Has Pupil Behaviour generally worsened over the last 5-10 years?

[Berryll]

I have quite recently taken on supply teaching roles after a career break of a few years. I missed the colleague and class interaction so decided to give the classroom another go, but not full time. Before that I taught for about 20 years in a variety of roles. I'm older than average, usually pretty good on discipline, organised, and have a good enough knowledge of most subjects I think.

Having done it for a little while now I wondered if other teachers felt behaviour, and also school policy in dealing with misbehaving pupils, has changed in recent years. Classes seem to have far more hard to manage pupils than I remember, used to average 1-3 challenging pupils per class, now it seems often 3-6 on average, sometimes more, and are randomly spread between all secondary year groups. Also, it seems if they refuse to comply they often have detentions anyway so little extra happens if I tell someone. Most just seem not to care either way. The following two events in different schools with y10 pupils also happened leading to unpleasant SMT interviews.

- Pupils walking around a room as and when they wished, 3 v difficult ones around me at back of class as I tried to encourage one who was very close to sit down, gently moving him out of my face and telling him to sit down (by touching him on the shoulder, not pushing). Another pupil told SMT I had touched the boy. Cue 20 minute grilling with sceptical deputy who phoned parents to check no complaint would be made! It felt to me the wrong person was talking to him. He also made a lot of the ‘divergence between my story' and pupil's accounts, and was pretty unpleasant. I imagine he was stressed by his job but that seemed a weak defence.

- At end of a lesson, as I opened the door to dismiss the class two pupils who I had told to remain behind to talk to a HoD due to their very poor behaviour, pushed through me as I stood there, obviously making contact. Not roughly but firmly. I had no time to move. Cue another interview with Deputy, then later the Head, and concerned looks my way in the Staff Room. TA was in my lesson so could corroborate my account too, but she wasn’t spoken to.

I do realise that not knowing pupil names, inconsistent lesson plans, and just being seen as a ‘supply teacher’ by pupils may be playing its part here with pupil behaviour, so perhaps it's just that plus the normal variability of classes. I have to say that 5 consecutive lessons taught on the fly with very little break is pretty tough and depressing, especially when around half the class usually seem keen to listen and learn.
I also wondered if the interviews, are now standard protocol that has to be followed these days in certain situations, and I'm being a bit oversensitive and overthinking it?
To be clear, I'm sort of asking two slightly different things here, and I'm curious what others think. The two questions are.
1- Do others in 'The Staffroom' think behaviour generally has changed?
2- Is the school's reaction to what happened in my classes the new normal, where teachers can feel more disciplined than the pupils?

I’ve been teaching 18 years and yes, behaviour has definitely got worse. The SMT interviews do seem to be the norm now as well which is quite frustrating.

I think it’s a lot better but I am probably in a minority.

I think it has got worse, especially since covid. I have had the students pushing past me to leave the room too. The school did take it seriously, but I was a permanent member of staff.

As supply, you can choose never to go back to that school, though.

I have to say I wouldn't touch a child in that situation though - you're putting yourself at too much risk. I also now never stand between students and exit routes. If they want to leave, they can leave and have a sanction later on.

I think behaviour is a lot worse since lockdown, especially early years and ks1 classes. Ditto speech and language skills.

Linked to behaviour, I would say children in class now have absolutely no patience whatsoever. Everything has to be now, everything has to be immediate, any type of delay….they can’t handle it.

Multiple children in my reception class have no concept of waiting for an adults attention, I can be talking to someone and hear a child screeching my name in my ear again and again and when I turn to say “I’m talking to Fred, you need to wait” they either ignore me and start talking over me, sigh really impatiently and moan, or just cry and start screaming my name.

They can’t wait for activities. They can’t wait for a computer to switch on. On occasions where I have to get videos from YouTube, god help me if an advert comes on, the screams! Today the computer decided to update itself, I said I would put a game up on the board when it was ready and I had finished with the activity I was doing with a group. The scream from one child in particular once the computer restarted, I was yelled at to “hurry up! Get the game on!” - queue “meltdown”, fake crying turning to proper tantrum when I said they would not be playing at all now they’ve been so rude.

This is reception. We’ve been working hard this term at lunch time. In our school, reception and KS1 are dismissed from the lunch table all together and supervised back to class to put away lunches and get coats on etc before being let out to play. The amount of my class who just could not, and some still really can’t, wait at the table for everyone to finish! Even today, the moans…..”I’m so bored!” “I want to get doooooown!” (And more crying).

Please, just make your children wait till your finished doing something to give them your attention, get them to wait for everyone to finish their food, teach them that digital entertainment isn’t available on tap (even though it is). 4 is not too young.

Yes teaching for 17 years and started out a "bog standard" comp. It was tough but now I work a a leafy suburbia comp with good results but terrible behaviour around school and in lessons. It has got worse in the last four years.

you should never ever touch a pupil especially as a supply. Stay 1m away at all times. Do not keep them. You don't get paid less for not making a moral stance. You are making you self wide open to both complaints from the school and then these will get back to the agency and also retribution from the pupils in the community. Some of these are not nice people.

It's not your fault if the walk out. And then it's someone else's problem.

For supply we want reliable staff who follow the school policies.

Behaviour in my school was worse a few years ago when we had a Paul Dix behaviour policy of not actually dealing with behaviour but imagining that repeated 'restorative conversations' with kids who didn't give a shit would actually have any impact.

We've now got a much stricter behaviour policy and class behaviour has improved because it is now much, much easier to kick kids out who are pissing about.

Manners though, re things like barging through doors past teachers rather than letting them through first (or holding the door open for them!) has got worse.

Thanks for this, and to everyone else for all the advice and views; I feel I've been a bit naive perhaps; although I would stress I am aware I should never make contact with a pupil; it was more self-protection or they made contact with me! It seems I will have to open the door, jump out of the way, and just cross my fingers that pupils stay behind a moment if I ask them too.

It does feel odd though that teachers are not trusted and given the benefit of the doubt (and I had a TA in the room too!) Time taken dealing with this sort of event should be targeted at the difficult pupils, not the teacher. Do we perhaps have a societal problem these days with getting people to own their behaviour choices; perhaps allowing them to feel they are responsible for nothing. Even with a mitigating tough family/home background etc I think this approach likely will ultimately fail.

I'll be more careful now though. Hopefully it'll not be a black mark against me; that would feel pretty unjust, naive or not.

Definitely. I've been teaching 10 years and am so sick of the behaviour and attitude/lack of manners that I resigned in October with a mortgage and no job to go to.

Simply can't be doing with it anymore.

Hi.

Sorry for your bad experience.

The general advice is sound , don't keep children back, however wrong it feels to let them get away with stuff. But you're human and a good teacher and will occasionally make the twin mistakes of assuming pupils will comply with a reasonable instruction and SLT will back you up.

Some schools are more supportive than others. It's not just pupils who look down on Supply Teachers.

The one huge, massive advantage of Supply Teaching is that if a school treats you badly, or doesn't back you up, you never have to set foot in the place again. Ever.

This thought helps in the toughest of lessons , you just need to get to 3.30pm.

Children will take advantage of Supply Teachers. They will lie and often SLT will take their word over yours.

Some schools just want a quiet life and don't care what happens in a lesson as long as it's covered. Some staff will be openly contemptuous of you in front of a class and then complain how Supply Teachers can't keep control of a lesson.

Supply Teachers are thin on the ground. Be choosy. Be brave. Don't go back to a school where SLT treat you so badly. Don't worry about a black mark unless they specifically call the Local Authority. It will only apply to that school and it's obviously one to avoid. Make sure you're in a union.

Children's behaviour has got worse since the pandemic but there are good schools out there, there are schools relieved to have an experienced teacher coming in, there are SLTs who will back Supply Teachers.

Hope all goes well.

Thanks Dendron123, that's a thoughtful and useful message.
I do feel concerned that I wont be asked back to that school; felt it was going pretty well and had started to know a few pupils; and it was local too, which can make quite a difference.
Anyway, I'll see what happens and have to put it down to experience; I agree being able to choose not to go or leave early is a big plus too as you say.

Hi

I've been doing Supply for nearly 9 years. Had to take a lengthy career break for disabled son.

It is annoying when something like this happens at a school that doesn't take hours to get to and where you're settling in.

They might still call you back (if you want to go).

But you do need rhino skin and an ability to smile sweetly at SLT at times.

Once you've been doing Supply a while you get known and consultants might sometimes get stroppy but they'll always find you work at the moment. (Covid lockdowns, not so much...)

Try not to worry.

I categorically would not be in your position without being a member of a union.

Behaviour is only as bad as it ever was. The main thing as a teacher is to stay calm, be firm, never lose your temper or what happens is, the kids will misbehave all the more because they know they've wound you up.

Yeah of course… it’s those nasty teachers losing their temper causing all of the behaviour issues. What patronising bollocks! 🙄