This article addresses the important issue of initial teacher preparation in relation to classroom management. It is based on a study of Post Graduate Certificate of Education (Secondary) students in one university department. The study sought to ascertain the ongoing concerns of trainees during the course of their year's training, and to identify key issues for training providers as a result of this process. Data were gathered both by interview and by questionnaire. Carolyn Bromfield uses the findings to broker a discussion about the nature of behaviour training; her key message is that there is a need to move trainee thinking from a traditional behaviourist approach to one which highlights the relationship between behaviour and learning.