A Vision of Collaboration and Scholarly Community - Essay Example

Teacher Misbehavior: Literature Review and id Due Literature Review Teaching is an enjoyable professional occupation for most of the teachers, but for some it is a stressful and thankless occupation because teachers usually do not get the level of salaries that other professionals of even less academic qualifications get. This difference in salaries and perceived less regarded profession make teachers feel stressed at times due to which a negative shift in their teaching behaviors occurs. Even the most committed and dedicated teachers are likely to feel some stress at times. Poor interaction with students is perceived to be one of the main effects of such stress on teachers. As Lewis and Riley (2009), “The way some teachers respond to the stress integral to their chosen profession is by interacting with students in a way that can be conceptualised as misbehaving” (p. 417). Teachers’ behavior towards students and their way of interaction becomes negative due to stress or any other reason, which is termed in today’s world as ‘teacher misbehavior’. Teacher misbehavior is not just linked to decreased interaction between students and teachers due to teachers’ inappropriate behaviors. Rather, it is also linked with an overall downward shift in the classroom management behaviors and instructional skills of teachers. A stressed or indolent teacher is not able to focus his/her attention on his/her professional roles and responsibilities in the way an effective teacher can. It is due to the fact that stress, incompetence, and thinking about personal issues at the workplace make a person unable to deliver his/her best no matter to what professional field he/she belongs to. A teacher may show abrupt behaviors due to many reasons. In today’s professional settings, salary and working environment are two such factors that can cause a person to show misbehavior at the workplace. Teachers, who feel stressed either due to salary issues or school climate, become unable to teach their students using appropriate instructional techniques because their mind does not let them focus their attention towards their professional duties (Sava, 2002). As the result of this, teachers start taking their professional responsibilities as granted and become unable to do justice with their roles and responsibilities. This inability to do justice with professional roles and responsibilities leads to inappropriate behaviors both with students in classrooms and with colleagues at the staffroom, which is known as teacher misbehavior in the educational settings. As Sava (2002) states, “teachers who prefer a custodial approach of controlling pupils, who have lower morale due to school climate conditions and who are less likely to burn out, tend to adopt conflict-inducing attitudes towards pupils” (p. 1007). This conflict-inducing attitude is termed as ‘teacher misbehavior’ in educational settings and has a negative effect on the perceived image of a teacher, as well as on student’s academic behaviors. Teaching misbehavior affects students’ academic performances, as well as their level of motivation. As Gorham and Christophel (1992) state, “motivation is perceived by students as a student‐owned state, while lack of motivation is perceived as a teacher‐owned problem” (p. 239). Decreased motivation or lack of motivation leads to the display of poor academic performances by students. It is obvious that when a teacher is not able to motivate his/her students towards learning, the level of students’ academic achievements will not go up because students need a proper source that can motivate them towards learning and skill development. Teacher misbehavior not only affects the students’ level of motivation and academic performance but also affects the image of the teacher. In an article, the researchers examined the effects of teacher misbehaviors on teacher’s credibility. Misbehavior within the classroom settings affects the teacher’s level of credibility, care, trustworthiness, and competence (Banfield, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2006, p. 63). This statement shows that display of inappropriate behaviors in the classrooms decreases the level of trust, as well as the relationship that a teacher normally has with students. Offensiveness has been found as the key misbehavior that affects a teacher’s credibility the most. It not only makes students afraid of the teacher but also destroys the trustworthy student-teacher relationship. In a study, the researchers investigated the three main types of teacher misbehaviors which include incompetence, offensiveness, and indolence (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). Incompetence refers to the inability of a teacher to deliver the lecture or knowledge to the students in an appropriate and interactive manner. Incompetence also refers to the inability of a teacher to make the concepts of the students clear. It happens when a teacher provides confusing instruction to the students which students cannot understand easily. This makes the teacher confused which ultimately leads to the display of anger and irritation by the teacher (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). Offensiveness refers to the activities that harm the emotional well-being of students. Verbal abuse, physical abuse, insult, and humiliation all come under the category of offensiveness (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). This can b termed as the worst form of teacher misbehavior because it destroys the feelings and emotions of the students which results in decreased student motivation and poor academic performances. Offensiveness can be regarded as the worst teacher misbehavior because it causes stress and depression in students both of which directly affect the level of interest of students in studies. Victims of the offensive teacher attitude can neither perform well in classrooms not in extracurricular activities (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). “Offensive teachers are ones who humiliate students, play favorites, intimidate, and/or are generally corresponding, rude, and/or self-centered” (Banfield, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2006, p. 63). All of these are considered as negative qualities of a teacher and are regarded as teacher misbehavers. Discriminating or playing favorites is also offensive teacher misbehavior because it produces emotional distress in the victimized students. Teachers are there to manage and improve students’ behaviors, thoughts, and actions. It is their responsibility to try their best to eradicate offensiveness from the personality of their students. However, when they start being offensive in the classroom settings against their students, it becomes a very serious issue and a very critical teacher misbehavior because it nourishes the offensive thoughts and ideas of students instead of decreasing the negative attitudes of students. Teachers are the role models of their students who learn whatever they observe their teachers doing (Banfield, Richmond, & McCroskey, 2006). If they see their teachers promoting offensiveness in the classroom, they are likely to follow their teacher. For example, if a teacher yells at the students instead of talking with them politely and in good manners, students will be likely to do exactly that. Similarly, if a teacher gives verbal and physical abuse to students, it will not only have a negative impact on the mental development of the students but also will promote abusive and bullying among students. Indolence, on the other hand, refers to a teacher’s display of disregard towards students. Showing less interest in students’ affairs, arriving late in the classroom, missing lectures, delivering common knowledge instead of delivering in-depth and dismissing students before time all come under the category of indolence (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). Indolence also refers to absent-mindedness which is also treated as teacher misbehavior because teachers need to show that they are present in the classroom in order to ensure class discipline and to keep the learning environment intact. Indolence is considered by many a negative teacher behavior because it interferes with the learning activity of the students (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). The reason is that students come to schools for learning but when their teachers do not show the due level of interest in teaching, the level of student motivation goes down which eventually causes a decrease in the academic achievement graph of students. Therefore, an indolent teacher is not regarded as a respectable and caring teacher by most of the students since this behavior goes against the learning needs of the students. All of these three types of misbehaviors lead to student disengagement from studies which ultimately results in decreased academic performances. Teacher misbehavior can occur due to any particular reason but its effects on the learning potential of students are never good. Teacher misbehavior, whether it is due to incompetence, offensiveness, or indolence, never produces any good for the students. In a study, the researchers investigated the relationship between the age of a teacher and the type of teacher misbehavior. The types of the misbehaviors were hypothesized to be offensive, indolent, or incompetent, whereas the dimensions of a teacher’s credibility were perceived to be trustworthiness, competence, and care. The results of the study showed that older teachers were more credible in the eyes of the students as compared to younger teachers. Similarly, indolent teachers were perceived to be more trustworthy as compared to incompetent and offensive teachers (Semlak & Pearson, 2008, p. 76). This shows that the intensity of misbehaviors that the teachers show in classrooms goes down as the teachers grow older. Similarly, the study also shows that offensiveness and incompetency are more intensive forms of teacher misbehaviors as compared to indolence as two dimensions of teacher’s credibility, which are trustworthiness and care, have been found to be more in indolent teachers as compared to others (Semlak & Pearson, 2008, p. 76). Teachers need to be aware of the fact that students them as their role models. Whatever they do and what way they do something, students take complete notice of that because they are at the learning end. Instructional outcomes depend on the way students perceive their teacher. Positive instructional outcomes occur when a teacher is successful at increasing the affect of the students, whereas negative instructional outcomes occur when a teacher cannot improve his/her affect for students (Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). The relationship between teachers and students needs to be positive in order for students to excel in their academic careers (Lewis & Riley, 2009). Teacher misbehavior puts a negative impact on the relationship between students and teachers which not only decreases the affect of the teachers but also proves to be harmful for the overall school environment. Teacher misbehaviors always affect the level of credibility a teacher usually has among his/her students. When a teacher loses his/her credibility, students start taking his/her presence in the classroom as granted and do not pay the due amount of attention to the studies because they have in their mind that their teacher is there to mark his/her presence as a teacher instead of being there as a credible and trustworthy person. Loyalty is the key for a teacher to establish the image of a credible teacher among his/her students (Lewis & Riley, 2009). Students like to attend the lectures of teachers who respect their students and perform their role as a committed and dedicated teacher. On the other hand, a teacher who is concerned more about his/her personal issues instead of knowledge delivery and keeps on thinking about his/her personal problems loses credibility as the result of which the students become disengaged from studies. Their level of attention goes down, as well as their grades and academic performance level. Communication is the key to the development of a trustworthy student-teacher relationship in which students enjoy learning and teachers enjoy their job ad teachers. Teachers need to be able to communicate effectively with their students not only deliver the knowledge properly but also to develop a good image among the students. The better the communication style of a teacher will be, better will be his/her relationship with the students. On the other hand, rude communication attitudes and offensive style of communication affects the teacher-student relationship, as well as the learning inclination and motivation of students. As Thweatt and McCroskey (1996) state, “students perceive teachers who communicate in nonimmediate ways as misbehaving” (p. 198). This statement shows that teacher nonimmediacy cannot be manipulated independent of teacher misbehaviors because even those teachers who although display good behaviors in the classroom are termed as misbehaving teachers because of communicating with the students in nonimmediate ways. In another study intended towards determining the effects of teachers’ immediacy on their credibility among students, Thweatt and McCroskey (1998) came up with somewhat similar results and stated, “when teacher immediacy was low, whether the teacher was in the nonmisbehavior or misbehavior condition made no significant difference‐both produced perceptions of low credibility” (p. 348). However, it cannot be said that lower teacher immediacy is the sole reason for the students to attribute a teacher’s attitude with misbehavior. Studies have shown that even the teachers who show immediacy behaviors do not enjoy complete immunity from being called as misbehaving teachers (Kelsey, Kearney, Plax, Allen, & Ritter, 2004). The reason is that an ideal teacher for students is one who is competent, loyal, friendly, and a good communicator at the same time. Students do not regard such teachers as ideal teachers who keep distance from students and show abrupt behaviors. The studies also showed that students have the ability to recognize their teachers’ misbehaviors and categorize them as offensive, incompetent, or indolent behaviors. Moreover, students are also able to use an interpretive framework to stand their teacher’s nature and personality as the primary contributors to teacher misbehaviors (Kelsey, Kearney, Plax, Allen, & Ritter, 2004). Teacher misbehavior apparently appears to be an illogical concept because very less amount of studies has been conducted on this issue as compared to student misbehavior issue. Most of the studies have focused on student misbehavior due to which it appears as a common concept in educational settings. However, teacher misbehavior is also a very serious issue which needs more light, investigation, and proper solution. References Banfield, S., Richmond, V., & McCroskey, J. (2006). The Effect of Teacher Misbehaviors on Teacher Credibility and Affect for the Teacher. Communication Education, 55(1), 63-72. Retrieved from http://www.jamescmccroskey.com/publications/215.pdf Gorham and Christophel (1992). Students perceptions of teacher behaviors as motivating and demotivating factors in college classes. Communication Quarterly, 40(3), 239-252. DOI: 10.1080/01463379209369839 Kearney, P., Plax, T., Hays, L., & Ivey, M. (1991). College teacher misbehaviors: What students don’t like about what teachers say or do. Communication Quarterly, 39(4), 309-324. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463379109369808?journalCode=rcqu20#preview Kelsey, D., Kearney, P., Plax, T., Allen, T., & Ritter, K. (2004). College students attributions of teacher misbehaviors. Communication Education, 53(1). DOI: 10.1080/0363452032000135760 Lewis, R., & Riley, P. (2009). Teacher Misbehaviour. International Handbook of Research on Teachers and Teaching, 21, 417-431. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-0-387-73317-3_27 Sava, F. (2002). Causes and effects of teacher conflict-inducing attitudes towards pupils: a path analysis model. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18(8), 1007-1021. DOI: 10.1016/S0742-051X(02)00056-2 Semlak, J., & Person, J. (2008). Through the Years: An Examination of Instructor Age and Misbehavior on Perceived Teacher Credibility. Communication Research reports, 25(1), 76-85. DOI: 10.1080/08824090701831867 Thweatt, K., & McCroskey, J. (1998). The impact of teacher immediacy and misbehaviors on teacher credibility. Communication Education, 47(4), 348-358. DOI: 10.1080/03634529809379141 Thweatt, K., & McCroskey, J. (1996). Teacher nonimmediacy and misbehavior: Unintentional negative communication. Communication Research reports, 13(2), 198-204. DOI: 10.1080/08824099609362087 Read More

 

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