Education Brief: Behaviour for learning - Cambridge Assessment International Education

School Ethos

  • Focus on Behaviour for Learning (BfL) to enhance students' relationships with self, others, and the curriculum.

  • Developed by Dr. Simon Ellis and Professor Janet Tod through a systematic review, forming a conceptual framework.

  • Acknowledges emotional, social, and cognitive (curricular) influences on learning behavior.

Understanding Behaviour for Learning

  • Definition: Approach to understanding and developing children's behavior to promote readiness for education.

  • Key Relationships:

    • Self: Emotional relationship impacting learners' feelings and self-esteem.

    • Others: Social relationship affecting collaboration and interactions in school.

    • Curriculum: Cognitive relationship influencing engagement and learning performance.

  • Schools' ethos and external factors also affect these relationships.

Learning Behaviour

  • Key principle: Teachers prioritize promoting learning through behavior management.

  • Identified learning behaviors include:

    • Engagement

    • Collaboration

    • Participation

    • Communication

    • Motivation

    • Independence

    • Responsiveness

    • Self-regard

    • Self-esteem

    • Responsibility

  • Relationships are interconnected; success in one can lead to improvements in others.

Relationship Dynamics

  • Relationship with Self: Related to emotional health and wellbeing; includes factors like self-esteem and motivation.

  • Relationship with Others: Involves social skills necessary for effective learning.

  • Relationship with Curriculum: Involves cognitive aspects, how students engage with academic content.

  • Effective teaching requires awareness of these dynamics and adaptability in approaches.

Promoting Behaviour for Learning

  • Teacher Strategies:

    • Foster emotional well-being by creating supportive environments.

    • Enhance social interactions through strategic seating, collaborative activities.

    • Develop curricular engagement via differentiated instruction and appropriate task challenges.

  • Monitoring success through observable development of identified learning behaviors.

Implementing the Framework

  • Monitoring and Evaluation: Success indicated by improvements in learning behaviors and dynamics among the three relationships.

  • Levels of Use:

    • Day-to-Day: General classroom practices that enhance relationships and learning.

    • Core: Target a limited number of specific learning behaviors for development.

    • Extended: Focus on strengthening one or more relationships impacting learning.

Practical Examples of Learning Behaviors

  • Collaboration: Engage with peers, share ideas, and focus on tasks without disrupting others.

  • Address emotional resilience: Help learners deal with setbacks and mistakes positively.

  • Recognize the role of effective feedback in building confidence and self-regard.

Resources and Further Reading

  • Suggested readings and resources to deepen understanding and application of Behavior for Learning concepts:

    • Bandura, A. (1997) on self-efficacy

    • EEF (2019) on improving behavior in schools

    • Ellis & Tod's literature on behavior management.

Conclusion

  • Schools should adopt a holistic approach to support cognitive, social, and emotional development, distinguishing between strategies that enhance relationships and those targeting specific learning behaviors.