AN ESSAY OF CLASSRROM MANAGEMENT
By
Carl J. Dombrowik
B.S., Central Connecticut State University, 1985
AN ESSAY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOLING
SUBMITTED INPARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR
EDUCATION AND SOCIETY (EDU 555)
Instructor: Professor Stoloff
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
EASTERN CONNECTICUT UNIVERSITY
JULY 2010
AN ESSAY OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
In our class Education and Society we have read about the evolving history of
education and society. We have also examined developments in different types of
pedagogy. We will now examine how classroom management is evolving by looking at
some of the latest ideas in research and consider how they might change the
classrooms of today and tomorrow.
Pellegrino (2010) wrote an article about the preparedness of pre-service
teachers and their management styles. The study examines new teachers and their
struggles with authority styles in the classroom. What is suggested is that more
emphasis is needed on training management styles: traditional authority, legal/rational
authority, and charismatic authority. Also “practicing teachers, for example, must
consistently reflect on their teaching, and reflection regarding lesson delivery and
student engagement would be incomplete without fundamental examination of
classroom authority (Pellegrino, 2010).” Peer review is also suggested for new teachers.
Bjorklund & Rehling (2009) bring out an important point about classroom
management. “What one faculty member may experience as problematic in a classroom
may not bother another. What faculty may experience as troublesome and see as
interfering with classroom learning may not mirror the experience as the students they
teach. One faculty member may not mind if students quietly eat their lunch or sip coffee
during class, while another may find it disruptive. Students may not see the student
sleeping in the back row as interrupting their learning, but a faculty member may see it
as very uncivil.”
2
Whether you are a seasoned teacher or a new teacher, good
classroom management can have different meanings. Durmuscelebi (2010)
wanted to compare the types of behavior issues between state and private
schools. He identified the most encountered and least encountered
misbehaviors in both types of schools. ’”The most encountered ones are
“Complaint about friends”, “Talking without permission”, “Studying without a
plan”, “Not listening to the teacher”, “Doing other things during the lesson”, and
“Fighting with friends”. The least unwanted behavior that the teachers faced
with are “Cheating”, “Eating something during the lesson”, “Coming late to
school”, “Not respecting to(the) teacher”, “Taking and using friend’s equipment
without permission”, and “Despising and excluding friends.”’
We have acknowledged that pre-service teachers may need better
preparation in anticipation of common classroom misbehaviors. Identifying
misbehaviors can also be challenging. We now look at some practices that thwart
misbehaviors and improve the educational process.
Wills, Kamps, Hansen, Conklin, Bellinger, Neaderhiser, et al. (2010) write about
a study called CW-FIT that addresses common classroom misbehaviors. CW-FIT
stands for Classwide Function-Based Intervention Team program. “Students in the
program reinforce each other’s appropriate behavior with attention and help, and they
are rewarded for minimizing or ignoring attention to peers for inappropriate or problem
behaviors.”
Allen (2010) focuses on a learner-centered approach for classroom
management. “Learner centered classrooms are characterized by flexible room
3
arrangements; varied social forums that allow for small and large group work, and
independent work; multiple sources of information (as opposed to the teacher acting as
the sole source of knowledge); and a more fluid and effective use of time.”
A style that I favor for my classroom is in a report by Doyle, W. (2009).
“The central task for teachers and students is to jointly
construct a context, that is, an “ongoing dynamic accomplishment of
people acting together with shared tools” To achieve the goal of
order (i.e., student cooperation in a program of action appropriate for
engaging with a particular curriculum task), a teacher must organize
classroom life and recruit, invite, persuade, or convince the student
to join forces with her or him in participating events for specific
periods of time. Among the tools available for the teacher are
various teaching principles, such as constructivism or direct
instruction, and methods or lesson formats, such as Daily Oral
Language or the five paragraph theme, as well as conceptions of
children and their development, curriculum guides, colleague
models, and personal experiences. Such processes play a central
role in constituting and stabilizing order at a moment in time and,
thus, play an essential part in classroom management practice.”
I came across a new tool that I like for a reading and writing task in an
article by Teachers (2010). “Critical thinking/discussion using a three level
system: Level one: Face value. What do you see/read on the outside? Level
two: What does the author/designer/artist want you to see? Have they tried to
4
influence thinking by the use of colour? Text? Size of object? How the text is
presented? Emotive language? Level Three: Why has it been presented that
way? What does the author think and why do they believe that? How are you,
the audience being persuaded to think? Is it right to think that way?
Consult/refer to other knowledge sources, such as values, Church teachings,
society expectations, familial ideals.”
Mader (2009) writes about students being allowed to grade themselves as a
management tool. One result I found interesting about students is “most reported that
they could voice personal beliefs and values without wondering how the instructor would
receive their comments”. This really enhances on-task behavior.
Being able to voice your own opinion is essential for the Harkness approach to
class management. Smith & Foley (2009) explain “Harkness teaching is leading
student-centered discussions in class, finding ways to get students to make the
discoveries for themselves, to get them to draw their own conclusions, to teach them
how to consider all sides of an argument, and to make up their own minds based on
analysis of the material at hard.” Students develop their own sense of responsibility for
their education.
And finally Brocato (2009) looks at what seems to be the developing trend in
classroom management. “Teachers (are viewed) as participants in the learning
environment who act as discursive partners with students as they construct meaning for
themselves. …Teaching about classroom management has only recently begun to shift
philosophically away from traditional, whole group, behavior correcting stances to more
person-centered approaches.”
5
Researching some of the current thoughts on classroom management has
reaffirmed the approach of student-centered learning that I use in my classroom. In this
process I have found some new tools to add my classroom management regiment.
Behaviors directly affect student learning, and keeping up with new strategies is
important for education and society.
References
(2010). Teachers. Australian Journal of Language & Literacy, 33(2), 16-21.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Allen, K. (2010). Classroom Management, Bullying, and Teacher Practices.
Professional Educator, 34(1), 1-15. Retrieved from Academic Search
Premier database.
Bjorklund, W., & Rehling, D. (2009). Student Perceptions of Classroom Incivility.
College Teaching, 58(1), 15-18. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier
database.
Brocato, K. (2009). Studio Based Learning: Proposing, Critiquing, Iterating Our
Way to Person-Centeredness for Better Classroom Management. Theory
Into Practice, 48(2), 138-146. doi:10.1080/00405840902776459.
Doyle, W. (2009). Situated Practice: A Reflection on Person-Centered Classroom
Management. Theory Into Practice, 48(2), 156-159.
doi:10.1080/00405840902776525.
Durmuscelebi, M. (2010). INVESTIGATING STUDENTS MISBEHAVIOR IN
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IN STATE AND PRIVATE PRIMARY
SCHOOLS WITH A COMPARATIVE APPROACH. Education, 130(3), 377383. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
6
Mader, C. (2009). “I Will Never Teach the Old Way Again”: Classroom
Management and External Incentives. Theory Into Practice, 48(2), 147155. doi:10.1080/00405840902776483.
Pellegrino, A. (2010). PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS AND CLASSROOM
AUTHORITY. American Secondary Education, 38(3), 62-78. Retrieved
from Academic Search Premier database
Smith, L., & Foley, M. (2009). Partners in a Human Enterprise: Harkness
Teaching in the History Classroom. History Teacher, 42(4), 477-496.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Wills, H., Kamps, D., Hansen, B., Conklin, C., Bellinger, S., Neaderhiser, J., et al.
(2010). The Classwide Function-Based Intervention Team Program.
Preventing School Failure, 54(3), 164-171. Retrieved from Academic
Search Premier database.
7