UNIT 3: Overview
UNIT 3: Behaviour Management - Active Citizenship, School and Parent Engagement
OverviewBeing an ‘active citizen’ means participating in activities that contribute to our community at all levels; personal, interpersonal, community, national, regional and global. Active citizenship requires you to have respect for others, to support the rights of others, and to be responsible for both yourself and for others.
Being an active citizen does not mean that we all think alike, look alike, or do the same things. Our differences make us stronger. Our aim is for our learners to feel comfortable with who they are as unique individuals, and to be able to share their ideas and beliefs without fear (of being laughed at or bullied.) This includes talking with others about their cultural and family backgrounds. We also want our learners to feel welcome in school, and to be interested in learning about differences in other people.
It is important to recognise that learners come to school with their own knowledge and views of the world, and so do teachers. Learners also have different ways of behaving, depending on what they may have learned is ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable' behaviour.
Sometimes we have strong feelings or emotions about things, and everyone responds differently to life at school. Setting up clear boundaries and opportunities where learners can share their views in a safe environment allows us, as teachers, to model good patterns of behaviour. Doing this also encourages our learners to have the confidence to raise any concerns they have, as this shows they recognise that they also have responsibility for themselves, their actions and their learning.
In some cases, if learners do not behave well, and disagreements or conflicts occur between students (or a student and a teacher), the school will need to enable learners (and teachers) to discuss and resolve these incidents. The school might decide to use circle meetings to explore behaviour challenges, in a general way, or restorative meetings to resolve issues between members of the school community in peaceful and positive ways to prevent conflicts from happening again.
It is important that you, the teacher, are competent and confident in managing your learners’ behaviour. It is also important that learners build the skills to manage their own behaviour and that parents/carers are fully involved in all aspects of learners’ lives. Poor behaviour impacts negatively on the learner, the rest of the class, on you and your teaching, on the family and wider community and so it is very important to develop ways to address behaviour challenges effectively.