ABSTRACT
The problem with behaviour management is usually a tension between a consistent approach and the need to listen and be flexible within specific situations. The more you make specific rules for specific situations and the more clear you are, the easier it is to identify children who are reacting to other difficulties they are having. We have high expectations of very young children and often expect them to know how to behave and what to do in a number of circumstances. The chapter on rule formation very specifically contains rules for being in pairs and in groups and being a friend. It is our experience that these issues are rarely addressed through whole-school rules and yet these are the things that cause many difficulties to senior managers and teachers, who spend a great deal of time sorting out the results of not knowing or being able to keep to these rules. Teachers then cite children’s inability to work in pairs and groups as the reason for not using these structures to support curriculum delivery.
