Bitesize Research: Impact Of Teacher Tone

By Jaya Carrier

I hope you’re all having a good week! Following an earlier article this year about the role of gesture in the classroom, this week I was interested to see an article in Edutopia summarising the available evidence about the role of the teacher’s tone of voice in learning and in classroom relationship building. 

Objectives: To understand the impact of the tone of teacher voice in the classroom

Summary: 

• The article cites a study published in 2022 which looked at the impact of how students reacted to common instructions said in different tones, ranging from controlling, neutral to supportive.

• The study concluded that controlling tones appeared to undermine students’ sense of competence, whereas supportive tones enhanced their sense of connection to teachers.

• They particularly noted that controlling tones appeared to inhibit students from possibly disclosing important information, including about whether or not they were being bullied

• They also cite a 2021 study which suggests that there elements of emotions being ‘contagious’ when pertaining to tone of voice. For example, when teachers were warm and supportive students tended to stay engaged for longer and behave better. When teachers were sensed as panic, or had a rise in vocal register, were more likely to have students engaged in a more combative atmosphere.

• The article also states that older students see an overly strict tone as a challenge, and will aim to rebel. 

• The author suggests that teachers would benefit from considering what sorts of scenarios might occur in classrooms, and to practise dealing with these. They also suggest adopting a tone that might best be described as ‘warm demander’. 

  
  

How does this impact me and my practice?: Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• What is my tone like when speaking to students?

• Whose tone in the Academy is effective? Why does it work well?

• What can I do to practice my tone and develop a ‘warm demander’ tone?

  
  

Please do get in touch if you would like to talk further about this - I’d love to hear from you!

How Coaching Conversations Can Improve Your Relationships With Students

By Anita Shakya

Beginning with the end in mind is a core component of being efficient, and when we have conversations with any student we always have a destination we want to reach. However, the gap between student understanding and teacher intention can be a tricky thing to navigate. With the time pressures that teachers and students face in a day, how can you have the most effective conversations with a student in such a small space of time? And, what does an effective conversation look like? Many of us may have engaged in conversations with students that have felt one-sided: where teachers have done a lot of the talking and don’t seem to get strong answers to questions such as, “Why do you think we are here?” and “Do you understand what needs to happen now”? oftentimes we leave those conversations with a compliant student but may feel uncertain as to whether the student really understands what their role is with their peers, in the classroom or within the school. Any conversation with a student needs to be valued: it’s an opportunity to teach and it’s an opportunity to listen. Doing both of those things will help build relationships with students that will in the short term and long term make them feel seen and safe, and also help to improve the behaviour for learning across the school.

What is a coaching conversation? Coaching conversations are a shift from telling or giving advice to enabling the student to take responsibility for their own challenges and reach their own conclusions. They can be seen as a guided discussion where your role is to listen and provide questions following the ‘Heart’ (what’s important to them), ‘Head’ (what are their thoughts and observations about the issue) and ‘Step’ (actions they can make) model. Following this model helps a student to realise their own role in a situation before thinking about change. When something is made relevant to them, they are more likely to make changes that stick. How coaching conversations improved my practice: The first thing I stopped doing was asking ‘why’? The word ‘why’ creates a judgemental tone in the conversation and can lead to the student growing defensive instead of open. Why questions can also lack focus and may neglect the structured thinking students sometimes need. Structuring my questions with ‘what’ and ‘how’ meant that the students started doing more of the talking and my contributions to the conversations were minimised. I have adopted a hybrid approach where I do some talking towards the end so that the conversation feels organic. I have also become more comfortable with silences; allowing the student to think about what they would like to say and taking ownership. How can I have a coaching conversation? Every conversation is unique and the main idea is to listen and then respond but here are some examples of WHAT and HOW questions, following the heart, head step model. If you feel a student has understood the value, you can move on to the thinking and when you feel as though the student understands the situation at large, you can move on to the actions. Here are some examples of questions under each step: HEART (Emotive and Intrinsic) What do you want to achieve? What is important to you in regards to ________ I heard you say “_______” what made you feel this way? How are you feeling about ________ (if they are silent) what’s your greatest concern at the moment? HEAD (Analytical and Critical) What were you prioritising at that moment? How do you see yourself progressing at the moment? How do you see yourself in relation to this? I noticed you said _______ earlier, how does that impact ________? What has contributed to your approach/feelings? What does success look like for you? (if they are silent) What are some of the thoughts you’re having? STEP (Action-based) What options do you have available to you? What do you need in order to be successful What could you do differently next time? How can you achieve ________? How can I start?

Perhaps try a hybrid next time: communicate the goal of the conversation; swap ‘why’ with ‘what’ and ‘how’ and do more active listening. By noticing what students say and guiding questions from this students will feel like they’ve been heard and feel like they’ve contributed to the solution.

How To Make Students "Like" You

By Divisha Patel

The title is deliberately written to be controversial, but certainly has no intention of being so. When you first start teaching, it is very easy to become hung up on the idea of students ‘liking’ you and thinking you are a [insert any positive word] teacher. Noone likes being disliked. It is important for our ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ (Maslow 1943) to feel secure, loved and respected. It is not necessarily the role of students to provide these feelings, but psychologically, it was natural for us to seek them too. Throughout this blog post, I use apostrophes around the word ‘like’ deliberately, to show that often the use of the word to describe relationships, especially teaching, is negatively loaded and can be seen as a microaggression to someone who may be having a more difficult time with certain students and/or entire classes, but what does ‘to like’ really mean? How do we know we’re ‘liked’? How did we become ‘liked’? Having being at WA for 6 years, and learning from many experienced teachers across those 6 years, I’ve realised, or at least I think I’ve realised how to make students ‘like’ me, and what makes a teacher ‘likeable’

Students like consistency When you are consistent with your routines, instructions and expectations, an engaging environment will develop very quickly. Students will learn the nuances of how you communicate, which will mean that you no longer have to repeatedly enforce the rules. Teachers do have bad days, but imagine being an 11-year old wondering whether if they’ve forgotten their book, are they going to get a slightly frustrated ‘do better’ verbal warning, or a 30-minute detention with a permanent log on their record for lack of equipment, entirely dependent on your mood that day. Students like discipline As mentioned earlier, every human being has the same fundamental need of feeling safe. Discipline doesn’t mean that you approach situations as Ms Trunchbull, but that you prevent situations that could make students feel like they are in danger. This might mean using prevention and de-escalation strategies to ensure that students are able to continue to learn and progress, because contrary to popular belief, students are excited to learn our subjects. It is frustrating to them when this gets disrupted. Some students may be the ‘disruptors’ but do think about why this may be. Do they need your help? Has something upset them? Students like routine Routines, over time, become habits and therefore second nature, so it is incredibly important that teachers constantly and consistently model positive routines. As they become habits, students will know what is expected of them when they enter a classroom, or even the school itself. Everything involves some form of routine, whether it is your entry routines, transition routines or how students leave Sky Dining after lunch. Routine leads to efficiency and order, which is a huge benefit for your workload too! Students like trust Westminster Academy has a challenging context, and as discussed in INSET, some of our students have experienced trauma that some of us are privileged to have never or will ever experience. When students arrive at the school gates, as teachers, we become in loco parentis, they trust us with their safety; happiness, and sense of security. The same expectations you have of the students, of being kind, respectful and considerate, are also the expectations they have of you. Students like fairness Understanding fairness is an important part of growing up and practising empathy. There is no room for favourites or resentment in how we manage behaviour. Students are smart people and want to see that any system of rewards and consequences is justified, and are quick to say when it’s not, so don’t give them any opportunity. If lots of students are talking, don’t just punish the student whose name you know. Similarly, students don’t like to feel like they have been singled out, therefore you should avoid using language that does this. For example, when noticing a couple of students messing around on their Chromebook, you might give the instruction ‘Year 7, nobody should be using their Chromebook for this task’ In conclusion, my message is simply that, to be ‘liked’ as a teacher, is to follow the behaviour policy. The behaviour policy allows for consistency, discipline, routine, trust and fairness- all of the attributes that students themselves seek in order to feel secure, loved and respected. Or, in keeping with the classic WA phrase ‘safe, secure and successful’, which are ironically the same attributes that you too seek as a teacher. Further Reading: Tom Bennett- Running the Room: The Teacher's Guide to Behaviour

How To Be An Excellent Tutor

Featuring: Ellie Fields (English), Sid Garg (Maths), Sophia Evans (Maths), Axelle Diot (MFL), Jamie MacInnes (MFL), Michelle Chen (Science)

This year has been one full of challenges and, of the many things we should be proud of as a staff body, is the phenomenal pastoral care we’ve provided for our students throughout this difficult time. At the heart of this is the role of the pastoral tutor. We thought that, as the year draws to a close and we start to look forward to September (!), we’d speak to some of our wonderful tutors to get their tips and advice on how to be a fantastic pastoral tutor in preparation for next year!

• What makes a good tutor?

A tutor should be someone who students can trust. This means that there is a genuine and caring relationship where students feel like they are seen and heard by their tutor on a daily basis. (Ellie) 

The students must know that you genuinely care about them, and should feel comfortable sharing information with you. If they know you have their best interests in mind and will support them in all fairness, your relationship will grow stronger. I believe the role of a tutor is to be there for students, no matter what happens. (Axelle)

In my opinion, a good tutor is almost a parental figure. You need to have a close relationship with your tutees but have very clear boundaries about what is and isn't acceptable in your form / wider school life. A tutor needs to settle their students at the beginning of each day and ensure that they are mentally prepared for the classes to come. (Jamie)

I think the overriding objective is to ensure that pupils understand that they represent the tutor group around the school and you as a tutor represent them around the school in turn. This helps set expectations around their conduct in such a way that there is a "want" to have high expectations rather than out of necessity to stay out of trouble. In my head, I think of the role of our tutor group as a "home base" for them at the school and their first point of contact. This means that staying up to date with changes and events around the school is important. (Sid)

• What did you find most helpful when you first started as a tutor? How did you develop your skills and confidence as a tutor?

Do your homework on your students-  reading data on the students gives you an idea of the class dynamic. I personally spoke with previous teachers of the class to consult with them regarding seating plans and get background info on certain students (Sophia)

Shadow/observe those you struggle most with- in order for them to know I was interested in their progress and in improving our relationship. I would then have conversations with my tutees about things that I have picked on and would compliment them (beautiful handwriting, excellent work completed in a lesson I observe them in, great question they asked in a lesson, etc.) (Axelle) 

Show you are listening- It was useful to find small/easy ways to show the tutor group that you care about them and are listening to them. No matter what their skills or interests are, you are the tutor for all of them, and finding a way to relate to them helps build a positive relationship. A positive relationship is the foundation for me. (Sid)

Use the support around you- As an NQT, the support from the Year Coordinator as well as my DoL was vital to building the environment in my form. Without reaching out and using the support available at WA, my form group would not be as settled as they currently are. (Jamie)

• What are some of your most recommended start of year routines/tips/tricks?
• Making phone calls home in the first couple of weeks both positive and negative is also really effective. (Ellie)
• Students start reading at 8.25 as opposed to 8.30. Therefore, the students who arrive late and ones who are slightly more disruptive arrive to a quiet and calm setting. (Jamie)
• Using a tutor slide in the classroom projected on the board. It has daily notices but also a quote, word and news story for the week. Asking certain students to find this really helped me build those initial relationships and soon the whole class wanted to contribute! I also put a riddle or an optical illusion that seems to engage the whole class and build a positive and cohesive atmosphere. (Ellie and Michelle)
• Show your personality. There's a difference between being a tutor and being a teacher and when it comes to the tutor-student relationship I think it's important that they see more of your ''human" side. (Sophia)
• Be consistently positive. Say hello to every student. Be consistent even if their mood/attitude changes throughout the year. (Sid) Your tutees must feel equally important to you, with no favouritism or unfairness. (Axelle) 
• Establish routines from the start. Make sure you have clear routines and you stick to them for everyone. (Axelle) Are you going to get students to read each slide? Are you going to take volunteers to read? Make sure you're constantly checking equipment, if you check a lot during the start of the term you'll notice that they will maintain this throughout the rest of it (usually...) (Sophia). Show them that you care about uniform and equipment expectations. (Sid)
• Get to know students quickly. Be interested in the students' lives very quickly. What are they passionate about? If it's art, ask them to share it with you (drawing, playing an instrument, etc.). If they do a sport at school, go and see one of their games. It is really important for you to be interested very early in the academic year. (Sophia) At the start of term, having a birthday wall is a great way to make the classroom feel personable for your students. (Michelle)

• Can you give an example of a challenging scenario you had as a tutor and how you dealt with it?

One student in my tutor group had quite a problematic internet history. Working with the head of year we had a meeting with his mum and provided some resources for her to do with him at home. I am calling her each week to check-in and getting feedback from his teachers. Whilst I don't speak to him directly about it in lesson, he is sat at the front so I can check in with him and I use a lot of positive praise. (Ellie)

I at one point had all of the core teachers of my tutor group complain about their behaviour and email me for a meeting. The issue was not with just one or two students but with the whole class. As a result, we devised a plan to monitor their behaviour closer (leaving the :) and :( on the board for Maths, Science and English which worked quite well to see who the recurring characters are. I also kept some students behind (just a few extra minutes) if their names were on the board under the negatives side. Even if it's only for 2 minutes the difference between seeing all their friends leave and they stay behind had quite an impact. We also (core teachers) ended up writing a list of students we wanted to target for phone calls and split them up between us. This I think is a useful strategy if you're having problems with more than 8 students as you can get support with contacting home (not feeling too overwhelmed). (Sophia)

I had a parent contact me regarding their child's worsening mental health and, in particular, anxiety. The parent was understandably very worried about their child's wellbeing and in order to allay any worries, I talked her through the support services that WA can offer. Following our conversation, I completed a WAIT referral. The student is now seeing the school counsellor and has been referred to CAMHS. This action has been very positively received by the parent and student. (Jamie)

When there was a pastoral issue between two students, I separated them in the classroom, had conversations with them separately about what is expected of them, and probably also adapted expectations for the whole class. It is important to judge when a strict environment is needed to maintain order and when it is appropriate to have lively discussions about topics in TTB. (Sid)

• What are some of your ultimate tips for being a great tutor in general?
• Be positive! I always think you don't know what their time at home is like and someone smiling and saying hello in the morning makes a huge difference. It also really helps me if I am feeling tired or stressed to smile! (Ellie) Make sure you end the day on a positive note, even if you think they have had a bad one. (Sophia) The classroom mood is often a reflection of your own! (Sid)
• Have a sense of humour- Don't take anything personally (Sid) 
• Work with the team- As a form tutor, you are not qualified or expected to handle each problem alone. From my experience, knowing who to go to for help is essential. (Jamie)
• Be a champion for your students- It is also important to celebrate your students' wins: sports matches, one of your tutees leading in the assembly, great feedback from a teacher, winning the line up, etc. (Axelle) I have recently been attending the Yr 7 Basketball games and the students really appreciate the support. (Jamie) Each week a student in my tutor group is the star of the week with their name hung up in the classroom for everyone to see. (Michelle)
• Prioritise parental questions- When parents / tutees have a question or an inquiry, I will make sure this is resolved extremely quickly so they know I will help them. In the case, this cannot be resolved quickly, I will make sure to keep regular contact with the family so they still feel supported. (Axelle)
• Make the most of unexpected teaching moments- Make sure you take those questions in TTB that may seem a bit off-topic but can be teaching moments that the students may not be getting in other lessons (prime example would be questions about LGBT in pride month) (Sophia)

Thank you all for such fantastic ideas! If you have any you’d like to share, please get in touch

Bitesize Research: Creating a supportive classroom

This week, I wanted to share with you an interesting concept from Evidence Based Education, which characterises the key elements of good teaching into four different areas or ‘dimensions’. The area I want to focus in light of coming back into school is ‘creating a supportive environment’ which is the 2nd of the four dimensions.  

Objectives: To understand the key elements of creating a classroom supportive environment for great teaching.

Summary:  

The key elements contained within the evidence-based approach proposed here are for dimension two are:

• Promoting interactions and relationships with all students that are based on mutual respect, care, empathy and warmth; avoiding negative emotions in interactions with students; being sensitive to the individual needs, emotions, culture and beliefs of students

• Promoting a positive climate of student-teacher relationships, characterised by respect, trust, cooperation and care

• Promoting learner motivation through feelings of competence, autonomy and relatedness

• Creating a climate of high expectations, with high challenge and high trust, so learners feel it is okay to have a go; encouraging learners to attribute their success or failure to things they can change

How does this impact me and my practice?: Some reflection questions arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

 

• How important will these be when we return to face-to-face teaching?

• What strategies can I use to demonstrate and build these particular elements of teaching in the classroom?

If anyone would like to discuss this further with Jaya - please comment below! I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.

Bitesize Research: Positive Student-Teacher Relationships

I hope everyone is well and wishing you all a Happy New Year! This first week back in T3, I wanted to share with you a meta-analysis focusing on the best strategies for positive student-teacher relationships.

Objectives:

In other studies, strong student-teacher relationships have shown to have a significant

impact on the development of cognitive, emotional and social skills.

This study looks at the best possible strategies in building these strong relationships.

This analysis was of both specific programmes, as well as more general strategies. 

Summary:  

• Two particular programmes known as Establish-Maintain-Restore, and BRIDGE, had

            significant effect sizes. 

• In terms of general practice, preventative strategies were found to be more impactful

            than reactive strategies to maintain and strengthen student-teacher relationships. 

• Moreover, direct (e.g. working with the student) rather than indirect (e.g. working with

            the parent) practice had a stronger impact. These include strategies such as praise,

            respect, spending time, and building personal connections. 

• Significant effect sizes were found to repair student-teacher relationships whereby

            teachers suggested a ‘fresh start’ e.g. ‘I know that yesterday’s lesson didn’t go so well,

            but I’m really looking forward to having you in my lesson today.’ 

How does this impact me and my practice?: Some reflection questions arising from this that

might be helpful to consider are: 

 

• What practices do you use to build and strength good student-teacher relationships? Which are the most impactful in your experience?

• How might you look to use some of these strategies going forward in T3?

• How and when might you use the repairing relationships strategy? What impact might it have?

If anyone would like to discuss this further with Jaya - please comment below!

I’d be delighted to open up these discussions and conversations.