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Standard

A teacher creates and maintains a learning environment in which all students are

actively engaged and contributing members.

Candidates use their knowledge and understanding of individual and group motivation and

behavior among students at the K-8 level to foster active engagement in learning, self motivation

and positive social interaction and to create supportive learning environments.

Classroom Management Framing Statement

Classroom management is traditionally viewed as a set of rules and consequences used

by teachers to maintain an orderly classroom. Best practices in education now view classroom

management as part of a broader understanding of child development. Practices informed by an

understanding of social and emotional development, student motivation, and the use of routines

to create a safe environment are three factors that can contribute to effective classroom

management. The vignettes of my observations and analysis of student behavior during my

classroom management course demonstrates my understanding of these best practices.

Social and emotional learning refers to a child’s development of self-concept and

explains the factors that contribute to students’ decision making during social interactions. Like

cognitive development theories, many social and emotional developmental theories use stages to

describe levels of progression. One theory that has shaped my understanding is Kohlberg’s

(1963) stages of moral reasoning, which explains how students’ progress from preconventional

levels of morality where their own desires drive their decision making, to conventional and

postconventional levels in which expectations and rules of families, schools, and society are

followed for the greater good (cited in Slavin, 2018). In my third vignette, I noted the

circumstances for the students’ lack of cooperation included a substitute teacher leading the class
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for the day. When she asked me to intervene, I addressed the situation by reviewing the group

expectations I had seen the regular classroom teacher use on my previous visits. My experiences

as a substitute gave me the background knowledge that group misbehavior when a teacher is

gone is common for students at this stage of social development. Using Kohlberg’s theory, the

lack of student cooperation with the substitute occurred because students were “… largely ‘pre-

moral’: self-centered, following rules only when it’s in his interest to do so …” but with

guidance from a familiar figure (me) they were able to “… shift to conventional morality …” and

follow expectations of others (Likona, 1994, p. 402). In my analysis I also noted the effects of

using a positive tone that focused on cooperation, rather than lecturing the class for the problems

that had already occurred. Considering a child’s developmental levels or emotional needs when

helping students to modify their behavioral choices can create “… an environment that

communicates care, support, and belonging …” and is also recognized as a culturally responsive

strategy that improves academic outcomes (Hammond, 2015, p. 18).

Motivation is another factor to consider when observing classroom behavior and

analyzing student decision-making. Maslow (1954) proposed a theory that people have a

hierarchy of needs, and until deficiency needs such as safety and belonging are met students “ …

will have little psychological energy to put into learning” (Slavin, 2018, p. 251). I recognized

that the student in the second vignette was perhaps seeking a response from his peers by not

following the established routines, which could fall into Maslow’s hierarchy of wanting to feel

he belonged, and that getting attention (even negative) might accomplish the goal of someone

focused on the need of belonging. The theorist Rudolf Dreikurs (1968) noted in his work

regarding emotional needs and belonging that “… when students in school are unable to satisfy

this prime need … they turn by default to certain mistaken goals such as attention-seeking,
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power-seeking, revenge-seeking, and withdrawal” (cited in Charles, 2014, p.59). My response in

this scenario was to use positive language with the student, which corresponds to the suggestion

that teachers “… give up coercion and threat and replace them with considerate helpfulness,

personal attention, and good communication” (Charles, 2014, p.19). I tried to make the

interaction a teaching opportunity and gave the student a positive message about himself, rather

than an emphasis on giving him a consequence or lecture. In this second vignette analysis, I also

point out the need to further observe the child to analyze the motivation for this behavior. This is

an example of using anecdotal assessment, which “… can help you evaluate your perceptions as

well as identify possible strategies for getting the student back on track” and “… also show you

whether the behaviors are truly disruptive or frequent” (Taylor & Nolan, 2008, p. 105). Careful

observations can also help teachers to determine if there is “… a pattern of when, where, or with

whom behavior problems are most likely” (Fields et al., 2014, p. 15). As a culturally responsive

teacher it is important to not jump to conclusions when reacting to students’ behaviors. “Many

teachers don’t always think about the cultural lens that influences their interpretations of student

actions, parent responses, or their own instructional styles. Instead, we fall back on our default

programming, which leads often to deficit thinking” (Hammond, 2015, p. 58). Effective

classroom management includes both thoughtful analysis of student motivation and awareness of

the cultural lens that we use when they interpret those motivations.

One way to create a classroom environment that feels safe to children and meets their

need of belonging is by using routines to make procedures predictable. Routines are also

considered a preventative tactic that can “… eliminate factors known to lead to misbehavior,

teaching students how to conduct themselves” (Charles, 2014, p. 292). Sousa and Tomlinson

(2018) explain that routines help to create social bonds because when students know what is
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expected of them they feel more ownership and independence, which results in a positive energy

within the classroom. In my vignettes, I identified established classroom routines such as how to

enter gym class and raising a hand during instruction as examples of how the classroom teacher

used routines as to create a predictable environment and as a method to prevent common

problems associated with transitions and how to participate during direct instruction. MacKenzie

and Stanzione (2010) point out that students will not learn routines only by talking about them;

teachers also need to model, practice, and reinforce these routines until they are mastered. In the

vignettes, I demonstrated that I understood the importance of the instructional opportunity to

review the routines with students, rather than trying to give students a consequence for not

following those routines.

Classroom management is guided through an understanding of social and emotional

learning that includes recognizing that children go through stages as they develop their

willingness and ability to follow procedures and make decisions about how they will respond in

different social situations. Teachers need to not only thoughtfully observe and analyze

developmental levels and motivation; they also need to examine their own perspectives as they

make decisions to establish safe environments for student learning.

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References

Charles, C.M. (2014). Building classroom discipline. 11th ed. Allyn &Bacon.

Fields, M.V., Fields, D.M., & Meritt, P.A. (2014). Constructive guidance and discipline: Birth

to age eight 7th ed. Merrill.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching & the brain: Promoting authentic

engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand

Oaks, California. Sage Publishing.

Lickona, T. (1994). Raising good children. Bantom,

MacKinzie, R. J. & Stanzione, L. E. (2010). Setting limits in the classroom: A complete guide to

effective classroom management with a school-wide discipline plan. New York, NY:

Three Rivers Press.

Slavin, R. E. (2018). Educational psychology: Theory and practice. NY, NY: Pearson.

Sousa, D. A. & Tomlinson, C.A. (2018). Differentiation and the brain: How neuroscience

supports the learner-friendly classroom. Solution Tree Press, Bloomington, IN.

Taylor, C. and Nolan, S. B. (2008). Classroom assessment: Supporting teaching and learning in

real classrooms 2nd ed. Pearson.