Paul bloody Dix

[phlebasconsidered]

Our school has just gone over to his system. It's a nightmare. Things were already bad and now they are getting worse. I get the feeling it's just a cheap way to bung all the responsibility for behaviour at teaching staff. It seems all fancy trousers and no knickers at our school. Students already enjoying the freedoms it allows and I literally don't have time to do that amount of restorative conversations.

Can it work? We've all been given the book (great earning for Mr Dix) and have to watch a shit ton of videos but it seems like we are on our own.

I would be very interested to hear from others as I feel overwhelmed by it right now. It especially isn't working with our alternative provision kids who are 40% of my timetable. They can just manipulate too much and they need the strong boundaries.

We moved to '1. Warning for pissing around. 2. Sent to isolation'. If they don't arrive within 5 minutes they get excluded, so they actually go there. There are centralised detentions for various things, I never have to give a detention myself.

Any behaviour system that creates way more work for teachers when it is implemented as written is doomed to failure.

Namechanged for this. Reading about Paul Dix's meeting and greeting rang a bell, and sure enough it was part of the recommended methods in Michael Marland's "Craft of the Classroom". I taught at a school where Marland was HT and we eyeball rolled at the impossibility of this particular injunction back in the day. I can still see the thin brown book in my mind's eye.

As others have said there are elements of sense in the Pivotal stuff (the door greeting being one) that make it appeal to those who think a Tom Bennett approach is too rigid and so they fall for it all, rather than finding a suitable mid ground approach. It being sold as an all or nothing way of doing things is really harmful.

I'm full team TB myself but I wouldn't be put off by a school that cherry picked bits of Dix to use if need be. But I wouldn't work in a full pivotal school for double the salary!

Today I had one lesson with bottom set year 9 where there were so many 2 minute conversations that nothing got done. Then a big spider came through the window to add to my misery. At one point I was in the corrridor having a conversation with a refusing child and saw 4 other teachers doing the same.

Communication through subtle eyebrow and teacher eye movements definitely said "FUCK THIS SHIT"

It doesn't work. Students need boundaries.

I disagree with the Michaela style approach due to its over-insistance on strict uniform rules and, taken to the extreme, silence in corridoors, but the principles of a no nonsense approach to teaching in classrooms definitely works miles better.

I have taught in a school that went from Paul Dix to Michaela style for a term (before the head essentially bullied the head of behaviour out) and the improvement in behaviour and subsequent classroom achievement of students was immense. It went rapidly downhill again after he left.

My new place have a full on Paul Dix approach, and my word, behaviour is awful. Restorative conversations are expected, but the after school expectations on us mean they never get done. Between that and endless warnings before a child can be removed I am losing 25-50% of lesson time in some classes to poor behaviour, and I am told that behaviour in my classroom is generally better than many others.

I'd welcome an Ofsted inspection due to higher numbers of exclusions, to be honest. It means a head is actually dealing with the issues staff face instead of just sweeping them under the carpet. Repeat that across the country and the government might be forced to take some responsibility for students who don't fit into mainstream schools for behaviour reasons or SEND so severe that it massively impacts the learning of others in the classroom. Yes, some students would suffer as a result, but I am still not sure that their needs should trump the needs of 20 others in the class who suffer daily at the moment.

Today I got told that I had been too abrupt to a year 9 who told me to fuck off you fucking fat old bitch before walking out. Apparently it was the tone of my voice that meant he got angry when asked to do an assessment. During the restorative conversation I now have to have with him in my PPA, I must remember to use a quiet tone of voice.

This can fuck off. I am desperately searching for a new job. No wonder the students are feral.

This is madness. You're being blamed for being the victim of abuse in workplace - this alone is totally unacceptable. The NHS refuse treatment to abusive patients. What does your union have to say about your PPA (which is protected) being spent on behaviour management? I'd be sorely tempted to go off sick for the rest of week because of the impact this abuse has had on your mental health.

So if you tell him to fuck off you fucking fucker, will he have to have a restorative conversation with you?

This is a massive crock of shit

I am tempted to just not go in and be sick. I've had enough. I've been sworn at more times this last few weeks than in a 20 plus year career. It's like Lord of the Flies or something. I'm so furious I came home, cried and am considering resigning. I feel a bit feeble for not arguing the toss with my line manager but I was frozen in sheer amazement.

Take the rest of the week off.

Take some time off. Work on an application for another school. I would also record the details of the conversation. Check your school's policy for verbal abuse towards an adult. I often find that confirming idiocy in an email usually makes people reconsider the shit they spout.

e.g. Just to confirm that X student was asked to complete his assessment. He told me to 'fuck off fucking fat old bitch'. The student has reported to you that he disliked my tone of voice and you would like me to be careful of my tone in the restorative conversation. Can you also confirm what the consequence will be for the student?
Thanks

Yeah, I would definitely challenge anyone who says it's your fault you are being sworn at. Regardless of what approach SLT want to go with in terms of behaviour, you have a right to feel safe at work, including from sexist abuse.

I don't think a restorative conversation is appropriate in this scenario.

Possibly speak to your union rep?

It definitely sounds like SLT are passing the buck, and blaming teachers, which isn't on.

I definitely agree with those who say a balanced approach is needed. Some students genuinely do need it explained to them why X is a rule, and similar, or the impact their behaviour is having. However, this needs to be alongside a system which does have clear consequences for disruptive/extreme behaviour.

FWIW, I have never known a school go down the restorative route for more than about 6 months because behaviour does tend to deteriorate so badly.

It is snake oil as far as I am concerned. Children need parameters. As it has been interpreted in my school, the only people who are ever wrong are the teachers. Paul Dix has cured me of ever wanting to teach again. After 28 years in a profession which I loved , I’m leaving, I just can’t countenance such twaddle, restorative discipline only works for the children who don’t really need it, for those who do it is a Carte Blanche to run amok, safe in the knowledge there are no reprisals.

Many years ago a child kicked and smashed the glass door in my classroom when asked calmly to do something he didn’t feel he would like to do.SLT asked me what I had done to provoke him. I left teaching that year.

@angstridden2
Utterly ridiculous!
I’m also leaving this year. Final straw was a ‘restorative chat’ where I was told that the reason for the poor behaviour must be my lessons. This was said in front of the kids as well. These kids misbehave in all lessons and have done since before I joined the school. I walked out, absolutely no way I could have taught those kids again after being completely undermined in front of them.

I can add this to the long list of Edubollox that I've seen over the last 25 years.

They all follow the same pattern:

1. Bright shining star of the SLT wants to impress.
2. They jump on a bandwagon.
3. Said bandwagon promises the Holy grail of Whole School Impact.
4. There is a staff meeting.
5. All classrooms have to have new display.
6. There is Orwellian Newspeak to learn. This must be crammed in to every lesson and every presentation.
7. Idea fails.
8. Ideal slowly fades with no acknowledgment of it's failure.
9. Bright shining star on SLT claims success and is promoted.

10. New Bright shining star joins SLT...

hateam you have just described my life!

The more things change, the more they stay the same.