The Effect of Classroom Management for Effective Teaching - Literature review Example

hе еffесt оf Сlаssrооm Маnаgеmеnt fоr Еffесtivе Теасhing Your name: Institution name: Abstract In recent years a lot of focus has been put on education work based on psychological and physical punishment in schools. Teacher education departments and Ministries of Education have in the past struggled with the ‘imposed’ adds-on such as inclusive education, positive discipline, peace and human rights education, to their overloaded programs. Though all these programs are important, they have been based on existing in-service and pre-service teacher education and most of the time they have been developed and delivered trough toolkits, stand-alone manuals and workshops. Therefore, focus should be made on creating responsive classrooms and positive school climates as part of holistic quality education, where effective teaching and classroom management are considered one and the same thing. Introduction Effective teaching is the largest single school of thought or/and influence on students achievements. Numerous literature have found that there is high expectation on students to achieve their education potential and that teachers are committed to provide high quality learning for all their students (Edwards and Watts, 2004). Effective classroom management involves all of the things that a teacher does to organize students, space, time and material so that student learning and instruction in content can take place (Edwards and Watts, 2004). They treat students as persons, positively acknowledging their differences and being able to build a collaborative learning relationship with their students (Dunn, 2009). Effective teachers have been found to take appropriate action. Also, they have been found to be knowledgeable of their subjects (Charles, 2005), comprehensive pedagogical and they have a good understanding of their students learning process and technique (Levin and Nolan, 2010). An effective teacher will use a range of assessment data to engage students in appropriate learning through the use of different media and resources (Charles, 2005). An effective teacher will use different strategies that will enable students to become motivated, self managing and provide on-going feedback. What is the Classroom Management Classroom management has been defined as wide variety of techniques and skills that teachers use to keep learners organized, focused, orderly, on task, attentive and academically productive during a class session. When classroom management strategies are used effectively by teachers, they are able to minimize those behaviors that impede learning for both groups of students and individual students, while maximizing the behavior that enhance or facilitate learning (Edwards and Watts, 2004). Generally, an effective teacher is able to display strong classroom management skills and techniques while the hallmark of less effective or inexperienced teacher is a disorderly class that is filled with learners who are not paying attention or not working hard. Numerous studies have shown that high incidences of disciplinary problems may have a significant impact on the effectiveness of learning and teaching (Alton-Lee, 2003). In this respect, it has been seen that teachers that faced such issues fail to design and plan appropriate instructional tasks (Rubie-Davies, 2006). Teachers also tend to neglect variety in their lessons plan and rarely encourage learners to evaluate or discuss learning materials that they are using during their learning (Alton-Lee, 2003). In addition, learners’ seat work or comprehension is not monitored on a regular basis by their teachers (Hattie, 2003). In contrast, consistent and strong organizational and management skills have been identified as contributing to fewer discipline problems among the students. . The importance and the principals of Classroom Management In order for a student to learn effectively in with others in a classroom setup, the tutor needs to comprehend and understand his or her responsibility for managing student behavior (Wylie and Hipkins, 2006). A teacher is required to take necessary steps so that they are able to ensure there is effective learning environment for the students (Wong and Rosemary, 2010). Engaged motivated student may sometimes get excited but rarely disrupt other student seriously (Charles, 2005). A teacher may spend part of his or her in planning small details of what they are going to teach in classroom on daily schedule (Wong and Rosemary, 2010). Sometimes this kind of planning is hard for a pre-service tutor or teacher to notice, because an experience teacher is aware of all the small decisions they make to ensure that their learners move smoothly and busy from one activity to the next (Wylie and Hipkins, 2006). There are many strategies which can be employed by teachers in order to manage their students effectively, but most of these strategies have been based on the principle that a student or a learner need to be self motivated and to self monitor their own behaviors (Wong and Rosemary, 2010). It may be easier and quicker for a first time teacher to use his or her teaching power and authority to control what his or her students do (Alton-Lee, 2003). But, in the long run this may lead to a learning environment where the students may be quiet, unmotivated, and so forth, but only the teacher can ensure their students are of good behavior or discipline. If the learners are unattended or a substitute teacher is present, then students may become unruly in classroom. A teacher needs to understand what a disruptive behavior is and what action he or she may take. For example, what will a teacher do if a second-grade classroom if a child talks inappropriately (Wong and Rosemary, 2010), slam a book down on the desk, walks across the classroom to sharpen a pencil, pushes another student in class, or throws an eraser? Are these student’s behavior serious and automatically disruptive (Wong and Rosemary, 2010), how long will it take an effective teacher to decide? Would an effective teacher response differently if he or she knew that the child’s father had passed on a week before? If a teacher had already talked to his or her student concerning her behavior, if the student was in sixth grade class, some of these scenarios have illustrated why classroom management sometimes is the most difficult techniques for new teachers (Charles, 2005). The reason why many talented teachers leave the teaching profession is because they cannot satisfactorily respond to some of these questions and scenarios. An effective discipline policy will assert a teacher authority and will ensure that all learners are treated equally (Burden, 2006). It is important that each student in classroom know their teacher expectations. For example, on the first day of school a teacher should tell their students classroom policies and rules (Wong and Rosemary, 2010). And a teacher should identify specific misbehavior that will not be tolerated in class and what consequences will follow if such rules and policies are broken (such as first offense-detention; second offense- call guardian or parent; third offense-submit an incident report to the administration) (Alton-Lee, 2003). Student should understand that a more serious acts or incidents such as bullying and fighting will be immediately handled by the school administration (Wylie and Hipkins, 2006). It is important if learners do what they are supposed to do because their teachers are an authority figure. But, students must respect their teachers before they obey their teachers (Charles, 2005). That why building a good rapport is an important principle of classroom management. Effective classroom management can never be achieved by coercing or forcing a student to behave or learn properly (Edwards and Watts, 2004). If a learner believes that if a teacher has his or her best interests at heart, student will want to behave properly and do well in their studies (Hattie, 2003). And if a teacher is doing his or her best to make the class interesting and relevant, students are more likely to do what they are required or asked to do. Knowing a student a little bit will not only help a teacher make connection with each student, but a teacher will find that learning different personalities of learners is important to managing students. Future conflicts can be prevented if a teacher knows a little bit about a student and observe how this student interacts with other students in the classroom (Levin and Nolan, 2010). For example, a teacher may get involved in school events, such as attend football game (Burden, 2006). Taking and interest in what students like to do will cause them to view their teachers differently. Theories of Classroom Management Each theory has its weaknesses and merits. Teacher theories to support their classroom management style and own philosophy (Porter, 2007). Effective classroom management may result in smooth-running classroom where effective learning can be realized. A teacher is able to manage his or her classroom by foreseeing and preventing problems, addressing problem behaviors and facilitating appropriate behaviors as necessary. William Glasser’s ‘Choice theory’ is based on the concept that learners or students should be responsible for their own behavior, and every learner is capable of controlling his or her behavior. Every student has an option to whether behave or misbehave in a positive way. When a tutor is teaching his or her students, it is important for the teacher to think about the behavior of his or her students before they start to misbehave. Also, in order for a teacher to help his or her students manage their behavior properly, a teacher may use a ‘think alouds’ on how they can control their actions (Wong and Rosemary, 2010). A teacher should also employ good decision-making process and conflict resolution by encouraging their students to submit their daily reflections on their behavior and possible alternatives if their behavior is unnecessary or unwarranted (Levin and Nolan, 2010). Kounin Jacob believed that if a learner is engaged in their studies, they would be less likely to misbehave or unruly. If learning is complete and precise at a continuous pace, then learners will have less time to misbehave or get into trouble (Hattie, 2003). When a learner or student is properly engaged in her or his learning, they will be able to concentrate on the activities and lessons in the classroom. This will help teachers focus on students’ learning and curiosity, and it will prevent problems behaviors from cropping up among the students. Therefore, a teacher should be able to create a lesson plant that is fun and that engage students. Student should be provided with a platform that they are able to say what is interesting or important to them, and this should be stressed during class time. it is important for a student to be part of the classroom decision making processes so that they are able to feel valuable members of a class (Burden, 2006). If students are able to have fun, then they will be fully be engaged in class work. And when students are fully engaged in their class work, the last thing they will think about is to misbehave, but they will be able to focus on tasks that are before them. A lot of problems may occur during transitions. Whether it simple transition between lessons or from classroom to another classroom, learners may misbehave during these shorter period. In order to eliminate behavior problems and conflicts from happening, routines and procedures should be implemented during the start of school term (Porter, 2007). Teacher communicating with student’s parents or guardians about classroom behavior and management is important (Porter, 2007). Canter believes that parents should be informed prior to the start of school about the behavior and consequences. Both negative and positive consequences should be shared with guardians and parents. For example, a teacher may write a letter at the beginning of a school term; this may help in creating a positive relationship between teachers and students ‘parents. If a parent doesn’t feel welcome in the classroom, or important to their children’s education, then the student may suffer. There should exist good relationship between students’ parents and teachers so that both teachers and student’s parents are able to read from the same page in order to support the student’s needs and wants. And if support does not exist in homes, then student are seen to struggle in the classroom. The Communication Skills of Classroom Management Standard 7.1 requires teachers to mode effective non-verbal and verbal communicating skills. For example, verbal communicating can be used to explain about activity direction or lead to discussion about landforms (Mitchell, 2008). In addition, if students are asked to define landforms, a teacher can verbally prompt the students as needed. For example, when a student is struggling to name a landform, a teacher should prompt the student by saying, is it a hill or a mountain? Verbal communication is a valuable way to scaffold students as they acquire skills and knowledge (Alton-Lee, 2003). On the other hand, non-verbal communication can be utilized to demonstrate how to a student can create a landform with play dough. Moreover, non-verbal communication can be used to manage classroom behavior. For example, a teacher can use ‘give me five’ signal and proximity to be able to gain the students attention and redirect behavior. In order for a teacher to positively reinforce appropriate behavior, a teacher can use non-verbal signals such as smiles, nods and thumbs-up were can be utilized. Teachers can effective employ verbal and non-verbal communication skills to manage student behavior teach lessons and make personal connections with their students. Throughout student teaching, a teacher can be able to use verbal cues such as in five minutes we are moving on to science, this will prepare student for upcoming transition to science subject. Also, a teacher can use positive reinforcement rater than general praise (Mitchell, 2008). Specific reinforcement would be more meaningful for learners because they are able to know exactly what they are being praised for. As far as non-verbal communication, teachers can use signals such as flickered lights, give me five or a finger to the mouth to convey the need for silence and attention. The effect of positive classroom management on teachers and students Teachers can play different roles in a classroom setup. Effective learning and teaching cannot take place in an environment that is poorly managed (Mitchell, 2008). If the students have been found to be disrespectful and disorderly, and there are no rules and procedures that have been put in place so that it can guide the student behavior, chaos may be experienced among the students. And in this situation, both the teachers and students will suffer (Wylie and Hipkins, 2006). Students are most likely to learn much less than they should and teachers will struggle to teach (Dunn, 2009). In contrast, a well managed classroom will provide a good environment in which teaching and learning can flourish without interruptions. As Long and Fryer (1985) stated in their book, Making It Till Friday: A Guide to Successful Classroom Management, effective teaching management can prevent discipline problems among students, and it can make the students to be more interest in learning (Dunn, 2009). Students may experience some difficulties in their homes which may spill over to the classroom, but effective classroom management can help solve these problems. Similarly, If a teacher is able to obtain his or hers student cooperation and involve their student in instructional activities (Wylie and Hipkins, 2006). It unlikely effective teaching will take place. In addition lack of effective classroom management reduces learners’ time on activities or task, waste class-time detracts the students from the quality of the learning environment. Classroom management based on UAE culture In the field of classroom management, the following tips can be used to improve the classroom management and it will enable students or learners to achieve greatness if they are practiced and implemented in a consistent manner in UAE culture. Student/Teacher/Parent contact: This involves students, teachers and parents as an expectation and responsibilities for each and everyone. The teacher, students and parents are supposed to sign a contract at the start of school year or term. When activities such as conferences are being held at the learning institutions, teachers and parents may refer back to the contract they made. Be consistent: Being consistent doesn’t mean being a robot or a machine. It arises out of our caring for our students and caring for their learning. Both the teachers and parents should be able to say what they mean. There should be high expectation for students: expectation on students should reinforced with the way teachers speak to their students. For example, when a teacher begins his or her day, they should tell their students what they expect. One thing that is true of almost all students is that they act according to the expectations of the teacher (Esubject, 2009). Our job as teachers is to discover each students’ strength, then use that to help him or her develop skills and other strengths (Esubjects, 2009). Lastly, teachers should know their students: Teachers should be able to familiarize themselves with their students through a cursory glance at their school records (Dunn, 2009). When a teacher discover that a student who is unhappy or unsuccessful prior school experience, it will be good if the teacher find out more about those students’ hobbies or interest so that they are able to connect with the students in a way that promotes positive feelings (Mendler, 2001). Conclusion Classroom management has been noted to have a positive impact on the learners’ overall learning achievement. This has been supported by the numerous researches, and does the meta-analysis on which this research paper has been based on. Therefore, it is crucial that there should exists a balance between teacher’s actions that provide clear consequences for unacceptable student’s behavior and actions that reward and recognize acceptable behavior. References Alton-Lee. A. (2003). Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Burden, P. (2006). Classroom Management Creating a successful k-12 Learning Community. London: Pearson Education Charles, C.M. (2005). Building classroom discipline (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Dunn, R. (2009). Dos AND Don'ts Behaviour Management. London: Pearson Education Edwards, C.H., & Watts, V. (2004). Classroom discipline and management: An Australian perspective. Milton, Qld: Hattie, J. (2003). Distinguishing expert teachers from novice and experienced teachers. Retrieved from: NSW Department of Education and Training: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au. Levin, J and Nolan, J. F. (2010). Principals of Classroom Management A Professional Decision- Making Model. London: Pearson Education. Mitchell, D. (2008) What really works in special and inclusive education. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge Porter, L. (2007).Student behaviour: Theory and practice for Teachers (3rd ed.). Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. Rubie-Davies, C. (2006). Great expectations: Pedagogical beliefs and instructional practices. Set 3. Wong, H. K., and Rosemary T. W. (2010). The first days of school:How to be an effective teacher.Mountianview, California: Harry K. Wong Publications. Wylie, C. & Hipkins, R. (2006). Growing independence: Competent learners at 14. Retrieved NZCER: http://www.nzcer.org.nz. Read More