Was I out of line in a trainees lesson

[Lilllypad11]

I was in a trainees lesson (pgce) the students clearly aren’t used to him and his mentor was in a meeting so I covered for her. I’m also a mentor. I hate hate hate interrupting lessons as I know it’s not my place and I almost feel I’m undermining that trainee.

Hoever, they were just pissing about, talking over her, shouting out swear words. Firstly, they were talking when he was doing the register so I stopped them as she was just letting it happen and said “excuse me year 9 the register Is a serious safeguarding document that has to be completed. You cannot speak over miss while she does it”

Then one student just kept swearing constantly so I took him out and spoke to him, then pockets of kids kept pissing around and I knelt near them and had a word.

I feel I shouldn’t have done so, but I just had to my teacher senses wouldn’t let me sit still.

was I wrong?

I’ve also realised the mess of spelling and grammar in my post. The trainee is a woman. The mentor is a man. I’ve also misspelled “however”.

I would have done the same.

Yeah I would have done the same too. Is the trainee quite new to your school? I would be quite concerned that at this point in the year she wasn't using any behaviour management strategies...

I would have done the same, of course always try not to undermine the trainee but when it gets to that stage you have to step in. They may well have been glad of the help.

Is it just me or are your pronouns very confusing in this post?! The trainee is a him and then a her, then a he and then a she?
I think it depends on how new they are. If they've only just started training, then yes I think you were right to support with behaviour management. If they've been at the school a while though, I think you need to let them sink or swim in a lesson then feed back afterwards, unless something disastrous is happening. I think the hardest thing about being a mentor is sitting back and biting your tongue during a terrible lesson. I was a mentor years ago to this PGCE student who was trying to teach a Y2 class the 7 characteristics of living things, which was meant to show that plants are living things and that humans are animals. He spent the whole lesson telling these Year 2s that plants are really alive, and humans aren't really animals...

I would have intervened too. It undermines your own behaviour management if you let that kind of conduct slide while you are in the room. I would have tried to do it non-verbally if at all possible (physical position in room, fixing the culprits with a hard, warning stare) but I would have intervened verbally as a last resort if that didn’t work.

You also need to let the mentor and professional mentor know. At this point in the year a student should have been able to employ some behaviour management strategies of their own.

I don’t know if I would have intervened until afterwards, or I might have said: “miss I don’t know if you just heard but so and so has just done x, would you like me to put it on the system for you, and we can do x y and z at break time to make sure they have a consequence?”. To make it at least seem like the teacher is involved. I try my hardest not to intervene but some of the lessons I’ve been to have just been absolutely manic.

i am a professional tutor since September and I have managed not to intervene in a lesson yet.

As a current PGCE, I can see both sides of the issue.

At my first placement, where my behaviour management was naturally weaker than it is now, staff almost universally let me learn from my mistakes. I can only think of one occasion where the class teacher stepped in to control behaviour, and that was to stop a rapidly spiralling nurture group on the last day before Christmas. He apologised afterwards but I totally understood and was grateful for the help.

On my current placement (comparable in terms of behaviour etc.), I've felt undermined by several members of staff, both teachers and support staff. This is always when they've 'helped' with behaviour management, with the best of intentions.

I think it's easy for experienced staff to forget that they naturally command more respect and therefore better behaviour, purely due to their 'proper teacher' status and tenure within the school. Of course it depends on the trainee as well, but unless a situation is unsafe, I would prefer that a classroom teacher did not intervene.

All that said - even speaking as a trainee with a huge amount to learn, and without knowing the trainee's context - it is concerning that she wasn't able to obtain silence for the register at this point in the year. It must be so frustrating, as a class teacher or mentor, to watch such a situation unfold without stepping in.

Finally, speaking for all trainees, thank you for mentoring! We know it's a thankless task that adds to your crazy workload!