Five steps to sanity: Behaviour management in the LRCContributed by Ruth Flynn

I have produced this poster as an aid to behaviour management in my busy college of further

education learning resource centre. We have a wide range of students, from age 15 with a wide

range of abilities. Our spacious library occupies a central space in our five year old building, and

has 52 'drop in' PC's. Behaviour management can be challenging here and our team of four front

line staff take it in turn to take responsibility for behaviour management and this has led to some

inconsistency of approach. The aim of my poster is to remind everyone of why we're here, why the

students are here and what we need to do to keep the working environment calm and productive

and ourselves as stress free as possible.

All resources in the "Contributions" section of our resource bank have been submitted by delegates on our

Taking Care of Behaviour Online course. For more information about this practical, self-paced course, please

visit: http://www.pivotaleducation.com/taking-care-of-behaviour-online/

Prevention

Make rules and expectations

clear.Develop positive relationships;

learn names as soon as you

can, take an interest in what

makes students tick, share a

bit of yourself, and develop a

sense of humour.

Use quick, friendly rule

reminders.

Give clear assertive

statements of what you want

and expect.

Afford students some time to

settle down to work when

entering the library.

Maintain a calm working

environment.

EncouragementHave high expectations, always expect the best.Be careful to always model the behaviour you expect. Teaching good behaviour is more fulfilling than dealing with bad.Never miss an opportunity to give positive feedback and always acknowledge compliance.A “thank you" or a “well done” goes a very long way!

Maintenance

Always be seen to be

consistent, fair, reasonable

and in control of your

emotions.Always offer excellent

customer service.

Ignore secondary behaviours

and don’t get drawn into

argumentsDevelop scanning

techniques, always be aware

of what is happening around

you and react quickly,

confidently and consistently

to any sign of poor

behaviour choices, incidents

can often be diffused or

deflected.

ConsequencesAlways be consistent, consequences should be a certainty rather than a threat.Always emphasise they are directly resulting from a choice to overstep boundariesDon’t fire the big guns first…

there’s nowhere else to go if you do.Say what you mean and mean what you say, don’t hand out lots of warnings.Know when to temporarily

withdraw and when to return.Reparation

Acknowledge improved behaviour.Stay friendly and courteous

Separate the behaviour from the personalityDo not bear grudges.

Give every student a fresh start

the next time they use the library.

Five steps to sanity: behaviour management in the LRC