Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

Creative Presentation of Five Overarching Principles

By Lisa Johnson

Submitted as EDU5CSD Task 2

Due Date: Monday 23rd May
Tutor: Jane Worme
Tutorial: Thursday, 1300-1400

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

Presentation Elements
This presentation is made up of six elements. The first can be found in this document, and
offers a brief overview of my personal pedagogical stance and a short critique of theoretical models I
found most relevant to my evolving pedagogical standpoint. The remaining elements each represent
one of the five overarching principles that are also fundamental to my personal pedagogical stance.
These five principles are designed to be viewed in their number order. The references that are
referred to throughout these six elements can be found at the end of this cover document.

My Personal Pedagogical Stance

Prior to my teaching rounds, at the very beginning of this course, I wrote the following about
what pedagogy meant to me:
Defining pedagogy is not an easy venture. At the beginning of the 20th century
the understanding of pedagogy was still quite vague, described as a general
designation for the art of teaching (Hall, 1905, p. 375). In the following decades,
the term pedagogy expanded to encompass everything from a way of addressing
educational inequality based on social class, gender, race and/or sexual preference
(critical pedagogy, see McLaren, 1997), through to the personal, moral and social
education in a particular political context (social pedagogy, see Cameron & Moss,
2011).
At this early stage in my teacher education, Im sticking more with the
basics. I currently view pedagogy as the art and science of teaching in a holistic
manner. Imparting knowledge in such a way that at least some of it sticks (baby
steps!). To me, this includes the how, where, why, and what of teaching itself, as
well as the unique dynamics brought to teaching by each students personality
interacting with my own. I believe this extends to include many concerns outside
of the classroom, including the home life of the students, their social interactions
with various peer groups and the socioeconomic situation of the school itself to
name just a few. Im sure this relatively simplistic understanding of pedagogy will
evolve quickly over the coming year.
Looking back, with the benefit of practical experience under my belt, I cringe at how academic
I was about my pedagogical stance. Something wonderful happened on my first set of teaching
rounds that has great bearing on kind of teacher I want to be: I fell in love with teaching. Now,
instead of just understanding what pedagogy is, I have a much greater understanding of what I want
my pedagogical stance to be. My stance now involves inspiration, enthusiasm and meaningful
interaction. I still want to employ the theories I wrote of above, but these things are no longer simple

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

phrases to me. Now that I have worked with students, I know that I want not only to teach them, but
to lead them, to encourage them, to guide them and to help them grow. And after my rounds I now
know that my pedagogical stance also involves a great deal of self-improvement as well, which I had
not considered at all prior to my practical teaching experience. I want the students to teach me, to
guide and inspire me just as I hope to do for them.
My pedagogical stance at this moment is about mutual respect, growth, getting to know
students and how they learn, enthusiasm and the creation of a safe, positive and inclusive learning
environment. I will discuss some of the elements of this stance in the detailing of my five
overarching principles. I cant wait to see what my stance will have evolved into by the end of my
next teaching rounds.

The Theoretical Model Most Relevant to my Personal Pedagogical Stance

My pedagogical stance most closely aligns with the work of Rudolph
Dreikurs. Dreikurs supports an interactionist approach to teaching, suggesting
that power should be shared between teachers, parents and students in order to
create a motivating and safe learning environment (Dreikurs, Grunwald &
Pepper, 2013). This approach to teaching advocates genuine encouragement
and affirmation of student behaviour, a collaborative approach to behavioural
management and the creation of mutual respect between teacher and students.
A big part of the interactionist approach to teaching involves affirming the
self-identity

of

students

and

providing

comprehensive

feedback

and

encouragement on a regular basis (Dreikurs, Grunwald & Pepper, 2013).

Teachers may need to encourage a students identity affirmation by encouraging
group activities with their peers (Barber, Stone, Hunt & Eccles, 2005). Focus
may need to be placed on encouraging students to engage in self-affirmation,
which has been shown to positively impact on student confidence and

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

achievement (Sherman et al., 2013). A teacher may address values affirmation

by employing various positive writing tasks (Purdie-Vaughns et al., 2009). In line
with this approach, I want to get to know each and every student in my class,
beyond just knowing their name. I believe that if I pay particular and genuine
interest to where a students strengths and weaknesses lie, I will be in a better
position to use encouragement in a way that resonates with each student on a
more personal level.
In addition to encouragement, Driekurs emphasises the important of
constructive feedback in helping to build a positive learning environment
(Dreikurs, Grunwald & Pepper, 2013). I strongly believe that feedback is
essential in any classroom, having been identified as a key strategy in both
learning and teaching (Poulos & Mahony, 2008). Additionally, the creation of
mutual trust is important in the interactionist model of teaching, having been
found to be positively correlated with student motivation and engagement (Ryan
& Patrick, 2001).
This interactionist approach to teaching is reflected clearly in the five
overarching principles that I consider fundamental to my personal pedagogical
stance and vital in the creation of a safe, positive and productive learning
environment.

My Five Fundamental Overarching Principles

1. Teachers should get to know their students and how they learn
The newspaper front page that I created for this principle can be found at the following
address:
http://www.makemynewspaper.com/uk//designer/app/open?share=b8aef573b93108041d
This article was designed to be viewed in Google Chrome. You do not need to make an account

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

or sign in to view the newspaper. Simply press the x in the top right hand corner of the sign in
box in order to view the page.
2. Mutual respect is paramount to a safe, positive and productive learning environment
The podcast that I created to articulate my evolving thoughts on this principle can be found
here:
http://secondprinciple.podbean.com/e/second-principle/?
token=bd40f91638492bf2eaee59d9d097ce48
3.

Feedback should be constructive, frequent and useful for student improvement

This principle is discussed in the format of an interactive website found at the following

address:
http://18673047.wix.com/thirdprinciple
The password to access the pages is TARDIS (all in capital letters).
4.

Enthusiasm is contagious, use it!

I created a video in order to discuss my fourth overarching principle. The address is as follows:
https://youtu.be/75c4VRM1a4Y

5.

Teaching methods should be varied and interesting in order to keep students motivated and
engaged
My final principle (and the conclusion to this assignment) is a narrated PowerPoint
presentation. It can be found at the following address:
https://youtu.be/xkh45mrx_Zs

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2014). Australian professional standards
for teachers. Retrieved from: http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-forteachers/standards/list
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of
positive

forms

of

leadership.

The

Leadership

Quarterly,

16(3),

315-338.

doi:

10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001
Barber, B. L., Stone, M. R., Hunt, J. E., & Eccles, J. S. (2005). Benefits of activity participation: The
roles of identity affirmation and peer group norm sharing. In J. Mahoney, R. Larson & J.
Eccles (Eds.), Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities,
after-school and community programs, (pp. 185-210). Mahwah: New Jersey. Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

Bernaus, M., & Gardner, R. C. (2008). Teacher motivation strategies, student perceptions, student
motivation, and English achievement. The Modern Language Journal, 92(3), 387-401. doi:
10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00753.x
Bryson, C., & Hand, L. (2007). The role of engagement in inspiring teaching and
learning. Innovations in education and teaching international, 44(4), 349-362. doi:
10.1080/14703290701602748
Cameron, C., & Moss, P. (2011). Social pedagogy: Current understandings and Opportunities. In C.
Cameron & P. Moss (Eds.), Social pedagogy and working with children and young people:
Where care and education meet (pp. 7-33). London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Dreikurs, R., Grunwald, B. B., & Pepper, F. C. (2013). Maintaining sanity in the classroom:
Classroom management techniques. Philadelphia: PA. Taylor & Francis
Hall, G. S. (1905). What is Pedagogy? The Pedagogical Seminary, 12(4), 375-383. doi:
10.1080/08919402.1905.10534667
Hamid, Y., & Mahmood, S. (2010). Understanding constructive feedback: A commitment between
teachers and students for academic and professional development. J Pak Med Assoc, 60(3),
224-227. Retrieved from: http://www.jpma.org.pk/PdfDownload/1960.pdf
Hew, K. F., & Brush, T. (2007). Integrating technology into K-12 teaching and learning: Current
knowledge gaps and recommendations for future research. Educational Technology Research
and Development, 55(3), 223-252. doi: 10.1007/s11423-006-9022-5
Kunter, M., Tsai, Y. M., Klusmann, U., Brunner, M., Krauss, S., & Baumert, J. (2008). Students' and
mathematics teachers' perceptions of teacher enthusiasm and instruction. Learning and
Instruction, 18(5), 468-482. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2008.06.008
McLaren,

P.

(1997).

Critical

10.1080/1047621970090101

Pedagogy.

Teaching

Education,

9(1),

1-1.

doi:

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

Poulos, A., & Mahony, M. J. (2008). Effectiveness of feedback: The students perspective.
Assessment

&

Evaluation

in

Higher

Education,

33(2),

143-154.

doi:

10.1080/02602930601127869
Purdie-Vaughns, V., Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Sumner, R., Cook, J. C., & Apfel, N. (2009). Improving
minority academic performance: How a values-affirmation intervention works. Teachers
College

Record,

1-4.

Retrieved

from

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/vpvaughns/assets/pdfs/Improving%20Minority
%20Academic%20Performance%20%282009%29.pdf
Regan, K. S. (2003). Using dialogue journals in the classroom: Forming relationships with students
with emotional disturbance. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(2), 36-41. Retrieved from:
http://search.proquest.com/openview/fe30385276463b939b562848c8baa30c/1?pqorigsite=gscholar&cbl=2030482
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press.
Ryan, A. M., & Patrick, H. (2001). The classroom social environment and changes in adolescents
motivation and engagement during middle school. American Educational Research Journal,
38(2), 437-460. doi: 10.3102/00028312038002437
Sherman, D. K., Hartson, K. A., Binning, K. R., Purdie-Vaughns, V., Garcia, J., Taborsky-Barba,
S., ... & Cohen, G. L. (2013). Deflecting the trajectory and changing the narrative: How selfaffirmation affects academic performance and motivation under identity threat. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 104(4), 591-318. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0031495
Stenger, M. (2014, August 6). 5 research-based tips for providing students with meaningful feedback.
Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-providing-students-meaningful-feedbackmarianne-stenger

Running Head: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT REFLECTION

Wiggins, G. (2012). Seven keys to effective feedback. Feedback, 70(1), 10-16. Retrieved from:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept12/vol70/num01/Seven-Keys-toEffective-Feedback.aspx
Willemsen, E. W. (1995). So what is the problem? Difficulties at the gate. New Directions for
Teaching and Learning, 61, 15-22. doi: 10.1002/tl.37219956105
Zhang, Q. (2014). Assessing the effects of instructor enthusiasm on classroom engagement, learning
goal orientation, and academic self-efficacy. Communication Teacher, 28, 44-56. Retrieved
from: https://www.natcom.org/CommCurrentsArticle.aspx?id=4678

Ice-Breaker Games and ICT Referred to in the First Principle Gazette

Two Truths and a Lie: http://adulted.about.com/od/icebreakers/qt/twotruthsonelie.htm
Who Done It? http://www.icebreakers.ws/get-to-know-you/who-done-it-whodunit.html
Human Bingo: http://www.icebreakers.ws/get-to-know-you/did-you-know-bingo.html
Class Dojo: https://www.classdojo.com/