From this page you can read about how to recognise the warning signs of a confrontation, and what you should do if you are confronted.
Recognising what triggers aggressive and violent behaviour can be extremely difficult but increasingly this is seen as a necessary part of your skills as an education professional. Sharing information and expertise about pupils with all the education staff at the school is essential in being able to recognise warning signs and to avoid a violent incident.
Warning signs
Physical confrontation is less likely to develop if patterns of behaviour are recognised and dealt with early.
Physical confrontation is less likely to develop if patterns of behaviour are recognised and dealt with early. With a greater awareness of a potential aggressor's circumstances, you are more likely to identify the relevance of the following signs. Even without any background knowledge, the factors set out below may give an indication of possible danger. The person concerned may:
- have a previous history of violence, possibly under the influence of alcohol, drugs or solvents
- appear tense or agitated
- be unnaturally quiet and withdrawn or alternatively excitable and boisterous
- exhibit restless behaviour involving pushing, noisiness or jostling
- be deliberately provocative, eg by name calling and attention seeking
- exhibit an over-sensitive reaction to correction or instruction
- be threatening or verbally abusive
- give abrupt replies to questions, often with gesticulations
- exhibit increased voice pitch and volume
- have dilated pupils
- show signs of muscular tension in the face and limbs
- be responding to a feeling of heightened tension within the school or college - you should be aware of the effect of pupil and student morale on the behaviour of certain individuals.
What to do when faced with a confrontation
Confrontation is never easy: you must make a professional assessment of whether you can manage the situation and take appropriate action, or whether this would be an unacceptable risk. If the latter you should summon help either from a colleague or, in extreme cases, from the police.
You should attempt to discuss with the violent person his or her frustrations and problems. Signs of aggression may be counteracted by continuing to talk in normal tones, maintaining non-threatening eye contact and listening sympathetically. A difficult situation can be controlled or defused by speaking firmly and politely, keeping your temper under control, adopting a non-threatening posture and maintaining an appropriate physical distance.
Confrontation top tips
- Try to remove an upset parent or member of the public from an audience - it is better not to touch someone when encouraging them to move.
- Respect warnings and threats: acknowledge them and take them seriously.
- If there are other vulnerable people around, especially children, they should be escorted away from the incident.
- Try to remove yourself from immediate risk and if necessary seek assistance. Avoid involving persons other than staff in controlling an incident.
- If this is not possible, try to place a barrier between yourself and your assailant.
- If the situation escalates, make sure that the person can back down without losing face. Consider the positive aspects of the situation. Offer alternatives, if appropriate, or try agreeing to talk at a later date.
- If the situation escalates further and you consider control is being lost, call on colleagues straight away and consider withdrawal. Do not ignore the person concerned but let them know that you are going to leave.
- If a person is actually damaging property, a judgement needs to be made as to the wisdom of physically intervening. Personal safety is always more important than property.
The aim should always be to retreat and summon help. However, occasionally - and as a last resort - you may have to use self-defence or physical restraint. You should be aware that a physical response to a violent incident may lead to liability for assault. Familiarise yourself with the school/college's restraints policy if one exists. If the person threatening violence is not a pupil, physical force should normally be used only to defend yourself, or other pupils in your care.
If you are forced to defend yourself against imminent injury, restrict your actions to the minimum necessary to protect yourself and the pupils in your care. The circumstances under which teachers and support staff in maintained schools can use physical force in restraining pupils are set out in DfEE (now DCSF) circular 10/98: Section 550A of the Education Act 1996.For more information, see the DCFS website.
Training
A legal toolkit for schools, published by the government in 2002, made the clear recommendation that staff should be offered personal safety training. This can help in:
- reducing violent attacks by parents and others
- teaching staff to recognise verbal and non-verbal precursors to aggression
- enabling staff to defuse aggression and prevent situations escalating
- teaching staff techniques to calm a potential assailant
- improving staff confidence in dealing with aggression and the resulting stress
- minimising the risk of an attack that causes injury.
Funding for all existing staff to benefit from this kind of behaviour management training would be a decisive action and support the new professionalism agenda. Training should include the following:
- how to read body language
- how to make a calm assessment of potentially threatening situations
- how to react in the event of a physical attack
- guidance on the use of reasonable force and powers to restrain under the Education Act 1996
- how to deal with unexpected confrontations and conflicts.
Help and support
For further advice on this issue, ATL members can speak to their school rep, their branch secretary or their regional official. They can also call the London (020 7930 6441), Cardiff (029 2046 5000), Belfast (028 9078 2020) or Edinburgh (0131 272 2748) offices or email info@atl.org.uk
For out of hours enquiries, call the out of office hours helpline on 020 7782 1612 (Monday-Friday, 5-8pm during term time).
If you are not a member, join now.
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