to be horrified at the behaviour in bohunt school

[SEsofty]

Just watched the programme about Chinese teachers in uk. Whilst I appreciate that it is reality tv and thus exaggeration for effect I was still horrified with the apparent number of children who were talking in class.

I'm not that accident and went to a very normal school but talking whilst teacher did simply didn't happen. I don't agree with the Chinese methods but talking whilst someone is trying to teach you is simply rude.

I think the programme was cleverly edited with an agenda.

It wouldn't suit the programme maker's agenda if they were all sitting quietly in rows. Bet they were asked to act up a bit.

YANBU I haven't seen the TV prog but did hear a clip on the radio and was somewhat surprised.

I help in DS's class. He has just finished Y5, so still in primary, but I am always shocked by how many children talk whilst the teacher is addressing the class. Expect it in the younger classes but by Y5 I would expect the majority of children to be able to be quiet whilst an adult is talking to them. Most of the work they do is group work where they are allowed to talk to the other children in their group, so it is not often when they are expected to be quiet.

It would appear that this behaviour continues into secondary school

I would be mortified if my DS behaved like that

That bit was very realistic I thought to teaching in an average / good school

I haven't seen the program but I certainly can believe kids talking while the teacher was. I had a few teachers in my old secondary school who just weren't assertive at all. All of their classes, even the Y7's, didn't pay a blind bit of attention to anything they had to say. Their lessons were basically like free periods bevause the teacjers were so busy trying to stop the talkers that they never got round teaching the kids that actually wanted to learn maths/history/french.

But actually in the bit when the head teacher was walking through the classes they were all sitting in silence looking bored rigid.

The levels of chatting and low level disruption seemed well within the bounds of normal to me, especially in a situation where a teacher has no engagement with the class.

They were talking because they were not properly sanctioned.

oh yes it does go on

my son was playing up at secondary school when he was 14,i took the ball by the horns and sat in on his class he was being a bugger in {much to his shame)
half the lesson was spent trying to get the pupils to sit down get pens out etc,seriously it was bedlam (all boys school)the teacher looked swamped and no doubt embbarrased as i was there

one boy got sent out and kept pulling faces through the class panel and then strolling back into the class

but it worked,never had to revisit the class again

But surely children of that age should have the manners to not talk whilst the teacher is talking, they should not need to be sanctioned, it is basic common courtesy to keep quiet whilst someone else is talking. They are not toddlers

Well its certainly not a good advert for the school

I,haven't seen this yet, but was shocked by the level of classroom disruption/disrespect in the 'Educating Yorkshire/Essex' series. I assume this is similar. It wastes so much of the teacher's time.

I used to be a TA in a comprehensive school, yes this is reality. The teacher used to spend half the lesson trying to get pupils to be quiet and listen

Ineedaholudaynow, one would think so, but no, a lot of time I experienced classroom disruption whilst I was A TA.

ilovechristmas1 I would love it if some of the parents of kids I teach came and saw how their children behaved in lessons! You sound like a great parent!

Oh op. It's totally the norm. Kids in school are disrespectful,rude, loud and think they know best. Think how bad it is in an underperforming school!

I'd like to know if academically selective schools and top private schools are just as bad. Is this a reflection on our parenting?

I wouldn't have dared talk back to a teacher when I went to school (in London). And yes, I am Chinese and my parents would have been mortified.

I'd like to know if there are differences in behaviour traits in student ethnic populations and how that correlates with academic success as well.

I haven´t seen the show, but would not be surprised by this.

As a previous poster points out, children are often not sanctioned properly for what is deemed, "low level disruption", such as chatting, therefore it persists. The teacher´s only option is to send the students out of the classroom which doesn´t work if one third of the class is chatting. However, this low level disruption is in fact extremely disruptive and a huge barrier to learning when it happens day in, day out.

I have visited Bohunt professionally a few times and I have never seen any behaviour approaching this. I would imagine the pupils were told they could 'relax'. The teaching on film was very poor by current expectations in this country and the lack of engagement by the pupils probably supported that idea. My pupils would never normally behave like the Bohunt ones did on screen but I can imagine if told rules were relaxed and with the lecturing style of teaching they too would behave badly.

I went to a private school and didn't see low level disruption because unlike state schools, private schools can ask pupils to leave. Between 3 children I only know of one instance when a classmate was suspended and it was 5 days for what I think is a serious incident that would have been treated much more severely at private school.
My 14 year old is at a comp and worked out in infants that as long as you didn't cross a certain line, it was fine to be naughty at school. My son has had class detentions but they are pathetic amounts like 15 minutes which apparently the most that they can give out without prior notice to parents.

I went to a non private school where talking in class was only permitted when the teacher allowed it. Other approaches than being kicked out of school can work too . I've since visited that school. The same is still true. It has to perhaps be a whole school approach, rather than up to individual teachers to set their own level.