THE RESEARCH IS IN

7 Classroom Management Mistakes—and the Research on

How to Fix Them
Whether our emotions get the best of us, or we fall into
familiar but unproductive habits, here are 7 common
classroom management mistakes, and what the research
says you should do instead.
By Youki Terada
August 7, 2020

Dan Page Collection / theiSpot

When Steve Jobs was in third grade, he was such a troublemaker that
he got expelled from school. He was constantly playing pranks on his
peers—even his own teachers—and attempts to correct his
misbehavior would backfire, leading to defiance and even more
misbehavior.

“I was pretty bored in school,” says Jobs. “And I turned into a little
terror.”
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Jobs’s response suggests that it’s a mistake to think that bad behavior
always comes from a desire to break the rules—or that punitive
measures will effectively address the underlying reasons that students
act out. For some students, abuse or neglect at home can lead to
higher levels of aggression at school. About 1 in 16 children suffer
from oppositional defiant disorder or another conduct disorder. And
like Jobs, students may be restless in class, so they act out, play
pranks, or distract other students.

Misbehavior may also be a healthy part of a child’s social and

emotional development. When children reach adolescence, their
allegiances shift from adults to peers, and their abstract thinking
skills sharpen dramatically, leading them to question—and even
challenge—long-accepted authority structures. What may look like
rule-breaking is really a way for children to test boundaries and assert
their independence.

While this may be obvious for veteran teachers, research shows that
teacher training programs still tend to be focused on establishing strict
rules while imposing consequences for misbehavior. That may work in
the short-term, but it’s unlikely to produce long-term change.

Whether our emotions get the best of us, or we fall into familiar but
unproductive habits, here are 7 common classroom management
mistakes, and what the research suggests you should do instead.

MISTAKE #1: RESPONDING TO SURFACE -LEVEL BEHAVIOR (AND

NOT THE UNDERLYING REASONS)
If two students are misbehaving—for example, if they’re being
disruptive—it may be for different reasons. “A strategy that will
eliminate the off-task behavior of one student might worsen the off-
task behavior of the other,” researchers explain in a 2010 study.
Instead of reacting reflexively, teachers should look for the underlying
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reasons for the misbehavior. If one student is struggling with a
stressful new condition at home, for example, that will require a
different approach than if another student is seeking attention from
peers.

“Defining a misbehavior by how it looks tells us nothing about why it

occurred and often doesn't help in our behavior-change efforts,” the
researchers explain.

For Nina Parrish, a special education teacher in Virginia, addressing

misbehavior usually involves looking for patterns. What happens
before and after the behavior? Who is the audience? When does it
happen? “Behaviors help students obtain something desirable or
escape something undesirable,” she writes. If teachers can figure out
what a student’s goals are, they can address the misbehavior in a
more productive way.

MISTAKE #2: ASSUMING IT'S NOT AN ACADEMIC ISSUE

It’s easy to become cynical about student misbehavior, but it stems
from well-intentioned academic struggles more often than you might
think. In a 2018 study, researchers compared various reasons why
students misbehave, such as a lack of discipline, lack of motivation, or
a desire to impress classmates. Surprisingly, they found that fully 20
percent of the time misbehavior could be attributed to academic
deficits: either students didn’t understand the assignment or the
assignment was too difficult—and misbehavior was an outlet for their
frustration.

MISTAKE #3: CONFRONTING EVERY MINOR INFRACTION

Inexperienced teachers may feel as though they need to catch and fix
all misbehavior in the classroom, but trying to stamp down minor
disruptions can actually increase them in the long run.

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A 2016 study found that negative attention—pointing out when
students aren’t paying attention or are briefly talking in class, for
example—often made students feel less connected to the class,
leading to more behavioral issues later on. The researchers point out
that “teachers can unwittingly engage in a negative reinforcement
pattern,” a downward spiral that “actually amplifies students’
inappropriate behavior.” The end result? A student who is
reprimanded for not paying attention is more likely to withdraw and
stew in anger than redirect their attention to their learning.

Instead of calling students out, teachers should highlight positive

conduct, such as finishing work on time or efficiently transitioning
between activities. Nonverbal responses such as “the look” or hand
signals are also effective ways to subtly encourage students to pay
attention.

MISTAKE #4: USING TIME-OUT CORNERS

When used as a form of punishment, sending students to the corner
can cause feelings of shame or embarrassment, undermining your
relationship with them and jeopardizing the trust you’ll need for
productive learning, a 2019 study shows.

“Children at school struggle to maintain self-esteem amid the battle

for popularity, grades, and social rankings,” write the researchers of
the study. “When an adult induces the belief that one is
unworthy...then self-respect and self-assurance, central ingredients of
thoughtful autonomy, are undermined.”

A Fall-Hamilton elementary school in Nashville, every classroom has

a peace corner—an alternative to a time-out corner that gives
students an opportunity to calm down, reflect on their thoughts and
feelings, and practice self-regulation skills. Principal Mathew Portell

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describes it as a way for students to build the capacity “to be able to
know what to do when they're frustrated or when they're angry.”

Unlike time-out corners, which are typically perceived as a

punishment, peace corners are used by all students—students can go
there themselves, within reason—“so it's not a place of stigma.”
Crucially, activities are scattered throughout the area to help students
learn self-regulation skills, from breathing exercises to a chart that
helps them reflect on what choices they made and the better choices
they could make in the future.

MISTAKE #5: WRITING NAMES AND OTHER PUBLIC SHAMING

A common—but destructive—strategy is to publicly identify students
who are disruptive or act out. A 2019 study highlights several
examples: At one school, the hallways are lined with lists of students
who have been given detention. At another school, teachers write
students’ names on the classroom board to track misbehavior, or use
color-coded stickers as a scoring system—red for bad behavior, blue
for good. Student tardiness or absences are tracked on data walls,
which can further harm students by publicly displaying low test scores
and grades.

These shaming practices “fail to inhibit future acts of wrongdoing and

may even make matters worse,” the researchers contend. Instead of
calling students out publicly, teachers should approach them privately
and encourage them to reflect on the wrongdoing, think about its
source, and take responsibility for addressing it.

MISTAKE #6: EXPECTING COMPLIANCE

It’s a losing battle to expect compliance from students without putting
in the emotional work. Demand it and many students will simply rebel,
test boundaries, or engage in power struggles. Good classroom
management requires that you build a solid relationship based on
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trust and empathy: “Classroom management is not about controlling
students or demanding perfect behavior,” researchers explain in
a 2014 study. “Instead, effective management is about supporting
students to manage themselves throughout daily learning and
activities.”

Teachers should focus on proactive strategies, such as positive

greetings at the door, intentionally building and working to maintain
relationships, co-creating classroom norms with students, and
developing an active physical presence to help students develop the
social and emotional skills they need to be able to regulate their own
behavior.

MISTAKE #7: NOT CHECKING YOUR BIASES

Scores of studies show that teachers inadvertently perceive students
of color as being less capable and more aggressive than White
students, and may apply rules inconsistently, which can erode trust
and relationships. For example, a 2019 study found that teachers
often give Black students fewer warnings to correct their misbehavior
before being sent to the principal’s office, when compared to their
White peers.

Such perceived unfairness can contribute to a “trust gap” among

students of color. “African American students were more aware of
racial bias in school disciplinary decisions, and as this awareness
grew it predicted a loss of trust in school, leading to a large trust gap
in seventh grade,” write the researchers of a 2017 study. This not only
led to more discipline problems, but also decreased interest in
applying to college.

Teachers can take a few steps to stem disciplinary bias by

being cognizant of their implicit biases—we all have them—and make

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it a practice to review all disciplinary measures they enact, to see if
areas for improvement can be spotted.

But it’s not up to teachers alone. With the nationwide protests over
racial justice, it’s imperative that schools take steps “to take a hard
look at themselves and identify policies that contribute to systemic
racism—and then to reform them,” writes Andrew Ford, a data analyst
at the New York City Department of Education. He proposes that
schools adopt a “data equity” approach and examine how
”opportunities, outcomes, and environments differ along racial lines.”
Are certain groups disproportionately targeted by disciplinary policies?
Are disciplinary measures producing the desired outcomes? If not,
why?

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