Thread: Warm/Strict is now being debated as not the right choice of words. People who wouldn’t describe themselves as this are dictating what I should now describe my practice as because “strict” has negative connotations! I *am* warm/strict - warm is first for a reason! 🙄
(1) Warm:Strict means I’m consistent. Students know where they stand with me. Maslow trumps everything - Narky kid P1? “Have you slept? Had breakfast?” - Have give cereal bars & a quick 5 min outside my room to scoff it. They know I’m there to look out for them.
(2) I know my SEND needs. I’m not ZT. ASD, anxiety, SEMH - I get it, I’m here to support you. I adapt my practice to make sure you can participate as much as possible. I’m the smile on the door, & the nurturing voice in the classroom.
(3) Warm means I’m the one asked to coax a vulnerable Y7 from under a desk and isolate her in a room with me so a class can learn without the distraction. “Isolation” = Mr Hill sat under a desk with her in his lab, chatting to her about her fears. Convo used to inform practice.
(4) Warm means stopping a child from self harming, resulting in my fractured ribs. But still sitting on the floor while he had a melt-down, calmly reassuring him. Then working with the TAF to support them.
(5) Warm means when the kids are meeting expectations, we can have a laugh and a joke. Kids know they are safe to ask difficult questions. They take the Micky out of me. We have amazing relationships.
(6) Strict means that my/sch expectations are *clear* and so are the consequences. It also means that lines are not blurred. Everything is consistent.
(7) Strict means you come to me to help support you meet expectations. If you’ve not got equipment, you ask at the start of a lesson/sch day. If hwk isn’t done, you see me before the start of the lesson.
(8) Strict means you have to give your best. If you start the lesson with “X happened, and I’m not my best today” then Warm see you helped and supported.
(9) Strict is preceded by Warm for a reason. Everything I do in the classroom is driven by Warm. I nurture. I support. I do everything in my power to help the children I teach. To suggest otherwise shows you’re viewing the term through the wrong lens.
(10) What no teacher or student should have to endure in a classroom is verbal abuse, threats or physical assault etc. There’s never an excuse for this, if a SEND need isn’t being met, then support needs to be put in place, this is where specialist support is req.
(11) Warm/Strict is not bullying. It’s not power and control. It’s not zero tolerance. I’ve worked in sch that do this well. Context is key to every decision made; hence it’s not ZT!
(12) So please don’t conflate my own definition and identity as a teacher with that of the PE teacher from Kes! I’m very proudly Warm/Strict.
