Better Behaviour: A Guide for Teachers

What does it take to improve the behaviour of the children you teach?

This second edition of Better Behaviour - Jarlath O’Brien’s insightful, practical guide for teachers, and those training to teach, combines psychological research, authentic classroom experience and the lessons learned from improving behaviour in schools. You will be challenged to think about your own practice, question accepted orthodoxies and to develop an empowered and confident approach to improve the behaviour of the children you teach.

This new edition includes:

• A new chapter on how to work with a class where behaviour isn’t good enough
• New, expanded discussion of bullying
• A new ‘How would you deal with this situation?’ feature exploring tricky scenarios
• A new interview feature offering useful perspectives from early career teachers
• A new further reading feature so you can explore selected topics in more depth

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Why understanding behaviour matters

Chapter 2: How psychology can help your understanding

Chapter 3: Your behaviour

Chapter 4: Rules and expectations

Chapter 5: Motivation, recognition and rewards

Chapter 6: Sanctions and punishments

Chapter 7: Bullying and conflict

Chapter 8: When the behaviour of a class isn’t good enough

Chapter 9: Working in partnership with parents to improve behaviour

Chapter 10: Working in partnership with support staff to improve behaviour

Chapter 11: Special educational needs and behaviour

Chapter 12: Fostering your own style

"Jarlath’s expert knowledge and depth of experience has produced a book that will support every teacher to become “the decisive element in the classroom”. His deeply held belief in the value of every child and young person shines through as he coherently argues for the holistic development of all: socially, emotionally and behaviourally in support of the academic. Complete with summaries, reflection points, scenarios and further reading this is more than a book. It is an in-depth manual for teachers and senior leaders who want to get behaviour right, in schools, and believe we are there to catch our pupils, “not catch them out”."
- Stephen Tierney, Chair of Headteachers’ Roundtable, speaker and author