Think back to your time as a student and recall some of your favourite courses. Very likely, those courses were well organised, assignments were clear, lectures and classroom discussions were focused and interesting, and the teacher conveyed a passion for teaching and compassion for the students. How can you create such an environment in your own courses?
Classroom management encompasses a variety of skills and techniques that teachers can use to create a high-performing learning environment.
At its core, it aims to ensure classes run smoothly, disruptive behaviour from students is kept to a minimum, and teaching materials and activities promote learning. The ultimate goal is to ensure that both the students and the teacher get the most out of the classroom experience.
Good classroom management should aim to:
i Create an organised and functional environment for the teacher and students
i Establish opportunities for academic learning and personal growth
i Reduce bad classroom behaviour and other disruptions
i Be time-efficient and ensure learning time is always prioritised
i Make sure students are focused, motivated, and productive
i Promote an inclusive environment that caters for all ability levels.
It’s important to remember that achieving successful classroom management is an ongoing process. While the above is the core of what effective classroom management is all about, how you approach it can depend on several factors.
Why do you need effective classroom management?
Effective classroom management is incredibly important because without it you will not be able to create a learning environment that has a positive classroom culture.
Achieving effective classroom management also reduces the likelihood of suffering from work-related stress and anxiety, and you’ll probably find that it leads to greater work satisfaction. Let’s face it, we all want to be able to go to work every day with a smile.
Not only will it encourage your students to grow, but you’ll also start to perform better as a teacher, which will stand you in good stead when it comes to career progression and development.
Simply put, effective classroom management is essential. Not only will it allow you to do your job properly, but it will also ensure your students fulfil their full potential.
Different Classroom Management Strategies
Classroom management strategies can look very different depending on several factors, such as:
e Course subject
e Age of students
e Size of the classroom
e Your personality as a teacher
e The behaviour of your students.
However, when researching classroom management strategies, you’ll notice that there are some techniques you can use that will apply in pretty much all cases. Some of those are:
Create a solid lesson plan
A solid lesson plan forms the foundation of effective classroom management. Making sure expectations are clear will help to create a safe and productive learning environment for students.
The lesson plan preparation should ideally be done before the start of term, so you’re able to enforce the plan and any rules immediately. However, you should be able to adapt your plan where necessary, as some unforeseen circumstances may mean you need to rethink certain parts of it.
Build positive relationships with your students
Building relationships with your students is vital. Good classroom management involves getting to know each individual’s strengths and weaknesses, while also working out their interests and ambitions.
This will help to build trust, and not only benefits their academic learning but can also positively influence their personal development as well. At some point, we have all been a student, and from experience, we know that our favourite lessons often have to do with the teacher and the working relationship you have with them.
Be clear and develop reliable routines
Most students often like to know what’s expected of them so they can prepare accordingly and feel comfortable in a classroom environment. Classroom management strategies that make them feel safe and secure will likely have a positive impact on their motivation and productivity.
It’s therefore the role of the teacher to ensure that your instructions are clear and you have reliable routines in place to limit disruption.
Stay calm and focused
How you behave will have a direct impact on your students, which is why you should always try to stay calm and focused. This will help to keep your students at ease and show disruptive members of the class that you can’t be easily rattled.
When classrooms start misbehaving, it’s often because they have spotted a weakness and thrive on chaotic teaching. While teaching can be a very stressful job, good classroom management involves having the maturity and calmness to deal with challenging situations effectively.
Be consistent in your teaching style
You should always try to keep your teaching style consistent, so students know what to expect and are aware of the boundaries you set. If you teach in a completely different way every other week, this can not only be disruptive for the class but also makes the classroom harder to manage.
While you should always be adaptable and flexible in your approach, having a clear way of doing things and handling situations makes life a lot easier for everyone. A blended learning approach is a tried and tested method.
Know when to have a laugh
The final point on our list of classroom management strategies is to ensure you keep your sense of humour and have fun. Students can often be challenging, so rather than reacting badly to certain situations and start pulling your hair out, make sure you retain your sense of humour and be more approachable.
Telling the odd joke and having a laugh with your students never did anyone any harm, and is a good way of building relationships with them. Obviously, you don’t want to go too far the other way and turn your classroom into a stand-up gig, so maintaining a balance is always the best approach.
(Courtesy: Manchester Metropolitan University)
Handling Disruptive Students
Frequently we hear teachers lament the poor behaviour of students in the classroom. Feldman (2001) characterised four general types of classroom incivility:
- Annoyances;
- Classroom terrorism;
- Intimidation of the instructor; and
- Threats or attacks on a person or person’s psyche.
These four types of incivility range from arriving to class late (annoyances), to monopolising classroom time with personal agendas (labeled as classroom terrorism by Feldman), to threatening to go to the department chair with complaints or give negative course evaluations (intimidation), to threats of physical violence or even physical attacks. The impact of each of these types of incivility on learning varies greatly but all of these types of incivility can disrupt the learning process.
Be proactive: When it comes to promoting classroom civility, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Expectations for behaviour should be included in your syllabus, presented on the first day of class, and revisited as necessary. Along with elaborating on your expectations, the consequences for violating these expectations should be specific and consistently explained and enforced.
Be specific: Contrary to what you may think and hope some college students have not learned how to behave appropriately in the classroom. Therefore, it is necessary to provide very specific expectations. Rather than telling students to “be respectful,” provide them with examples. Can students disagree with the opinions of others? Can they ask questions while you are lecturing? Can they record your lecture? Alternatively, must they express their dissenting viewpoint or ask questions in accordance to certain expectations? If so, explain what those expectations are expectations.
Be in control: Although you cannot anticipate all occurrences, you can develop plans that will help in many different instances. Whether the incivility was something you addressed in your syllabus or some type of unexpected incivility, typically, immediate action is necessary to demonstrate that you have control of the classroom. The specific action taken will depend upon the infraction.
Be a model: Your own behaviour serves as a powerful representation of how you want students to behaviour in the classroom and treat you and their classmates. You cannot demand respectful behaviour from students if you are not respectful of them.