Episode 7: Are we managing behaviour or teaching it?

What if we stopped managing behaviour and started teaching it?

When a student disrupts a lesson, refuses to work or struggles to follow classroom expectations, our instinct is often to correct the behaviour. But what if the better question is: what does this student need to learn, and how can we help them succeed?

In this episode of The Better Question, James is joined by Dr Erin Leif from Monash University to explore behaviour education, a proactive approach that treats social, emotional and behavioural skills as skills that can be explicitly taught, practised and supported.

Drawing on her research and experience, (read the full research paper here) Erin challenges common assumptions about behaviour in schools and explains why understanding what sits beneath a behaviour is essential to finding effective solutions. From teaching predictable routines and reinforcing positive behaviours to maintaining high expectations and building whole-school support systems, she shares practical ideas educators can put into action.

Because behaviour education isn't about lowering expectations or abandoning boundaries. It's about helping students develop the skills they need to participate, learn and thrive.

The better question isn't simply how do we manage behaviour... it's what are we teaching instead?