The 5 Chairs® - Introductory Session for Educators

This practical, highly interactive session introduces teachers to The 5 Chairs®, a behavioural intelligence method that helps staff move from reactive communication to conscious, constructive responses in daily school life.

Across three hours, teachers will learn a simple shared language — Jackal (attack), Hedgehog (self-doubt), Meerkat (pause), Dolphin (proactive choice), and Giraffe (empathy and connection) — that can be used immediately in classrooms, conversations with colleagues, and interactions with parents and students.

The workshop blends discussion, real-life school scenarios, and short reflective exercises to build awareness of how reactions impact relationships, behaviour management, and school culture. Teachers will leave with tools they can apply the same day.

Main Outcomes

By the end of the session, teachers will:

• Recognize the five core behavioural statesin themselves and others, and understand how these show up under stress, conflict, or time pressure in school environments.
• Develop skills to pause before reacting- creating space to choose a calmer, more constructive response.
• Practice language and scriptsfor the Dolphin and Giraffe Chairs to support positive communication with students, colleagues, and parents.
• Gain strategies to reduce escalation and improve emotional regulationin classrooms, especially during challenging student behaviours.
• Learn a shared vocabularythat supports consistency across staff, making behaviour conversations more effective and less personal.

Identify personal triggers that lead to reactive patterns, and explore practical steps to shift toward more conscious engagement.

Immediate Practical Benefits of The 5 Chairs methodology

• Fewer classroom escalations
• Faster conflict recovery
• Improved staff cohesion
• Greater psychological safety
• More confident communication with parents
• Students modelling healthier behaviour through teacher example