Literature synthesis

There are numerous studies focusing on teacher-student interaction and how teachers manage
classroom behaviour. De Nobile, Lyons, & Arthur-Kelly (2017) book entitled positive learning
environment, outlines the importance of building positive relationships with students and how it has a
positive impact on classroom behaviour. Other studies such as (demaray, Malecki, Secord, & Lyell,2013
found that when teachers had low expectations of students, students felt unsupported which increased
the rates of misconduct of students. This is further supported by (McGrath, Bergen 2015). who found a
correlation between student boredom, misbehaviour and teacher attitudes and expectations towards their
students. (Sullivan, A. M. Johnson, B., Larry Oweson., Robert., Conway,. 2014). found similar results when it
came to student behaviour, however they did go further and describe how teachers found it harder to
manage frequent but low level disruptions as opposed to infrequent anti-social behaviours.

There is a large range of studies into what strategies should be used to get students engaged and
focused in the classroom. The result of successfully implementing these strategy’s is a reduction in
negative behaviour. The most prominent of these is by Hattie, J. (2009), where he conducted a large meta-
analysis of different research papers looking at classroom strategies to improve learning and student
behaviour. From this study, he found best practices such as differentiation and relationship building to be
some of the best strategies to help curve student behaviour. As a result of this study, the (Department of
education and training DET, 2017) produced 10 High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) that are designed to
improve student behaviour and engagement.

Bullying in schools is of great concern when it comes to student behaviour and is seen as one of the
most harmful behaviours to both the bully and their victim. Throughout the literature surrounding bullying,
it is reported that bullying leads to low self-esteem, low academic achievement, greater levels of anxiety,
depression and aggression in the victim. (Paul, & Cillessen, 2003) and (Hunter, Boyle, & Warden, 2007)
and (Demaray, Malecki, Secord, & Lyell, 2013). On the other hand, bullies are seen to have an antisocial
personality disorder which can be seen as a clear predictor of future problems for the bully (Carter, 2015).
Bullies slao exhibit behaviour such as anger, depression, impulsivity and misconduct. (Bosworth, Espelage,
& Simon, 1999) and (Demaray et al., 2013)

Research shows that negative family environments have a negative impact on student behaviour
and educational outcomes but this can also have a negative effect on students surrounding the individual
experiencing domestic violence (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). Other research backs this up by explaining
that students experiencing domestic violence suffer from social and emotional problems including reduce
academic performance, aggressive and disruptive behaviours, depression and anxiety c concluded that
domestic violence reduced educational outcomes and increased misbehaviour in both the initial student
and also those students soundings them known as the ‘spill over effect’.

Interview process.
The interviews conducted for this assignment were conducted within the guidelines set out in the
unit guide. Participants were asked if they would be happy to be interviewed for the purposes of
conducting research into, ‘Why young people misbehave in school - How members of society opinions
differ around the driving question’. The interviewee was then given the consent form to read and sign
before the interview took place. The interview was then conducted in a quiet place and started with the
driving question “In your opinion, why do students misbehave in school?.” During these interviews, notes
were taken on the participants’ views and opinions. Directly after the interview, the notes were
consolidated and rewritten to ensure the participants opinions were accurately captured.

Participants
The table below gives a brief overview of the participants who participated in the survey.

Participant Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5 Participant 6

Group Parent Pre-service Teacher Pre-service Non- Teacher
Teacher Teacher teaching
friend
Gender Female Female Male Female Male Male
Description Participant 1 Participant 2 Participant 3 Participant 4 Participant 5 Participant 6
of participant is a mother is a is a qualified is a pre- is a 28 year is the TAS
of two preservice teacher service old male head teacher
teenage teacher working in a teacher. She with no kids in a Catholic
boys, one originally catholic did all her and does not school. He
with ADHD. from school. He schooling in work in the has years of
She works as Pakistan and works in the India and education experience
support staff did her TAS worked as field. in different
in a Catholic schooling department. an educator schools and
school. there. in India is also a
before parent.
moving to
Australia.

From the interviews conducted

After all six interviews were conducted, the opinions and thoughts of the participants were organised
into a table using the following method:

1. The first participant’s comments and opinions were added into the table in a row under their name.
2. The comments and opinions were then grouped together in like comments. For example,
comments regarding disengagement were placed in the same row, using the subject as a title. This
was done for all comments and opinions of participant one.
3. This process was completed for all 6 participants allowing like comments to be grouped together.
This showed where participants agreed on why young people misbehave and where they might
have a unique opinion.
4. This process left 14 categories. These categories were further grouped into broader categories. For
example, categories such as diagnosed learning conditions, student mood/attitude and Student diet
were grouped into a ‘student issues’ category. This reduced the number of categories down to five.

The five main areas that the participants commented on were classroom and school environment,
social issues, peer pressure, student issues external factors and teacher interaction/management. Each
category listed had 3 or more participants making comments relating the category. Also the level of detail a
participant went into depended on how much interaction they have had with children. For example,
participant 5 has had little experience with a large range of students and only commented in two
categories and didn’t give a lot of detail. While the teachers and parent commented on most categories
and would generally give more detail and examples. Five out of the six participants initially commented
that misbehaviour was due to many factors and did not just come from a single source.
Synthesise of Findings
The classroom and school environment category revealed that the teachers, preservice teachers
and parent (participants 1-4, 6) all stated that students lack of understanding, not being engaged or
struggling with the work was a source of misbehaviour in classrooms. Participants 4 went further and
commented that this is due to a lack of differentiation in the work or there is no context for the work
which in turn makes students disengage from the classwork. This view aligns with the research conducted
by Hattie and the DET that found that when pedagogies such as differentiation are implemented, student
engagement increases while negative behaviours reduce. Participant one presented a different view that
some students want to push boundaries to see what will happen. Research into this area could not be
located and could be researched in a school environment using active research. During the course of the
interviews, the current serving teachers provided strategies that they would use with different students
and classes in a variety of contexts. The main strategy that was presented and repeated was to form good
positive relationships with students to greatly reduce behaviour issues. This too aligns with the research
conducted.

Another key category the participants identified as a reason for student misbehaviour in class was
due to social issues such as bullying. Most of the participants mentioned bullying and misbehaviour of
students and stated that the bullying generally had underlying issues that are the cause of their bullying
and that bullying was disruptive to the victim and the entire class. This opinion is confirmed by the
research by as both the bully and victim tend to experience things like depression (Demaray, Malecki,
Secord, & Lyell, 2013).

Most of the participants also identified external factors as being a main contributor to student
negative behaviour. Participant 5 felt the strongest about this issue and said that in his opinion, “75-90% of
problems are a result from within the home environment.” This statistic could not be verified through
scholarly resources. It was stated that a lot of issues regarding student misbehaviour are caused by issues
with in the home environment (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). Participant 4 commented that students who
are misbehaving tend to attract other students into their behaviour. Again observation is confirmed in
(Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010)

Implication of Research and Interviews on Teaching Practice

Throughout the research and interviews conducted for this research task, I have learnt useful information
derived from researched evidence that I can incorporate into my teaching methods as well as behaviour
management strategies that experienced teachers have shown to be effective when dealing with
challenging behaviours. The first part of research that can be incorporated into a behaviour strategy is how
(Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010) found that students with domestic violence at home are more likely to be
disruptive and to draw other students into the disruptive behaviour (the spill over effect). Knowing that the
spill over effect can draw other students into the same behaviours, as a teacher I can try and isolate the
behaviour before other students join in and also move students that are likely to participate in the
behaviour away from the offending student.

During the interviews with the currently serving teachers, they gave me lots of examples of difficult
behaviours and strategies to deal with them. These included how to set expectations and rules in the first
class so students know their boundaries and how developing relationships with students can help solve
problems and eliminate others completely. From these discussions, I was given real first hand examples of
how the theory I have been learning at university is put into practice and how effective it is at managing
behaviour. The examples also highlighted why teaching and behaviour management pedagogy is so
important to put into practice in order to have positive and engaging learning environment.

Finally, the research I have read over the course of completing this report has greatly highlighted
the need for me as a teacher to be positive towards my students and to have high expectations of them. By
having high expectations for the students, the research shows that students feel supported, engaged in the
lesson and reduces’ the level of misconduct student show to their teacher. Having high expectation and a
positive attitude towards the class and students also helps develop positive relationships with students
which in turn further reduces the amount of misconduct displayed by the students.

Reference list
Bosworth, K., Espelage, D., & Simon, T. (1999). Factors Associated with Bullying Behavior in
Middle School Students. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 19(3), 341-3

Carter, S., & EBSCOhost. (2015). The hostile environment: Students who bully in school. Lanham,
Maryland: Lexington Books

Carrell, S., & Hoekstra, M. (2010). Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to
Domestic Violence Affect Everyone's Kids. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1),
211-228.

Demanet, J. and M. Van Houtte (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

Demaray, Malecki, Secord, & Lyell. (2013). Agreement among students', teachers', and
parents' perceptions of victimization by bullying. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12), 2091-
2100.

De Nobile, J., Lyons, G., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2017). Positive learning environments: creating and
maintaining productive classrooms south Melbourne, Australia

Department of education and training. (2017).High Impact Teaching Strategies: Excellence in

Teaching and Learning.

Hunter, S., Boyle, J., & Warden, D. (2007). Perceptions and correlates of peer‐victimization
and bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(4), 797-810.

Miller, H. (2016). The hostile environment: Students who bully in school. Choice,53(12), 1824

McGrath, K. F. and P. Van Bergen (2015). "Who, when, why and to what end? Students at risk of
negative student–teacher relationships and their outcomes." Educational Research Review 14: 1-17.
 Paul, J., & Cillessen, A. (2003). Dynamics of Peer Victimization in Early Adolescence. Journal
of Applied School Psychology, 19(2), 25-43.