Pedagogy for Positive Learning 102082: “Why do young people

misbehave in school?”
By Rachel Foster 17439190

Section One: Literature Review

Young people and misbehavior in school is a long overarching theme that

strings in and out of focus in regards to education and is also a constant battle
for educators. However through unstructured interviews and research analysis
common themes have appeared that give insight into the world of young
people misbehaving in school. The most common perception about
misbehavior was that it consisted of a myriad of different factors such as
boredom/disengagement, peer pressure/social status, home life and the
changing world of adolescences. Research into the best practices for
managing student behaviour communicated that “lack of discipline in public
schools is the biggest problem” (De Jong, 2005) although this research was
American certain aspects can be correlated to the Australian educational
landscape, the research suggested that the behaviour of students was an
effect of and reaction to the behaviour of others and this particular ideology
indicates to a large extent that misbehavior in school can be viewed as an
interacting and intercommunicated process between both educators and
students.

Moreover there are multiple contexts of a young persons life that intertwine
and cause a wide range of issues such as bullying and mental health. It is
reported that “those who experience bullying reported to have low self
esteem, poor peer relations, poor academic achievement and also experience
levels of distress such as anxiety, depression and aggression” (Demaray, M,
Malecki, C, Secord, S and Lyell, K, 2013). From this context it can be viewed
that mental health and wellbeing also play an inherent role in the behaviour of
young people in school and can have an overarching affect on the reasons for
misbehavior. In addition, research into the perceptions of teachers on
students challenging behaviour indicated that “defiance and disruption to be
the most prevalent issue in school followed by attendance issues” (Alter, P,
Walker, J and Landers, E, 2013) this perception demonstrates a severance
between teacher understanding of misbehavior and also indicates that
students are questioning the importance of curriculum and are easily
distracted by content that is not stimulating them in an engaging way. Ergo a
study addressing the attributions of student misbehavior states “from the
students perceptive the meaningfulness of the subject matter and class
activities was a key influence on student behaviour” (Cothran, D, Kulinna, P
and Garrahy, D, 2009) this plays into the idea that there is miscommunication
and misunderstanding between teacher directed ideas of misbehavior and
student perspective.

Furthermore deeper ideologies on the misunderstanding and the severance

between teacher and student understanding on misbehavior is further
communicated through another researcher paper which conveys that
“teachers were most likely to attribute unproductive student behaviour to
individual student factors or out of school factors” (Sullivan, A, Johnson, B,
Owens, L and Conway, R, 2014). This further implicates the idea that
teachers reflexively disassociate themselves with student misbehavior and
instinctively redirect the causes of student misbehavior. Lastly to further
entrench this idea that teachers misunderstand student misbehavior and
instinctively shift blame to other factors other than boredom, lack of
engagement and lack of well-developed pedagogy a research paper
investigating the links between teacher attitudes and student opposition
synthesized the idea that “educational researchers agree that teacher
attitudes can have a profound impact on students educational growth … it is
supposed that certain teacher attitudes may trigger behavioural reactions from
students in class” these results demonstrates the clear miscommunication
issues teachers face with students and vice versa (Demanet, J and Van
Houtte, M, 2012). Ergo there are clear patterns that emerge from this
research and in conclusion can be used to explain and support different
ideologies expressed through the research interviews.
Section Two: Interview Process and Findings

The interview process consisted of six different interviewees three pre-service

teachers, one non-teaching participant, one parent and one teacher. The
participants themselves consisted of three males and three females, which
gave both balance and stability to the perceptions and ideas surrounding
student misbehavior. The interviewees were semi-structured with one
introductory question, “Why do young people misbehave in school” from here
the interviews were guided by the individual response and further questioning
took place to gain a deeper understanding of the topic from the interview
participants. The interviews took place in the participant’s own convenient
time and anonymity was ensured to the participant’s allowing them the ability
to answer freely and without fear of judgment and or repercussions.

Many common themes emerged from the interviews for example all
participants communicated that student misbehavior occurs from a myriad of
different reasons and circumstances for example home life, peer relationships
and boredom. However each participant had their own understanding of why
these things effected behaviour Person A communicated that misbehavior
occurs from a students belief of needing to hide misunderstanding of
curriculum content with fear of causing problems relating to home life and
peer relationships. This particular view was a common thread throughout the
responses however shadowed different understandings such as boredom
stemming from the teachers lack of engagement and lack of communicating
why certain curriculum is important to the students.

In addition to this theme another branch provided a common theme

throughout the interviews, a number of participants communicated that the
curriculum content itself provides avenues for misbehaviour, if the content or
context of the class is not stimulating enough for higher achieving students
boredom takes place and in turn causes disruption behaviour and non-
engagement, however on the other end of the spectrum if the content and
context of the class is too demanding students who are lower achieving can
then switch off in fear or intimidation of their misunderstanding of the content
and in turn fall back on disruption behaviour. Another particularly interesting
standpoint from the interview responses was the difference between private
and public schools, co-educational and single sex schools. A number of
participants indicated that there are significant difference between both levels
of misbehaviour and consequences and teacher attitudes towards
misbehaviour in schools, it was the common idea that co-educational school
provides avenues for misbehaviour due to the interaction between the sexes
and the opportunity to impress and increase social standing and also the idea
that teacher in public schools did not have a greater level of providing
consequences to misbehaviour than private school teachers.

Although there was a wide range of responses from the participants it is

evident that common themes and perceptions on misbehaviour occurred in
turn communicates that there is no one way of viewing misbehaviour nor is
there one way of pinpointing reasons behind misbehaviour.

Section Three: Synthesis of Findings and Comparison of Literature

Review

Throughout the process of interviewing and researching the topic of student

misbehaviour clear links and patterns emerged between the both. Conducting
the interviews first before undertaking the review of different literature
provided a foundation level of understanding on the topic and the implications
this has on school classrooms and the school environments. Firstly the
interview participants indicated that misbehaviour occurred due to factors
such as home life and peer relations this inherently relates to the research
conducted by De Jong (2005) who suggested, “health and wellbeing are
interconnected and influence the students behaviour” this idea speaks loudly
to the common theme presented throughout the interviews. In relation to this
idea an interview participant communicated, “Sometimes I think it is easier for
them to muck up and misbehave because then no pressure is applied in
actually what is causing the misbehavior. I think misbehavior is a coping
mechanism it is a way to deal with problems that happen outside of school
and avoid facing what they cannot handle” again this clearly links back to the
studies that suggest that mental health and wellbeing of students is a large
contributing factor to student misbehaviour.

On the other hand, a juxtaposing theme that emerged through the interviews
communicated that lack of flexibility in curriculum and disengaging classroom
played a role in student misbehaviour Person B stated that “they (students) do
not realize the importance of what they are learning and they do not
understand how what they are learning can have an impact on their life and
feel like school is a waste of time”. From this idea it can be linked to a variety
of different perspectives displayed through the literature for example “quality
curriculum is responsive to the needs of all students, is flexible in its delivery
and is inclusive and catering for al students (De Jong, 2005). Moreover
Person C further communicated this theme be addressing the view point that
“young people misbehave in school due to class work not meeting their
needs. If work is too hard and not matching their skill, I feel as though they will
detach from it. But on the other side if they work is to easy it is a matter for
waiting for a distraction to happen” here it is clear that a lack of positive
pedagogy plays a role in the misbehaviour of students and provides avenues
for distraction and disruption. Another link to this idea appears through the
statement “teachers reported disengaged and low level disruptive behaviours
were among the most difficult behaviours to manage” (Sullivan, A, etal, 2014).
This was also reciprocated by research into teacher perceptions that stated,
“off task student behaviour may be best typified as a gateway behaviour that
leads to other challenging behaviour” (Alter, P, etal, 2013).

Lastly it is important to note that it was expected that interview responses

would correlate with literature findings however the interview responses about
co-educational and single sex schools did not have occurrence in the
literature, and this is a clear indication of the gaps within certain research in
student misbehaviour, however there were links to the idea that males may
have more tendency to misbehaviour than females for example research on
teacher perceptions communicated that “male students are perceived to
engage in more challenging behaviour and more likely to take this behaviour
to a larger extent than there counterparts” (Alter, P, etal, 2013). Through this
ideology it can be noted that there are connections between the discourse of
sex and gender within school that could in turn affect student behaviour.

Section Four: Implications and Personal Awareness

Throughout this process, a clearer and more educated understanding on

student misbehaviour has been developed. However there were clear
limitations to the process and findings that resulted. For example the small
variety of responses from interviewees, majority of the interviewees provided
similar response however this was expected and did provide a more
consensus about student misbehaviour. Through the research findings and
literature review it is evident now the clear direction for personal pedagogy
and teaching philosophy, it is inherently important to give students clear
understanding of content importance and give relevance to all content.
Moreover inclusive and positive pedagogical practice is imperative to ensure
not only student engagement but also allowing for all different student learning
types, ability, cultures and backgrounds; this understanding between clear to
a large extent through the interview responses and research findings.

Moreover in relation to the implications for praxis, it was found that there was
a clear miscommunication and lack of positive relationship between educators
and students that related heavily to misbehaviour. It is evidently clear that the
building of respect and positive relationships between students and educators
is vitally important in not only maintain control and maintaining classroom
management but also allows for deeper student engagement and participation
with curriculum. It is evident through this research process the divisions
between causation of misbehaviour and the pedagogical practices that are
either enhancing or dissolving these behaviours. Therefore throughout this
process young people misbehave due to a wide range of factors however
majority of these factors can be overcome through positive pedagogy and
inclusive school practices.
Appendices:

Interviewee One: Person A Pre-Service Teacher

Why do you think young people misbehave in school?

I think there are one hundred different reasons why. I think often the
misbehavior is a result of what happens outside the classroom rather than
what is going on inside. From relationships with other peers, teachers, parents
and people in their lives, especially kids that have difficult situations that they
have to deal with school does not seem relevant. I think they also misbehave
because they want to cover up that they cannot do something. Kids who do
not come from English speaking background can generally act up more than
kids who do come from English speaking backgrounds that is from my
experience anyway. Sometimes I think it is easier for them to muck up and
misbehave because then no pressure is applied in actually what is causing
the misbehavior. I think misbehavior is a coping mechanism it is a way to deal
with problems that happen outside of school and avoid facing what they
cannot handle.

Who do you think then bares the responsibility of noticing these

behaviours?

Well in the classroom it has to be the teacher or support staff that may be
there, it is not their job to solve or fix their problems but they should be able to
notice and report to the appropriate people if they notice that things are not
okay. Or they could adjust their teaching to have more inclusive classrooms,
but because your dealing with misbehavior it is hard to adjust an entire
classroom where multiple young people are misbehaving and I think it is more
a case of rebuilding the relationship between the teachers and students.

Do you think the school environment has an impact on misbehavior?

I think yes to an extent, however the lack of built physical environment can
often be overcome by the social and cultural environment of the school, if the
school has an inclusive community structure then the lack of built physical
environment will not matter. But I think sometimes the environment could be
factor that exaggerates the misbehavior rather than causes it. All it may need
is an adjustment in the layout of the classroom in order to make the learning
more inclusive to stop misbehavior.

Do you think the parents have any responsibility over a child’s

misbehavior in school?

Yes and No the parents do not directly cause the child’s behaviour, but the
relationships and environment that exists at home will play itself in other
environments. For example if the parents fight and argue a lot at home, the
child starts to believe that, that is the appropriate way to deal with something
they do not like or agree with. Or if the parents avoid each other the child can
dido that mannerism in the classroom and retreat when they are faced with a
difficult situation. I think that negative environments harbor negative behaviour
within the classroom. If they relationship is positive the children will want to do
their best and show their best to people they respect.

Interviewee Two: Person B Non- Teacher Friend

Why do you think young people misbehave in school?

Cause they are bored. They do not realize the importance of what they are
learning and they do not understand how what they are learning can have an
impact on their life and feel like school is a waste of time. It also depends
what kind of day their having and what they are going through, I know for me
if something happened all I wanted to do was speak with my friends and if we
were in the same class that is what we did we would talk and distract
everyone in the process not paying attention to what was going on.

What do you think are some of the factors then that cause misbehavior?

Well they are at a stage where their bodies are changing, there worried about
boys and their bodies changing. I mean it does not matter if they have there
most favourite class after lunch if something happens to them at lunch, it will
throw off their entire day because to them it seems astronomical but to
everyone else seems trivial.

So do you believe it is the young peoples fault their misbehaving?

Oh not entirely, I think teachers have a big role in playing a part so if a kids
having a shit day a teacher can turn it around it depends of their attitude and
approach. Cause the teacher can relate in a different way and make them feel
better and provide some perspective to maybe change what is going on in
their immediate world that seems more important.

Do you think the type of school impacts misbehavior? All girls, all boys,
Co-Ed?

I think they do impact their behaviour, coming from an all girls school it can be
easier to be yourself around other girls rather than being around both boys
and girls and you feel like you have to impress everyone, so they can
misbehave to show off or muck around because they think it is funny. I think
for public versus private schools I feel like in private schools their families
come from some time of wealth to afford their children to go to these types of
schools so I feel that they have an impact on children misbehaving because
they feel like they have to succeed and do something good to prove that their
parents are paying good money for a reason which could then also result in
competition and rivalry within the classroom and thinking that you must
compete with everyone.
So coming from that you definitely feel like whether a young person
goes to a public or private school impacts their level of misbehavior?

Yes definitely, because I know that there are a lot more public schools that do
better than the private school I went to in the HSC. I feel like too much
pressure gets placed on private school children to preform because money
has been spent to further or enhance their education. So I feel like yeah
maybe public schools can offer children less pressure and allow them to have
a little more freedom, however I do feel like though that their level of
misbehavior may be higher than private schools because generally speaking
there are co- ed which has its own impacts on misbehavior like I said before.

Interviewee Three: Person C Pre-Service Teacher

Why do you young people misbehave in school?

I think young people misbehave in schools due to class work not meeting their
needs. If work is too hard and not matching their skill, I feel as though they will
detach from it. But on the other side if they work is to easy it is a matter for
waiting for a distraction to happen. I do not believe that ADHD has any effect
on classroom behaviour if they are having proper classroom instruction. I think
that teacher holding grudges on students because of their siblings can have
effect as well. And I think that males being around females provides avenue
for distraction. I think if the work is too teacher or student centered it is a bad
thing because if it is to teacher centered your not going to apply yourself
properly because your just listening to instruction. I think that teachers who
make you do the work before explaining why it is important leaves room for
misbehavior, clear outcomes beforehand are more important because that
way students know why a certain task is important. Teachers try to hard to
separate children, which enhances misbehavior, I think that aggressive
teachers further exacerbate misbehavior which causes misbehavior from
students who would not normally misbehave. I also believe that what your
interested in along with mental and physical impacts can also manipulate
classroom misbehavior. I also think that low socio-economic students have
parents who do not place any value in education. Independence is important
in education. Home life has some impact. And I also think that they
misbehave because females have harder time controlling classrooms than
males, especially when they first start teaching. Males have more control and
females come across weak and lacking control. A lack of support in general, if
support structures are not in place for your learning or people are not being
there for you in general can cause misbehavior. Bullying will cause students
to misbehave but also cause academic failure because they do not want to
seek help and they fall into peer groups that they should not. Boredom is also
a big thing, teachers who are cocky, thick, old and worn out cause student to
misbehave. Teachers need a sense of humour. No too much inclusion but not
to much exclusion to give students the balance they need.

Do you think misbehavior occurs more in co-educational schools rather

than single-sex schools?
From my perspective years 7-10 there is more misbehavior in co-ed schools,
single sex schools makes no difference and only effects boys.

Following on from your comments earlier stating males act up more for
female teachers why do you think that is?

As your approaching adolescents your facing struggles with your body

changing and sexuality, it has been shown that females have less authority
over boys, they use more coercive styles of teaching. Females teachers have
less control over classroom, they are only competent when they are older and
have years of experience.

Interviewee Four: Person D Pre- Service Teacher

Why do you think young people misbehave in school?

I feel that it is a lack of individualism combined with a lack of flexibility of

content and the way in which the content is presented to students. I feel that
until recently there was not enough focus on students who were gifted and
talented or consideration for students who were below average. A lot of the
time kids who were above their cohort would be the ones misbehaving due to
boredom and on the other end of the spectrum those who do not understand
or had no support would at up to try and deflect from their misunderstanding. I
also think that there are unrealistic outcomes that need to be meet they come
stock standard and do not account for students who have different learning
styles and abilities. I also think that gender in terms of males and females co-
ed versus single sex schools play into the misbehavior as boys will peacock
an show-off and girls trying to understand all the changes. Girls become
sexual objects to their male counterparts and cause wider issues.

So from what your saying teachers have sole authority over controlling
classroom misbehavior?

The teacher has control over what they define as classroom misbehavior.

Do you think teachers exaggerate misbehavior in classrooms?

To an extent it depends on what you think misbehavior is, I feel that there is a
misunderstanding about what misbehavior actually is, like a kid who is easily
distracted to a kid who has some issues and needs appropriate levels of
support. I think that is becomes more clear when you have an understanding
of the different young people and their situations.

Do you think schools do enough to handle misbehavior?

I do not think if they are doing enough id the question I think are they doing it
in the right way needs to be considered. I think we are over just sending a kid
to the principle which leads to absolutely nothing besides them missing out on
actual classroom content. I think that classrooms need to be adjusted to better
their behaviour and I think the forms of behaviour management are very
outdated.

Interviewee Five: Person E Parent

Who you think young people misbehave in school?

They are bored; they do not understand and have short attention spans. Peer
pressure too would play a role.

Why do you think they do not understand?

They are in the wrong classes like I know when I was at school we had
different graded levels of ability, but now they are all chucked in together so it
is hard to adapt to all the different levels of ability.

Do you think parents have a responsibility to make sure their children

are not misbehaving?

No, in a way it is their upbringing. Sometimes schools do not even tell you
what is going on, but if they do I think it would be my responsibility to do
something.

Did your children misbehave in school?

No, they are really good kids.

Do you think teachers do enough to control misbehavior?

As far as they are allowed to go I guess.

Do you think there is a difference in misbehavior between co-

educational and single sex schools?

Yeah maybe because the boys are trying to show off in front of the girls.

Do you think the gender of the teacher plays a role in misbehavior?

No.

Do you think levels of misbehavior are different between private and

public schools?

Yes.
Why is that?

Probably the severity of punishment for acting up is more in private schools

than public schools.

Do you think that is because parents who send their children to private
schools value education more?

No it is just that they have more money, they can afford it. If you can afford it
you are going to invest in it.

Why did you send your children to a private school?

They got a better education.

Now that they have left school, do you still believe that?

Yes.

Interviewee Six: Person E High- School Teacher

Why do young people misbehave in school?

I believe it is a myriad of many things. They could be bored, having friendship

troubles; hardships at home or they could purely just not be switched on that
day. I find it changes from class to class; year to year there are all different
ways young people misbehave. I also believe that misbehavior depends on
the relationships and level of respect the teacher has built with students and
vice versa if you have a good relationship with your students they tend to not
want to misbehave and the little things that occur are dissolved quickly and
they can get back on task, but in saying that this takes years to develop to
understand how to build that relationship and then how to utilize it to your
benefit in a classroom.

Do you think that there is one universal version of misbehavior?

Definitely not, I mean you are always going to have the students who are on
their phones, not paying attention and talking to their friends but it is they way
you handle those little disruptions and understand that they are young people
at the end of the day, sometimes their friendship troubles seem more
important than class work; because that is what young people do, everything
is the end of the world.

Going on from what you just mentioned, do you believe that this is
where some people have trouble handling misbehavior because of
misunderstanding?
Definitely as I said before it is all about the relationships you build with your
students, you need to understand that they are teenagers their lives are in
complete turmoil everything about their lives and bodies are changing so I do
believe that some people complain about misbehavior more because they
have forgotten that they were there once. And they forget to remember what
they were like at school, what was important to them and so on. So yes I do
think that some people over exaggerate the extent of misbehavior in schools,
as I said it’s the little things that crop up the most but if you have built a good
working relationship with the students and understand that they are not doing
things deliberately and remember you were where they were once makes it a
lot easier to navigate all the little upsets and disruptions.

Do you think that curriculum has a part to play in student’s boredom at

school causing misbehavior?

Well of course engagement is a big thing, there are elements of the

curriculum that are to put simply are boring and mundane but they are taught
ad a part of the curriculum for a reason, majority of the time they build
fundamental skills that they need to complete other tasks but of course this
plays a role in young people losing interest and switching off sometimes.
However it is about how to teach it, it is about how you let the students
engage with the topic area and how you structure these not so exciting parts
of the curriculum to make them engaging.
Reference List:

Alter, P., Walker, J., & Landers, E. (2013). Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’
Challenging Behavior and the Impact of Teacher Demographics. Education
And Treatment Of Children, 36(4), 51-69.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/etc.2013.0040

Cothran, D., Kulinna, P., & Garrahy, D. (2009). Attributions for and
consequences of student misbehavior. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy,
14(2), 155-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17408980701712148

De Jong, T. (2005). A Framework of Principles and Best Practice for

Managing Student Behaviour in the Australian Education Context. School
Psychology International, 26(3), 353-370.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0143034305055979

Demanet, J., & Van Houtte, M. (2012). Teachers' attitudes and students'
opposition. School misconduct as a reaction to teachers' diminished effort and
affect. Teaching And Teacher Education, 28(6), 860-869.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.03.008

Demaray, M., Malecki, C., Secord, S., & Lyell, K. (2013). Agreement among
students', teachers', and parents' perceptions of victimization by bullying.
Children And Youth Services Review, 35(12), 2091-2100.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.10.018

Sullivan, A., 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).
http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2014v39n6.6