Dr. Akhere Akran, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Strategist, has called on schools to rethink and adopt disciplinary practices which promotes responsibility and self-regulation among learners.
Akhere told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that effective discipline should help children understand expectations, manage behaviour, learning, accept responsibility and make appropriate choices within schools.
“Discipline should teach children responsibility and self-regulation within different learning environments, rather than making them afraid of adults or fearful of expressing themselves.”
The inclusive educationist said behaviour management is a collective responsibility involving teachers, administrators, counsellors, support staff, parents, caregivers and students, adding that everyone should contribute to schools’ behavioural culture.
Akhere noted that educators should understand behaviour as communication, explaining that children might express distress, unmet needs, frustration or difficult experiences through actions they cannot explain clearly.
She said educators needed to examine what behaviour communicated before correcting it, considering disability, trauma, poverty, family circumstances, communication difficulties, relationships, nutrition and emotional experiences affecting individual learners.
“A child’s background can significantly influence classroom behaviour, particularly where poverty, difficult family circumstances, inadequate nutrition, limited emotional support or unstable homes affect children’s wellbeing,” she said.
Akhere advocated greater understanding of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), explaining that it could help teachers examine what happened before and after behaviour and to identify appropriate interventions effectively.
“ABA should not be viewed solely as an autism intervention; it offers educators systematic ways of understanding behaviour and designing appropriate, individualised classroom responses,” she said clearly.
The DEIB strategist emphasised teacher development in emotional intelligence and social-emotional learning, saying educators needed skills to regulate themselves before helping children develop similar abilities effectively and consistently.
She called for stronger school-family partnerships, noting that regular communication could help educators understand behavioural changes, identify underlying challenges and provide consistent, appropriate support for children at school.
“Parents and schools must stop operating as separate systems; honest communication, shared observations and consistent support are necessary to understand children’s behavioural needs,” she added.
Akhere, also Founder, Agatha Obiageli Akhedo Memorial Fountain, (an inclusive school), said inclusive education meant more than placing children with different abilities and backgrounds together.
According to her, the idea is requiring schools and educator’s to ensure every learner in spite of challenges feels a sense of belonging, understood, respected, valued and supported equally.
She tasked schools to balance accountability with dignity, saying children could receive correction and appropriate consequences without humiliation, abuse or discrimination, while recognising individual needs and differences too.
She said children are not their behaviour, urging schools to identify needed skills, support, boundaries and interventions, strengthen teacher development, and help learners regulate themselves and participate meaningfully.
(NAN)
