Student no.

19862415

Assignment: A1

Date: 31/03/2020

“Why do young people misbehave

in school?”

In today’s society, adolescents are challenged with a variety of confronting social and cognitive

challenges, making each “students’ experience of school… suffused with diverse emotions.”

Lopes, et al., 2012, pp. 711) It is hence important to understand that there are complex

disparities when considering child misbehaviour as every student has unique circumstances

relating to their attitudes. It is understood that there are various factors which can influence

the “psychological adjustment in… adolescence [and] can lead to various negative outcomes,

such as problems in terms of academic performance and health.” (Masten et al., 2005,

Trzesniewski et al., 2006) This report will hence attempt to analyse current literature as to

understand both the social and psychological impacts of adolescent students’ surroundings in

relation to their behaviour in school environments. It will further achieve this by adopting the

qualitative research method of interviews to examine the aspects which influence child

misconduct.
Literature Review

It Is recognised that that family (especially parenting) is the most prevalent predictor in

influencing the behavioural attitudes that adolescents may exhibit in school

environments. (Gault-Sherman, 2012) A study conducted by Martha Gault-Sherman (2012)

explores reasons for adolescent delinquency through Hirschi’s ‘Social Control Theory.’ This

theory states that “a person is free to commit delinquent acts because his ties to the

conventional order have somehow been broken.’’ (1969) This is thus linked to ‘the social bond

framework’ which implies that children develop attitudes of self-serving behaviours depending

on the values in which they have been raised by. Likewise, this article also examines the

implications of “Attachment Theory” which suggests that children “often tailor [their] behaviour

in ways that would gain approval from those about whom [they] care the most.” (Gault-

Sherman, 2012, pp. 122) When this is compromised through parental neglect or absence, a

child will hence begin to misbehave as there is no authority figure to gain approval from. Thus,

the parent/caregiver can be seen as one of the predominant factors in adolescent

development and may determine how a child reacts in classrooms depending on whether

they experienced negative or positive reinforcements from their upbringing.

Student behavioural attitudes within the classroom can also be attributed to the

relationship that the child shares with their educators. A study on negative student-

teacher relationships by Kevin F. McGrath and Penny Van Bergen (2015) associates a child’s
school experience with the relationships they form with their school authorities. They state that

this may “impact… development across [their] social, emotional, behavioural and academic

domains.” (pp. 2) Essentially, children who experience a negative student-teacher relationship

can impact on their phycological well-being in relation to temperament, emotions and

attitudes. (pp. 3) Similar to the study mentioned before, this article equates the ideas of

‘Attachment Theories’ of a child and caregiver to that of the student and teacher as adolescents

in later years will find reassurance and safety in future emerging relationships. (Bowlby, 1969)

Issues with strict curricula has been viewed as restricting student’s ability to concentrate on

lessons and hence result in misbehaviour. Konstantina Koutrouba addresses adolescent

behaviour “to be contingent, primarily, on the social values conveyed through education and,

secondly, on the laxity or, on the contrary, the rigour of the educational rules established, and

the restrictions imposed by the educational system.” (pp. 1) In this study, one of the prominent

themes which teachers from international schools noted was the struggle for some misbehaved

children to concentrate on the unit of work. They found that “the strict and inflexible academic

orientation of [students] (ages 13–18) underrates… most of the… social objectives of the

teaching/learning process.” (Kazamias, et al., 1990, Koutrouba, 2013, pp. 2) Most teachers

however refused to acknowledge their teaching pedagogies as the cause for student

disengagement and instead directed the problem towards high expectation in the classroom.

Discrimination within classroom environments is an occurring issue which may lead to children

of various, gender, racial or economic groups feeling alienating at school. A study by E. Namrata

(2011) on child marginalisation in schools examines ideas from Rist (1970) who believes that
“teachers [will] try to link poverty and minority status of the taught with their lack of

intelligence and further tend to discriminate the disadvantaged students in the classroom.” (pp.

850) This article hence explores theories of prejudice to explain how some educators may

reinforce student ‘underdeveloped intelligence’ on children who actually don’t present signs of

low cognitive functions.

Interviews

The purpose of this research is to develop theories in relation to the question “why do young

people misbehave in school.” To accomplish this, I have conducted six separate interviews

which asked this particular question and also explored various open-ended questions relating to

the research demonstrated above. The interviews yielded interesting results which conveyed a

mixture of common and unique beliefs relating to the aforementioned question and included

many of the participants own personal experiences. I have listed below the interviewees

(consisting evenly of three females and three males) who have participated in this study

according to their age, gender and occupation.

- Participant 1: Female – 21 (University Student/Student Nurse)

- Participant 2: Female – 39 (Parent/Nurse)

- Participant 3: Female – 29 (Primary School Teacher)

- Participant 4: Male – 46 (Parent/Operations Manager)

- Participant 5: Male – 26 (Highschool Teacher)

 - Participant 6: Male – 23 (Pre-Service Teacher)

The interviews lasted approximately ten to fifteen minutes and each participant was

encouraged to speak openly about their own beliefs. Each participant had to sign the consent

form which informed them that the interview process would adhere to professional Western

Sydney University guidelines as well as ensure that identities would remain anonymous.

With some responses differing to the literature, the interviewees mostly provided insight which

acknowledged the ideas of the research above. The first question prompted the interviewees to

discuss their opinions involving parental engagement towards child misbehaviour. Every

response agreed that the values of the home environment can greatly determine the child’s

behaviour towards education. Responses included, “if a parent doesn’t discipline their child

correctly and raise them with proper values, then it can reflect how they act in public,”

(Participant 1) “If they are mistreated at home, then they can relay how they are treated

towards their peers and teachers” (Participant 2) and “when children don’t get enough

attention at home, they may seek that attention at school in negative ways causing them to

misbehave.” (Participant 6)

The second question was in relation to the impact of student-teacher relationships. All

responses demonstrated acknowledgement that this statement is true, saying “students that

are restrained by their teacher and not being able to have some freedom will eventually throw

a fit or some sort hoping for a say in the classroom” (Participant 4) and “if the teacher does not
attempt to appeal to all student’s needs, then they will see that some children will misbehave.”

(Participant 1)

The third theme resulted from interviewees belief that curricula can strongly attribute to

children who misbehave during lessons. Participant 2 spoke from personal experience and said

that “teachers who don’t accommodate for all students will notice that many of the pupils will

be left behind and henceforth not concentrate or feel disconnected with the lesson.”

Participant 3 (being a primary school teacher) however stated that “content is important but

knowing the students and how they learn must come first as to be able to cater towards their

interests and desires.”

Marginalisation of children by the teacher in regard to race or socio-economic status was

another theme which was prevalent within the responses. This theme addresses problems of

race within the classroom as Participant 1 shared a personal experience, saying that “being a

Tongan woman, [she] did feel that during [her] time at school [she] was victim to racial

marginalisation which made it difficult for [her] to want to concentrate on the lesson.”

This is supported by participant 3 who says, “if a teacher is not open to differences, the child

will feel this impact.” Contrastingly, despite Participant 1 and 5 sharing the same ethnicity, their

opinions differ as the latter states “whether a student is victim to racial discrimination by a

teacher, there are measures to stop this and should not impact on the student’s learning in

Australia.”
Other themes which occurred during the interviews in relation to reasons for student

misbehaviour were relating to social status, boredom, gender misconceptions, mental health

issues, low self-esteem, peer pressure and bullying.

Interview and literature review

These interviews on student misconduct closely reflects the research literature and provides

acknowledgement that “if a child is strongly attached to her parents, then she is likely to be

bound by their expectations.” (Gault-Sherman, 2012, pp. 124) Participant 3 however articulates

the negative implications to “Parental Attachment” saying that “if the child comes from a home

where expectations are high, then they are going to be pressured and in turn relay their

frustrations in the classroom.” This suggests that both theories presented in this article agrees

with this idea of parental influence having predominant impact on how children react to school

environments.

The research by McGrath, Bergen (2015) states that “matching students who are at-risk to

teachers with compatible characteristics and temperament may promote more positive

student–teacher relationships.” (Hughes et al., 1999, pp. 14) The interviewees agreed with this

statement saying that “if there are no expectations by the teacher in education it can lead to

devaluating education as a whole. And it can lead into rationalisations as to why education is

irrelevant, causing the child to misbehave.” (Participant 5)

It is interesting that the interviewees and the research reflected similar ideologies in terms of

strict curricula. However while the study shows that many educators did not find the ‘teacher-
centred process’ (Kassotakis 2000) as being the cause for misbehaviour, both teacher

Participant (3 and 5) expressed that “the teacher must cater towards their interests and desires

to keep them motivated” and “a teacher should try and look for the thing that drives

misbehaved kids to learn.”

E. Namrata’s study suggests that many educators feel that a “child’s learning potential is

determined by their family background.” (Namrata, 2011, pp. 853) Participants 1 shared a

personal experience relating to this idea stating that “[she] would not feel the need to

concentrate on particular lessons when teachers were racially discriminating and hence disrupt

both [her]self and others. Participant 4 notes that “students may take note of [marginalised

attitudes] and start misbehaving to get the teacher to notice them.

Implication for praxis

Through close analysis of both the literature used for this report and the interviews conducted I

have attributed my own personal beliefs into why students misbehave in schools. One of the

main aspects of the literature which resonated with me the most was relating to

marginalisation within the classroom. Although our current society adheres to a more inclusive

environment, there is still a confronting reality that many educators exhibit prejudice towards

disadvantaged groups. This issue also extends to educators stereotyping of student’s gender or

ethnic background and allowing these perceptions to govern how we treat a child. It has been

expressed throughout this report that students who feel alienated are more likely to ignore

school rules and exhibit mis-behavioural attitudes. My current teaching philosophy is that
which creates student-centred classrooms. To accomplish this, I believe one must be

considerate of students needs regardless of race, gender or economic circumstances as that will

hinder my performance as an educator.

To conclude, the findings from these interviews presents a close parallel to the theories

mentioned throughout this report. It further allows one to understand that adolescents should

never be dismissed or marginalised due to their behaviour. It is hence important for a teacher

to consider the social, home and school environments that can either positively or negatively

influence the behavioural attitudes of a child and work towards finding solutions which improve

on the student’s classroom performance.

References

Gault-Sherman, M. (2012). It’s a Two-Way Street: The Bidirectional Relationship Between

Parenting and Delinquency. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(2), 121-145.

Koutrouba, K. (2013). Student misbehaviour in secondary education: Greek teachers' views and

attitudes. Educational Review, 65(1), 1-19.

Lopes, P., Mestre, J., Guil, R., Kremenitzer, J., & Salovey, P. (2012). The Role of Knowledge and

Skills for Managing Emotions in Adaptation to School: Social Behavior and Misconduct in

the Classroom. American Educational Research Journal, 49(4), 710-742.

Mcgrath, K., & Van Bergen, P. (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.

Namrata, E. (2011). Teachers’ beliefs and expectations towards marginalized children in

classroom setting: A qualitative analysis. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15,

850-853.

Tamm, A., Tõnissaar, M., Jaani, J., & Tulviste, T. (2018). Associations between Adolescent Boys'

and Girls' Psychological Adjustment and Behaviour in School. Educational

Psychology, 38(4), 502-512.