Classroom chaos sends teachers to self-defence classes

Terrified teachers are having to take self-defence lessons as ­violent students use chairs, water bottles and scissors as ‘weapons’ in unruly classrooms.

Teachers are facing increasing struggles with unruly and disinterested students. Picture: iStock

Terrified teachers are having to take self-defence lessons as ­violent students use chairs, water bottles and scissors as “weapons’’ in unruly classrooms.

Team Teach – which trains 8000 Australian teachers each year in classroom management – shows teachers how to calm and disarm students, and defend themselves or escape from an attack.

Teachers are instructed in safely blocking kicks and punches, or escaping from a student or parent who has grabbed their hair or clothing.

Nick Burnett, the managing director of Team Teach in Australia and New Zealand, said many universities had failed to instruct teachers in classroom management. He said some students became so “dysregulated’’ and upset they threw chairs or water bottles.

“Very little ones can be, unfortunately, as aggressive as a big (student),’’ he told The Weekend Australian. “Our key thing has always been about how do we keep students safe, but also keep staff safe?

“Most people leave teaching within three or four years, and the most common (reason) is behaviour,” he added.

Mr Burnett said some students were using mobile phones to record or film teachers, or to call parents to come to the school to confront teachers or office staff.

“Parents come in and complain, and just take the side of their child, potentially becoming violent and aggressive with office staff at the front door,’’ he said.

Mr Burnett said schools needed to set firm behavioural boundaries, build strong relationships with students, and explicitly teach and model good behaviour.

As classrooms grow increasingly chaotic, Australia’s biggest school system will investigate any links between children’s screen addiction and misbehaviour.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car said her ban on mobile phones in all public schools this year was already improving student behaviour, as principals reported “more socialising and less disagreements’’ in playgrounds.

She said the ban was a “no-brainer because we need our children concentrating in the class­room’’. She said some schools had voluntarily banned phones “because they were worried about increasing rates of violence, and outsiders coming in and being ­violent at school’’.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car with Premier Chris Minns. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“Classroom disruption is on the increase,’’ she said. “The difficulties and complexities of managing behaviour in the classroom is making it increasingly hard to be a teacher. Pressure on the teaching workforce is increasing.

“In NSW, we have chronic shortages in the workforce and that problem has been made worse by merging cancelled classes and minimal supervision. You put disruptive classrooms on top of that, you put a few of them together, and it’s very difficult.’’

Ms Car said $2.5m in NSW government research grants would study the impact of gaming, social media and videos on children’s learning, wellbeing and behaviour.

“I think as parents we can all see it when you try to take a device off a young child, how addicted they can be,’’ she said. “We want our kids to be technologically prepared for the future but everyone is worried, and rightly so, about the disruption that may cause to their developmental upbringing.’’

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said reforms to university teaching degrees would better prepare student teachers for the classroom, and give them more practical experience.

“Classroom disruption can have a massive impact on teachers’ ability to teach and students’ ability to learn,’’ Mr Clare said.

“We’re improving teacher training at uni so they’re better prepared from day one to teach kids to read and write and do maths, but also manage disruption in the classroom.’’