How can teachers and educational professionals handle challenging situations in schools? How can they manage the resulting conflicts?
A review on “Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools. Educational Insights and Interventions” by Ulrike Becker, written by Paul Cappon, former CEO of the Canadian Ministers of Education and former CEO of the Canadian Council on Learning.
Review by Paul Cappon
Ulrike Becker’s contribution to the series “Pedagogical Insights: Practice and Science in Dialogue” is a significant addition towards an improved understanding of a demanding issue facing teachers and school systems in many countries in Europe and North America. In many school systems in the western world, policy makers are striving for improved integration of pupils with psychosocial impairments of many kinds. Yet, teachers and administrators frequently feel that they lack the tools or proven approaches for handling the multitude of difficulties posed by these students. Becker’s book, although written in the context of German schools, therefore applies equally to educational institutions elsewhere in OECD member countries.
This author’s book is far more than a practioners’ guide to management of specific instances of problematic behaviour. In addition, she ensures that the relationship between pedagogical theory and sound practice is made: useful practices identified by her are grounded in received theory; and this is one of the elements that allows her contribution to become relevant in many countries.
Several features of Becker’s contributions through her treatise are particularly informative and useful. They are:
- The many-sided exploration of her theme
This book is not principally focussed only on the challenges and stress for teachers resulting from aggressive behaviour of students. She outlines also the impacts of these challenges on pupils themselves, on their peers, on their parents, on institutions, on carers, and on the educational system. Through this approach, Becker is able to describe school as a resilience factor.
- The complex interactions between behaviour of pupils and the challenges of modern communications technology
The author implicitly acknowledges the context in all Western countries of the ever-quickening pace of new technologies. Becker is able to show means of reconciling digitalisation and learning at a distance with the continuing centrality of schools as a necessary and valuable institution – especially in periods of social crisis
- The creative use of case studies that serve to confirm and amplify her analysis and conclusions – conclusions which are articulated at the end of each chapter
The case studies are cleverly presented through support by the Helga Breuninger Sifting as videos that are made available for educational training programmes.
Perhaps the most compelling feature of Becker’s book appears on the theme of “pupils with aggressive behaviour towards teachers”. In this section, she outlines ten specific measures (“cuts”). These cuts represent innovative approaches intended to allow a pause or interruption of difficult situations that could lead potentially to “aggression and violence”. Such situations are inherently very stressful for teachers and other pupils. From both a pedagogical point of view and from a wider societal perspective, these ways to emerge from difficult impasses not only with no damage – but actually with progress in both interpersonal relationships and student learning – represent an outstanding contribution to educational practice.
As a person with knowledge of challenges for schools in countries in both Europe and North America, I can recommend this book as an outstanding contribution to both practitioners and researchers in Education.
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Managing Challenging Behaviour in Schools.
Educational Insights and Interventions
by Ulrike Becker
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