The barrier beneath the behaviour
When schools discuss behaviour, the conversation often focuses on:
- routines
- sanctions
- relationships
- consistency
- pastoral systems
And all of those things matter.
But increasingly, I think one of the biggest drivers of disengagement in classrooms is something far less visible:
Students struggling to access the language of learning itself.
Because very often, what presents as a behaviour issue is actually a curriculum access issue.
This aligns closely with growing evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), which consistently identifies literacy and reading difficulties as among the biggest barriers affecting disadvantaged pupils’ attainment nationally. (Schools identify low literacy skills and poor attendance as the… | EEF)
The hidden link between literacy and behaviour
A consistent finding within educational research is that disadvantaged students are more likely to experience gaps in vocabulary exposure and literacy development from an early age.
By the time many students arrive in secondary school, significant differences already exist in:
- reading fluency
- vocabulary knowledge
- writing confidence
- access to academic language
This matters enormously because schools operate heavily through language.
Instructions.
Explanations.
Questioning.
Reading.
Writing.
Evaluation.
Discussion.
The EEF’s guidance on secondary literacy is clear that literacy is not something that sits solely within English departments; it is fundamental to academic success across the curriculum. Every subject relies upon it. (EEF_KS3_KS4_LITERACY_GUIDANCE.pdf)
As Basil Bernstein argued through his work on language and education, schools often function through “elaborated code”, forms of academic language that are not equally accessible to all students.
The issue is that we often interpret the consequences of this as behaviour rather than access difficulty.
A student who cannot confidently access the language of the classroom may begin to:
- avoid work
- disengage
- distract others
- become disruptive
- refuse writing
- opt out of challenge
And over time, that can easily become labelled simply as poor behaviour.
The frustration of not being able to access success
One of the most overlooked aspects of behaviour is the role of confidence.
Students generally want to experience success. Students are far more likely to remain engaged when challenge is carefully scaffolded and success feels attainable rather than inaccessible.
But repeated experiences of difficulty often create avoidance behaviours instead.
This becomes particularly visible in language-heavy subjects.
Research around disciplinary literacy increasingly highlights that subjects like History require students not simply to know content, but to communicate through highly specialised academic language and extended analytical writing.
In History, for example, students are expected to:
- analyse causation
- evaluate interpretations
- construct arguments
- sustain extended writing
- use disciplinary vocabulary accurately
For students already struggling with literacy, that cognitive demand can feel overwhelming very quickly.
And importantly, many students are aware they are struggling.
They may not articulate it directly, but they recognise:
- they cannot write as fluently as peers
- they cannot access the vocabulary
- they cannot organise their thinking effectively
Over time, avoidance becomes protective.
If students believe they are unlikely to succeed, disengagement can become safer than participation.
The behaviour patterns schools often misread
One of the biggest challenges is that literacy-related disengagement does not always look like traditional literacy difficulty.
Instead, it often appears as:
- calling out
- low-level disruption
- refusal to write
- task avoidance
- excessive toilet requests
- distraction of peers
- passivity
- lack of resilience
And because the visible issue is behavioural, schools understandably respond behaviourally.
But if the root issue is curriculum access, sanctions alone rarely solve the problem sustainably.
This is not an argument against high expectations or behaviour systems.
In fact, consistency matters enormously.
But behaviour systems are often most effective when paired with strong curriculum access and explicit literacy support.
Why disadvantaged students are disproportionately affected
This issue matters particularly within discussions around disadvantage.
Research has repeatedly shown that disadvantaged students are statistically more likely to experience:
- lower literacy levels
- reduced vocabulary exposure
- weaker reading fluency
- less access to academic language outside school
At the same time, these students are also disproportionately represented within behaviour and suspension data nationally.
That connection is not accidental.
Because students who struggle to access learning are more likely to become disconnected from it.
The relationship between literacy, self-regulation, and wider engagement is increasingly recognised within educational research, particularly for disadvantaged students. (Developing vocabulary in early years education | EEF)
And once students begin to disengage repeatedly from classroom learning, the attainment gap widens quickly.
What changed my thinking
Earlier in my career, I probably viewed behaviour and literacy too separately.
Behaviour was behaviour.
Literacy was literacy.
But over time, particularly through leadership, classroom experience, and my MA research into disadvantage, I increasingly realised how interconnected they were.
Some of the students who appeared least engaged academically were often the students struggling most with curriculum access.
And importantly, many of those students were highly capable verbally.
They could contribute in discussion.
Explain ideas orally.
Engage socially.
But when faced with independent writing, academic vocabulary, or extended responses, confidence dropped dramatically.
That shift in understanding changed our departmental approach significantly.
What actually helped
The biggest improvements came not from lowering challenge, but from improving access.
This included:
- explicit vocabulary instruction
- modelling thought processes
- regular extended writing practice
- scaffolding
- consistent routines
- breaking down complex disciplinary language
- building writing stamina gradually over time
Importantly, this was not about making work easier.
It was about making success more accessible.
And over time, something interesting happened.
As confidence improved, behaviour often improved alongside it.
Students became:
- more willing to participate
- more resilient
- more confident attempting extended tasks
- less avoidant of challenge
Because success changes engagement.
The wider leadership challenge
I increasingly think schools need to think more carefully about the relationship between:
- behaviour
- literacy
- curriculum access
- and disadvantage
Because if students cannot access the language of the curriculum, they cannot fully access success within it.
And when students repeatedly experience frustration, confusion, or failure within classrooms, disengagement often follows.
This means behaviour improvement cannot sit solely within behaviour policies.
It also sits within:
- curriculum design
- literacy strategy
- teaching quality
- and classroom implementation
Final reflection
Behaviour and literacy are often treated as separate conversations in schools.
I’m no longer convinced they are.
Very often, the student avoiding the task is not avoiding learning itself.
They are avoiding the feeling of failure attached to it.
And if we want to improve behaviour sustainably, particularly for disadvantaged students, we cannot focus only on sanctions and systems.
We also need to improve students’ ability to access success within the classroom itself.
Because students engage more consistently when they feel capable of succeeding.
And that begins with access to the language of learning.
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