Anyone’s school gone full Paul Dix? Success stories?

[SkygardenTower]

My school is fully aboard the relational practice train. Connections first, consistency of relationship not consistency of consequence, sanctions don’t work, everything needs to be a coaching conversation.

This is making me very twitchy and thinking of looking elsewhere but I thought I would ask on here if anyone has any positive stories?

*my personal view is you need consistency of consequence applied with compassion (which allows for nuance and adjustments if circumstances are relevant)

Yes. They have also decided that any child with an EHCP will not longer be sanctioned for poor behaviour in light of Dix. And behaviour has been slowly getting worse. Teachers just dont have time for the constant 'conversations' that are now needed. If you have even just one or two students creating havoc in a lesson it is almost impossible to deal with.

I was in a school that had adopted the approach almost completely - it was awful, the kids had no respect and ran riot, there were severe incidents of physical abuse between students, verbal abuse of staff, racist and homophobic comments - none of which were dealt with properly. Staff were continually blamed for all poor behaviour - it was oppressive and people were fearful of saying anything. I have never been so miserable and stressed as I was then and I do not regret leaving. I wrote a detailed and scathing (but professional) email that I sent to SLT - somehow I accidentally copied all staff in... 😂

EDIT: I now work in a school with a proper reward and consequence system, and whilst it's not perfect, it's a damn sight better!

I just wish that schools didn’t go fully Paul Dix or on the other hand zero tolerance. There is a middle ground!

The last school I worked in that did ended up in special measures. It was horrific, kids ran riot, almost every lesson was disrupted by groups of uncontrolled unruly kids who were spending lessons running around causing chaos. Absolute nightmare!

I’m not hearing any happy stories! Wonder if I should start looking for a new post.

there are no really good examples of success stories here. TLAC is the way forward !

I'd love to say it might get better but having heard lots of people's experiences it is only going to get worse. I think it might be wise to open up your options! X

We have started it this term and I'm not loving it. It's unrealistic unless you have 2 kids or less per year group who ever cause issues. It makes me feel even more sorry for all the kids who just come in every day and get on with it as it leaves even less time for them.

I wonder if @Foostit and I worked at the same school? Behaviour went from bad to worse and the school ultimately went into special measures.
Like many others I had left by then and was not surprised in the least.

Can someone summarise this method please? I get that relationships are the bedrock of everything and that using sanctions sparingly and with apparent reluctance is more effective but are there really schools with no sanctions for poor behaviour? That seems to misunderstand the psychology of behaviour in children.

This might help as well Paul bloody Dix | Mumsnet

Head of School in a primary here.

Deprived area and lots of SEMH plus lack of boundaries in many families.

We do both - clear system of rewards and consequences but we do have the restorative conversations when they are needed.

Even with clear boundaries, we still have to work very hard with our children due the baggage they bring with them! If we removed consequences, the kids would be in charge.

I spend my life having restorative conversations! All behaviour is communication, all behaviour is communication…! I’ve spent the last two years trying to figure out what the kids are communicating - I still haven’t figured it out!
In all seriousness, I think PD is a very charismatic person and initially I was inspired by his approach. I think he is a great story teller and I enjoyed his anecdotes about his own experiences. However, I don’t think it works for our children now. I genuinely believe that behaviour has worsened year on year for the last ten years. I would like to see PD come into a school setting and model the approach with today’s cohorts… That would be interesting…!

But what a charismatic person can do is often very different to what a regular teacher can do. I think it is very hard for someone with high charisma to understand that what they do won’t work for others.

It was the first thing to go when my previous school was rated inadequate by OFSTED.