Focus on learning
Managing classroom behaviour to enhance student learning Maryam Hussain shares some fundamentals for students and teachers Although managing children’s behaviour has increasingly become a topic of interest and debate over the past decade, the notion of how to manage students’ behaviour in schools has been around for as long as there have been schools. Indeed, behaviour management has been and still is the chief concern of many educators across many countries. When students do not behave, they learn less individually, and at the same time prevent their peers from learning. In fact, the difficulty faced by teachers in managing student behaviour is cited as a crucial factor in relation to teacher burnout and dissatisfaction (McKinney, 2005). What is behaviour management? According to Porter (2000), behaviour management has two meanings. The first is preventing disruptions proactively; the teacher meeting the children’s needs, these being educational, social and emotional. The second definition states that behaviour management is proactive intervention by the teacher in order to get his or her students to display acceptable behaviour. Behaviour management is crucial in ensuring an adequate climate for learning, as well as illustrating how effective school systems can be in managing classroom behaviour. Upon taking a closer look at approaches to behaviour management it becomes clear that teachers have adopted different techniques. Despite many different theories on behaviour management, one common theme is positive management that emphasises the need to teach children how to behave appropriately: in other words, making them aware of their rights and their responsibilities. While each teacher has their own behaviour management strategy suited to their personal teaching style, it is important that all teachers have some sort of behaviour management programme in place: a programme that is structured in
a manner that allows them to have control over their class whilst also providing a stimulating and productive learning environment. The work of Lee and Marlene Canter (2001) is very much focused on using positive response to encourage and teach children how to behave in different situations. Discipline rests on how the teacher responds to misbehaviour and it is up to the teacher to keep students in order during class. The principles are basic; teachers are to promote positive behaviours by continuously demonstrating expected behaviour, implementing classroom rules, and using rewards and sanctions consistently. As noted in these principles, consistency is key. Consistency not only paves the foundation for the teacher, but also allows students to know where they stand, which leads to a positive learning environment. In order to achieve a positive learning environment, it is crucial to set classroom rules for the children to be able to incorporate aspects such as differentiation. From my personal experience, I feel it is essential to create an atmosphere of high expectations of the students from the first lesson and to uphold those expectations. This is because even if a lesson consists of creative activities, successful learning does not take place if students are not listening to the teachers’ instructions. Thus while giving instructions for activities during my teaching I insist on silence. Of course silence does not necessarily mean that students are listening actively; so asking students to repeat the instructions using the ‘no hands up’ questioning technique is an effective way of checking. Moreover, it is essential to be fair to students: teachers must remember that behaviour management does not consist only of sanctions but also of rewards and praise. One key aspect of the assertive discipline model is that teachers should provide positive consequences to show
Teachers sometimes worry that, with challenging classes, providing a variety of activities may result in students misbehaving.
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