The Behaviour Guru: Behaviour Management Solutions for Teachers

by Tom Bennett

Teaching isn't all about teaching; new teachers quickly realise that they need to be lion tamers too. Controlling a class isn't something that comes naturally to everyone - but it can be learned.



This no-nonsense guide tells teachers what the teacher training didn't, and offers instant strategies for dealing with the most common, and extreme, classroom scenarios.



Using his experiences of teaching in inner-city schools, as Behaviour Guru on the TES advice forum and working as a nightclub bouncer, Tom Bennett helps teachers, old and new, to assert their authority in the classroom.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2010

About the author

Tom Bennett was a teacher in inner-city London schools for thirteen years.

Currently he is the Director and founder of researchED, a grass-roots organisation that aims to make teachers research-literate and pseudo-science proof.

Since 2013 researchED has grown from a tweet to an international conference movement that so far has spanned three continents and six countries. He is also the series editor for the best-selling range of researchED books, and the editor of the quarterly researchED magazine.

In 2009 he was made a Teacher Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University. From 2008-2016 he wrote a weekly column for the TES and TES online, and is the author of five books on teacher-training, behaviour management and educational research. In 2015 he was long listed for the GEMS Global Teacher Prize, and in that year was listed as one of the Huffington Post’s ‘Top Ten Global Educational Bloggers’.

In March 2017, Tom published a review of behaviour in schools for the UK Department of Education (DfE). In 2019 he chaired the Behaviour Management Group for the DfE and was appointed their independent Behaviour Advisor. He trains teachers and schools around the world in all aspects of behaviour management and research integration. He currently leads the Department for Education’s Behaviour Hubs project, a £10 million program designed to reboot behaviour skills in disadvantaged schools throughout the UK.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel by reading this book during the school summer holidays, I have already broken one of the suggested pieces of advice in the last chapter😉

This is a great book to dip into and revisit behaviour management.

Written as a series of ‘caller questions’ and answers from Tom Bennett, this book acts to focus on the main issues of classroom behaviour management:
- know the school behaviour rules
- establish the classroom rules and expectations
- be consistent
- always do what you say you will
- stay focused
- be the teacher and run the room

The last chapter is an excellent summary of the book. I would recommend this book to all teachers - regardless of experience.

[Daisy Leather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great, even if only for the reassurance that everyone goes through the same problems as a teacher. Humorous and encouraging, I do feel a little bit more sure about myself after having read this book.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to work through this, but the advice within is sound. I've already implemented some of the techniques Mr Bennett recommends with encouraging success. At times his tone was too sardonic (eerily similar to Bill Bryson's writing) and I wasn't a fan of those paragraphs, but overall this book offered some invaluable insight into behaviour management and I'm pleased that I finished it.

[Veselina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful tips and ideas for a newly qualified or teachers in training.

[Hard Fluff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved most of his advice but I also found him quite rude sometimes.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a teacher of 10 years, I dived into this book when encountering behaviour challenges. It was light and easy to read.

I didn’t learn anything new from the book. However, it did give me something equally as valuable - reassurance that I was on the right track! The approach can be summarised as calm, consistent, and consequences.

It also sparked some ideas in me of starting a behaviour working group to support a consistent approach across the school... we’ll see whether this comes to fruition next year!

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tom was a guest speaker at a CPD day. I found his talk really interesting and he was able to delve into the practical side of managing class behaviour. As a result of his session I decided to check out his books. This one was the first I picked and continues his good reflections on classroom management. Some ideas in this book are tried and trusted by many of my colleagues some are new to me. Each one of his ideas is met with equal amounts of humour and great understanding of behaviour and solutions that have worked. This book is available from Amazon click here. There is a lot to learn from this book even if you are a seasoned teacher, a must have for those starting out in teaching or working in a classroom environment.

[Ronni]

Excellent help as a newbie teacher who struggled more than anything with managing behaviour. The book itself is very relaxed and reassuring even if at times it feels as though you are being spoken down to.