YP Letters: Coping with challenge of variety in classroom

YOUR Features interview with Gervase Phinn (Chris Bond, The Yorkshire Post, February 22) gave little space to pupil behaviour, though some schools are described as ‘challenging’.

Apparently, the problem is workload, not the attitude of youngsters. But even if Mr Phinn’s surprisingly positive thoughts on discipline are correct, and even if next year’s workload is cut by half, another challenge remains.

How does a creative teacher cope with the quiet ones, pupils unhappy about reading books, those who arrive in the classroom hungry, or tired, the handful inclined to talk incessantly, pupils who seem unwilling to recall advice given just 10 minutes earlier, or those who find school an uncomfortable, bustling parade of specialist topics pushed towards them by clever, well-educated and hence almost alien adults?

In short, within some 60-minute lesson, how does a teacher cope with the challenge of variety?