Chapter 12

A Rational Approach to Classroom Management

Lizveth Guerra Alicia Marin

Chapter organization

• What is the Rational Approach to Practical School Discipline?

• Section 1- what the teacher can do to prevent disruption

• Section 2- response to disruption

• Section 3- techniques

RAPSD

• Rational Approach to Practical School Discipline – an eclectic philosophy in which management decisions are guided by sound behavioral and humanistic psychology (see chapter 11)

RAPSD

Behavior management- Consequences following positive and negative behavior

Behavior Management- External reinforcers- student has choice to behave/misbehave

RAPSD

• Humanistic – constructive expression of students’ wants and desires, shared authority, warm environment

• Humanistic- Students are involved in the management of the classroom

RAPSD

• Rational philosophy- emphasis on the classroom as a society

• Responsibility to the community

• Accountability

• It is more responsive to students cultural, ethnic and social backgrounds

• Must stick to a management structure

Structure of RAPSD

• Proactive- student and teacher needs considered, physical organization, rules+ routines+ social skills taught through a discipline curriculum

• System for responding to misbehavior- Dreikur’s classification system, records misbehavior, quality circles, student decision-making, positive moments, procedures for emergencies

Proactive Strategies to Prevent Disruptions

• Understanding teacher and student needs

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

• Level 1- Physical Needs

• Level 2- Safety/Security Needs

• Level 3- Love/Belonging Needs

• Level 4- Self-Esteem Needs

• Level 5- Self-Fulfillment Needs

Needs

• Student misbehavior from-

• Level 1- hunger (inattentiveness)

• Level 3- peer pressure (defiance)

• Level 4- academic recognition (cheating)

Teacher’s Needs

• ? I don’t want hassles/ I want them to have positive attitudes

• Level 1- fatigue, hunger

• Level 2- personal safety

• Level 3- want to be liked by students

• Level 4- Cool, strict or nice teacher

• Level 5- strive to improve teaching

Classroom Arrangement

• Visibility, Proximity, Accessibility, Safety

• Students should be visible from all areas

• Teacher able to move close to students easily

• Supplies and educational materials within easy access

• Students should be able to hear and see presentations, demonstrations, displays

Classroom Arrangement

• High traffic areas are free of congestion

• Safety- do not block or interrupt movement to exits, lights, safety equipment

• Traditional arrangement-

• Little opportunity for eye contact

• Front and center rows get attention

• Restricts movement

Classroom Arrangement

• Visibility, proximity, accessibility and safety

• Placement of teacher’s desk should reflect teachers style of teaching

• Learning resources- charts, maps, books

• Projector

• Audiovisual equipment

• Teacher supplies

• Computers

Discipline Curriculum

• “A person’s ability to get along with others and to engage in prosocial behaviors determines popularity among peers and with teachers, parents and other significant adults”

• Teach two units: 1.classroom rules of conduct and routines- reasons and consequences 2. social skills

Discipline Curriculum

• RAPSD

1.3-5 rules- students can help/ but teacher decides

2.Day 1- present rules and consequences

3.Day 2- students can express in their own words

4.Day 3- provide simulations to practice routines/procedures

Discipline Curriculum

5. 1 to 3 weeks- Continue practice and feedback until behaviors and routines are established

6. Post rules in a visible place

7. Periodically review and practice

Social Skills

• Teach students social skills

• Example given is about reacting to bullying

• Social skills curriculum using role-playing simulations, cooperative learning, classroom meetings, direct and inductive lessons are all appropriate

• The Morning Meeting Book, Positive Discipline, Cooperative Discipline

Section 2- Responding

• Pattern disruptors- students who misbehave repeatedly

• Dreikurs’ Classification System of Misbehavior1. Attention seeking

2. Power seeking

3. Revenge seeking

4. Sympathy seeking

Attention Seeking

• Attention seeking misbehavior- student needs to belong and be accepted by peers

• Lacks social skills

• Response

• Provide appropriate avenues for attention

• Teaching social skills, cooperative groups

Power Seeking

• Desperate attempt to be recognized as an important member of the group

• Response

• Refuse to argue- broken record technique

• Give student legitimate status by assigning them roles as discussion leader, errand runner, monitor

Revenge Seeking

• As a result of losing a power struggle with the teacher (or from an outside event) the student feels that he/she has lost status in the eyes of peers

• Response• React with humor • Reply with understanding- John, that

comment is not like you. Is there anything I can do?

Sympathy Seeking

• Learned helplessness- student has given up• Passive resistance, defiance and personal

defeat• Response• Praise, prompt and leave

Table 12.1 page 383

Information System

• Detect, respond appropriately, communicate with parents and admin.

• Behavior log containing-

Name

Description of Behavior

Place

Date and time

Teacher response

Positive Moments

• Equity- Fair time, Teacher Proximity, Questions, Rephrasing and Cuing

• Fair time- spend more time with disruptive students, 15 seconds per hour of positive time

• Teacher Proximity- spend time near disruptive students

Positive Moments

• Questions- pattern disruptors are asked fewer questions- especially higher level questions

• Rephrasing and Cuing- teachers rephrase and cue cooperative students more often

• Feedback

• Sensitivity to Ripple Effect

• Give praise- each student each day

Positive Moments

• Rule enforcement

• Be consistent

• Observing- scan room, observe and respond to positive and negative behavior and demonstrate that you appreciate effort and appropriate actions

• Employ Desists

Positive Moments

• Courtesy and Caring-

• Model Courtesy- be courteous even in dealing with disruption

• Nonverbal expression should be sincere

• Verbal and nonverbal expression in sync

• Take notice of student interests

• Listen — Accept feelings

• Touch

Organizing and Conducting Quality Circle Meetings

• Quality circles are used to reinforce:

• Personal and group responsibilities, to process the causes of the alternatives to misbehavior, to recommend changes in past behavior, and to discuss community issues that affect school life.

Organizing and Conducting Quality Circle Meetings

• The student whose behavior is being discussed should not stated in the meeting.

• The circle seating arrangement should be a closed circle, with the teacher seated as a group member.

• No names should be said unless when giving positive reinforcement.

Responding to Emergencies

• It is recommended teachers develop a set of predetermined procedures in the event of a classroom emergency.

• Since emergencies are handled in different ways in different schools, you must know the schools emergency procedures.

Responding to Emergencies

You should always consider 4 factors when developing an emergency procedure:

1.Personal Behavior

2.Incentives

3.Standards

4.Analysis

Personal Behavior

• Be firm and consistent

• Remember that developing a disciplined life is not a dramatic event

• Focus your actions on improving your relationship with the disruptive student(s)

Incentives

• Use an incentive system as a first step to prevent emergencies

• Incentives should be phased out

• Students should be taught the value in a disciplined-environment rather than to behave to secure token rewards

Standards

• Teach students the socially acceptable behavior in your classroom.

• Be sure that students know what behaviors are unacceptable

• Don’t permit students to avoid responsibility for their actions

Analysis

• Emphasize low- rather than high-control management

• Keep Dreikur’s 4 types of misbehavior in mind as you analyze what the disruptive student did to create the emergency

Additional Management Techniques

• The rational management approach recommends and makes us use of all of them.

• Consider which ones are most consistent with your discipline philosophy and give you the most confidence as a classroom manager.

Nonverbal Classroom Management Techniques

• The teacher continuously communicates in every classroom through verbal and nonverbal messages.

• These messages– conscious or unconscious, purposeful or inadvertent– prevent, help, control, or encourage discipline problems.

Teacher attire

• The stiff-collar-and-tie fashion, may convey an image of an uptight headmaster or headmistress

• On the other hand sloppy clothes may indicate sloppy attitudes toward students, academic, or order in general

• Modesty , professionalism, and appropriateness should be goals of the rational manager.

Eye Contact

• Teachers who develop the skill of doing periodic sweeping surveys of their room usually control marginal problems by that alone.

Eye Contact

• An eye survey may be slow and deliberate with no specific student as a target

Or

• It may be swift and certain in order to jog memories that the still there and in charge.

Eye Contact

• Eye contact with an individual says something different from what eye contact with a group says.

• The situation and severity of the behavioral problem will dictate the method of eye contact that you use.

• Expressions of approval or disapproval may be communicated in brief flashes of eye contact.

Facial Expressions

• Facial expressions can indicate concern or anger, in order to give students the opportunity to change their behavior before the teacher must resort to verbal cues.

Facial Expressions

• Smiles can be powerful means for showing approval and can be more personal than verbal cues, particularly in some cultures.

Movement in the Classroom

• When teacher’s movement are thoughtless teachers have disruptive effects on the classroom environment.

• Control of movement as a form of nonverbal communication is an important aspect of the disciplinary encounter.

Movement in the Classroom

• A teacher has to make a quick appraisal of the problem and decide on its potential to erupt into something more serious.

• Do not turn away from the class for a long period of time

Using Your Hands

• The appropriate use of you hands is a highly effective management technique .

• Hand messages can be as precise as verbal messages.

The Power of Posture

• The teacher’s posture affects classroom management

• Standing tall during the execution of a discipline procedure may suggest command

• Slouching shoulders indicate defeat and hopelessness

The Power of Posture

• Leaning over students to supervise their work or social behavior is threatening.

• Moderately slow, deliberate steps, with an upright frame, and a businesslike facial expression indicates that the teacher is in command.

Verbal Cues in Management Techniques

• Verbal cues may consist of complete sentences, phrases, exclamations, grunts, laughter, ect.

• Verbal cues stand as good a chance of being misinterpreted as nonverbal cues.

• Quite unconsciously, a teacher may use a word that is loaded—culturally, sexually, or racially.

Verbal Cues in Management Techniques

• Care in the choice of verbal cues is especially crucial at the beginning of the term, because the student and teacher don’t know each other.

Verbal Cues in Management Techniques

• When properly used, verbal expressions can open doors to communication

• What a teacher says, how it is said, and to whom it is said are all significant elements in a verbal management technique.

Voice is the Crucial Element

• Through tone and volume, voice communicates meaning during an interaction, particularly in a stressful, disciplinary situation.

• The tone and volume of the voice can create, increase, or lessen stress.

Voice is the Crucial Element

• Teachers must enunciate clearly.

• When commands are given, they should be brief and specific.

• Speak in a pleasant friendly voice

• The teacher who yells is likely to find that the student will yell back.

Voice is the Crucial Element

• Feelings such as disapproval, annoyance, and anger should be carefully expressed with an appropriate voice tone and volume.

• Know your students.

• Some students are very sensitive, whereas nothing seems to bother others.

Content and Control

• The content of verbal communication can become the essence of a teacher’s management technique.

• The message should not be focused on personal approval but on task accomplishment.

Content and Control

• Coercive threats are bad management techniques .

• The use of threats will not lessen the chance that the disruption will be repeated.

Content and Control

• Instead of using threats we should use warnings.

• The teacher’s message should be delivered with firmness.

• Respect and high expectations enhance power by establishing a relationship between effort and the achievement of a worthwhile goal.

Responding to Student Blockers

• When teachers are accused of being racist or having favorites

• Some teachers unwisely try to explain how much they have worked for or supported desegregation efforts.

Responding to Student Blockers

You must remember 3 points in responding to such accusations:

1. The students know you, and if you are racist, there is nothing you can say at this point that will disprove that belief. If you are not, they know that and are merely trying to anger you.

2. The students’ main objective is for you to feel guilty and begin to defend yourself.

3. When you begin to put up a defense, you are responding to students’ manipulation.

Cultural Continuity and Discontinuity

• As teachers consider students’ behavior, it can be useful for them to reflect on the students’ culture of origin before making a decision.

• This reflection may be by race, but it should not be assumed that a student’s race is enough to predict his or her culture.

Cultural Continuity and Discontinuity

• For many white students cultural continuity provides for them an environment that is less forbidding than it would be for a minority child.

Cultural Continuity and Discontinuity

• Cultural discontinuity is the process through which education as a cultural transmission agent impinges on the normal culture of the student’s home and imposes an institutional culture on the child.

Sources

• Graphic organizers- http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer

• Graphic organizers- http://www.region15.org/curriculum/graphicorg.html