Introduction
This is part two of a conversation between Anna and Chris, both experienced teachers of Young Learners and teacher trainers, about things they wish they had known when they started out teaching Young Learners.
It’s all about building relationships with learners and parents or caretakers
The moments immediately before and after classes can be quite full on for the teacher and, obviously, it is impossible to do a full meet-and-greet with every parent. Just the odd little conversation here and there and the conscious effort on your part to match adult faces to their respective children can pay dividends later. While we don’t want if-you-don’t-behave-I’ll-tell-your-mum-like threats constantly hanging over our children’s heads, just the knowledge that those small exchanges do occur can help. It leaves communication channels open for other important information that might be helpful.
If a parent or carer feels the teacher is approachable, they might more readily volunteer information at the start of class, for example, that a child’s pet has just died or that they are overly excited because of an upcoming family event. Those are factors that might help us better understand the child’s behaviour and performance in class. If your context allows you, you could also consider having an open-classroom-door policy, where those responsible for the learners could ask to sit in during a lesson and possibly even assist you with, for example, arts and craft projects. The more hands the merrier, indeed, but having family volunteering also shows learners how school and home are not two totally separate worlds!
Be supportive and inclusive
In life, in general, if you ask somebody to do a job with inadequate tools, time, funding or other resources, you will create stress. Similarly, if we ask our young language learners to perform tasks above and beyond them linguistically or developmentally, we will create frustration. To avoid this, at the planning stage, ask yourself what will happen if they don’t know the answers or do not have the language to complete the planned tasks. If you have formulated a kind of contingency plan and established a channel through which they can get the language needed or the answers semi-independently, then your lesson will be much more robust. You can let them know where they can go for support: a vocabulary bank; a reference page; examples you have worked through together on the board; wall displays; or in some cases, worksheets already completed and stuck up around the walls of the classroom. This is not for copying per se, but for a quick, occasional visit to get the idea. It’s not cheating, it’s teaching for success.
In terms of inclusion, we need to monitor that each child is getting a chance to participate. For example, when completing paper-based exercises, you could check less confident learners by making sure they have the answer to a specific question correct. Then, when it comes to going over the answers in open class, you could ask that learner to supply the answer to that question. They will then be able to do so with a greater sense of self-assurance. There might be some children that never answer questions or never come to you for help. Shy or reticent learners can sometimes fly under the radar compared to their more vocal classmates. It might be that their work is excellent, but they simply work slowly or perhaps overcautiously. It might be that they really need help. In either case, a little one-to-one support and praise may work wonders.
It’s OK to have quiet moments
There often seems to be the expectation, especially for Young Learners, that we need to constantly keep them busy in the classroom. Many teachers feel that every minute of the lesson must be filled with activities or tasks to prevent students from getting bored or losing focus. However, quiet activities and reflective moments are just as important as active ones. Not only do these calmer moments give children time to engage in a different way with the new language without feeling overstimulated, they also allow learners time to process – this can also help conserve some of your energy.
To build in quiet moments, incorporate some ‘settling’ or calming activities into your lessons. After a lively song or game, give them a few minutes to draw a picture related to the vocabulary they have learnt. Silence gives learners a chance to make connections, internalise new concepts and reflect on what they have learnt. Getting them to listen to a story and ending story time with a few minutes of silent reflection where students are asked to think about what they liked the most about the story, or list three things they remember, is another winner and often also an excellent way for us to gauge our learners’ understanding and get some insight into their perspectives.
Getting children to do the next thing
One of the biggest challenges facing any primary teacher is how to get their learners to transition between activities as a group – that is, to stop doing one activity and start doing another. One subtle point to bear in mind is that the biggest driver behind children switching up their momentum and doing the next thing is the desire to be included and not to miss out on the fun or be left out. This motivator is perhaps even stronger than the thirst for any points or rewards (and greater than a concern for doing what they are told, or not getting told off). This very powerful desire, when harnessed correctly, can help you a great deal in managing those ‘yeh-neh’ attitudes in your classes.
Why might a six-year-old stop colouring and come over and sit in a circle for a story, as you want them to? Perhaps simply because that’s where the class is going now, in terms of activity, and that’s what everyone else is doing. To the five-year-old who says they don’t want to join in with the chant, the teacher can, unphased, smile and reply: ‘Of course you do! Because that’s what we’re all doing now’. This won’t always work, but sometimes pointing out that they would be the only one not being part of the group or having fun is all that is needed.
It’s not all about glue and scissors
Even with the best lesson plans, learning will be disrupted if the classroom isn’t well managed. Proactively planning your approach to classroom management is essential not only for effective learning but also for maintaining your sanity as a teacher! Teaching Young Learners can quickly become overwhelming and exhausting without clear expectations and structured routines. To ensure students can thrive, you must set clear boundaries and balance structure and student autonomy. We strongly believe that effective classroom management can make or break the lesson you have in mind.
In terms of standards of behaviour, you need to decide where you are going to draw the line. On a logistical level, you need to ask how you are going to help your learners behave the way you want them to. If you want your learners to sit in a different place each time, create a random seating system that is part of the start of class. If you want your learners to line up in an orderly way when they come to see you at your teacher’s table, mark out a route on the floor. For any proposed activity, ask yourself how it is going to translate into clear actions on the part of your learners.
Young Learners thrive in predictable environments where they know what to expect. By establishing routines from day one, such as starting each class with a hello song or a structured attendance-checking activity managed by the learners, you can create a secure atmosphere that promotes engagement. You might also Incorporate a ‘caught-being-great’ approach. For example, when learners share their coloured pens or help each other, you can recognise this by sticking their name on a ballon-shaped poster to reinforce this positive behaviour. Consider establishing clear consequences, for example, the end-of-class game is not necessarily a given so if the group, as a whole, has not been kind enough to each other, they might forfeit that.
Yes, you will often need to state the obvious!
Children already have a fairly solid idea of what is expected of them and what’s acceptable in a classroom. That does not mean they won’t misbehave. And remember, while it might be idly annoying, often misbehaving is simply a way of communicating their needs and wants in a kid’s way. When they misbehave, getting back in line can often just be the case of reminding them. Stepping up and articulating what you expect from them out loud is important. Stating things as facts is also often more useful than a classic telling off or full on imperatives. If two learners are getting a bit boisterous with each other, instead of saying, ‘Charlie, Paul, stop pushing each other’ you might try ‘Charlie, Paul, I want you to be kind to each other. Play-fighting is not happening in this classroom’. Relationships live and die in the way that you speak to people. Small word choices convey your underlying attitudes to things and also to people; children will pick up on that. In moments of stress, de-personalising the problem, as above, can help a great deal.
For key instructions, when working with very young or very low-level learners, especially where classroom management and safety is concerned, you might also use the L1 sandwiching technique. First you give your instruction in English, then in your learners’ L1 (if you know it) and then in English again. That way, your learners still get to hear more English than anything else but there will be less confusion about the exact meaning of your message, enabling a smoother flow in the lesson.
Final thoughts
These are some of the things we have learnt along the way and perhaps wish we had known when we started teaching. However, even if someone does tell you something useful, there’s no substituting your own experience-driven conclusions. For a piece of advice to become really useful, trying it out is key! For those of you new to teaching primary, we hope these revelations will give you some comfort and help you build your confidence. Remember, to err is human and as long as we learn from our ‘Oh-I-wish-I-had-known-that’ moment we are going in the right direction! And if you are an experienced teacher of Young Learners or trainer, we are sure you can add a few more of your own if-only-I-had–known ideas to the ones we mentioned.
Chris Roland is a trainer and writer based in Seville. He has published various methodology manuals through Pavilion, including Structuring Fun for Young Learners in the ELT Classroom (2020). He is interested in the dialogue that takes place between teachers and learners and the lesson as an event in itself.
Anna Hasper is a teacher and trainer based in Dubai and has a wide range of global contexts. She regularly provides training for publishers and is a resident blogger for MET. Anna runs www.teachertrain.org and is passionate about teacher educator professional learning and educational psychology, with an emphasis social emotional wellbeing.
