About Behaviour for Learning
An Introduction to the Behaviour for Learning Approach
What is the Behaviour for Learning approach?
The Behaviour for Learning approach that I have a written about (Ellis and Tod 2009, Ellis and Tod 2015, Ellis and Tod 2018) and on which I now provide training and consultancy developed from a systematic literature review by Powell and Tod (2004) commissioned by the TDA. It is an approach that offers an alternative way of thinking about children’s behaviour that seeks to reduce perceptions that 'promoting learning' and 'managing behaviour' are separate issues (Powell and Tod 2004). It is underpinned by a conceptual framework depicted in Figure 1.  The conceptual framework can be used in a variety of ways but it can be understood in terms of some simple principles. Essentially the behaviours children exhibit in the classroom – which, from the teacher’s perspective, may be considered either positive or negative – result from an interaction between social, emotional and cognitive factors. We refer to the positive behaviours as learning behaviours.

The Behaviour for Learning approach features in the recently published Education Endowment Foundation report Improving Behaviour in Schools (EEF 2019).  
The three  Behaviour for Learning relationships
Within the Behaviour for Learning approach we consider that emotional factors influence the child’s Relationship with Self, cognitive/curricular  factors influence the child’s Relationship with the Curriculum and social factors influence the child’s Relationship with Others. We use the term relationship to capture the idea that the child brings social, emotional and cognitive factors with them to their learning in school but the learning environment also exerts a powerful influence – for good or ill - through the curriculum, the quality of teacher-pupil relationships, policies, the culture and so on. The relationship is formed and its quality determined through an interaction between what the child brings and what the school brings. Figure 2 illustrates this point for the child’s relationship with the curriculum.   Although what the child brings to their learning influences the relationship – in this case in quite a negative way – there are quite a few variables that the school can positively manipulate from its side to improve the relationship.
What are Learning Behaviours?
Learning behaviours can be thought of as behaviours that are necessary for learning in a group setting such as a school. If you think about a successful learner you may be able to think about all the positive behaviours that they exhibit that contribute to them being successful. These behaviours will not just relate to accessing the curriculum. Some will be more social in nature, such as the willingness and ability to collaborate in a group or the willingness and ability to filter out distractions from others if required to work independently. Some behaviours will be more emotional in nature such as confidence when confronted with unfamiliar work or resilience when learning is difficult or does not go right first time. Equally you will probably be able to bring to mind some less successful learners whose current behaviour is problematic. You can probably think of positive behaviours that are either not present at all at the moment or, if present, you would like them to demonstrate more frequently. These represent the learning behaviours it is desirable to develop. It should be evident from the preceding description that when we refer to learning behaviours we include both skills and dispositions.
Practical Application of the Behaviour for Learning approach
All that I have explained so far may sound quite theoretical but once you understand how the  key elements (the three relationships and learning behaviour) interact, the Behaviour for Learning approach is relatively simple to use at the three levels shown below.
Day to Day Use
As part of High Quality Teaching:
  • Select and evaluate strategies and approaches based on their potential to enhance, or at least protect,  the three relationships and contribute to the development of positive learning behaviours. 
  • Avoid those strategies that would have a predictable detrimental effect on the three relationships or the development of positive learning behaviours.
  • Intuitively vary practice based on knowledge of the class, groups and individuals, drawing on the principles of the Behaviour for Learning approach, e.g. using the ‘social’ appeal of group work to develop motivation for a less popular subject, or planning an activity based on awareness of learning behaviours currently in a group’s repertoire.
Core Use
Your appraisal is that the current problematic behaviour presented by an individual (or group) could be addressed by developing a specific learning behaviour(s) :
  • Identify a specific learning behaviour(s) to develop, often in an individual but could be in a group. The learning behaviours are likely to be recognisable as social, curricular or emotional in nature. 
  • Select strategies to develop this learning behaviour(s). The strategies may be recognisable as more curricular, social or emotional in nature.
  • Monitor and evaluate based on the emergence of the learning behaviours you identified previously (bullet point 1).
Extended Use
Your appraisal is that the current problematic behaviour is due to difficulties/weaknesses in one or (or more) of the 3 relationship areas – with self (emotional), with others (social), with the Curriculum (Curricular/cognitive). This is having a pervasive effect (e.g. a child takes their global self esteem everywhere with them and it affects their behaviour in range of contexts). The relationship becomes the focus for development :
  • Identify the relationship (with the Curriculum, with Self or with Others) that needs to be developed.
  • Identify a cluster of learning behaviours (or specific significant learning behaviour) to develop that will have a pervasive, positive effect on this relationship
  • Select strategies to develop this learning behaviour(s). The strategies may be recognisable as more curricular, social or emotional in nature
  • Monitor and evaluate based on the emergence of the cluster of learning behaviours (or specific significant learning behaviour) identified in bullet point 2 BUT be prepared to recognise other learning behaviours, not previously defined, that could indicate an improvement in the target relationship. 
References

Ellis, S and Tod, J (2009) Behaviour for Learning: Proactive approaches to behaviour management (1st edition). Abingdon: Routledge

Ellis, S and Tod, J (2015) Promoting Behaviour for Learning in the Classroom: Effective strategies, personal style and professionalism Abingdon: Routledge   

Ellis, S and Tod, J (2018) Behaviour for Learning: Promoting Positive Relationships in the Classroom (2nd edition). Abingdon: Routledge

Powell, S & Tod, J (2004) A systematic review of how theories explain learning behaviour in school contexts. Available from https://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/cms/Default.aspx?tabid=123 (accessed 27/4/19)
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