Review: That Behaviour Book – The Simple Truth About Teaching Children

Author: Stephen Baker

Publisher: Crown House Publishing

Book Overview

In That Behaviour Book, Stephen Baker offers a clear-eyed, compassionate, and deeply practical guide to managing behaviour in schools. Written with humour, honesty, and humility, the book distils lessons from decades of classroom teaching and leadership. Rather than offering silver bullets, Baker builds his framework around four cornerstones: values, calm responses, consistent routines, and authentic relationships. At just 176 pages, it is an accessible yet rich resource for anyone working with children.

Relevance and Audience

This book speaks directly to teachers working in challenging classrooms, but it is equally relevant to school leaders who want to shape culture and support staff. Early-career teachers will find reassurance and practical strategies; experienced colleagues will be reminded of the deeper principles underpinning their practice. For senior leaders, it offers a whole-school perspective on building consistency without losing humanity — essential at a time when behaviour is often politicised and exclusions remain high on the agenda.

Structure and Key Themes

Baker organises the book into ten concise chapters, each ending with Takeaways and Now Try This tasks. These sections turn advice into action, making the book as suitable for CPD discussions as it is for solitary reading. Four themes stand out:

Values as the foundation
Behaviour, Baker argues, is communication. Teachers must lead with empathy, consistency, and professional love: “We don’t have to like our pupils; we just need to love them.” This emphasis on values reframes behaviour management as something rooted in respect and belief in children’s potential.
Responding with calm authority
Chapter 2 offers a masterclass in de-escalation. Baker shows how anger undermines authority and provides simple scripts to keep interventions calm, respectful, and effective. Teachers are encouraged to use precise language, avoid broadcasting frustration, and model dignity — even when faced with verbal abuse. His message is clear: we cannot control children, but we can control our responses.
Routines that create predictability
Baker insists that routines are the invisible architecture of good behaviour. From entering the room to taking the register, predictable patterns free pupils from uncertainty and teachers from constant firefighting. Yet he cautions against routines becoming lifeless or punitive: they must provide security without stifling spontaneity. Consistency, not rigidity, is the goal.
Relationships as the long game
The most powerful chapters focus on relationships. Baker uses the metaphor of the “emotional bank account”: every act of care, curiosity, or respect is a deposit that builds trust. Over time, this trust enables risk-taking, learning, and behaviour change. His stories — from teachers winning over sceptical Year 9s to navigating sensitive boundaries — remind us that sustainable behaviour management is relational, not transactional.

Strengths and Distinctive Features

The book’s greatest strength is its blend of warmth and practicality. Baker is candid about his own mistakes and invites teachers to see behaviour not as a battle to win but a craft to hone. The frequent anecdotes — whether of chaotic classrooms, perceptive pupils, or wry staffroom moments — make the principles stick.

The inclusion of Takeaways and Now Try This activities makes the text ideal for structured reflection, departmental discussion, or whole-school CPD. Unlike more abstract behaviour manuals, this book feels lived-in and authentic.

Limitations

Because the book is concise, it does not fully explore specialist areas such as trauma-informed practice or SEND-related behaviour. Leaders looking for detailed policy frameworks may need to supplement it with other texts. That said, its brevity is also its accessibility: Baker gives teachers exactly what they need to begin reflecting and improving without overload.

Practical Implications

For practitioners, the book offers:

Immediate strategies: scripts, routines, and calm responses for tomorrow’s lesson.
Reflective tools: prompts to examine values and habits.
Cultural insight: a vision of behaviour management rooted in dignity, consistency, and relational trust.

It works for individual reading, but it comes into its own in mentoring conversations, CPD sessions, or leadership training, where staff can test the “Now Try This” tasks and share experiences.

Verdict

That Behaviour Book is wise, humane, and profoundly useful. Stephen Baker strips away myths and panic around behaviour, reminding teachers that values, calmness, routines, and relationships are the real levers of change.

Recommendation: Essential reading for new teachers, invaluable for middle leaders, and refreshing for experienced staff. School leaders should consider making this a shared CPD text: it has the potential to transform both classroom practice and whole-school culture.