Naughty

[donttellmetwice]

I’ve been inspired by another thread to ask........do you or a colleague use the word naughty in your classroom?

Admittedly, I am secondary, but naughty is not considered to be a helpful word. Most behaviour policies will avoid talking about naughtiness. It is labelling a child and reinforcing ideas about their behaviour. Much better to praise positive choices. Most interactions with individual students should be positive. The advice is usually to catch them being good. Praise, praise, praise so that the message about positive behaviour is reinforced.

@mrsmuddlepies I suppose that explains why behaviour in many schools is so poor then. Can't tell a child the truth

I don't think behaviour is poor in many schools. The Ofsted website has statistics on behaviour nationally. Most primary schools have a good or outstanding rating for behaviour.
Naughty is a patronising term and unhelpful. It is much better to model good behaviour and praise where possible. Research shows that praise is far more effective than criticism.

I'm Primary and yes we use naughty to describe the behaviour (not the child) because it's a word the child understands. Children need to learn what is and isn't acceptable.

I suppose that explains why behaviour in many schools is so poor then. Can't tell a child the truth

Rubbish. Behaviour in my DC's school is really good and they follow a positive behaviour management plan like mentioned in the post above. Naughty isn't a helpful words, especially at primary. It's not even descriptive - the behaviour has a cause. In the very young years many kids are still learning impulse control, in the older years bad behaviour can often mask anxiety and low self esteem about work. Sometimes it's simply silliness too but even in that case it's much more effective to label what the child is doing not the child themselves. Feeling bad about yourself almost never leads to better behaviour.

Spot on in my opinion @CripsSandwiches

I’m early years, but no, we don’t use naughty at all.

@mrsmuddlepies I wouldn’t trust whatever ofsted says to be an accurate reflection on behaviour in schools. I’ve worked in an “outstanding” school and had chairs thrown at me and regularly had to evacuate the rest of the class due to poor behaviour.

I don’t use naughty. Not for any particular reason, it’s just not a word I use. I don’t hear colleagues using it either.