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Teachers have a significant role in the development and achievement of students, however

teachers’ lessons fail to promote effective learning when they are faced with challenges

such as misbehaviour. Student participation and engagement contributes to a positive

impact on the classroom environment whilst distracting and disruptive actions and

interactions often referred to as misbehaviour ultimately interrupt the classroom

environment and encumber the learning process as well as affect the stress levels of teacher

and other students in the classroom. Student misbehaviour in school can be triggered by

multiple factors which is the focus of this research report. Research is undertaken through

theoretical literature and the conduction of 6 research interviews. The findings are

constructed through incorporating the research together to establish similarities and

contrasts of causes and influences of misbehaviour in the classroom. The report will also

present implications for classroom management and the effectiveness of the use of

strategies for behaviour and coping which include creating and sustaining positive student-

teacher relationships, enhancing commitment to teaching, Choice Theory, relevant training

in student social and emotional growth, self-management interventions, mindfulness-based

emotion and emotional-intelligent training.

Literature Review

Researchers have defined misbehaviour in numerous ways, however the motives of student

misbehaviour in classrooms is of continuing interest and concern around the globe. Ensuring

that students behave sensibly in a classroom is imperative as it assists in the preparation of

students in taking their place in society as responsible individuals as well as allowing for

class lessons to have the desired impact. Many motives for misbehaviour of students have

been brought forward through research and many justifications have also been presented
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for these motives. Research saw teachers report misbehaviour being associated to students

lacking interest in the content being taught and therefore shifting their attention to

disrupting others, using social media and unproductive behaviours such as drawing (Sun and

Shek, 2012). Similarly, McGrath and Van Bergen (2014) have also implicated a correlation

between student misbehaviour and disengagement, suggesting that teacher enthusiasm in

the content being taught and the teaching strategy is are insightful to student boredom

influencing their misbehaviour in the classroom.

Further studies by Sun and Shek (2012) argue that a common factor triggering misbehaviour

of students is the seeking of attention from the teacher and peers. It is believed that

students react negatively against a set of rules that they must obey as it is creates a barrier

with their individual choice of ‘doing, thinking and feeling’, (Lyons, form and Slee, 2014,

p.25). this provides a foundation for ‘Choice Theory’ which emphasises that students

misbehave as a result of satisfying their needs and choices of belonging, freedom, fun and

power (Lyons, Form and Slee, 2014, p.25). This form of misbehaviour is usually evident in

instances where students test the teacher’s limits by disrespecting them, disobeying the

rules and releasing their anger or frustration at the teacher (Sun and Shek, 2012). However,

students have proved that they are less likely to test teacher’s limits through misbehaviour

if they have a positive teacher-student relationship and if positive attitudes and

expectations of the student are portrayed by the teacher, which accentuates that

misbehaviour can be a result of a deficiency in the support or emotional connection

between the teacher and student as well as the student and their family leading in poor

respect and conflict between the student and teacher (Thijs and Fleischmann, 2015) as well

as poor student-teacher relationship.

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Section Two: Interviews

Interviews were conducted in a professional and ethical manner where all six interviewees

were asked to read and sign a consent form prior to undertaking the interview. Interviewees

were all interviewed separately on separate occasions and were provided with some

background information regarding the purpose of the interview and what the information

gained will be used for. The interviews consisted of a balanced combination of males and

females with various occupations and an age range of 23-49 in order to ensure varied

opinions are captured in the research. The interview opened with the research question “In

your opinion, why do young people misbehave in the classroom”, followed by open-ended

questions to allow for in depth responses to be presented allowing for qualitative data to

strengthen the research findings. Following the interview, participants were re-assured that

their identity would not be disclosed in the essay and were thanked for their participation.

Information of the participants including age, gender and occupation are as follows:

Interviewee A: Female Parent, 49, Receptionist and mother of 5.

Interviewee B: Female Teacher, 30, Teacher at a Coeducational government

school and mother of 2.

Interviewee C: Male Teacher, 26, Teacher in an Independent (Private) School.

Interviewee D: Female Pre-service Teacher, 25, Full Time University student.

Interviewee E: Male Parent, 39, Services Manager.

Interviewee F: Male 23, Youth Worker.

Participants responses were recorded using written notes. The responses were coded from

1-5, each number representing a theme as the responses saw a number of similarities. The
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coding and themes included 1: Boredom and Disengagement, 2: Peer Pressure, 3: Poor

teacher-student relationship, 4: Poor classroom management and 5: Personal Issues.

A response which was found within all interview responses at some point was boredom

and/or disengagement with content being taught as well as the way the content is being

taught causing students to behave disruptively, have conversations with peers not related to

the content being taught, using phones as well as not engage in class discussions or

activities. Interviewee F provided opinion based on personal experience as a student and

responded with “I had a particular teacher who would complain that I would talk too much

in class, but I would only do that when I was bored, not understanding the content which

caused me to lose interest or because the teacher was not making the lesson interesting”,

similarly Interviewee A who also provided example relevant to experience from her children

responding with “when I ask my son why he misbehaved in class, he advises that the lesson

was boring and the teacher is not making it fun like the other teachers do in their lessons”.

The responses of interviewees C and E also saw similarities relating to teacher-student

relationship. From his teaching experience, interviewee C stated “When I have positive

teacher-student relationships with students they are less likely to misbehave as there is a

level of mutual respect built within the relationship which young people value, particularly

in the stages of adolescents as they feel like you are a more of a friend to them rather than

an authoritative or disciplinary figure”. Similarly, Interviewee E also mentioned “when

teachers show positive attitudes towards the student as well as setting expectations

showing that you believe the student are capable, this empowers the students and creates
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positive teacher-student relationships that motivate the students whilst decreasing the

likelihood of them misbehaving”.

Interviewees B and D shared responses with majority of the interviewees, however they

were the only two interviewees to include “personal issues” as a fragment of their response.

Interviewee B mentioned “some students experience problems at home such as a lack of

emotional and supportive relationship and as a result have personal issues which lead them

to misbehave at school as means of expressing their feelings and emotions”. On the other

hand Interviewee D shared an insightful opinion regarding misbehaviour with regard to

personal issues by stating that “their development as adolescents may be filled with mixed

emotions as they are experiencing new changes within themselves which they may find

hard causing them to be experiencing some personal issues and as a result to these

emotions and feelings they may misbehave”. She used an example of late maturing

individuals feeling like they don’t fit in as well as early matured individuals that feel a need

to impress the opposite sex as well as peer pressure which was a popular concept among all

respondents highlighting that it was a common ground for misbehaviour.

All interviewees were asked if they believed that gender and age were influencing factors

for misbehaviour in the classroom, which saw a division in the responses based on the

respondents age group. The respondents aged between 23-30 disagreed one respondent

stating, “sometimes females behave in a way you wouldn’t expect them to, and the same

goes for males, you would be really surprised with what you see within a school

environment”, whilst on the other hand respondents aged between 31-50 agreed and

mentioned that during their experiences at school older male students were more

disobedient than female students.

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Section Three: Comparing and contrasting findings

It is evident that ‘disengagement’ and ‘boredom’ were common reasons provided as to why

young people misbehave. Studies have found that students that are faced with a demanding

and authoritative school environment are more likely to be disengaged (Pellerin, 2005).

Student engagement is critical in enhancing the learning experience for students as it allows

it allows students to intellectually, enthusiastically and enjoyably take part in learning

resulting in a decrease in misbehaviour (Callow and Orlando, 2015, p.350). Further to these

findings, students that find the content and lesson boring are more likely to misbehave and

distract their peers as a means of coping (Cothran, Kulinna and Garrahy, 2009). In contrast,

some students perceive school as a place for social relationships and therefore can not

combine the social perception with school content and are therefore disruptive in class

(Pellerin, 2005).

Through the data collected from the interviews it was found that 67% of respondents

disagreed that gender and age are contributing factors of misbehaviour of young people.

However, in contrast to these findings, research on misbehaviour and classroom

management has found that “males are reported as more problematic than females,

averaging 3.5 misbehaving males in comparison to 2 misbehaving females in a classroom”

(Little, 2010, p.373). However, the same research indicated that age was not a contributing

factor to misbehaviour in young people, instead it is evident across all ages, however differs

in the types of misbehaviour such as talking when they know they should usually evident in

younger students in comparison to using inappropriate language and truanting usually

evident in senior students (Little, 2010, p.373).

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The teacher-student relationship highlights role that teachers have in empowering students

to achieve. Teachers attitude towards student achievement can influence students’ beliefs

in themselves and their academic achievement which affects their wellbeing and decision-

making outcomes (Forrest, Lean and Dunn, 2015, p.620). This theme underlying student

misbehaviour was somewhat mentioned by all participants in particular respondents C and E

who shared personal experiences as students and as teachers. Research conducted by

Barile, Donohue, Anthony et al, emphasise that teachers that cultivate positive teacher-

student relationships experience a ‘decrease in student misbehaviour as well as increased

academic achievement and graduation rates’ (2011, p.256).

Further, one interviewee revealed their opinion that development during adolescence has

an impact resulting in misbehaviour. Many young people pass the development period with

high levels of ‘storm and stress’ which refers to difficulties they experience ( Eccles, Midgley,

Wigfield, Buchanan, Reuman, Flanagan, & Maciver 1993). Research has suggested that

adolescent development sees a decline in motivation, self-perception and confidence and as

a result affects their behaviour as outlined by the interviewee.

Section Four: Implications for Improving practices regarding student behaviour

The reality of dealing with misbehaving students often destroys the ideal image that

teachers have of their chosen profession. An overwhelming challenge for all teachers is

“practicing effective classroom management skills” (Patricia, Timothy, Gail and Val, 1988,

p.150), therefore it is fundamental for teachers to be knowledgeable with regards to

classroom management and self-emotion as this enhances the wellbeing of both the

teacher and students. Some approaches focused on improving teacher stress levels and

management techniques include emotional intelligence training which is focused on

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awareness, understating and regulation of emotions (Jennings and Greenberg, 2009, p.11),

mindfulness-based interventions with mediation which is focused on having increased

control on responses, balance in psychological thinking and student recognition of their

misbehaviour (Jennings and Greenberg, 2009, p.11), improving teachers commitment to

their role and training in student social and emotional development increasing

understanding of student emotions, cognition and behaviour (Jennings and Greenberg,

2009, p.512).

It is evident from the interview research and academic research presented that

misbehaviour stems from multiple factors, however effective and efficient responses can

turn misbehaviour to positive behaviour. A critical element to achieve positive behaviour is

through positive teacher-student relationships as this increase’s student confidence,

promotes positive school environments, achieves a sense of belonging to students as

empowers students for academic success (Barile, Donohue, Anthony et al, 2012, p. 257).

This can be carried out through identifying what triggers the student to misbehave and

assisting the student to overcome the issue through a means of support (Lyons, Ford and

Slee, 2014).

Choice Theory is very effective and applicable in improving teacher practices with regards to

student misbehaviour. Glasser presents that the adoption of a ‘lead’ role rather than a

‘boss’ role emphasises facilitated learning within the classroom (Lyons, ford and Slee, 2014,

p.25). There has been a significant increase in the teachers adoption to providing students

with choice as it has proven to increase student engagement, interest and learning (Patall,

Cooper and Wynn, 2010, p.896) as choice is an essential influence in ‘supporting feelings of

autonomy, motivation and healthful functioning’(King and Howard, 2016, p.60).

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Overall, as a result of the literature and interview conclusions, it is evident that young

people misbehave in the classroom due to a number of underlying factors. Reasons for

student misbehaviour differ from student to student and it is important that we do not

generalise the reasoning behind misbehaviour as there are several factors triggering it. In

order for a teacher to achieve the most efficient and effective outcomes, it is vital for

teachers to be prepared to face such behaviours and are competent enough to deal with

them. In addition, the adoption of effective teaching strategies to improve teaching

practices will contribute to the minimisation of misbehaviour as it will minimise the

potential of it occurring resulting in a successful and effective learning environment.

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References

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engagement for students from low socio-economic backgrounds with
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Cothran, D. J., Kulinna, P. H., & Garrahy, D. A. (2009). Attributions for and consequences of
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Eccles, Midgley, Wigfield, Buchanan, Reuman, Flanagan, & Maciver. (1993).

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King, P., & Howard, J. (2016). Free choice or adaptable choice: Self-determination
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Patall, Erika A., Cooper, Harris, & Wynn, Susan R. (2010). The effectiveness and
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