Philosophy of Classroom Management

Abby Donnelly
St. Thomas University
November 2018
 Classroom management skills will be essential in ensuring my classroom runs smoothly

and efficiently. I will construct my classroom to be an inviting space where students feel safe,

motivated to learn and are comfortable to express themselves. Some strategies and theories I

plan to apply in my classroom are adapted from Marvin Marshall’s theories on procedures over

rules and Linda Albert’s theories on cooperative discipline. I believe strongly in the classroom

being a positive environment where policies, procedures and rules are positively worded, where

all judgment is deferred and where the five elements of invitational theory are well established.

My role in the classroom will be more of a facilitator than a boss figure, where trust and respect

between myself and my students is mutually established. Establishing trust, respect and a safe

space is my priority. I strongly believe that only once all of these elements are well established,

will meaningful and impactful learning begin.

I strongly believe in applying the invitational theory to my classroom. The result will be a

classroom environment where students will feel free to express themselves and reach their full

potential. I feel as though initially creating this environment and relationship with students is also

powerful at preventing much misbehavior, as students will feel a sense of belonging, which

according to Linda Albert, is the root of many misbehaviors. To create this environment I will

embody the five elements of invitational theory: care, trust, respect optimism, and intentionality.

I plan to consistently exhibit these elements through my actions and words. The following are

examples of ways in which I will demonstrate a few of these elements. I will demonstrate care to

my students by consistently checking in with them on how they are feeling. I do not want my

students to feel unnecessary stress; therefore, although I still believe in assigning homework, I

will always ask for their feedback on the level of manageability. I will also be accordingly flexible

with assignment deadlines. I will demonstrate respect to my students by always deferring

judgment, I will never tell a student they are wrong or way off track. Rather, I will positively

respond to “wrong answers” by saying something like “that’s an interesting thought, but not quite
what we’re looking for in this instance”. Using this wording will make the student feel like I still

appreciate their contribution and thus respect their effort, but is not quite what I am are looking

for as an answer. I also strongly believe that in order for respect to be mutually established,

apologies must be given when you are in the wrong. For example, if I ever happen to go back

on my word and damage the established sense of trust, I will offer a sincere apology for this. My

students will respect the fact that I apologize in front of the class and this also makes them feel

as though I am more equal to them – everyone makes mistakes. Finally, I will demonstrate

intentionality by always asking myself what my intentions are before assigning any homework,

presenting any topic or announcing any consequences or disciplines. I will regularly remind

myself that all of my actions and/or words can and will have either a positive or negative effect

on a student’s mindset. Establishing this invitational classroom will be a collaborative and

cooperative process between my students and myself.

I believe that many classroom activities should be done collaboratively and cooperatively

between the students and teacher, including the establishment of a classroom code of conduct.

My beliefs on forming a classroom code of conduct align with that of Linda Albert. I strongly

believe that a code of conduct should be built collaboratively between the students and the

teacher and that both parties should be held to the code of conduct equally. For example, I will

not permit my students to use their cell phones in class, therefore I will not be using mine either.

To enforce the code of conduct, I will have it displayed on a poster in my classroom and I will

also require my students to have their parents and themselves sign the code of conduct. I will

review the code of conduct regularly and whenever misbehavior occurs, and ask my students to

self evaluate their behaviour, referring to the code of conduct (Albert, 2018).

I believe that there is a place for both procedures and rules within the classroom. Like

Marvin Marshalll’s theory, however, I believe that procedures should usually take precedence

over rules as rules require enforcement, and thus the teacher is required to be the enforcer,

creating a power relationship in the classroom (Marshall, 2018). I disagree with Marshall to a
certain extent, as I believe that there are certain situations where rules are required. For

example, rules are required to prevent any misbehavior from happening that can disrupt the

teacher’s right to teach, the student’s right to learn, the student’s psychological and/or physical

safety and school property. For example, as a Science teacher, it will be necessary for me to

enforce lab safety rules. I also intend to enforce the rule of respect. I will never allow a student

to disrespect a fellow classmate’s comments, opinions or views as this can lead to

psychological damage. I will address any such situations by immediately telling the student their

comment was disrespectful, and will have them refer back to our rule of respect in the code of

conduct and have them reflect on why and how what they said breaks the rule. Procedures will

also have a place in my classroom and I intend to practice them regularly. Like Marshall, I

believe that practicing procedures can greatly increase classroom efficiency and instill a sense

of responsibility in students. When and if my students fail to follow proper procedures, they will

suffer the natural consequence, which can often be effective in correcting the behaviour.

When procedures and rules are broken in my classroom, I will consistently apply fair

consequences. I believe that students should be made aware of the consequences for

misbehavior in advance. By sharing consequences in advance, students know what to expect if

they misbehave. For many situations in my classroom, I intend to let my students experience

the natural consequence, as it is a powerful learning experience. Natural consequences

highlight for the student the cause and effect relationship between their behaviour and the

consequence (Levin et al., 2016). Nevertheless, there will be situations when allowing the

students to experience the natural consequences would be very inappropriate. For example, if a

student is breaking a lab rule and putting either their safety or that of their classmates’ in

danger, I will need to allocate a logical consequence. These logical consequences will be pre-

established and the students will be aware of them. The logical consequence will be specific to

the misbehavior. For example, if students are wasting class time by repeatedly disrupting and

talking over the teacher, the logical consequence given will be them having to stay however
much time they wasted, after the bell rings, into their lunch hour. Like Linda Albert, I believe the

logical consequence should be: related to the misbehavior, reasonable, dealt in a calm and

respectful manner and reliably enforced (Albert, 2018).

Overall, my classroom management philosophy is centered on the students feeling as

though they are in a safe, positive learning environment, where they can live up to their full

potential. In this environment, students will collaboratively create a code of conduct with me and

consequences for misbehavior will be known and reliably enforced. I will be a firm, yet fair,

teacher who practices procedures, rather than a strict rule enforcer. That being said, there will

come times when enforcing certain rules is necessary and when logical consequences will need

to be dealt and when those times come I will be just like the referee on the soccer field – I’ll

(calmly, non disruptively and consistently) call out misbehaviors exactly as I see them. I believe

it is important to be close with your students but to still have them understand that you are the

professional figure in the room. Nevertheless, I do not want to be a full time referee. To prevent

this from happening I will again emphasize that the establishment of mutual respect and trust

between students and teacher can be a powerful misbehavior prevention tool. By creating an

environment where my students want to be and want to learn, good behaviour will follow. To

close, this a quote I take to heart

“My number one goal at the end of the first day is not that they know the rules and

consequences. It’s that they’re excited to be a part of the class. That they run home to their

parents and say, “Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. Its going to

be great.” – Michael Linsin

Bibliography

Levin, James, Nolan, James F., Kerr, James W., Elliott, Anne E., & Bajovic, Mira
(2016). Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision-Making Model.
Toronto, ON: Pearson Canada Inc.

Marshall, Dr. Marvin, (2018). Retrieved from https://marvinmarshall.com/.

Albert, Linda. (2018). Cooperative Discipline. In class presentation by Seth Page,

Brittany Ruck Jessome, Celine Porter et al.