Having worked with Pivotal Education for the last two years, I have seen the benefits that adopting Paul's consistent routines and kind approach to managing students' more challenging behaviours can have - not only for the atmosphere around school but also for the health and well-being of the staff. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who feels caught up in the madness of endless internal behaviour referrals and detention-chasing. I've been there - it's exhausting!

When the Adults Change Our People | When the Adults Change

As a school leader, the idea of good behaviour stemming from a positive place rather than a fear of punishment not only resonated with my own values but there is much evidence that it is a successful strategy.

When the adults change everything changesis a core read for anyone who works with children. The main message in the book is that by having a whole-team approach to behaviour management - where the behavior of the adults is consistent and sets an example - change really can happen for the best among students. I'm excited about introducing my pupils to -˜recognition boards' too. These are a simple way to advertise the behavior you do want and recognise the children who demonstrate that behavior by simply placing their name on a board. From now I will also be more conscious about reminding myself to thank all members of the school community (children and adults alike) for going over and above. I'm also sure the useful -˜testing', -˜nuggets' and -˜watch out for' section at the end of each chapter will also be regularly referenced. I have known of Pivotal's work for three years now. In 2013, I sent my assistant principal to be a Pivotal trainer and she returned to transform the culture and the feel of a very broken and challenging school through the development of positive relationships, a focus on encouragement and a restorative approach to student behaviour. The impact was huge, with the exclusion rated being reduced by 94% in one year. Naming pupils who do not behave in the way you expect does not help.Dix himself notes that strategies such as -˜name on the board' or -˜sunshine or cloud' for pupils who do not behave as you expect occur in so many classrooms it appears to be something teachers just -˜know' to do rather than something carefully put into place. He argues it reinforces negative behaviour, providing a kind of celebrity status for some pupils, and therefore does not help combat the challenges. The chapter regarding -˜counter intuitive classrooms' is particularly useful for teachers who feel this is not the answer and would like an alternative.

When the adults change, everything changes | Book review When the adults change, everything changes | Book review

Many of the ideas in this book are clearly good practice e.g. the focus on positive relationship building, the suggestions for how to build such relationships, the concept of ‘botheredness’ and the use of recognition boards. In chapter 10, and also throughout the book, Dix criticises the behaviour policies practiced at many schools. In essence, he argues that as well as being ineffective, teachers are ‘run ragged trying to chase and impose detentions.’ This is particularly referring to what is commonly referred to as the consequence system i.e. C1 warning, C2 warning, C3 30 minute detention, C4 isolation, and other similar versions. Dix is adamantly against the use of internal exclusion rooms and alludes to them being similar to prison cells. What members are telling us is that in some schools, all that is happening is that the restorative conversation is seen as the sanction in itself,” Ms Keates told The Daily Telegraph. “And then pupils are thinking, ‘Well, there aren’t any sanctions here for what I do, all I’ve got to do is sit down and have a conversation with the teacher’. And so it isn’t a deterrent.” Really enjoyed reading- like you said, I feel pragmatism trumps ideology. A bit of everything is needed and people that go on about this book like it is the best thing since sliced bread, I would actually like to compare their school before and after this was released!

I think the reason that I oppose the key ideas is because my approach to teaching (and writing about teaching) is rooted in pragmatism, whereas I feel Dix’s work is rooted in ideology. For example, Dix criticises the high rate of incarceration in the UK, whereas I don’t view this as something I, (as part of my role as a teacher) am obliged to be concerned with. Nor do I feel it necessary to compare school sanctions to prison sanctions, however similar they may be, as Dix points out! On the other hand, much of what is advocated or suggested requires ‘buying into’. The title of the final chapter: ‘30 day magic: The behaviour you really want is 30 days away’ is testimony to this. Again, to me at least. You always learn something useful from engaging with Paul, and the fact that he writes with the old one-two of passion and compassion makes this learning easy and pleasurable. I have learnt much from this book that will shape and amend my future practice and whole-heartedly recommend it to even the most experienced teacher. It's true to say that as a whole staff we're at the beginning of our journey, but in terms of whole school impact it has already been hugely beneficial in terms of giving staff more confidence, (especially support staff), giving children a vocabulary to use for behaviour, reducing the amount of expensive time senior staff are spending dealing with incidents and enhancing the school's positive ethos.