Teachers generally displayed realistic expectations of how the TCM programme might improve their practice. They did not expect a panacea for classroom challenges, and were mindful of the fact that not every child would benefit from the programme. In cases where the teacher thought they would not be able to eliminate undesirable child behaviours, they hoped, at a minimum, to become better equipped to cope with such problems when they arise. They did however acknowledge the potential benefit of being able to ‘reach’ most of the children in their class.
“There are always gonna be children that don’t listen, that don’t put their hands up, that walk around the class,… that aren’t well-behaved, that don’t sleep enough, that don’t eat enough, that [are] academically weak,… that only like certain subjects…, that run around like lunatics in the yard. But as long as you can cope with them yourself, you know? I don’t want them all to be robots, I don’t want them all to sit down and do what I say just because I say it, but I’d like to be able to…have strategies in place where I could reach 80% to 90% of them.” (T21)
Whilst one principal voiced a concern that paperwork and administration would be burdensome, no major concerns regarding programme participation were mentioned
by teachers. Concerns, reported by six teachers, related to a variety of minor issues. Only one concern was repeated by two teachers, and this related to taking time away from the class which would necessitate substitute cover. This concern was primarily due to the level of disruption that their absence would cause to the children.
“I sometimes feel that teachers can be asked to do belittling things. We can be asked to sit down on the floor and stuff like that. I don't know if I would like that really because I don't think in any other profession, nurses, doctors are they asked to do kind of things that they wouldn't ordinarily do.” (T8)
“9 o’clock to 4 o’clock is a long time. It’s maintaining your own concentration and trying to keep, you know... It’s just me, but after a while I’ve a tendency to tune-out if there’s somebody talking for too long, at me. That would be just about the only concern that I would have.” (T9)
7.6 Conclusion
One of the main findings that emerged from the analysis of baseline interviews with teachers and principals was that chronic behavioural difficulties exist within Irish primary schools and that these can pose significant challenges for teachers and other school staff. Although all teachers and all principals mentioned having children in their care who displayed problem behaviours requiring extra attention, the extent of these reported difficulties varied between and within schools. Teachers reported encountering a wide range of challenging behaviours, from low level attention difficulties that could potentially be ignored, to physical aggression necessitating immediate action to ensure the safety of the child and other children in the class.
It was apparent that some teachers found the management of behavioural difficulties to be more challenging than other children’s needs. This was determined not only by the actual level of difficulty reported, but was to a large extent influenced by perceptions of support received from colleagues and parents. The strategies used to manage behavioural difficulties also varied across teachers and schools. Reassuringly, teachers overwhelmingly looked forward to TCM training, irrespective of the extent and type of challenges occurring within classrooms. They, and their
principals, expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate in the programme and had high, yet realistic, hopes for what it could offer. Although some minor concerns were raised, the prevailing feeling amongst teachers and principals was one of measured optimism.
The themes that emerged from these baseline interviews are illustrated in Figure 7.1. The next chapter explores the findings from the 6-month follow-up interviews with a specific focus on those teachers who had participated in TCM training, and their perceptions of resultant class outcomes.
Figure 7.1. Thematic map illustrating baseline ‘pre-TCM classroom’ themes
8
CHAPTER EIGHT: TCM PROCESSES AND 6-MONTH
OUTCOMES
This chapter focuses on the findings from eight one-to-one in-depth interviews with a subsample of the intervention group teachers (n = 4; training completed in May 2009) and their control group counterparts (n = 4; training completed in May 2010) teachers. One previously interviewed intervention group teacher was unavailable at the 6-month follow-up, and of the previously interviewed control group, one was in a resource teaching post (i.e., did not have a class), whilst the other was no longer working in her original school. Thus, an additional teacher from the wait-list control group, who had not been interviewed at baseline, was invited to participate at the 6- month follow-up stage. The interviews with teachers were conducted within one month of TCM training completion (i.e., 6-months post-training commencement). The analyses of responses to the Workshop Evaluation Questionnaires (n = 10) are also presented in this chapter.
The primary focus of this phase of the study was to explore and understand the experiences of teachers who participated in TCM training. A number of key questions were used to guide the analysis, including the following:
How did teachers reflect upon their involvement in the TCM programme?
Are TCM strategies feasible and perceived as effective in the context of the Irish primary school classroom?
Could aspects of the training programme be improved upon, and if so, how?
Also presented in this chapter, is an analysis of the experiences of those directly involved in the organisation and delivery of TCM training. Such stakeholders are often neglected in research, although they play an important role in programme delivery. For this reason, the ‘behind-the-scenes’ experiences of the programme facilitators (A1 and A2) and the Archways Development Manager (A3), were also incorporated into this stage of the study.
What were stakeholder views about early school recruitment and inter- organisational relationships; how did these impact later delivery/ outcomes? How did programme facilitators view the TCM learning processes, in terms of
teacher engagement and subsequent classroom management outcomes?
Table 8.1.
Themes identified at 6-month follow-up
Themes Subthemes
(1) Programme delivery and receipt
i. Inter-organisational relationships ii. Behind-the-scenes: Experiences of
facilitators
iii. “Friendly and warm”: Camaraderie in TCM training
iv. Reverse washout: Reinforcing theoretical knowledge through experiential learning
(2) Applicability of TCM principles in the classroom
i. Utility of TCM tools and strategies ii. Ease of implementation
(3) Post-training changes to the self: New ways of thinking about management
i. Increased self-efficacy: “I am not as shocking as I thought I was’
ii. Reduced stress
iii. Renewed enthusiasm and a focus on the positives: “I am not alone”
(4) Positive children: Positive classrooms
i. Decrease in disruptive behaviours ii. A positive classroom ethos: “Better
learning, better people”:
(5) Lessons learned i. Criticisms of TCM and suggestions for improvement
ii. Teacher perspectives in future TCM delivery
Table 8.1 categorises the 5 overarching themes and 13 sub-themes which emerged from the analysis of all of the 6-month follow-up interviews. These are further illustrated in Figure 8.1 and Figure 8.2.
8.1 Programme delivery and receipt