Effective Classroom Management

A Teacher's Guide

Robert Laslett, Colin Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• Print ISBN: 9780415071529
• eBook ISBN: 9781134910038
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This latest new edition of Effective Classroom Management is written for new teachers and those who train and guide them. It combines sound practical advice on lesson organisation and teaching methods with an exploration of teachers' feelings about themselves and the children they teach. In this second edition, classroom management is considered from four aspects: management in the classroom; mediation with individuals; modification of behaviour and monitoring school discipline.

Part I
Management

Chapter 1
Four rules of classroom management

Is there some special personal magic which enables some teachers to quieten excitement merely by arriving at the scene, quell misbehaviour with a glance, make classrooms bustle with activity and hum with cheerful industry? Perhaps at this highest level of perfection there may indeed be some extra ingredient of individual charisma but studies of teacher behaviour (Rutter et al., 1979; Wragg, 1984) have noted specific skills which are demonstrated by effective teachers. These skills can be learned and applied by newcomers to the profession.

As McManus (1989) sensibly points out ‘teaching is more than the sum of its parts’ but it is possible from research, observation and autobiographical anecdote to discern ‘four rules’ of classroom management applied by successful teachers which like the ‘four rules’ in arithmetic, once assimilated, can be applied in many different situations.

RULE ONE: GET THEM IN

This rule emphasises the point that a lesson which makes a brisk start will avoid the difficulties which can arise if pupils are not promptly engaged in useful activity. If teachers are pre-occupied with setting up displays, distributing materials or searching for equipment then there are ample opportunities for idling, chatter and other unproductive activities. The activities are of no great disruptive impact in themselves, but they often build up to a cumulative disorder, which leads in turn to further distraction in the form of exhortation, reprimand or even disciplinary action by the teacher which extends the delay in beginning the lesson. The process of ‘getting them in’ can be seen to involve three phases: greeting, seating and starting.

Greeting

Simply by being there before the class arrives the teacher establishes the role of host receiving the class and he is quietly able to underline his authority by deciding when pupils are invited to enter the room. There is also the vital practical advantage of being able to check that the room is tidy, that materials are available, displays arranged, and necessary instructions or examples are written on the board. This will all help to provide the mental composure essential to relaxed assurance. In larger schools, this tactic may not be easy, though professional commitment appears to be a more significant factor than distance between teaching areas in ensuring a prompt start to lessons (Rutter et al., 1979).

Seating

Although arrangements will vary according to the type of lesson, age of pupils and nature of activity, it is important that initially teachers decide where children should sit. Like entrance to the room, this is another aspect of the natural establishment of responsibility. Teachers may choose to encourage children to sit with friends to promote co-operation or they may deliberately and arbitrarily disperse such centres of potential distraction: but they establish that placement and movement in the classroom are matters which they control. A seating plan showing who sits where quickly enables teachers to learn and use individuals names, so although later regrouping will be desirable, it is very useful for at least the first few lessons if a fixed pattern is set and maintained.

Starting

Starting a lesson smoothly and promptly depends not only on managing the physical entrance and disposition of the student body but also the mental tuning-in of the student mind. One teacher interviewed as part of the Teacher Education Project study of first encounters between teachers and new groups of pupils, expertly and neatly sums up how to start a lesson:

Right at the start of the lesson there is something for them to do: games, workcards, anything, because they rarely arrive at the same time. I try to create an atmosphere in which they start science as soon as they come through the door.

(Wragg, 1984)

Whatever the subject or topic each lesson should start with some activity which occupies every child quietly, whilst teachers deal with registration, latecomers, lost or malfunctioning equipment. The type of activity will depend on the age and ability of the child and the nature of the lesson, but it must be something within each child’s capacity to accomplish without additional help. It should reinforce previously acquired skills, recap earlier work or set the scene for new learning. This warming-up period might only last four or five minutes, perhaps a few sums or a short paragraph to be read with two or three questions to be answered will be sufficient to set the tone and establish a calm and positive atmosphere before moving on to the main content of the lesson.

RULE TWO: GET THEM OUT

Though most disciplinary problems arise from a poor start to a lesson, the next most vulnerable time providing many opportunities for trouble making is the end of a teaching session. For this reason ‘get them out’ is cited as the second rule of classroom management. Carefully planning the end of each lesson is a crucial part of the way in which experienced teachers successfully handle transition from one activity to another. As Gray and Richer (1988) put it, ‘structure at the end of a lesson is all too easily lost in a sigh of relief that it is nearly over’. The lasting effect of an interesting learning experience can be wasted and pleasantly developing relationships between teacher and class can be spoilt if a productive session dissolves into a noisy, chaotic and stressful finale. So teachers need to consider the two phases of concluding a lesson and dismissing a class.

Concluding

An orderly procedure for stopping work should include consolidation and reinforcement of learning and this is difficult to achieve if children are still busy writing or engaged in collecting books and gathering materials together. It is helpful to give an early warning that it will be time to stop in ‘two minutes precisely’ or whatever is a suitable time to avoid stopping pupils in mid-sentence. It is vital that all work must cease in good time for material to be collected, books put away and still give opportunity for some revision and recapitulation. This could take the form of a brief question and answer session which will enable the teacher to check on how successfully objectives have been attained or identify points which require further attention. Additionally or sometimes alternatively this time should be used for a summary reminding the class of what has been covered during the lesson and how this links in to previous learning or prepares the way for the next activity.

Gray and Richer (1988) point out how valuable it is to use this time to give positive feedback to pupils, praising good work and reassuring those who have had difficulties that next time things will be different. It is an opportunity to refresh, restate and reinforce the theme of the lesson. It can also be a good idea to reserve some time for a game, quiz or story so that the conclusion of the lesson becomes a reward for earlier effort, particularly for those who may find the main subject content a bit of a struggle. Ending on a light and positive note in this way should leave even the least competent pupils feeling that though it will never be a favoured activity, even a difficult subject offers them some possibility of pleasure and enjoyment.

Dismissing

Decisions about the precise method for dismissing a class will vary according to the age of the pupils. As Gray and Richer (1988) suggest, ‘Arms folded, sitting up straight!’ or similar ritualised instructions may be appropriate for controlling young children, but they are more likely to provoke confrontation with older pupils. Yet some sequence or pattern which facilitates the movement of bodies from inside to outside the classroom with minimum contact with furniture, equipment or each other does need to be established. Otherwise the teacher will finish up wasting valuable preparation time clearing debris from the floor, readjusting desks and tables or remonstrating with pupils who ought already to be somewhere else.

It is important to remember that classes are never just leaving one place; they are going to another. Children should be helped to cue in to their next activity. Consider the following vignette, its origin is American but its truth is universal.

Teacher: It’s time for PE now, everybody get ready. Table 1, line up at the door. Don’t forget to pass your papers in. OK Table 2, go ahead. Put your counting sticks away, everyone. Billy be quiet. Why aren’t you cleaning up?
Students: Ms Jones we need our coats; it’s cold out.
Teacher: For goodness sake, everybody sit down. You are much too noisy.

(Lemlech, 1979)

Here, because the teacher has not thought out the sequence for concluding the lesson and dismissing the class, the pupils have become confused and a quite unnecessary conflict has arisen over their behaviour. Some simple system of traffic regulation has to be established in early meetings with a class. Eventually, self-discipline based on awareness of the teacher’s reasonable expectations of polite behaviour may suffice to ensure an orderly departure, but initially some standard routine for dismissal one table or one section at a time is likely to be necessary. The sequence should be clearing up and collecting books and material, checking up on learning and giving feedback, enjoying a game or other relaxing end to the session, setting up the group for its next move (in the example above, arranging for the children to collect their coats) and finally supervising departure, if necessary standing at the door to continue supervision of progress down the corridor.

RULE THREE: GET ON WITH IT

In this context ‘it’ refers to the main part of the lesson, the nature of its content and the manner of its presentation. Pupils’ feelings of self-esteem and sense of competence in a particular subject area will depend to a considerable extent on the teacher’s ability to ‘get on with it’.

Content

Difficulties in learning and consequent problems with behaviour often happen because the content of a lesson is not matched to the ability of the pupils to whom it is delivered. Because persistent failure can easily result in disgruntled disaffection, careful scrutiny of the curriculum by subject departments and by individual teachers is needed to ensure that it is appropriate. Methods and materials should also be closely examined to see that learning experiences are suitable and study tasks are attainable for pupils with a range and diversity of aptitudes and abilities. Raban and Postlethwaite (1988) offer some useful advice on how this can be done by finding out what pupils already know, starting a little further back to build on what is understood, planning small steps towards each teaching goal and being prepared to adjust these plans if progress is not being made.

Within an individual lesson, variety and pace are needed to maintain momentum. Activities planned for the beginning and conclusion of the session will go some way to achieving these aims, but it is also important to provide variety in the main body of the lesson particularly in double periods. Breaking topics up into smaller units, switching between quiet individual study and arranging some active, co-operative learning in pairs or groups will go some way to combating the inexorable law that the alertness of the brain is inversely proportionate to the numbness of the posterior!

Though difficult to attain, the ambition to see that every child has something finished and something marked in every lesson will help maintain the pace of teaching. Such immediate feedback and reinforcement is especially important for pupils with learning difficulties, whose previous failures leave them needing frequent reassurance that they are on the right track. These children will also benefit from teachers taking particular care to deliver instructions clearly and precisely since ‘if children know what we want them to do, they will usually do it’ (Lovitt, 1977).

The momentum or flow of classroom activity is vital to discipline because interruptions lead to distraction and loss of interest for pupils and teachers. Although a general briskness sets the normally appropriate tone, there are also occasions when teaching less and allowing more time for practice or discussion are necessary. Finding the correct balance is not always easy, too much of the same thing becomes tedious, too many changes become confusing, but most lessons should involve some listening, some looking, some thinking, some talking, some reading and some writing.

Manner

Positive relationships develop from the manner in which people communicate with each other. For teachers, this means thinking about how they address and question children and how they con- vey expectations about behaviour. The atmosphere in a classroom is like any ‘weather system’ subject to change and the effective teacher is skilled at spotting and dispersing a minor disturbance before it builds up into a major depression. As in meteorology, successful forecasting requires alertness to early warning signals and these are most readily picked up by teachers who display what Kounin (1970) and Brophy and Evertson (1976) have described respectively as ‘withitness’ and ‘smoothness’.

‘Withitness’ is the somewhat dated term which describes the timeless virtue of being able to provide work at a suitable level and administer a system in which pupils know what to do, where to get help if needed and what to do next when they have finished an assignment. For example, where there are difficulties in reading or comprehension, help can be provided through topic guidelines, summaries and key word charts giving explanations and spellings.

‘Smoothness’ refers to the ease with which pupils move from one activity to another. Transitions can be handled more easily and problems avoided by ensuring that supplementary activities are readily available to usefully occupy anyone who has completed their original assignment. This enables the teacher to ensure that all the class will be ready to change together from one activity or location to another. The smooth flow of classroom life is also helped by teachers avoiding too many disciplinary interruptions. The more that punishments are dealt out, the more nagging that goes on, the more negative comments that are made, the more tension will increase and the more the class will be distracted from the work in hand.

The manner in which a teacher addresses a class reflects an attitude and conveys a message not only through what is said but also through how it is said. Before speaking to the class it is essential that attention is gained by getting pupils to stop work and listen carefully. It follows that any information to be delivered in this way should be vital enough to merit the inevitable interruption to the lesson. Facial expression and tone of voice are as important to any communication as making sure that it is being heard. A persistent frown or intimidating scowl is likely to convey anxiety as much as displeasure and an angry shout can awkwardly modulate into a shriek more suggestive of hysteria than confident control.

The old adage ‘quiet teacher, quiet class’ offers good advice but should be followed with some caution as the comment ‘inaudible teacher, insufferable class’ may equally be true. A clear and sufficient volume is required to satisfy an assumption, that in any class there is likely to be at least one child with some hearing loss, but speech should be delivered as Fontana (1986) advises in ‘a voice which children find it pleasant to listen to, and a voice which the teacher can use all day without undue strain.’

The importance of teachers using their eyes to communicate is emphasised by what might be described as a ‘lighthouse technique’ for addressing the class recommended by Marland (1975). Each sentence is spoken to an individual child with established eye contact. At the end of a sentence or as a new idea is introduced or as the theme changes the teacher’s gaze is shifted and eye contact established with another pupil in another part of the room to whom the next comment is expressed. A third pupil is chosen as the focus for the next comment and so on. In this way the teacher’s eye sweeps the room like the beam from a lighthouse and the teacher’s brain picks up a ‘feel’ for what is going on in different areas of the room. Thus is the impression of ‘eyes in the back of my head’ fo...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• INTRODUCTION
• PART I: MANAGEMENT
• PART II: MEDIATION
• PART: III MODIFICATION
• PART IV: MONITORING
• Bibliography