Written by Paul Dix
In many mainstream schools there are tell tale signs of a deep misunderstanding of human behaviour. You can hear it in conversations between adults. In throw away lines.
"We have exhausted all the strategies for this child"
"There is nothing more we can do for this child"
"We are just gathering evidence now"
or the ubiquitous "I give up with this child"
In a great PRU there is no conveyor belt of punishment that ends at the cliff edge of exclusion. In a great PRU therapeutic approaches are not a series of tick boxes.
In a great PRU adults don't give up, there is always another way.
The best PRUs, like the best schools, take staff training and development in behaviour management and modification extremely seriously. It is never a one off event as it is in many mainstream settings but a constant drip feed of excellent practice refined and adjusted over time. The best PRUs develop a thick seem of true expertise in behaviour management. It takes time, investment and wise recruitment but when it is formed it becomes an unassailable wall of calm consistency and certainty. It is no coincidence that the very best PRUs in the UK have spent years finding and developing the right adults then holding onto them. The best PRUs have a knack of finding and training remarkable heroes. Teachers who will dodge a chair, soak up angry abuse and moments later inspire learning with delicate encouragement.
The culture of a successful PRU is fixed deep within the behaviour of adults. No one is shouting, no one is pretending that detention is anything other than laughable, no one believes that is the all the children's fault. Staff understanding of the impact of their own behaviour is absolute. They play tag team with students who are intent on confronting like they have rehearsed it a million times. Raging adult egos that pervade many mainstream settings are put aside. Adults know that humility is strength, that kindness is not weakness, that getting told to ‘Fuck off' is not a trigger to throw your toys out of the pram/phone the Union/stamp your feet in the Head's office. They understand that when punishment doesn't work it is time to look elsewhere, not simply to punish more. In an excellent PRU the staff know that the destiny of the students lies in their hands. It is a responsibility that they will not throw away in an adult tantrum.
Staff are determined to be an amazing role models and in chaotic moments that tightens their resolve. In mainstream schools people are still building isolation booths to punish the vulnerable. In PRUs adults build finely balanced relationships with students that are based on mutual trust. There is no battery farm approach to behaviour here. The arguments over crime and punishment that rage in mainstream settings are left behind in a PRU in favour of more intelligent approaches to dealing with troubled human beings.
Mainstream schools patch poor recruitment with ‘emotional intelligence' courses. In a PRU emotional intelligence cannot be a bolt on. It is a prerequisite for daily survival. If you can't read Ryan's intent and are unable to shift your tone with precision you will very soon find him displaying his emotional ignorance all over your room and quite possibly in your face. Of course the amount of damage that the children bring with them has a huge impact on the physical and mental health of the adults. Ignore this and your hard fought consistency will mean nothing when the staffroom is heaving with supply teachers. The way you look after your staff is the way that you look after your students.
Teaching and learning in great PRUs starts from a different place. Nobody is surprised when the students aren't interested. The effect of this starting point is remarkably positive. Nobody tries to get away with the bullshit that masquerades as teaching in many schools: wordsearches, worksheets designed to occupy, endless meaningless PowerPoints, copying off the board, copying diagrams and all other ‘sit down, shut up, do your work, do as you are told' mindlessness are left behind. Nobody can bully anyone into learning anything, but in some mainstream schools they have a damn good try. Try bulling children into learning in a PRU and you will realise how fast PRU students stand up to bulling adults. A successful PRU focuses on hooking children into learning with teachers who are quietly inspirational every day. Teachers who have to work better because they know they cannot force children to do anything. Teachers who are flexible enough to shift mood, pace and content in a heartbeat to predict the shifting sands of emotion from the students. Teachers who skillfully use data to hone interventions and show impact. It is attached to real children with very real and often harrowing stories.
In most mainstream settings the parents always come to the school. In PRUs the school comes to the parents. Sometimes intensive home-based family therapy that involves the child can work magnificently. Resources are focused to make this happen. PRUs know that parents, with skillful interventions, can be the wind in the child's sails. Yet PRU parents come in many shapes and sizes. As you might imagine, the ability or willingness of many parents to engage with their child's education is weak at best. PRUs are often forced to accept that some parents are not going to positively contribute. When you have been in enough homes that have had everything sold, stripped bare, for drink/drugs then pragmatism takes over. Yet this is not a cause for despair but for a new plan, a tightening of the mentoring program, a different set of reference points and a more solid focus on the relationships within the PRU. In mainstream settings many have low expectations of those with feckless parents. In PRUs adults learn to work with the child even when that child's situation is not how it is 'supposed to be'.
Some of the most simple yet effective routines in PRUs are not often found in mainstream settings. Many would argue that the number of children in larger schools makes it impossible to replicate. Until you visit mainstream schools who have made them happen: Staff on the entrance to the school, meeting and greeting each student by name as they enter, individual mentoring that is holistic, evidence based therapies tailored and delivered by professionals, data that drives to the heart of the individual's learning, adults who deal with behaviour with sensitivity not tub thumping ‘detentionism'.
A great PRU, like a great mainstream school is not an add on, an after thought or a forlorn cabin at the bottom of the field. It has a sense of self and gives students a sense of belonging. It is a small school not a holding pen. A great PRU is not designed simply to return children to mainstream. Its ethos is more focused on what is right for the individual child and not on squeezing the child into a school shaped box.