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Contents include:
1. Visible Consistency, Visible Kindness
2. The Counter-Intuitive Classroom
3. Deliberate Botheredness
4. Certainty in Adult Behaviour
5. Keystone Classroom Routines
6. Universal Microscripts: Flipping the Script
7. Punishment Addiction, Humiliation Hangover
8. Restore, Redraw, Repair
9. Some Children Follow Rules, Some Follow People
10. Your Behaviour Policy Sucks!
11. The 30 Day Magic
Jayne Double, Teacher Development Team, Suffolk New College
When the Adults Change, Everything Changes is an invaluable book for all teachers. It encourages you to reflect on your own behaviour and mindset so that you can recognise how they can affect your students’ behaviour. The real-life examples that Paul Dix shares enable you to reflect on how you would approach certain situations and why some approaches don’t work. Paul emphasises and explains the importance of consistency and kindness, rather than the ‘punishment road’ which can have a detrimental effect on students’ well-being and development. Furthermore, he provides a practical, common-sense approach to behaviour management, along with concrete strategies to support teachers to implement these approaches within their school or college.
Overall, this book empowers teachers to make better choices to help improve their students’ behaviour and therefore the learning environment.
Adele ODoherty, Deputy Head Pastoral Care and Guidance, Northampton High School
After I saw Dix speak, I felt inspired to buy the book immediately and bought a couple for our staffroom. Engaging from the start, the book combines sound advice with practical strategies to implement them successfully.
As a school leader, the idea of good behaviour stemming from a positive place rather than a fear of punishment not only resonated with my own values but there is much evidence that it is a successful strategy.
I particularly enjoyed the fact that the author clarifies that he is not suggesting that adults take the blame for difficult behaviour in schools, rather that they have the ability to respond in ways which are more effective at getting the results we want. His appraisal of Behaviour Policies from various schools with whom he has worked, serves to open the readers eyes to some of the mistakes we can all make when trying to nurture a culture of positive behaviour. Better yet, he shows how to turn this around very quickly and creatively.-‹
Regardless of your own working environment and the behaviour challenges you face, Id really recommend this book. As the head teacher quoted on the front cover states -˜Paul Dix gets it. After reading this book, you will too. I completely agree. Five stars.
Phil, Deputy Principal, (Bulleen, Vic)
Paul Dix’s When the Adults Change, Everything Changes is a powerful and practical guide to behaviour management built on the principle that consistency, empathy, and adult behaviour are key to creating a respectful school culture, ideal for anyone working with young people.
Aimed at educators across all school settings, the book challenges punitive systems and instead promotes calm, relational approaches, such as ‘relentless routines,’ restorative conversations, and visible adult presence. Dix’s strategies are realistic and grounded in experience, making them easy to implement without the need for expensive programs.
What stands out is the emphasis on adults modelling the behaviour they expect, leading with empathy and not control! This mindset shift is especially valuable for school leaders and teams wanting to build long-term cultural change.
While some strategies may need adapting to individual school contexts, the core message, that change begins with the adults is both empowering and practical.
