Core Beliefs and Assumptions
Role of a Teacher
On the surface, the responsibilities of a teacher in class might seem to be restricted to explaining, giving assignments, and checking students’ answers, yet this assumption is quite far from the truth. Due to the need to control a vast array of factors that can affect the performance of learners, a teacher plays several roles, from being an educator to a mentor, and a role model (Brookfield, 2015). However, out of all the qualities that a teacher must possess, it is the ability to design a warm and welcoming environment in which students can learn and interact which seems the most important. Since the creation of this specified setting helps to promote independence in learners and encourages them to develop the skills of metacognition, self-reflection, and self-directed learning, the active focus on the identified characteristic of a teacher is required.
The issue of leadership and the ability to set a good example that learners can follow must be mentioned as one of the essential qualities of a teacher; being a role model is a crucial role that they play in the context of the classroom. Additionally, a teacher must retain control over the learning environment and reinforce the impact of all the factors that promote active studying (O’Flaherty & Phillips, 2015). A learning environment is a complex setting in which every element must contribute to encouraging students to acquire new knowledge and encourage recently developed skills, and this makes the process of managing it rather complicated. Thus, it is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that the setting in which their students learn is as positive and favorable to learning as possible.
Moreover, a teacher must focus on the emotional needs of learners. Determining the presence of any change in students’ mood is beneficial for any success of the learning process (Hein, Koka, & Hagger, 2015). For instance, if one of the students is angry, annoyed, or bored, there is a higher probability that the identified learner will distract others and, thus, negatively impact the learning process. Therefore, a teacher must also show awareness of the emotional needs of their class and be able to manage them on an individual and group scale.
Role of a Student
Though there is a propensity in discussions among general audiences to reduce the responsibilities of a teacher to their bare minimum, this notion does not stand the comparison to the misconceptions about the role of a student. As a rule, it is believed that a learner must perform only the passive function of listening to a teacher and perform tasks associated with the topic of a lesson. Despite being important elements of the learning process, these roles are not the only ones that a student performs in the classroom setting. Additionally, a learner must participate in the educational process actively by discussing important issues, asking questions, and taking the initiative in exploring new topic areas.
Also, it is strongly recommended that a student should develop independence in their academic endeavors. For instance, a learner might not yet realize what their career goals are, yet they will need the ability to engage in the process of self-directed learning. As a result, the process of acquiring new knowledge and abilities will be adjusted to the needs of a particular student and, consequently, allow the latter to develop a certain degree of independence. Moreover, a student must be aware of their strengths and weaknesses to progress and become more efficient in their studies. The use of self-directed learning strategies, in turn, invites a learner to find out more about themselves and their characteristics.
Finally, a student must cooperate with a teacher to succeed in their academic endeavors. A learner needs support in their studies, which a teacher can provide by guiding a student through complicated issues and helping them reach new stages in their academic work. In other words, the idea of a learner’s independence must not be conflated with a refusal to use a teacher’s assistance.
Classroom Management. Theorists
Using an appropriate teaching model to address the needs of students is a crucial step toward assisting them in making progress. At this point, it should be noted that each of the existing frameworks could be seen as viable once applied to a corresponding setting, yet some of the approaches offer more opportunities than others. Therefore, when considering a non-specific diverse environment in which a teacher needs to promote motivation and enthusiasm in learners, one will need to consider the theory of Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline (CMCD), the Win-Win Discipline approach, and the framework known as the Beyond Discipline strategy. The suggested teaching methods will help an educator to create an atmosphere in which students will recognize the necessity to learn. Consequently, the relationships between an educator and a learner will be based not on control but, instead, on cooperation and motivation.
The theoretical frameworks mentioned above were chosen as the platform for building relationships with students since they offer an impressive amount of freedom to the latter. As a result, learners can acquire a sense of responsibility and realize that knowledge acquisition is not a chore but an opportunity to succeed. CMCD is, perhaps, the most rigid of the selected tools since it implies certain control over the behaviors of learners (Back, Polk, Keys, & McMahon, 2016). Nevertheless, it offers a vast range of benefits by suggesting that learners should follow a particular model and, therefore, encourage them to accept the required behaviors for acquiring important knowledge and crucial training skills (Back et al., 2016). Consistency management allows a teacher to maintain order in the classroom and build a supportive learning environment for students. Furthermore, the framework does not diminish either the role of the students or the degree of their participation. Quite the contrary, the CMCD approach helps establish the values and principles based on which students will determine and arrange their priorities. Specifically, the principles of Cooperative Discipline help to transfer the responsibilities associated with the role of a leader from teachers to learners (Back et al., 2016). As a result, academic independence is promoted actively, whereas a teacher plays the role of a supervisor and a part of the support system for learners.
The use of the Win-Win Discipline framework is, in turn, justified by the importance of cooperation between learners and educators. The specified strategy will introduce learners to the concepts of responsibility and self-control, thus offering them a chance to become independent in their studies. By giving students the agency to explore their learning process, one will help build the platform for the development of self-directed learning skills (Xia, Caulfield, & Ferns, 2015). What makes the identified approach especially appealing is that it does not view conflicts as mere impediments to learning. Instead, the strategy invites a teacher to locate the source of a misunderstanding and resolve a problem efficiently. The positions of the theory imply managing attention issues, avoiding the scenarios that may lead to students’ embarrassment, help learners constructively express their negative emotions, and keep them motivated and informed.
Similarly, the use of the Beyond Discipline theory will help improve the process of learning. Although it might seem as incompatible with the previous two frameworks, it expands them due to the emphasis on self-discipline and self-control that students will develop (Egeberg, McConney, & Price, 2016). By using the ideas of CMCD and the Win-Win Discipline, one will prepare the ground for students to develop the specified qualities and become capable of navigating their learning process. After respectful relationships between students and teachers are established, the creation of a learning community where knowledge sharing and cooperation are held as essential values is possible (Sullivan, Johnson, Owens, & Conway, 2014). Thus, the Beyond Discipline approach will become a tool for inviting students to develop a resilient learning philosophy and build a strong community.
Preventing the Disruption of Learning
Even in the environment that is entirely devoid of disruptive factors, students of a particular temper and with a lack of concentration skills may interrupt the learning process. The specified phenomenon, in turn, will ultimately lead to a drop in students’ performance levels and their ability to learn important information. Therefore, not only avoidance strategies but also approaches for managing the instances of disruptive behavior need to be designed.
To ensure that similar instances of disruptive behavior can be avoided in the future, a teacher must keep a log of disruptive behavior scenarios observed in the classroom. As a result, patterns of children developing disruptive behavior will be identified (Hafen, Ruzek, Gregory, Allen, & Mikami, 2015). The following analysis of the logs will shed light on some ways of preventing such a situation, as well as detecting the factors that may lead to these undesirable outcomes, and how to manage and contain the problem at its early stage of development. The specified approach will reduce the threat of disruptive behaviors affecting the learning process. Furthermore, once equipped with the knowledge about disruptive behavior patterns, a teacher will be able to maintain an atmosphere conducive to learning in the classroom. Consequently, the probability of students abandoning the learning process and resorting to disruptive behavior will be reduced to zero (Mitchell, Tingstrom, Dufrene, Ford, & Sterling, 2015). A teacher may also need to develop a strong leadership strategy that will help establish a role model for students to follow. As a result, once the instances of disruptive behavior are identified in the classroom, a teacher may steer the learners’ enthusiasm in the right direction by appealing to their academic values and integrity.
Moreover, it will be crucial for a teacher to remember the constituents of a classroom climate and keep track of each of them respectively. Specifically, a teacher needs to maintain the academic instructional climate (AIC), disruption management climate (DMC), and classroom emotional-interpersonal climate (CEC) at the required levels (Simón & Alonso-Tapia, 2016). By combining the three approaches mentioned above, one will keep the students invested in the learning process, promote active cooperation between the learners and prevent, or at least reduce, the instances of disruptive behaviors.
A teacher can prevent disruptive behaviors from occurring in the classroom setting by reinforcing the principles of cooperation and learning. By placing a very powerful emphasis on academic values, an educator will help students to develop an attitude that will allow them to view disruptive behavior as a hindrance to learning.
Managing the instances of disruptive behavior, however, will require a slightly different approach. To handle the specified scenario, a teacher will need to steer the students’ enthusiasm in a different direction. Creating short breaks during which learners may do simple physical exercises such as stretching will serve as a means of addressing disruptive behaviors among younger audiences. As a result, learners will retain their motivation and energy, while the situations that can potentially disrupt the learning environment will ultimately be minimized. The identified strategy is preferable to the approach based on avoidance since the latter does not help a teacher to address the core of a problem and stifles a conflict instead of resolving it.
Situations in which students behave in a disruptive manner are practically unavoidable, yet they can be controlled. By helping learners analyze their discontent and learn to use their emotions rationally, a teacher can build a constructive dialogue that will enable learners to remain proactive and, at the same time, focus on learning (Pas, Cash, O’Brennan, Debnam, & Bradshaw, 2015). As a result, even the scenarios that involve disruptive behavior will not impact on the rest of the class or interrupt the lesson. Instead, the identified situations will become the platform for students to learn something new about the subject of their distraction, the people around them, or even about themselves. Thus, studying will remain productive, and students will not lose their focus.
References
Back, L. T., Polk, E., Keys, C. B., & McMahon, S. D. (2016). Classroom management, school staff relations, school climate, and academic achievement: Testing a model with urban high schools. Learning Environments Research, 19(3), 397-410. Web.
Brookfield, S. Q. (2015). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.
Egeberg, H., McConney, A., & Price, A. (2016). Classroom management and national professional standards for teachers: A review of the literature on theory and practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41(7), 1-18. Web.
Hafen, C. A., Ruzek, E. A., Gregory, A., Allen, J. P., & Mikami, A. Y. (2015). Focusing on teacher–student interactions eliminates the negative impact of students’ disruptive behavior on teacher perceptions. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 39(5), 426-431. Web.
Hein, V., Koka, A., & Hagger, M. S. (2015). Relationships between perceived teachers’ controlling behaviour, psychological need thwarting, anger and bullying behaviour in high-school students. Journal of Adolescence, 42, 103-114. Web.
Mitchell, R. R., Tingstrom, D. H., Dufrene, B. A., Ford, W. B., & Sterling, H. E. (2015). The effects of the good behavior game with general-education high school students. School Psychology Review, 44(2), 191-207. Web.
O’Flaherty, J., & Phillips, C. (2015). The use of flipped classrooms in higher education: A scoping review. The Internet and Higher Education, 25, 85-95. Web.
Pas, E. T., Cash, A. H., O’Brennan, L., Debnam, K. J., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2015). Profiles of classroom behavior in high schools: Associations with teacher behavior management strategies and classroom composition. Journal of School Psychology, 53(2), 137-148. Web.
Simón, C., & Alonso-Tapia, J. (2016). Positive classroom management: Effects of disruption management climate on behaviour and satisfaction with teacher. Revista de Psicodidáctica, 21(1), 65-86. Web.
Sullivan, A. M., Johnson, B., Owens, L., & Conway, R. (2014). Punish Them or Engage Them? Teachers’ Views of Unproductive Student Behaviours in the Classroom. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 39(6), 43-56.
Xia, J., Caulfield, C., & Ferns, S. (2015). Work-integrated learning: Linking research and teaching for a win-win situation. Studies in Higher Education, 40(9), 1560-1572. Web.