The Trick To Managing Student Behaviour In The Classroom

We all dream of a perfect classroom, with perfect students and ourselves as the perfect educator. Ideally, for every teacher, their students will respond to their lessons with enthusiasm and interest, with everyone engaged and learning. Reality is often the complete opposite of this, especially when teaching younger learners and teens.

Teaching teens and young learners is often seen as something to be feared. We all know that compared to teaching adults, it takes up more energy and brain power to maintain a classroom where learning is happening. Most of the time, we feel it’s more like crowd control.

So how can we bring the joy back into these classrooms?

There are a number of things teachers need to be aware of in order to manage classroom behaviour. My own experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to teens and adults has involved different approaches due to their distinct cognitive, emotional and motivational characteristics, which can easily be transplanted to other subjects.

Handling attention-seeking behaviour

We’ve all worked with students who are the class clown or the centre of attention.

Attention-seeking behaviour is common, especially among younger learners and teenagers. It can range from minor disruptions to more serious behavioural issues. Understanding the reasons behind it and applying effective strategies can help maintain a positive learning environment.

The most common causes of this kind of behaviour can be a need for validation or a lack of confidence. These students are often seeking approval from their peers or the teacher and misbehave to hide insecurities about their abilities. Peer influence can have a huge impact, and some students may act up to impress their classmates. Other reasons may have more to do with their emotional need and lack of attention at home, or just pure boredom if the lesson is too easy or too difficult.

Examples of attention-seeking behaviour can include:

• Calling/shouting out things before being nominated or asked.
• Interrupting others when they’re speaking.
• Making jokes at inappropriate times.
• Exaggerating reactions, such as by overreacting to feedback or mistakes.
• Seeking sympathy.
• Moving around the room when they should be sitting down, throwing objects around the room or disturbing their peers.

What can teachers do in these situations? I have found a few methods useful when working with teens.

The first thing is to get to know your learners by building positive relationships with them. Giving students regular positive attention will mean they don’t need to demand it from you. Set clear expectations from the beginning. What’s acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in your classroom? However, it is not only about your expectations of the learners. What are their expectations of you?

Another way of managing attention-seeking behaviour is to provide leadership roles to the more disruptive learners. Giving them responsibilities, such as the classroom helper, could divert their need for attention. Or you could just try to ignore minor disruptions, as this can sometimes prevent reinforcement. By limiting the attention they receive, you give them less time to misbehave.

Another method I have used in class is non-verbal – just a look or standing near the student has done the trick. This has worked on many occasions with students of all ages.

A longer-term strategy I have used involves asking the learner to self-reflect. Have a quiet conversation with them and ask them what impact their behaviour has on the whole class. When you notice positive behaviour, lots of praise helps.

Be consistent; do not tell students there will be some kind of penalty for bad behaviour and not follow it up. The inverse is also true. For example, if you have agreed that students will get time to spend on their phones or have a fun activity if they complete an activity that requires more focused time, then allow this to happen.

Motivations and learning goals

Young learners and teens have different motivations and learning goals from adults. Intrinsic motivation is more complex in teens and young learners as they are influenced by their developmental stage and social environment.

Motivating teens can be a challenge for a teacher, since engagement is influenced by external factors. These include parents, school requirements, exams and peer pressure. Understanding students’ motivation and aligning learning objectives accordingly will make your lessons more meaningful, effective and enjoyable.

Teens are driven by their identity and interests. For them, learning English is more linked to their personal interests, i.e. their hobbies. Anything that will help them connect with their international peers and is influenced by peer approval will help engage learners.

So how can teachers motivate their teens? The obvious answer is to find out from the students themselves what they want to learn and use more engaging topics rather than sticking strictly to the coursebook. Use more interactive activities instead of activities that will keep them sitting down in the same place for long periods of time.

Use more authentic materials from YouTube or social media. This gives learners the opportunity to engage in authentic English content. Make it relevant, give the students choices and control over what they want to learn, and don’t focus just on results (correct answers); focus and celebrate progress by acknowledging effort and improvement instead.

I’ve always found that giving young learners and teens choices of what they want to do in their lessons helps to keep their interest and focus on learning longer. Don’t go into the classroom with a rigid lesson plan and feel you cannot divert from it. If your students are not engaging with the material or activities you have prepared, then you need to adapt them to something they will enjoy doing.

Even the most challenging student can be made to participate with the right kind of materials. I once ran a great lesson plan on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, where I got the class to research what the story was about first. Then I had them discuss what they thought about the characters in the play and the old language used by Shakespeare. Their task was then to modernise the story and envision how it would play out on social media or WhatsApp. Every student in the class was engaged throughout the whole process and the work they produced was outstanding.

Here are some general tips for engaging teen learners:

1) Make things more interactive

• Gamified learning – turn activities into games such as quizzes, competitions, scavenger hunts, etc.
• Hands-on activities – roleplays, experiments, or crafts can often boost engagement, especially if they incorporate movement. Standing activities, stations and walking group discussions will help keep energy levels high.

2) Focus on the learners’ interests

• Pop culture – include references to music, movies or social media trends that students enjoy.
• Real-world relevance – show how the topic connects to their lives.

3) Give them more control

• Choice-based learning – let students choose between different activities or project topics.
• Student-led discussions – have them lead part of the lesson and/or present ideas themselves.
• Flexible pacing – if learners are struggling with a topic, slow down or approach it differently.

4) Utilise technology

• Videos and podcasts – short clips related to your lesson topic will instantly make your lessons more engaging.
• Interactive apps – tools like Kahoot!, Quizizz and Padlet can make learning more engaging and fun.
• Collaborative online work – use Google Docs or Jamboard for group activities.

5) Address classroom dynamics

• Check the atmosphere – if your students are tired or restless, try and change the pace of the lesson, or do a quick energising activity.
• Switch seating arrangements – grouping/pairing students differently can change their engagement levels.
• Mix up teaching styles and approaches – try discussion-based, project-based, task-based, problem-solving type lessons instead of direct instructions.

6) Encourage personal expression

• Create the environment – let students express learning through music, videos and acting. Not everything has to be done sitting down with notebooks.
• Reflective activities – have students keep a journal about things they have enjoyed or not enjoyed during lessons and why, as well as the progress they’ve made during each lesson.

Neurodiverse learners

At least 20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent, so your chance of having at least one student who needs additional support in your lessons is high. Some of the most likely neurodivergent conditions to be present in the classroom include dyslexia, ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Tourette’s syndrome.

Neurodivergent students struggle with traditional teaching methods, which don’t usually align with their optimal way of learning. It is therefore incredibly important that teachers can spot the signs and identify students who need additional support or a different approach. Teachers often misunderstand neurodiverse learners’ behaviour as disruptive and non-compliant.

How does neurodiversity impact behaviour? Common behavioural challenges for learners include:

Attention – students can be easily distracted and lose focus, or spend time daydreaming. Interrupting the teacher or their classmates and calling out answers impulsively. They can also have difficulty following instructions.

Sensory sensitivity and overstimulation – some neurodivergent students may avoid paired or group work or struggle with conversation-based activities. Fidgeting, meltdowns or shutting down and avoiding eye contact can be some of the behaviours teachers may experience when the space is too noisy, bright or overcrowded.

Masking – this refers to neurodivergent students’ attempts to disguise or suppress their natural behaviours as a result of outside pressure, which can be tiring and often leads to burnout.

Communication difficulties – in an EFL classroom in particular, this can be tricky for all our learners if their level of English is not fluent.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here, as each student will bring their own specific needs. Talking to your neurodivergent learners and finding out how they learn best is usually the first step in supporting them. Difficult behaviour becomes less difficult as a result.

Supporting learners who have a different way of doing things will help them achieve their goals just like everyone else. They are not making your life difficult on purpose. I often find it’s a cry for help and once they receive it, their behaviour will improve, and they will flourish.

Helping students to thrive

I have taught many students with difficult behaviours who went on to achieve their learning goals.

One such learner was a 15-year-old Turkish boy who had been sent to our school by his parents to take the IELTS test. From the moment he set foot in class, his behaviour was aggressive and unmanageable. His teacher struggled for a week with his disruptive behaviour which included shouting over people, standing up and moving around the classroom when he should have been sitting down, and being threatening towards other students.

I arranged a meeting with the student in which I found out about his learning experiences in Turkey, his hobbies, his family life, why he was in London, etc. It quickly became apparent that he had been excluded from several schools because he ‘didn’t fit in’. His father, a businessman, wanted him to attend a British university to study business administration and return to Turkey to take over the family business. He also told me that he had anxiety and didn’t sleep much.

I also arranged a call with his father to find out a little bit more about the disruptive behaviour. I was told that the son was on antidepressants and sleeping tablets and that everything else was fine. After several more meetings with the student, I decided it was time to get an official diagnosis of what was causing the disruptive behaviour. With the permission of his parents, we arranged for an official assessment of the student. He was diagnosed with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and anxiety.

With this information, I was able to discuss his needs with his parents and put together a plan of support, starting with some one-to-one lessons with more personalised content, and then introducing him to the class setting. He did go on to take his IELTS exam and get the score he needed to get into university, which he also completed successfully before returning home.

Teaching young learners and teens can be challenging, but at the same time, it is very rewarding. With the right kind of attitude and approach, these types of classes aren’t as daunting as most people think they are.

Varinder Ünlü is a highly experienced English Language Teaching (ELT) professional with over 33 years of expertise across diverse educational settings, including private language schools, further education and higher education. She has taught students of all ages and backgrounds, developing a deep understanding of learner needs and effective pedagogical approaches. She is currently Teacher Training and Development Manager at Stafford House International.