behaviour issues

A couple of weeks ago I gave a short presentation on the micro-skills to a group of TAA students, all of whom train or will be training and assessing in very different settings. Quite a few said they find a lot of problems, or issues, or challenges with behaviour management. Then at a completely unconnected meeting with staff members here we were discussing the challenges posed by young people coming into the TAFE system and I was told that there are more behaviour issues with adult students than with youth. It's interesting that this does seem to be such a widespread issue - especially when it's so rarely if ever discussed in any adult learning or VET literature. I think it shows that there could well be a big gap that TROPIC or something like it could really fill.

I'm hoping that I can maintain contact with the TAA group and their teacher Gail, and find out what successes and persistent challenges they have in addressing behaviour issues in their training. That together with continuing to link with the TROPIC trainees and other teachers at TNQT, SQIT, WBIT and MIIT - not to mention Mark Davidson and some of our school colleagues - could be a good way to build and share knowledge about managing behaviour effectively and supportively.

photos from the Mount Isa trip

Sunset at Karumba, Lawn Hill National Park and Leichhardt Falls. Photos by Jo Pyne.

TROPIC in the dust

Last week I conducted observations and had conversations with teachers in Mount Isa and Normanton. Settings included classrooms, computer room, workshop and construction site. Vocational areas included electrical, construction, business/IT and diesel fitting.

There are some great things happening out there. Employment is booming with the mining, and TAFE and the mine have a good partnership going fast tracking apprentices in a range of areas. At the same time there are some challenges with persistent unemployment, disengaged youth and diverse communities. My overall impression was that teachers adapt their teaching styles well to meet the different needs of their client groups, and that they work hard to continually improve their teaching skills. Certainly I found that many teachers were prepared to invite me to observe and/or to engage in conversation with them about improving teaching practice.

I enjoyed my time there and found my conversations with teachers to be very rewarding. I certainly learned a lot.

A few random observations:

• teachers using students' names frequently - helps to maintain rapport and also to ensure that all students are called on to contribute - helps to maintain engagement too, as students need to be ready to be called on!
• a self-assessment checklist can be a very effective way of summarising learning, especially in a self-paced learning environment
• drawing on students' workplace and real-world knowledge is a good way of activating learning - but this can be difficult with younger learners who have more limited experience. One possible approach is to frame their learning with an initial attention-establisher, for example with WH&S to use a 'gory story' about workplace accidents to spark their interest...

June 2006

Susan and I ran the TROPIC training in Brisbane with 14 wonderful participants from SQIT, WBIT and TNQT. I will follow up with visits in July.

I'm going back to Mount Isa this Friday to do some observations and spend some time with the teachers there and in Normanton.

Have been doing some observations and also talking more with Robin, Sarah-Jane and Mary about possible improvements to the program. I'm hoping we can all link in together across the different institutes, and include Mount Isa in the conversations as well.

Had a call this morning from Phillip, a counsellor in TAFENSW who came across TROPIC and classroom profiling from an article on the TAFENSW ICVET website: http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/may_jun/litreview_classroom_management.htm