Classroom+Management


= __WEEK 2 - CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT__ =




Ok so this week’s lecture was on student responsibility and classroom management.

He was discussing the two kinds of responsibilities we all have: Personal and communal responsibilities. Relating more specifically to the kinds of responsibilities our students have at school and in their class.
 * Personal: being your individual motivation (I do the right thing).
 * Communal: being centred around ‘others’ (I encourage others to do the right thing).

These responsibilities attribute to the general classroom rights of all children; all children have the right to feel safe in the classroom. He presented two different survey’s comparing different countries and their feelings on their personal and communal responsibilities. Australia seemed to have less communal responsibility than personal. I found these survey's really interesting to observe how Australian students think of themselves in comparison to other students in China and Israel. Chinese students appeared to think of themselves as generally more responsible with both the personal and communal. I wonder whether this stems from Australian's “don’t tell on a mate” kind of mentality that we have as students and how this can effect our ability to display our comunal rsponsibitiy. He encouraged us to try and get the students to understand that it is their responsibility to own their actions and change them because they can see the reasons why they should...rather than simply modifying their behaviour because their teacher told them to.

I think this was a really interesting discussion because seeing students when I have been in schools, I have noticed so many students when asked what they may have done wrong they say. eg. "I broke the rules... I should have listened etc" When asked what they could have done better they only appear to comment on their own responsibility and their communal responsibiliy seems to be a hard concept for them to grasp. If you talk about how they could have helped others to do the right thing to avoid the situation getting out of hand they (yes, being VERY general) reply...."It's not up to me to tell them what to do, why should I? If they want to do the wrong thing that's their problem". Maybe this is something we need to help our students understand more... their communal responsibility!!! //__**Power – developmental classroom management**__// (BOOK) ** The power of the teacher ** “Approx 45-55% of the variation in individual students learning outcomes relates to what goes on in individual classrooms”. // Review // // of Research in Education.Vol.32.2008:328-369 // ** 4 kinds of students ** A – Managed by normal curriculum – self motivated B – Managed within classroom- occasionally distracted C – Managed out of class – need to be isolated, refer\ed. D – Not managed – generally seem unmanageable.
 * We were introduced to this research: It idenitifies 4 different kinds of student behaviour and different types of power. It encourages us to look at the most effective uses of power in dealing with different type of children and situations.**

** Different kinds of power teachers have to management classrooms and students ** Legitimate Power (role related) Expert Power (Knowledge & Skill) Referent Power (relationship) Coercive Power (punishment) Reward Power (recognition)

We were then basically asked to consider what kinds of power would be most suited to each different kind of children. __**Two research question were posed for discussion:**__ Why would teachers choose to use forms of power they know don’t work productively? Why would teachers choose not to use forms of power they know are effective?

I think this picture is funny because it kind of displays how sometimes I think the wrong type of power that you use can be like a foreign language to the situation. If we can try and identify the right power for the right situation we can resolve the situation in the most effectvie way.

**THE WORKSHOP** In the workshop we spoke about the issues raised in the lecture and were asked in groups to present our issue back to the class in a creative way. Our group decided to focus on the 4 different kinds of children and how they might position themselves in the classroom if they had the option to do so.
 * We presumed that the A students would most likely all sit together as they would all want to work without distraction and without getting into any trouble. We also presumed that some of the B children would put themselves with the A’s because they would know that this would be the most productive place for them to sit t complete their work. The rest of the B’s would be dispersed throughout the classroom in amongst some of the C’s children. The C knows they can distract those children more easily. The D’s children would be seated probably wherever as they often know where ever they sit they are going to be moved.

We also then talked about how we might seat the children in accordance to their type if we wanted to maximise the effectiveness of our working classroom. This would obviously be a guessing game until you are ale to be in the classroom and test our the different combinations of students and wht seems to work the most effectively. When my scanner decides to agree with me I will put up our picture of our classroom that we drew in class.... Kellie Fenton

__Response: Penelope Harris__
Whilst, without question, class room management is essential in keeping the learning area well structured, how much of our learnt theory will be actually put into practice? Will we assess each child into an A,B,C,D classification at the start of the year to be able to determine which discipline rules we need to apply to them?  Or will we just try what we know and if it doesn’t work try something else? From the reading “A Person-Centered approach to Classroom Management” (Jerome Freiberg, J. Moores, R Moores, 2007) it clearly outlines how classrooms were managed, with a teacher-centred classroom to the more advanced notion of a person-centred classroom.  The main difference between these two management styles is the inclusion of the children in their classroom management, that they in effect are being self disciplined.  In classrooms where teachers are advised to trust, respect and value the students, I believe it is valuable to include them in the classroom management.  This may result in a “better” behaved class if they help to design the class rules and aware of the consequences.  A “better” behaved class should lead to a “better” learning environment, with less focus on discipline and more focus on student learning.   One criticism of the person-centred classroom model is whether order is present? <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">What constitutes order, a silent classroom where only the teacher is heard, or a constructive classroom where students are learning from each others thoughts, ideas, mistakes and achievements? <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">I know the type of classroom that I want to teach in. How can I expect students to learn if only I teach them, so how can I expect discipline to work if only I decide on the rules and consequences? In the article Classroom Discipline in Australia (Lewis, 2006) the types of discipline is questioned. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">It also questions the effectiveness of the discipline in keeping the learning process going. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">“Students who perceived their teachers as admonishing and strict were those with more negative attitudes toward the subject being taught”. (Lewis, 2006) <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">If a student is afraid of a teacher or the consequences of making a mistake they will simply not try. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Students, as established, learn from mistakes. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Mistakes make students question their answers, retry and evaluate how they made an incorrect answer. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> As discussed in the article teachers implement a calm disciple style with clear rules and guidelines for students. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Teachers will “hint at, explain to, and discuss with students the need for appropriate behaviour. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Finally, they provide recognition to those students behaving appropriately, and calmly punish misbehaving students. I have seen this in practice. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">In a 1 / 2 class room one boy was annoying another, he was asked by the teacher to move to another chair. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The teacher spoke to him over the classroom. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Unfortunately the new chair put him neer the computers and he decided, when another student was away from their work, to make an addition to their computer work. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Again this student was asked to move, by the teacher talking over the classroom. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Once moved the teacher went to the student, knelt down and spoke to him very softly (so only he could hear her) explaining why his actions were inappropriate. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The soft, calm voice used by the teacher made him very aware of the teacher’s disapproval of his action. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">He wasn’t punished anymore than this as the teachers talk was enough to reinforce that his actions were inappropriate. <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-spacerun: yes; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Penelope Harris 17 March 2009

<span style="font-size: 170%; color: #005aff; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> __Response: Orla Mackintosh 19/3/09__

I found the points on personal and communal responsibility to be quite interesting. Personal responsibility is something that we have absolute power over, e.g. “I will do the right thing”, whereas with communal responsibility we have limited power only, but by practicing communal responsibility we can show guidance ans set examples. It contributes to the notion of seeing the classroom as a community and working together. The categorisation of students into types of student behaviour, for me , illustrated the way theory is applied to practice and vice versa. While each child is unique and different to the next, behavioural and learning abilities need to be categorised in order to create strategies for a better “classroom flow” or management. Dreikur’s Theory offers some answers to why A/B/C/D students are in these categorisations. This theory suggest that the behaviour comes back to how the students feel and offers a deeper insight into why they act the way they do and how we should react to them. There is an emphasis on “punishment is not the answer”. The handout on Dreikur’s theory gives us examples of how to encourage children, to show acceptance, to show confidence in the child and to focus on contributions, assets and appreciation.

__ Response: Genevieve Hoban __ I found the lecture to be quite interesting particularly regarding the discussion about 4 different types of children. I think it is useful for us to be thinking about classroom management and potential challenges we may face when dealing with a range of different children and their behaviours and learnign styles in the classroom. I find it interesting that the D group of children are thought to be not able to be managed in the class and i wonder how this would impact on other student's learning opportunities in that class. It almost seems as though the D kids are a lost cause! Alas i am sure within schools there would be strategies in place to help the D kids focus on their school work.

The discussion about different types of power and it's link to the development of relationships within the classrom i find very interesting. I think this will be a very important aspect of developing as a teacher- by being able to recognise which kind of power works best for you and the kids in the classroom.

I found the workshop to be a practical way of exploring the lecture- i liked our little stick figures in the classroom- hopefully when we are starting out the D kid won't be going feral in the corner! //I just put posted this discussion piece here- it has been sitting in the discussion section- it felt lonely- so have moved it here.//