Chronic calling out in the classroom

Calling out and talking out of turn are among the most prevalent low-level disruptive behaviours encountered by teachers in the classroom.[1] Reducing the frequency of these behaviours can contribute to a more respectful classroom climate, improve lesson flow, support student learning and engagement, and in turn, improve teacher wellbeing and morale.[2] [3]

While many students will respond well to carefully planned classroom management and positive behaviour approaches, just having one or two students who present with persistent calling out can disrupt and undermine a respectful learning environment and peer relationships.

Determining the likely reasons for chronic calling out

If teachers understand why students behave as they do, they can determine how to best manage the situation by focusing on the underlying cause. Some of the reasons a child might consistently call out and interrupt the teacher include the following.

The child may:

• lack self-regulation skills. For children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder and other learning and processing difficulties calling out may be a symptom of broader challenges. These children may need differentiated support such as the additional use of visual clues and processing time to ‘stop and think’ before speaking. A predictable system can improve impulse control. For example, a child’s turn to speak requires being called upon by name accompanied by a hand signal from the teacher to indicate that it’s their turn to speak after a short ‘stop and think’ pause. This approach can support think time for all students and therefore is useful for the whole class.
• not fully realise the extent of the disruptive behaviour until it is drawn to their attention by their teacher in a private conversation. It may be useful for the teacher to use a tally sheet over the course of a day to show the child how many times they have called out. Developing a behaviour plan to reward the child who puts in effort to reduce calling out, reinforced by points, stars or free time may assist the child to systematically reduce calling out.
• have a history of calling out because they have not consistently been required to follow classroom rules and expectations regarding calling out and talking out of turn. In this case, over the course of a week, meet daily with the child to privately reinforce the need to speak only when called upon by the teacher, during discussions and question-and-answer sessions. Calling out and testing boundaries tends to decline when firm, classroom routines and rules are clearly understood, practiced and followed consistently by teachers and students.
• have been set up by one or more peers. Explore whether the child is being manipulated by others. If so, follow-up with the instigator of the behaviour.
• have unmet social-emotional needs. Children who feel disconnected or insecure may act out to connect with others. These children may seek peer approval, recognition, or (unconsciously) connection with the teacher. Thoughtful private conversations with such students, and perhaps their parents, may uncover issues the child is experiencing – such as a difficult peer relationship, family stress, or social isolation.
• need carefully planned investigation and evidence-based interventions. Request a colleague observe the class on several occasions and tally how many times the child calls out, the nature of the calling out, when it occurs, the subject being taught, who the child was sitting near, what happened 10-15 minutes before and after the observations and the teacher’s reactions. This base-line data can create meaningful information to enable the teacher to re-calibrate responses, routines and/or expectations, and inform a private conversation with the child, and perhaps parent/carers and/or senior staff who can contribute to planned interventions.

Want to know more to help understand underlying behaviours common to disruptive calling out? Our recently released ebooklet Working with children who call out offers further practical strategies to help teachers and parents to understand reasons for these behaviours and appropriate responses. It also suggests home-based parental activities and approaches to support classroom practice.

Psych4Schools offers a comprehensive library of ebooklets dedicated to enhancing the wellbeing, teaching and learning of children and young adolescents. To complement the ebooklets, Members can also access eight resource packages.

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Kind regards,

Murray Evely,

Psych4Schools Psychologist/Guidance Officer

You can contact us via email at: info@psych4schools.com.au

References

[1] Sullivan, A.M., Johnson, B., Owens, L., and Conway, R., (2014). Punish Them or Engage Them? Teachers’ views of unproductive student behaviours in the classroom. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(6) Article 4. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2356&context=ajte

[2] Evely, M., (2024) Working with children who call out, Psych4Schools, Melbourne https://www.psych4schools.com.au/free-resource/children-who-call-out

[3] Duggan, S., (2025) Skills and strategies to weed out low-level disruptive behaviours: expert insight, EducationHQ News https://educationhq.com/news/skills-and-strategies-to-weed-out-low-level-disruptive-behaviours-expert-insight-190711/#