Analysis Of Two Classroom Management Problems And Its Impact On The Classroom Environment
Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class. When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning.
In article one (1) entitled “Classroom Misbehavior in the Eyes of Students: A Qualitative Study” there were a number of classroom management problems. Classroom management problems are factors which oppose or affect how the classroom operates. A classroom management problem that was found in the article is student speaking out of turn. This was seen throughout the article which affects a lot of classrooms all over the world. According to Wiktionary, talking out of turn means to make a remark or provide information when it is inappropriate or indiscreet to do so, or when one does not have permission or the authority to do so. For example the teacher ask a student a question and another student shouts the answer. In addition it interrupts instruction, is disrespectful and may cause the class to go off topic. Students may speak out of turn because they want the attention of their peers and teachers. They receive attention from their peers through their comments and from the teacher when told to stop talking. They may also speak out of turn because they have forgotten the classroom rules or were not paying attention to the instruction or directions. This can also cause the teacher not to cover all the objectives for class which he/she had prepared, as the teacher may have to stop and either warn the student or punish the student. This causes valuable time to be lost and it may also cause other student to lose their focus and may not be able to finish a task that was given. According to article talking out of turn impede teachers’ teaching and students’ learning. Student view talking out turn as one of the most common classroom management problems as well as the most disruptive and unacceptable behavior.
Another classroom management problem in the article was verbal. Verbal aggression takes into account verbal abuse which is when a person forcefully criticizes, insults, or denounces someone else. Characterized by underlying anger and hostility, it is a destructive form of communication intended to harm the self-concept of the other person and produce negative emotions. Verbal abuse can occur between a student and another student or the teacher and a student. When a student or teacher verbally abuse a student it can physically, mentally or emotionally affects that student. In addition, name calling in the classroom or teasing is another form of verbal aggression. For example a student calling another student “dumb dumb” or “nuffy”. There are many other way verbal abuse is express in the classroom such as judging, criticizing, undermining, accusing or blaming someone among others.
Verbal aggression also involves quarrelling, speaking indecent language among others. Quarrelling may occur between two student or a group of student or even the teacher and student. The impact of verbal and aggression on the classroom environment is that it creates a negative atmosphere or hostile environment. Verbal and aggression can affect the physical as well as the psychosocial environment of the classroom. Verbal aggression can lead to a student lashing out or even result in a fight. Student can also write negative things about another student on the walls, or desk in the classroom. This will cause distraction for some student and the environment might not be conducive for learning. Also student may not want to sit in the chair or use the desk that the student wrote on or even if they do they feel uncomfortable. This can lead to shortage of furniture in the classroom where you might have two student sharing a desk. In addition the impact of verbal abuse on the psychosocial environment of the classroom has a similar effect. The student who is being abuse maybe withdrawn from the others, so h/she is afraid to speak to anyone. This may result in the student not wanting to participate in group activities or other class activities. If the teacher is the abuser student will feel afraid to answer question because they fear the teacher will lash out. Student may separate themselves in the class so little or no interaction is occurring. B. Identify and examine how two factors could have contributed to the Classroom management problems noted in part A of the task.
One factor that could have contributed to the classroom management problem - talking out of turn is the culture at home that a student is expose to and the teacher not setting ground rules and reinforcing them; being an effective leader in the class. The student domestic background can influence how they react in class. If a student is not getting enough attention at home, they will try to seek it somewhere else such as when they are at school. This lead to them speaking out of turn so they can attention from the teacher or another student. If the home culture a student grew up in is different from the school culture then this will impact how the student behave at school. If for example the student grew up in an extended family where they have to speak loudly to get attention, then the student might portray the same attitude at school. Another example is a student who were not taught that they should wait to be identified before speaking, will speak whenever they feel like whether it is appropriate or not. Despite the many different backgrounds student are coming from, if teachers’ gives clear instruction before the class or even to set ground rules such as no shouting in the classroom then student will take advantage of it and do what they please. A teacher not being an effective leader in the class will result in the student trying to overpower the teacher by preying on the teacher weakness. So if the teacher, for example, before asking a question state clearly what he/she would like. For instance, make the statement that questions are about to be asked of the entire class. Tell the students that everyone's answers are important, only those who raise their hands without speaking will be called upon. This will eventually reduce the shouting of answers. This could be apply in different aspect of the classroom as well.
A factor that contributed to verbal aggression in the classroom is the teachers’ failure of establishing guild lines and addressing bad behavior quickly. The home culture is also a major factor which contribute to this classroom management misbehaviors. If students are exposed to verbal abuse at home, then they will bring this kind of behavior into the class room environment. As the saying goes “children live what they learn”, so if a student grows up in an environment where verbal aggression seems as a norm, then they will take this behavior wherever they go not knowing it’s not right. Also, if teacher does not address this behavior from an early stage then this will lead to a greater problem in the classroom. Verbal aggression should be nip in the bud so as to prevent it from growing. If teachers spot this behavior from an early stage, and deal with it thoroughly or even to ask for help in addressing the issue then verbal aggression will be significantly reduce within the classroom. Teacher need to set rules and guidelines for student and ensure they try to abide by them as much as possible. By not reinforcing the rules, then student will not take the teacher seriously and take advantage of it. Rules and routines are powerful preventative components to classroom organization and management plans because they establish the behavioral context of the classroom by specifying what is expected, what will be reinforced, and what will be retaught if inappropriate behavior occurs.
