Keeping Control In The Classroom

Challenging inappropriate behaviour posed by children nowadays is one of the most daunting issued faced by teachers. Few matters affect teachers more directly and persistently than managing classroom behaviour (Jim Docking, 2000). Being able to manage a classroom I found is one of the most fundamental aspects in being able to teach today. Through this critique I will investigate the different studies relating to behaviour management within a classroom, looking pacifically at several behavioural issues within a classroom and where they stem from, as well as looking into studies based on the praise system and how it is used in schools. I want to look at fundamental theorists and give a brief insight into their studies through my own experience and research I have looked into.

While reading Journal 1 of The Alternative and reflecting on the assignment giving, memories of teachers flooded through my mind. I am unabashed to admit that I believed some teachers to be poor at their job, and have more than once thought that perhaps this wasn’t the correct career path for them. One such teacher was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher, who believed public shaming to be the preferable way of teaching adolescents. When a student would answer a question wrong in class he couldn’t help but laugh as well as bring it up throughout the lesson, refusing to let the student move past their mistake. He chose to

A part of my job as administrator is to work with students on keeping ethical standards throughout their lives. I work with others at my school to instill character building skills. We have a character word for the month that is posted in every classroom and other parts of the school. Part of my job as an administrator will be to work with teachers and how they relate to the students. During my Successful School Observation I was able to pick up on the teachers’ attitudes about teaching with the way they spoke to the students and about the students. Most of the teachers were working really well with the students. There were two or three who, if I was their administrator, would be placed on probation or written up because of the way they talk to the students. Belittling students is a big NO! NO! All students deserve to be treated with respect even on our worst days as

It is important that the adult influences of the classroom recognise and praise the positive behaviour of individual pupils – especially those who struggle to maintain good behaviour and tend to be told off more than others. It is also essential to praise constant good behaviour (from pupils who never misbehave) to avoid the development inappropriate behaviour. Children respond to all kinds of positive praise. In my setting, the class teacher and LSA’s often add positive words like ‘fantastic’, ‘brilliant’ or ‘well done’ when acknowledging their input towards the class. We also use house tokens to

Many teachers are faced with the difficult task of managing their student’s behavior. Even if we

HOW TEACHERS CAN AVOID CONTRIBUTING TO DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS IN SCHOOLS: COULD I BE PART OF THE PROBLEM? (2014). National Forum of Educational Administration & Supervision Journal (pp. 64-70). National Forum Journals

Regardless of age, we all like to be noticed and praised for something good that we have done. Research has shown that in order to balance out a negative, we need to be given 6 positives. It is important therefore, to recognise and reward positive behaviour, especially for those pupils who perhaps need to be reprimanded more than others. Whilst it can be easier to simply react to the negative aspects of a child’s behaviour with “don’t do this, don’t do that”, it is also really important to point out what they are doing well, whether it’s sitting nicely, listening well, joining in, following instructions, etc. It is also important not to forget those children who always behave appropriately and openly praise them too. In the 1940’s BF

Ronald Morrish notes that, “we have to teach students how to behave properly because many of them do not learn how to do so at home” (Charles, 2014, p. 72). This means as educators, it then becomes our duty to not only foster a supportive environment, but also teach students about self-control as well; which goes hand-in-hand with Morrish’s phase theory of “Managing Student Choice” (p. 81). Establishing authority is extremely important in this case, meaning that the teacher must be consistent with their disciplinary actions and use this opportunity to produce desirable results. For example, Chris and his teacher can review homework assignments together and go over questions that Chris might struggle

Not all students are treated equally in a school. Age, race, and gender do affect how students are treated in some schools. Age is an obvious factor that distinguishes students at the elementary level. How teachers talk to students is interesting, in particular with the young kindergartner. In a study that defines praise and behavior states, “For example, an average of approximately 102 classwide violations were observed per hour in Kinder-garten classrooms, and approximately 35 classwide viola-tions were observed per hour at the grade 5 level (source 8, 8).

Conscious discipline is a comprehensive classroom management program with a social-emotional curriculum developed by Dr. Becky Bailey, an internationally renowned expert in child development psychology from Oviedo, Florida. Dr. Bailey’s intent on creating conscious discipline has proven effective. It is a longtime leader in integrating classroom management and social emotional learning. It utilizes everyday events rather than an external curriculum. This program is based on current brain research, child development information and developmentally appropriate practices with a purpose to make changes in the lives of adults first and in turn, the adults will change the lives of children.

Authoritative teachers will often “try to catch their students being good” and will reinforce the good behavior, rather than focusing on the bad. (Iannelli, 2004). It is critical that teachers praise their students for their efforts. A teacher can teach the entire classroom by recognizing one child’s positive action. Children desire praise and they will learn appropriate behavior when their fellow students receive praise. When teachers focus on bad behavior and make an example of a particular student to the entire classroom, it only makes the child that is being reprimanded feel alienated, ashamed, embarrassed, or possibly revengeful.

The topic is how to discipline students. The authors state, “student responses to teachers’ disciplinary techniques can be unpredictable and require quick reactions on the part of the teacher.” This sets the context for the more specific research problem.

In the 1960s, studies from Madsen et al. (1968); Zimmerman and Zimmerman (1962); and Hall et al. (1968) demonstrated the positive effects of contingent teacher praise. As the years have progressed, similar research illustrated equal effectiveness in various age levels ranging from infants to adults. On the contrary, low rates of teacher praise has also been documented by various researchers including Baker and Zigmond (1990); Deno et al. (1990); Gable et al. (1983); Nowacek et al. (1990); and Ysseldyke et al. (1984). These reports indicate that expressions of verbal disapproval by teachers are more likely to occur than verbal approval especially from Grade three and above.

Misbehavior is an opportunity to show the student that the teacher believes they are capable of a higher standard. The objective of discipline is not to punish but rather to teach the student to act differently in the future by imposing an unwanted consequence based on unacceptable behavior. Punishment alone without the goal of retraining student behavior may cause resentment and further problems down the road. (Charles, 2008)

On the other hand, the worst features of supervision are shown in five subcategories: (1) supervision as a dog and pony show, (2) supervision as a weapon, (3) supervision as a meaningless/invisible routine, (4) supervision as a fix-it list, and (5) supervision as an unwelcome intervention (Zepeda and Ponticell, 1998, p.73). This entails teachers delivering fake performances during the observation time since most desire the highest rating possible. It also serves as a weapon for teachers to demonstrate negative sentiments against the administration, especially when teachers are given low ratings. Sometimes, the results are taken for granted and become meaningless if accepted as negative feedback and leading to little or no constructive action for improvement.