What are the elements of classroom management?

 

As a teacher you manage, or juggle, many elements when you teach a classroom of students. Often, the public believes that it is a simple job. You assign readings and activities, discuss topics, correct papers, and test their learning at various times. You set the rules and all the students obey. This is the traditional view of education. Over the last five decades, research, new technology, and societal demands have changed so that you have to be knowledgeable about many more aspects. The course will address how the following elements of classroom management blend together to build a learning community:

• Arrangement of the room to enhance mobility, discussions, presentations, group work, etc.

• Displays on the walls that support current learning and display student work

• Shared rules that are appropriate to the age of the students and foster a learning community

• Clear procedures and routines that are automatic and support learning

• Important curriculum that is aligned with appropriate assessments

• Teaching techniques that support active learning

• Strategies to prevent or correct student behavior that inhibits student learning

• Positive teacher behavior that encourages student growth and learning

 

How does discipline relate to classroom management?

 

“One factor that effects staff morale, job satisfaction, and building climate more than any other is classroom and building-wide discipline.”

Mark and Christine Boyton

 

Discipline is any training intended to produce behavior that meets specific standards. In school, it involves training that encourages students

to follow the rules of the classroom and school. The term also has come to mean the punishment that is administered when a student breaks a rule.

For example, “the student was disciplined.”

 

Discipline is often cited as the biggest problem facing teachers and schools. More teachers leave teaching because of discipline than any other factor. The parents and community often are critical of the classroom or school discipline or, to be more accurate, their perception that there is

a lack of discipline.

 

Many schools have discipline plans with a list of infractions and consequences. Three discipline models commonly used are Behaviorism,

Assertive Discipline, and The Jones Model. These models utilize levels of consequence to match the seriousness of the offense. Punishment is administered by teachers or administrators in the classroom, the principal's office, or with the parents.

 

 

Critics of these models question the excessive use of rewards and punishments, and for emphasizing external controls. In these models, the

teacher is responsible for motivation, behavior (good or bad), and teaching. Using rewards can be expensive. Many teachers report that the

rewards need to increase periodically to keep them interesting to the students.

 

Discipline models such as Reality Therapy and Teacher Effectiveness Training are more student-centered. They emphasize student responsibility

for behavior and natural consequences for actions. However, these methods are not widely implemented. There is also a concern that incorrect

use of punishment can lead to low self-esteem. While there is no definite research to prove a positive correlation between student self-esteem and achievement, there is significant evidence to show that low self-esteem does not increase performance. In addition, there are many other problems associated with low self-esteem, ranging from unhappiness to violence or dropping out of school (Building, 2005).

 

You may have wondered why discipline was not on the list of elements of classroom management, as it is often the measure that is used to

identify a “good” teacher. During the course, you will find that discipline is embedded in the elements of positive classroom management.

This is in agreement with Sagor (2003) who says that “An effective discipline model must (1) improve current behavior, (2) help students

learn to behave more responsibly in the future.” It also must have techniques and strategies that a teacher can understand and use. No

specific model will be used in the course. Rather, an eclectic approach that includes strategies from various models will be used in the lessons

and examples.

 

 

 

What does research say about classroom management? - teacher style

 

“Alike as schools may be in many ways, each school has an ambience (or culture) of its own and, further, its ambience may suggest to the

careful observer useful approaches to making it a better school.” J. Goodlad

 

In addition to the research conducted to support the many discipline models, there is research regarding the other aspects of classroom management. This research focuses on teacher style, control issues, student aspects, and desired outcomes.

Teacher style can range from being extremely directive and restrictive to not providing direction and being permissive. Recent studies have

shown that students respond more to a style that combines a structured classroom and the ability to question and get involved in their learning (Authoritative style). Just as adults, students understand and remember more when their learning is meaningful and important to them. With this

style, the teacher and the students resolve problems by creatively working together to find a solution which benefits all parties involved

(Morris-Rothschild & Brassard, 2006).

 

Authoritative teaching characteristics include:

 

• Teacher acting as a guide through learning

• Teacher holding high expectations for students

• Teacher promoting student independence

• Teacher genuinely caring for and respecting students

• Teacher encouraging discussions

• Students helping to create and enforce rules

• Teacher encouraging student interaction as an integral part of learning

• Teacher encouraging students to question

• Students having ownership in and are responsible for their own learning

 

Other studies have been completed over the last few decades in an effort to determine what makes an effective teacher. According to

research, effective teachers:

 

• have clear expectations and consequences (Brophy & Good, 1986)

• form relationships with, genuinely care about, and respect their students (Brophy & Good, 1986)

• balance control and fun (Cothran et al., 2003)

• communicate with students and parents (Cothran et al., 2003)

• possess verbal skills, subject matter knowledge, and academic ability (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003)

• are consistent, fair, and flexible (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003)

• are willing to have a lot of active student participation in their classes (Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2005)

• undertake action when they are confronted with a problem behavior (Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2005)

• discuss problems and solutions with their colleagues teaching the same class (Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2005)

• believe that they make a difference (Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2005)

• continue their own education through professional development (Opdenakker & Van Damme, 2005)

• are role models (Pohan, 2003)

 

What does research say about classroom management? - control

 

"Discipline is a slow, bit-by-bit, time-consuming task of helping children to see the sense in acting in a certain way."

James Hymes

 

Control of students by teachers is often regarded as the goal of classroom discipline. This emphasis on control is so widespread that control by teachers is often seen by educators as more important than the learning that goes on in the classroom (Edwards, 1994). Teachers are instructed that the mark of a good teacher is that the teacher is in control of the class (Taylor, 1987). To add to this situation, administrators are happy if a teacher never sends a student to the office and interpret this as proof that the teacher is in control and doing a good job (Edwards, 1994).

Teacher controlled discipline can be very effective at stopping the current behaviors, but may have little effect on future behavior and deprives students of becoming more responsible (Marshall, 2005). This means that the teacher will constantly have to deal with behavior problems. However, teachers cannot let students completely regulate their own behavior, as they may not yet have the skills to control themselves. A stronger goal for teachers is to provide a structure that allows students to grow in self-control.

 

Bennis (1992) believes that the teacher should be a leader rather than a manager in the classroom. A leader provides a vision to students as opposed to managers who demand compliance.

 

What does research say about classroom management? - student aspects

 

"Instruction designed to address a broad spectrum of learning styles has consistently proved to be more effective than traditional instruction, which focuses on a narrow range of styles." Felder & Brent

 

Students come to school with varying levels of self-control, experiences, and abilities. They differ regarding motivation, attitudes about learning, and responses to specific classroom environments. Individual students may prefer one of four types of classrooms:

 

• Clear structure, directions, and assignments

• Hands-on activities that allow them to learn by trial-and-error

• Real life problems that require analysis and applying skills to new contexts

• Considers the personal needs and interests of the students

 

These differences provide a challenge for you as a teacher. You may have 25 to 30 students in your classroom, all with different perspectives, abilities, and needs. To meet the needs of all students and motivate them to learn, you will want to integrate the four types into a comprehensive classroom. Organizing the physical arrangement, designing the learning, and helping students gain in responsibility is much more difficult than the community believes.

 

In order to manage these schools and classrooms, teachers often adopt a coercive manner. This approach destroys the quality of the learning environment because students try to escape these classrooms. Sidman (1993) states that 1,000,000 students (USA) drop out of school each year, in part due to the coercive nature of the classroom.

 

Most students behave appropriately, but teachers may not realize that. Research shows that teachers do not recognize 90% of appropriate behavior and when students misbehave, teachers are 2-5 times more likely to pay attention to that behavior. Students with disabilities receive even less positive feedback. When they comply with teachers’ requests, 82% never receive positive feedback. Latham (1997) observed that in classrooms where the ratio of negative to positive interactions is never greater than 1 “negative” to every 8 “positives”, the learning environment is non-coercive and student behavior is more appropriate.

 

 

 

What does research say about classroom management? - desired outcomes

 

"Students who actively engage with the material are more likely to recall information later and be able to use that information in different contexts."

Wikipedia

 

The standards and culture of the community sometimes become an issue in classroom management. School culture encompasses the values and practices, cultures and organizational structures, and relationships within a school. Because all people in the community have attended school, they have an image or belief about how a school should be. In many communities, that image is a traditional one: students sitting in rows, listening to the teacher lecture, taking notes, completing assignments and passing tests. The outcome of this type of classroom is students who have knowledge about the topics that are considered important. The level of student understanding is knowledge and comprehension. This image of learning is called passive learning.

 

Passive learning is in direct opposition to the research findings of the last few decades regarding student learning. The findings advocate active learning which is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process. In active learning, students participate in activities that require more than memorization of facts. They are involved in higher level thinking activities where they learn to apply knowledge to real life problems. The outcome of this type of classroom is that students learn to identify and solve problems, analyze data, and develop solutions.

The traditional model with its passive learning and the research-based ideas that foster active learning are the two opposite ends of a continuum of classroom management that is confronting schools today.

 

This revolution has led researchers to begin observing classrooms in order to find out what works and what does not work. They are using this information to develop more effective management models. They are discovering that the most effective classrooms are the ones where both the teachers and students feel competent, secure, useful, and have a sense of belonging (Sagor, 2003).

 

What is the goal of this course?

 

“The rules are about more than getting kids to behave; they're about preparing kids for what awaits them after they leave my classroom.”

Ron Clark

 

The goal of this course is to inform and give practice in the use of effective classroom management strategies. When used on a consistent basis, they will become powerful tools that will engage students, enhance appropriate behavior, and improve the learning environment.

Objectives:

1. Facilitate appropriate classroom designs for learning

2. Practice developing rules and routines for any classroom

3. Teach effective classroom management of disruptive behaviors

4. Learn and use recording techniques for observing and analyzing classroom behavior

5. Learn how to engage students in worthwhile learning tasks that reduce opportunities for misbehavior

6. Build observation skills and use case studies to interpret and define challenging behaviors in order to develop appropriate practices for managing an effective classroom

7. Learn the referral process for students who are unable to maintain appropriate classroom behavior

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