WHAT was the first word you ever learned?

Chances are it was probably “no”, voiced by your mother or father when you were a toddler, grabbing hold of things your parents didn’t want you to touch.

Don’t run, don’t jump, don’t yell; behaviour has long been modelled by the things that you shouldn’t do, rather than the things you should.

So, has that negative way of thinking affected the way we learn?

James Fallon High School says yes.

The school is changing its teaching methods in a bid to curb behaviour.

It no longer plans to just punish bad behaviour, but encouraging good behaviour, respect and understanding; a change in thinking from negative to positive.

It’s called Positive Behaviour for Learning, or PBL, and stems from schools in the US.

This model, which fosters positivity rather than negativity, was only implemented at James Fallon last week, but it has already caused significant changes.

Firstly, signage.

Brand new signs have been put up across the school with messages encouraging students to “Be positive” and “Respect yourself and others”.

The word “don’t” is a no-show on these signs.

Secondly, the school motto.

No longer is James Fallon High School’s motto Semper Maiora, Latin for “Always doing better”.

They’ve changed it to a phrase in English that the students and staff can more easily understand; “Together we succeed”.

Thirdly, the creation of a PBL team.

James Fallon has created a team of teachers led by year 9 advisor Nicholas Grace-Wenzel, which he hopes will be joined by students who can bring ideas to the table on how to encourage positive learning through the school.

But it’s not only physical changes James Fallon has seen as part of introducing PBL just last week.

It’s attitudes, too.

Positivity, understanding and respect between teachers and students is promoted throughout the school.

This new initiative is something year 12 students Ryan Milgate and Jake Austin wished came in when they started their schooling journey, rather than when they finished.

Yet, they hope PBL can be their year level’s legacy after they leave school.

That’s why the duo created a video on the initiative they strongly believe in to educate staff and students, which can be viewed by newcomers to the school even after they’re gone.

“There’s nothing that really exists at the moment to teach students any positive values at all, it’s usually just traditional teaching and traditional punishments,” said Ryan, 17.

“But (with PBL) you give students respect, you teach them what responsibility is, you encourage them to achieve their personal best.”

Jake, also 17, thought the introduction of PBL could curb bad behaviour.

“Because with PBL we’re taught what is expected so we actually know what to do before we misbehave, so it’s not after we commit the deed ... because it’s too late then,” he said.

This idea of education through punishment goes back to the days when children who misbehaved got the cane, Mr Grace-Wenzel said.

“So we’re having to go from a fear model to a model of mutual respect,” he said.

“What’s in place isn’t working to its full extent.” 

He said that students thrown into detention continued to reoffend and teachers found they were punishing the same person over and over again.

“Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result?” he said.

That’s where PBL comes in; a misbehaving student should be taught to behave well, rather than simply being punished.

So, does implementing PBL mean there will be no punishments, no detention, suspension or expulsion?

There will still be punishment, but Mr Grace-Wenzel said teachers would educate misbehaving students, explain to them what they had done wrong and help them understand why it was the wrong thing to do, rather than just put them in the naughty corner, so to speak.

“We’re not getting rid of consequences, we’re using them as learning vehicles,” he said.

“You will still have suspensions, you will still have expulsions but at the end of the day hopefully they will decrease.”

Mr Grace-Wenzel believed seeing a cultural shift in staff and students toward the PBL model would take time, up to five years in fact.

But it would happen, and it’s already happening at some other Border schools, including Murray High.

He doesn’t just hold hopes that James Fallon will see a change in mentality toward positive learning.

“We hope it’s something that might feed into the primary schools,” he said.

“That way it will come from Kindergarten and students will have that right from their first day.”