!’ the reply is, ‘Give it a go. What have you got to lose?’ For colleagues under the cosh of lesson preparation, marking, administration, meetings and deadlines, it’s an easy read. What have you got to lose?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398453524

Jim Wood

Jim Wood was brought up in the East End of London. At the age of seven he decided to become a teacher and, from that point, never wavered from that goal. He taught English and English literature in comprehensive schools in Reading, Basingstoke and then Gosport where he became Head of Main School before embarking on a phased retirement. He has delivered classroom management training in secondary schools and at Southampton University for over twenty years where his practical, supportive, non-judgemental style has benefitted teachers at every stage of their career.

Book preview

It’s All An Act

It’s All an Act reads with great clarity and provides a plethora of useful suggestions for trainee teachers to consider, as they begin their professional career.

The narrative is engaging, and we can clearly visualise the wide range of examples from the classroom that he explores. These are supported by informative, practical strategies that can be considered, trialled and adopted if they work for the individual.

The emphasis on positivity, fairness and consistency that permeates the work sets an important tone that trainee teachers need to hear, as does the recognition that sometimes we need to admit we have got it wrong.

This is a great resource for all early career teachers but particularly the trainee teacher.

Eluned Pickup,

Senior teaching fellow and Secondary PGCE tutor,

University of Southampton.

It’s All an Act: Practising the Art of Successful Classroom Management is packed full of practical advice and tips to help teachers to successfully master the art of classroom management. From setting up your classroom, to advice on starting with new classes and what to do when every lesson with a class feels like a nightmare, Jim Wood’s realistic approach to classroom management will help you to be in control from day one. As a young trainee teacher sat in a lecture theatre at Southampton University, I recall watching him demonstrate many of the techniques and practices, which he has distilled into this book. I know his strategies work and much of my own success in the classroom to-date is down to implementing these within my practice. Having had the pleasure of working with him during my early years in teaching and through my subsequent work with coordinating training for teachers at every stage of their career, I have seen the benefits of his honest, supportive, and non-judgemental approach. To this day I never underestimate the power of the slow walk in many aspects of life, and whether you are just at the start of your teaching journey, or if you are a more experienced practitioner, this is the book for you!

David Higginbottom,

Deputy Director,

HISP Teaching School Hubs.

It's All an Act is essential reading for anyone working with young people. The text is jam-packed with practical tips for behaviour management that can be applied to any classroom context and that will ensure that your students work with you. Jim Wood’s ethos is not the tradition of fear and punitive sanctions, but instead he has a mantra of engendering mutual respect and high expectations within the learning environment. His practical strategies will allow you to go further with young people’s learning than others might think is possible, and do so with a quiet and controlled authority. Alongside this, his writing style is very readable and he laces his ideas with anecdotes shared from his many successful years of working with adolescents. Whether you are a teacher who is brand new to the classroom, or, (like me), someone with more than twenty years’ worth of experience, his strategies will help every teacher to unlock the potential of the young people in their care. I was gripped from the start to the end and have applied some of his ideas already. Thank you Jim for sharing your vast experience and expertise with the profession, I know that this book will help us all!

Mrs A. Eagle.

Headteacher,

The Romsey School.

About the Author

Jim Wood was brought up in the East End of London. At the age of seven he decided to become a teacher and, from that point, never wavered from that goal. He taught English and English literature in comprehensive schools in Reading, Basingstoke and then Gosport where he became Head of Main School before embarking on a phased retirement. He has delivered classroom management training in secondary schools and at Southampton University for over twenty years where his practical, supportive, non-judgemental style has benefitted teachers at every stage of their career.

Dedication

For Liz

Copyright Information ©

Jim Wood 2023

The right of Jim Wood to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398453517 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398453524 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I should like to thank: Dave Freeman, an inspirational English teacher whose passion for literature has remained with me throughout my teaching career; John Thomason, a true gentleman who first encouraged me to offer classroom management training; Bob Isaac with whom I have worked collaboratively and creatively for over thirty years and whose stories of classroom management faux pas have made me laugh until my sides ached; Maggie McMurray, colleague and friend with whom I have shared numerous cups of Earl Grey tea whilst we have watched, amazed, at the machinations and ineptitudes of some aspects of the educational system; Jill Eatherden, colleague and friend with whom I joint-taught probably the worst lesson of both of our lives; Liz, my wife who has loved and supported me throughout my career and our sons, Chris and Alex, without whom all of this would be dust.

First Things First

Look son, you have to face it, when it comes to classroom management, either you’ve got it or you haven’t. If you haven’t got it, get out quick!

I have heard something along these lines offered to trainee teachers on a regular basis. Nonsense! True, there are a few god-like teachers who seem to have supped from some supernatural elixir of effortless discipline but for the rest of us mere mortals, getting it right in the classroom is something we can work on, practise and improve.

Professionals in all walks of life hone their skills to make complex tasks appear effortless. If you have never done so before, watch a YouTube clip of people doing their jobs well. There is something incredibly satisfying about watching someone expertly plaster a wall, bend as free kick, draw a perfect circle or unblock a drain. These are skills that have been practised and polished to the point where they become art. Skilled classroom management is also an art form, a performance art form in which the audience participates and from which staff and pupils can derive a great sense of satisfaction.

If you haven’t heard it yet, you will certainly hear a teacher at some point declare that he or she never has any discipline problems. Again, nonsense! OK, to be fair, there might be a few members of top brass who teach the odd sixth form lesson or upper set something or another period one on a Tuesday who don’t encounter the struggles and strains of classroom life. However, give that same member of top brass a challenging Year 9 class last period, every Friday and discipline problems are inevitable. You have to face it, once you are in the classroom, the trappings of whole-school authority quickly disappear. You cease to be Mr Smith, the Head of Year or Mrs Brown, the Deputy Headteacher, within a lesson or two you morph into Sir or Miss, the history teacher, and if you can’t hack it, the pupils will walk all over you. This is a good-bad thing. It is good because it means that, regardless of our experience, we are all in the same boat. It is a bad thing because it never goes away.

As teaching is now an almost exclusively graduate profession, you shouldn’t be too worried about not knowing your subject or children catching you out with difficult questions. Either you will know the answer, or you’ll know where to look, or like any good teacher worth their salt, you’ll throw it back to the pupil. I’ve absolutely no idea, so how can we find out? No, the real panicky, stomach-churning, sleepless night worry is, What if I can’t control them? If you are just embarking on your teaching career, this is an inevitable question to pose but believe me, if you don’t ask yourself the very same question every time the summer holidays are drawing to a close, then at some stage or another, you will be in for a nasty shock. Of course, it does get easier as some management techniques become a natural part of your teaching style, but there will be times when you will face classes that will make you bring the theory and the learned strategies to the front of your mind. In such cases, you rely entirely on your instincts at your peril. What makes it worse is that the more you think you have the whole thing sewn up, the harder the shock and the more bitter the pill to swallow when you realise that you haven’t.

So, what is the secret? I have absolutely no idea, so how can we find out? For some people, the answer is to think up an increasing array of inventive ways of punishing pupils. Some ideas I have heard are, I am sure, banned by the Geneva Convention. No, for me the art of good classroom management is to do with a. attitude, b. relationships c. trying to give pupils the opportunity not to be punished d. not appearing to try too hard, e. planning and delivering challenging and enjoyable lessons, f. recognising that the whole thing is an act.

The purpose of this book is to provide you with some strategies that you might try out to help with your classroom management. It is important to recognise from the outset, however, that nothing always works. Some techniques will work well for you but not for your colleague, some will work with some classes or individuals and not with others, some will work one day and not the next. It isn’t an exact science and don’t fool yourself into thinking that reading this book will solve all your discipline worries. It won’t. It will, however, give you things to try, to adapt and to think about.

Finally, although this book is not about lesson content, it is not hard to recognise that well-planned, well-resourced, sensibly structured, challenging and enjoyable lessons that engage pupils’ interests go a long way to minimising disruption. However, don’t let people persuade you that it is all you need. It’s the sort of statement made by staff who spend little time actually teaching but who have a teaching and learning agenda. Of course, we should be aiming to teach outstanding lessons every lesson, but we need to invest time in getting the classroom management right, to give us, and the pupils, the best chance to achieve this. Pupils, let’s not forget, are humans. Before our first son was born, I spent time practising changing nappies using a cuddly panda. I was an expert with an inert figure. When it came to the real, squirming, bawling, urinating bundle of living flesh, however, it was a different matter altogether. To produce outstanding nappies, I had to practise changing mat management. I hope the analogy is clear.

Before You Begin

There are all sorts of things to think about before you even encounter pupils. I recognise that this might be frustrating if you want to get stuck into the practicalities of dealing with pupils but, and it’s an important ‘but’, getting a few things straight before the first pupil comes into your classroom is really important. They are all a part of practising the art of successful classroom management and they do have an impact on your day-to-day teaching.

What to Wear

How you dress makes a difference. There is a TV programme shown regularly at present called ‘Super Nanny’ where parents are given no-nonsense advice on how to deal with tantrum-ridden, manipulative toddlers. It’s an excellent programme to watch to glean some very practical and effective ways of dealing with tantrum-ridden, manipulative teenagers. In the opening sequence, Super Nanny is seen walking down the street and you just know from the word ‘go’ that you wouldn’t want to mess with Super Nanny. She is dressed in a smart, dark blue business suit and her hair is pulled back into a tight bun or ponytail. Her whole appearance means business.

As teachers, we ought to dress professionally. There needs to be a clear distinction between us, and the young people we are going to teach. This might seem obvious but for many staff, especially those new to the profession, it is all too easy to get it wrong. I recognise that this has something to do with my increasing years but, along with police officers, new teachers seem to be getting younger every year. Let’s face it, especially in schools where there is a sixth form who do not wear uniform, there is often very little to distinguish between them and the younger staff.

Whatever our gender, smart ‘office wear’ is the best touchstone for our choice of clothes. My preference is for a dark suit, blue, black or grey and not brown. Brown (or, for that matter, a sartorial cardigan) is ‘Uncle Jim’, and I don’t want to be ‘Uncle Jim’, I want to be ‘Mr Wood’. In a way, choosing what to wear as a teacher can be as simple as a pupil putting