From The Point: Back to the future on student behaviour

A ‘behaviour curriculum’ is coming to Australian schools this year as part of a federal Senate Committee response to reports of badly behaved students abusing teachers and disrupting classes.

Students will be taught “how to line up, keep quiet and be still… in a bid to rid classrooms of the behaviour crisis that sees teachers routinely abused, attacked and children disrupted”.

The interim Senate committee report into worsening student behaviour delivered in late 2023 found Australia ranked 69th out of 76 countries for the world's most disruptive classrooms in 2018.

The report mentioned “increased physical abuse to teachers, including instances of sexual harassment, death threats, staff being struck, having furniture thrown at them, windows next to their heads punched in and cars keyed. Some cited PTSD from witnessing violent fights”.

The percentage of teachers who felt unsafe increased from 18.9 per cent to 24.5 per cent from 2019 to 2022.

"Student behaviour and violence was cited as one factor among many including parent abuse, negative relationships with staff and school leaders, and concerns related to COVID-19," the report found.

"The work is more professionally demanding, yet teachers' status and remuneration has not kept pace."

The new ‘behaviour curriculum’ was one of nine steps recommended by the Senate Committee.

Old school: skills on the new behaviour curriculum

• classroom and school routines and transitions, such as entering the classroom quietly and beginning an activity

• effective communication skills, including listening, expressing oneself clearly, and understanding non-verbal cues

• self-advocacy skills, like asking for help

• problem-solving strategies and conflict resolution techniques.

Proponents of the old-fashioned approach to classroom discipline say modern children must be explicitly taught “not to call out, talk among themselves and run around the classroom”.

A behaviour curriculum in the UK uses a red and yellow card system of warnings for disruptive children and “super walking,” where adults lead children single file around school.

Australian Education Research Organisation chief executive Jenny Donovan said, “We can’t assume students understand the expectations,” she said.

"They want a sense of safety in the classroom, so they can learn without distraction.”

Donovan says time spent by principals and teachers on managing behaviour was placing a “substantial strain” on educators.

Some researchers say teaching kids how to behave using a curriculum model is a backward step and ignores the fact that students are all different.

“Instead of using fear and consequences as motivators, we should focus on fostering connections, empathy, and relationships to guide behaviour,” said Melissa Close from Queensland University of Technology.

The QUT submission to the senate inquiry noted that disability was a "common denominator" for repeatedly suspended students, who were not having their needs met and teachers were not provided “the time, support, or access to specialist colleagues to provide the required level of care for those students”.