By Richard Garner, Education Editor Published: 23 February 2006
Teaching good manners and fair play can be more effective than the smack of firm discipline in improving pupils' behaviour, government research has found.
The research, published today, looked at 250 primary schools involved in a pilot aimed at curbing unruly behaviour. The team from London University's Institute of Education foundthat the "softly, softly" approach had achieved a remarkable success in reducing poor behaviour and improving attendance.
It also led to improved performance in national curriculum English and maths tests for 11-year-olds.
Teachers were encouraged to focus on improving behaviour in all subjects - instead of just relying on a rule book. In PE lessons, for instance, they taught children the concept of fair play, working in teams and how to be good winners or losers.
The results were that - in one local education authority, Southend in Essex - 90 per cent of schools reported a reduction in exclusions and 80 per cent improved attendance. In another, Plymouth, one school recorded a drop in the number of serious playground incidents from 15 to none in the first year of the scheme.
The Government has tended to concentrate on the "zero tolerance" approach. But as a result of the study, ministers are to offer the programme to every primary school.
Teaching good manners and fair play can be more effective than the smack of firm discipline in improving pupils' behaviour, government research has found. The research, published today, looked at 250 primary schools involved in a pilot aimed at curbing unruly behaviour. The team from London University's Institute of Education found that the "softly, softly" approach had achieved a remarkable success in reducing poor behaviour and improving attendance.
It also led to improved performance in national curriculum English and maths tests for 11-year-olds. Teachers were encouraged to focus on improving behaviour in all subjects - instead of just relying on a rule book. In PE lessons, for instance, they taught children the concept of fair play, working in teams and how to be good winners or losers. The results were that - in one local education authority, Southend in Essex - 90 per cent of schools reported a reduction in exclusions and 80 per cent improved attendance. In another, Plymouth, one school recorded a drop in the number of serious playground incidents from 15 to none in the first year of the scheme. The Government has tended to concentrate on the "zero tolerance" approach. But as a result of the study, ministers are to offer the programme to every primary school.
Monday, July 24, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Managing Interruptions: Maintain focus. Keep control of time.
Everyday interruptions at work can be a key barrier to managing your time effectively and, ultimately, a barrier to your success. Think back to your workday last Friday and consider for a minute the many interruptions that occurred. They may have been phone calls, emails, hallway conversations, colleagues stopping by your office, or anything else that unexpectedly demanded your attention and, in doing so, distracted you from the task at-hand.
Because your day only has so many hours in it, a handful of even the smallest interruptions can rob you of the time you need to achieve your goals and be successful in your work and life.
More than this, they can break your focus, meaning that you have to spend time re-engaging with the thought processes needed to successfully complete complex work.
The key to managing interruptions is to know what they are and whether they are necessary, and to plan for them in your daily schedule when they truly need your attention. The tips that follow will help you do that and so prevent interruptions from frustrating you and jeopardizing your success.
1. Keep An Interrupters Log
If interruptions consistently rob you of time and energy, or if they frequently push you off schedule and cause delays, it’s time to keep an Interrupters Log. This is a simple record of the interruptions you experience in the course of a day.
Keep your Interrupters Log with you every day for at least a week, recording every interruption you experience, and marking down the person interrupting you; the date and time it occurs; what the interruption is; whether it was valid; and whether it was urgent (or whether someone could have waited until a better time.) This allows you to more accurately identify the interruptions that are causing you to fall behind or to experience time crunches and delays. Once you have recorded the interruptions for a week, sit down with your log and analyze the information.
Which interruptions are valid and which are not? You need to deal with the valid interruptions. As for the interruptions that are not valid, you must find a way to block these out in the future or the productivity that will suffer is your own!
2. Analyze and Conquer Interruptions
To analyze and conquer the interruptions you find in your Interrupters Log, firstly look at whether the interruption is valid or not. Could someone have avoided interrupting you by waited for a routine meeting? Or was it something they should have asked you about at all? If not, deal with this politely but assertively.
Next, look at how urgent the interruptions were, and whether they could have been pre-empted. You can pre-empt many interruptions by holding routine meetings with people: If they're confident that they'll have access to you at a defined point in the near future, they'll learn to save up non-urgent issues until this meeting. However, some interruptions are both urgent and valid. You need to be interrupted, and you need to deal with the situation. From your Interrupters Log, you'll see how much time is taken up by these urgent, valid interruptions. Block this time into your schedule as "contingency time", and only take on as much other work as you can fit into the remaining time. You'll have to juggle this other work around the interruptions, but at least you won't be overloaded and stressed by the things that you haven't done because they've been displaced by emergencies.
3. Put Your Phone to Work for You (…Not Against You)
A little bit of planning can go a long way in working to control telephone interruptions, which most people experience all day long. If you are on a deadline or your focus needs to be intense (and not interrupted), use your voice mail to screen calls or have an assistant deal with messages for you. This way, you can deal with calls by priority at times that suit you. In fact, this telephone time can be planned into your schedule, and so become a normal part of your working pattern.
4. Catch Your Breath
When interrupted, it’s easy to get caught up in the “rush” of the person who is interrupting, for they undoubtedly feel their request is urgent. In reality, however, most interruptions are not a crisis and it serves everyone best to take a little time before taking action. Take a few minutes to consider the situation. Catch your breath and clear your head. A small delay, even one of just a few minutes, goes a long way in assessing the situation accurately and reacting appropriately.
5. Learn to Say “No”
It’s often acceptable to say “no” to requests or tasks if you are busy when someone else can handle it, if it is not an important task, or if it can be done later. When this is the case, saying “no” in a courteous and sincere way, followed by a short explanation is the best course of action to take: “I am working against a very tight deadline on an important project right now so, I am sorry, but I can not jump in and help”.
6. “Available” and “Unavailable” Time
Simple yet effective: Let people know when you are available… and when you are not. Make sure that people know that during your "unavailable time", they should only interrupt you if they have to. You and your co-workers can also agree on a signal that everyone in the office can use when tied up and unavailable, like turning the nameplate on the door around, or simply closing the door. This alleviates interruptions and can avoid hurt feelings.
7. “Invitation Only” Time
Schedule regular check-in times for the individuals you talk to most often. Ask these people to keep a running list of things that they need to discuss, so you can cover all the points at one time. And, force yourself to do the same. An open-door policy is good, but you should limit the number of people you invite to your work area. For instance, if you're scheduling a meeting, offer to meet your co-worker in his or her office or a conference room. This way, you can excuse yourself after you accomplish your purpose. Additionally, it's much easier to get up and leave than it is to get people to leave your office once seated and comfortable there.
8. Uncontrollable Interruptions
There are interruptions that, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot control. Most people are happy to schedule a more convenient time, but when this does not work, quickly set the parameters by saying something like, “I only have five minutes to talk about this right now,” and stick to it. Do not ask the interrupter to sit down and do not engage in small talk. Encourage the interrupter to get right to the point and if a solution cannot be reached before the allotted time runs out, set a time for getting back to them and, again, stick to it.
Because your day only has so many hours in it, a handful of even the smallest interruptions can rob you of the time you need to achieve your goals and be successful in your work and life.
More than this, they can break your focus, meaning that you have to spend time re-engaging with the thought processes needed to successfully complete complex work.
The key to managing interruptions is to know what they are and whether they are necessary, and to plan for them in your daily schedule when they truly need your attention. The tips that follow will help you do that and so prevent interruptions from frustrating you and jeopardizing your success.
1. Keep An Interrupters Log
If interruptions consistently rob you of time and energy, or if they frequently push you off schedule and cause delays, it’s time to keep an Interrupters Log. This is a simple record of the interruptions you experience in the course of a day.
Keep your Interrupters Log with you every day for at least a week, recording every interruption you experience, and marking down the person interrupting you; the date and time it occurs; what the interruption is; whether it was valid; and whether it was urgent (or whether someone could have waited until a better time.) This allows you to more accurately identify the interruptions that are causing you to fall behind or to experience time crunches and delays. Once you have recorded the interruptions for a week, sit down with your log and analyze the information.
Which interruptions are valid and which are not? You need to deal with the valid interruptions. As for the interruptions that are not valid, you must find a way to block these out in the future or the productivity that will suffer is your own!
2. Analyze and Conquer Interruptions
To analyze and conquer the interruptions you find in your Interrupters Log, firstly look at whether the interruption is valid or not. Could someone have avoided interrupting you by waited for a routine meeting? Or was it something they should have asked you about at all? If not, deal with this politely but assertively.
Next, look at how urgent the interruptions were, and whether they could have been pre-empted. You can pre-empt many interruptions by holding routine meetings with people: If they're confident that they'll have access to you at a defined point in the near future, they'll learn to save up non-urgent issues until this meeting. However, some interruptions are both urgent and valid. You need to be interrupted, and you need to deal with the situation. From your Interrupters Log, you'll see how much time is taken up by these urgent, valid interruptions. Block this time into your schedule as "contingency time", and only take on as much other work as you can fit into the remaining time. You'll have to juggle this other work around the interruptions, but at least you won't be overloaded and stressed by the things that you haven't done because they've been displaced by emergencies.
3. Put Your Phone to Work for You (…Not Against You)
A little bit of planning can go a long way in working to control telephone interruptions, which most people experience all day long. If you are on a deadline or your focus needs to be intense (and not interrupted), use your voice mail to screen calls or have an assistant deal with messages for you. This way, you can deal with calls by priority at times that suit you. In fact, this telephone time can be planned into your schedule, and so become a normal part of your working pattern.
4. Catch Your Breath
When interrupted, it’s easy to get caught up in the “rush” of the person who is interrupting, for they undoubtedly feel their request is urgent. In reality, however, most interruptions are not a crisis and it serves everyone best to take a little time before taking action. Take a few minutes to consider the situation. Catch your breath and clear your head. A small delay, even one of just a few minutes, goes a long way in assessing the situation accurately and reacting appropriately.
5. Learn to Say “No”
It’s often acceptable to say “no” to requests or tasks if you are busy when someone else can handle it, if it is not an important task, or if it can be done later. When this is the case, saying “no” in a courteous and sincere way, followed by a short explanation is the best course of action to take: “I am working against a very tight deadline on an important project right now so, I am sorry, but I can not jump in and help”.
6. “Available” and “Unavailable” Time
Simple yet effective: Let people know when you are available… and when you are not. Make sure that people know that during your "unavailable time", they should only interrupt you if they have to. You and your co-workers can also agree on a signal that everyone in the office can use when tied up and unavailable, like turning the nameplate on the door around, or simply closing the door. This alleviates interruptions and can avoid hurt feelings.
7. “Invitation Only” Time
Schedule regular check-in times for the individuals you talk to most often. Ask these people to keep a running list of things that they need to discuss, so you can cover all the points at one time. And, force yourself to do the same. An open-door policy is good, but you should limit the number of people you invite to your work area. For instance, if you're scheduling a meeting, offer to meet your co-worker in his or her office or a conference room. This way, you can excuse yourself after you accomplish your purpose. Additionally, it's much easier to get up and leave than it is to get people to leave your office once seated and comfortable there.
8. Uncontrollable Interruptions
There are interruptions that, no matter how hard you try, you simply cannot control. Most people are happy to schedule a more convenient time, but when this does not work, quickly set the parameters by saying something like, “I only have five minutes to talk about this right now,” and stick to it. Do not ask the interrupter to sit down and do not engage in small talk. Encourage the interrupter to get right to the point and if a solution cannot be reached before the allotted time runs out, set a time for getting back to them and, again, stick to it.
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