Written by Paul Dix
Regaining your authority after a catastrophic loss of face is not a quick fix. You could call in the big hitters, police each lesson with growling heads of faculty and book a season ticket in the 'Isobooth'TM (Face the wall, Feel the pain ). You could pretend that you had authority. In fact, until you do the hard work to rebuild trust and relationships everything else is just a pantomime.
Apologise
Apologising to your students is essential. It is an assertive act that models appropriate behaviour. If you have become frustrated and acted in anger, been inconsistent, unfair or thrown your toys out of the pram; admit your own mistakes and apologise. You may be surprised at the positive reaction that you get, both immediately and some time after. The students begin to see you as reasonable, fair, human even. Apologising not an optional nicety. It is a vital part of the process of change that you are initiating. It does not need to be reciprocated, although in practice it often is. In behaviour management humility is strength.
Apologising may already have prompted you into some essential self reflection. There will be elements of your practice that you want to change. If your approach is 'This is how I am going to change my behaviour...'; the model is firmly set for their own reflection. You may choose to reveal your plan for moving forward or agree it with the class Either way give yourself time to implement changes, drip feeding new strategies and monitoring effects honestly. Immediately replacing one regime with another is unlikely to solve difficulties in the medium or long term. Look for what is working and build on it.
Tweak the plan
Make changes to the classroom behaviour plan for or with the students. Don't throw it all out, tweak to transform. Ask a colleague to help you look dispassionately at how you provide structure for the children. Examine how you develop and reinforce existing routines, provide clarity on rules, reinforcements and sanctions, schedule proactive communication with parents, target specific students and learn from strategies that are working for other teachers. Make a visual impact that restates your commitment to the classroom climate and the students. Spend time on the display, ask some students to help. Keep the plan simple and clear. Use it fanatically from the moment you introduce it.
Repair trust, accelerate authority
When classes have been through rough waters with a teacher, trust will need to be repaired. Begin to repair trust by reaffirming your commitment to the students. Tell them that despite past troubles you care about them and their achievement and are
committed to building positive relationships. Be prepared to tell them the same thing again and again. Some classes will need to hear you say this more than once, in fact repeatedly over a long period. For those students who have learned to mistrust adults outside of school this is particularly important. Building trust will sustain your authority far better than punishment ever can.
Relentlessly recognise what you want
Most teachers who find themselves in difficulties know that they have let things slip. Inconsistencies have eaten away at the relationships and the climate. Sticks and sanctions are delivered with too much emotion, carrots of recognition lie unpicked and withered. The step change that is needed is in the culture of the classroom which is driven by your own behaviour. The solution to regaining your authority lies in your ability to pull out of the cycle of sanctions and punishment and shamelessly and over enthusiastically recognise and celebrate the learning attitudes that you want to see. Every lesson, every day. To hide your emotion when you are angry and share your love of doing the right thing. It is exhausting, unnatural and frustrating.
Make a plan for the next 30 days. Be consistent and predictable, make sure that your words match your actions Communicate accurately, openly and transparently, share and delegate responsibility for classroom tasks. Nurture a common identity for the class creating a sense of unity. Establish or agree joint goals that are clearly defined, shared and displayed. In talk and actions use ‘we'. Value work by displaying it and involving students in design and creation. Focus on a single identifiable learning attitude that you are going to recognise whenever you see it. Digging your way out of the hole is going to be hard work. You need the energy of the hare and the dogged relentlessness of the tortoise in equal measure.
Essential steps for regaining your authority
- Ask for support / guidance / a sounding board
- Apologise to the students and model the right approach
- Identify aspects of your own behaviour that need adjusting
- Reaffirm your commitment to the students
- Explain the changes that you are making, display them brilliantly
- Restate your expectations then pursue them positively and relentlessly
- Initiate strategies for developing mutual trust
- Set a schedule for monitoring effectiveness and listening to student feedback