A quiet revolution is taking place across 10 Catholic schools in the Canberra and Goulburn Diocese in Australia.
The schools — including the ACT’s St Clare’s College, Merici College and St Thomas the Apostle School in Kambah — are piloting a program this year that sounds old-fashioned but is backed by the latest research into how children’s brains work.
The Classroom Mastery program developed by leading classroom management expert Dr Tim McDonald aims to provide a calm, safe, predictable classroom environment that enhances learning and maximises the time available.
Its sequence of key steps imposes an order on student behaviour that banishes what has generally become a free-for-all before, during and after class in many schools.
Students must line up in pairs outside the room, move quietly into it, and then stand quietly behind their desks.