Philosophy of Management

By Jacob Wild

I believe that classroom management is based more on teacher procedures than student

behavior. A student’s role in classroom management is listening and following a teacher's

instructions and procedures. A teacher’s role is to establish procedures right away for students to

follow consistently. An idea of what a good classroom climate looks like is important so that you

understand what your goal is.

Students do have a role in classroom management but it is a smaller role than some may

ascribe to them. Students should listen to and then follow classroom management procedures to

the best of their ability. A student's main job is to learn and act in harmony in classroom

management procedures. Usually if teachers are having trouble managing their classroom it is

not unruly students to blame but the lack of classroom management procedures from the teacher.

(Wong, H.K.W.A.R. T, 2018)

A teacher's role is to establish procedures immediately and follow them consistently so

students are clear on what is happening and what they are getting.. A teacher must plan good

classroom management; it does not just happen. You will almost certainly have to remind

students frequently before consistency is achieved in your procedures. Some students in the

classroom, such as special needs students, will benefit even more than their peers on the

consistency of classroom procedures. (Wong, H.K.W.A.R. T, 2018)

When planning classroom management procedures a teacher should not conflate it with

discipline. Classroom management is proactive whereas discipline is reactive. (Wong,

H.K.W.A.R. T, 2018) This is not to say that discipline is not necessary but is only a temporary

solution. Classroom management aims to make discipline less a part of the daily routine in the
classroom and to replace it with good management procedures that students will adopt as a

routine over time.

It is also important to know what you want your classroom climate to look like so that

you can know the goal that you are trying to aim for in your procedures. Classroom climate is

defined as “ intellectual, social, emotional, and physical environments in which our students

learn," (Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., et. al.,2010). Some good things to start out with to help

this is having introductory games with your students at the beginning of a school year or

semester so that students feel comfortable with one another. Trying to connect with your students

and deal with problems that arise in the classroom right away is important too.

In my classroom I want to create a caring, supportive, inclusive climate where all

students feel welcome. Part of philosophy regarding this is that students should build

relationships with one another in the classroom in an organized group setting that can be used to

deal with the problems that will arise. It will create a warm climate where students feel safe to

share with each other. In conjunction with this, I would use a board where everyone has a

magnet that they can choose to move above the line, when they are having a good day, or below

the line, when they are having a bad day. These could be topics of discussion for group share

time.

All of what I have shared above is part of my philosophy of management, but I think the

most important takeaway from philosophy is classroom management is the responsibility of the

teacher. Students should participate in, listen, and help create an inviting climate. It may not be

easy to implement procedures at first but it will save us from disciplinary hardship in the end. I

have been in classrooms where discipline is the main tool of the teacher and that hasn’t worked

well so I intended mine to be preemptive management.

 References

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How

learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Wong, H.K.W.A.R. T. (2018). THE classroom management book (2nd ed.). Harry K. Wong

Publications, Inc.. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780996335034