Student review: Changing Behaviour in Schools: Promoting Positive Relationships and Wellbeing

Author: Sue Roffey

Edition: First

Publisher: SAGE

Pages: 232

Price: £65.00 and £20.99

ISBN 9781849200776 and 0783

Over the past few years, the media have widely discussed pupils' behaviour in schools across the country and, in many cases, criticised the management of that behaviour. Changing Behaviour in Schools looks further into possible reasons for these concerns, and offers suggestions for tackling problematic behaviour.

The book is divided into four sections: becoming an effective, reflective teacher; looking at positive behaviour management; responding to challenging behaviour; and focusing on the importance of the role played by the school.

Each chapter contains a set of objectives for ease of focus, thereby allowing students to dip in and out of the book and pick out specific topics or areas.

Sue Roffey begins by laying out for the reader the aims of the book. It is crammed throughout with recent research, which is useful for students, and is littered with case studies and questions for reflection and discussion, which is great for teachers. Plenty of opportunities are provided for practitioners to consider and monitor their own practice, as well as suggestions made for productive change.

Roffey states that "much of what you will read here may seem obvious", but she focuses on what works and what has been proven by research. Students will appreciate the list of references at the end of each chapter, which provide wider reading on specific areas of learning and offer an opportunity to increase knowledge of a range of relevant research.

The text's academic scaffolding includes the work of theorists and psychologists supporting more recent research and case studies. As a student, it is often hard to find textbooks that use current research, but Changing Behaviour in Schools is a welcome exception. The up-to-date information it offers makes the book feel relevant not only to students studying education and behaviour management, but to teachers as well.

One of the most useful aspects of this textbook, for teachers in particular, are the appendices. They are helpful for any research the reader may wish to undertake as student or teacher, first by providing a series of questions to determine possible causes for behaviour and second via a questionnaire for schools.

This book could certainly be recommended as a way to increase understanding of some of the challenges of children's behaviour in school and how hard teachers have to work to manage this behaviour.

It allows teachers to consider their behaviour management techniques and provides suggestions for new strategies, while reminding them of well-known techniques.

Who is it for? Undergraduate students researching behaviour in schools, and teachers.

Presentation: Well presented and organised in clear sections for easy reading.

Would you recommend it? Yes, particularly to undergraduates.

Highly recommended

Outdoor Learning in the Early Years: Management and Innovation

Author: Helen Bilton

Edition: Third revised

Publisher: Routledge/Taylor and Francis

Pages: 256

Price: £19.99

ISBN 9780415454773

Full of suggestions for managing and running an outdoor area, which is key in the Early Years Foundation Stage and is beginning to be valued through Key Stage 1. Good for teachers and undergraduate/PGCE students.

Highly recommended

Developing Teacher Assessment

Authors: John Gardner, Wynne Harlen, Louise Hayward, Gordon Stobart and Martin Montgomery

Edition: First

Publisher: Open University Press

Pages: 208

Price: £60.00 and £19.99

ISBN 9780335237821 and 7838

Even though it is written by an assortment of authors, this textbook follows the same format throughout, with clear objectives at the start of the chapters and questions for reflection at the end. Good for final-year undergraduates, but more suitable for postgraduate/master's students and teachers.