Chapter Thirteen

Classroom
Management

Overview
Authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative
approaches to classroom management
Preventing problems: Techniques of
classroom management
Techniques for dealing with behavior
problems
Violence in American schools

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-2

Classroom Management Styles

Authoritarian
Student compliance is main goal
Make heavy use of rewards and punishments

Permissive
Rely heavily on students liking and respecting them

Authoritative
Goal is for students to regulate their own behavior
Set rules but adjust as students show their ability to
regulate their own behavior

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-3

Preventing Problems: Effective Classroom

Management
Show your students you are with it.
Learn to cope with overlapping situations.
Strive to maintain smoothness and
momentum in classroom activities.
Keep the whole class involved, even when
working with individual students.
Introduce variety and be enthusiastic.
Be aware of the ripple effect. Be clear and
firm when disciplining, and avoid angry
outbursts. (Kounin, 1970)
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-4

Characteristics of Well-Managed
Classrooms
Students know what they are expected to
do and generally experience the feeling
that they are successful doing it.
Students are kept busy engaging in
teacher-led instructional activities.
There is little wasted time, confusion, or
disruption.
A no-nonsense, work-oriented tone
prevails, but at the same time there is a
relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-5

Keys to Management Success

Effective teachers:
Demonstrate they have thought about classroom
procedures prior to the first day of class.
Post and/or announce a short list of basic classroom
rules and penalties.
Engage in whole-group activities under teacher
direction the first few weeks of school.
Maintain control by using Kounins techniques.
Give clear directions, hold students accountable for
completing assignments, and give frequent feedback.
(Evertson, Emmer, & Worsham, 2003; Emmer, Evertson, & Worsham, 2003)

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-6

Managing Middle, Junior High, and

High School Classrooms
For an optimal environment:
The arrangement of the seating, materials, and
equipment is consistent with the kind of
instructional activities the teacher favors
High traffic areas are kept free of congestion
The teacher can easily see all students
Frequently used teaching materials and
student supplies are readily available
Students can easily see instructional
presentations and displays
(Emmer, Evertson, & Worsham, 2003)

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-7

Technology Tools for Classroom

Management
Centralized information systems
Computerized files with student information

Integrated learning systems

Individualized instruction for students

New classroom roles for teachers

Managers of complex social interactions
Scaffolding individual student learning

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-8

Techniques for Dealing with Behavior Problems

Influence techniques
I-messages
Problem ownership and active listening

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-9

Influence Techniques
Planned ignoring
Signals
Proximity and touch control
Interest boosting (giving student extra
attention)
Humor
Helping over hurdles (lack of understanding)
Program restructuring (changing activities)

(Walker, Shea, & Bauer 2004)

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-10

Influence Techniques
Antiseptic bouncing (time-out)
Physical restraint
Direct appeals (conduct and its
consequence)
Criticism and encouragement (private)
Defining limits
Postsituational follow-up (discussion
afterward)
Marginal use of interpretation
(Walker, Shea, & Bauer 2004)

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-11

I-messages
Talking to the situation, not the personality
or the character
Explaining how one feels
E.g. I get angry when I see bread thrown
around.

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-12

Problem Ownership and Active Listening

Problem ownership
Determining the problem behavior and who it is
affecting

Active listening
Listener shows interest; talker is encouraged to
express his/her feelings; listener does not
actively participate but does respond by
acknowledging what the talker has said

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-13

Analyzing Reasons for Violence

Biological factors
Males are more aggressive due to
neurological, hormonal, and physiological
factors

Gender-related cultural influences

Assertive and aggressive behavior in males is
more accepted

Academic skills and performance

Males are more likely than females to
experience frustration and hostility at school
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-14

Analyzing Reasons for Violence

Interpersonal cognitive problem-solving skills
Students who lack means ends thinking and alternative
solution thinking are more likely to get in trouble

Psychosocial factors
Students who experience difficulty with identity
formation may misbehave to release tension

School environment
Large, impersonal schools that do not meet the needs
of their students may promote misbehavior in students

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-15

Reducing School Violence & Misbehavior

Classroom interventions
Classroom rules, teacher movement,
reinforcement, token economy, response cost,
group contingency
Judicious Discipline

School-wide programs to reduce violence

and improve discipline
Unified Discipline
Peer mentoring
Resolving conflict creatively program
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-16

Using Technology to Keep Students in School

Hueneme School District
Computerized robotics, computer-aided
manufacturing, desktop publishing, aeronautics
and pneumatic technology

Azusa Unified School District

Integrated learning system

Virtual High Schools

Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

13-17