A “CODE of silence” exists among teachers when it comes to discussing teacher aggression and poor practice in schools, a new study has found.
It found that negative techniques such as yelling, deliberately embarrassing students and sarcasm were used by teachers but teachers were extremely reluctant to discuss the issue.
Teacher Monica Monahan researched negative teacher behaviour as part of her Masters in Education (aggression studies) at Trinity College Dublin.
She found it very difficult to recruit teachers willing to talk about teacher aggression and misbehaviour and she called for a larger study into teacher aggression and negative behaviour.
“Negative teacher behaviour and practice is not a concept that the Irish second-level educational community are yet ready to discuss,” she said.
Of the 110 teachers surveyed, just 36 completed questionnaires. She also interviewed the principals of three schools, ran focus group discussions with five teachers and nine students and interviewed two parents. She said the research affirmed the existence of the use of negative classroom techniques but there was a “code of silence” among teachers, when it came to discussing poor teacher practice. “It seems as long as teachers are seen to be getting through the course material, it is of no consequence as to how the material is delivered or how disruption to delivery is dealt with”.
Some 55 per cent of teachers said deliberately embarrassing students helped to stop misbehaviour. One teacher said sarcastic comments to students were used “as a last resort”. All students interviewed said teachers used sarcasm, deliberate embarrassment, yelling and punishing the class as a whole, when students misbehaved.
Some teachers said they ignored bad behaviour and avoided confrontation as it either showed a lack of teacher control, aggravated students or stressed the teacher. Many teachers blamed the students’ misbehaviour for their use of negative classroom techniques.
In one school, seven teachers agreed that teachers found it hard to let go of labels that they had assigned to a student “and so do not recognise it when this student behaves well”.
Some teachers blamed time constraints, syllabus pressures and large classes for preventing them from engaging in conversation with difficult students.
Teachers interviewed called for more training, better support from their principals, and strong codes of behaviour. “We seem to expect certain standards of student behaviour in adherence to our schools’ behavioural codes and anti-bullying policies but we do not ‘culturally’ examine our own behaviour within this frame,” the study found. Ms Monahan said there was a strong suggestion that teachers were largely unaware that they were engaging in behaviour that may inflict psychological damage and could be identified as professional misconduct.
The study has called for more dialogue on the issue within the teaching profession, more training in positive classroom management techniques and the development of a system of teacher mentoring.
“Observation of teachers in practice over an extended period of time, with immediate intervention when situations appear to be escalating, would perhaps facilitate a deeper analysis of behavioural cycles in the classroom and the measuring levels of aggression pre and post project.”
Asked if teachers needed more support in dealing with discipline, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland said a one-to-two-year induction programme for new teachers was essential to help them adjust to the reality of the classroom.
Its education officer Bernie Judge said a national pilot programme of induction had been running for some time and this should be introduced permanently.
