Unit 3

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT

OF LEARNER-CENTERED CLASSROOMS

Educators have likened a teacher to be a driver of a car who needs to respond to the needs
of the passengers (the learners) to ensure that they reach their destination (they develop the learning
outcomes set). The analogy goes in telling that there are rules to follow in driving (teaching) taking
note that the vehicle (classroom) is in good condition (proper ventilation, good lighting, physical
arrangement, and discipline). No driver can become a good driver right away; they need experience
and practice. Similarly, teachers learn the practices of teaching by engaging in the affairs of the class
and teaching. In this Unit, you are going to learn how to manage the classroom, how you maintain
order and discipline, and what roles you and the learners have to be responsible to perform.

In this Unit, you are expected to –

 Explain the concepts of classroom management and discipline;

 Discuss the roles and responsibilities of teachers and learners in learner-centered
classrooms;
 Identify appropriate disciplinary actions to maintain order in the classroom
 Apply the concepts and principles learned to classroom situations

6 Classroom Management

Educators say that classroom management is a critical skill, which is more important than
content knowledge. And yet, there is no single method or protocol to follow to ensure success. So
what’s a new teacher, or a teacher returning to the classroom after many years away, to do? Of
course, the ultimate goal for any teacher is an academically productive classroom with focused,
attentive, and on-task students. Unfortunately, any teacher can tell you this is way harder than it
sounds and usually takes years to accomplish. Even for teachers who consider themselves relatively
skilled managers, things often change depending on the new mix of students they teach every year.
So really, being skilled at management is an ongoing process, part of the lifelong learning that makes
teaching so interesting (Mulvahill, 2018).

Learning Competencies

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

 Discuss the importance of classroom management;

  Explain the guidelines and principles of classroom management
 Apply the guidelines and principles in classroom situation.

Before the main lesson, recall how your elementary and high school teachers handled
your classroom activities.

Activity 1. Describe briefly in bulleted form the manner your teachers managed the classroom
situations indicated in the matrix.

Activity Elementary High School

Entering/leaving the room

Passing of test papers

When the class is noisy

Conducting recitation

Activity 2. Is there a difference on how your two groups of teachers handle their classes? Explain
why or why not in not more than 150 words.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

For you to understand your role as classroom manager, you try to understand the
concepts and guidelines presented in the materials that follow.
Classroom Management

Classroom management refers to the efforts of a teacher to organize classroom activities,

including learning, social interaction, and student behavior. It is a way to establish and maintain the
classroom as an effective environment for teaching and learning. Classroom management is a
teacher’s responsibility that has to do with procedures, routines, and structure.

Why is classroom management important? Every teacher knows that teaching is more than
just delivering content to students. While extra effort may be required for certain high-needs
students, the proper management techniques needed for these students can increase success in
overall classroom management (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003). Teachers try to do their job
while constantly navigating a classroom of varying emotions, changing attitudes, background
circumstances, and problematic incidents. When teachers can anticipate common problems and
create plans to resolve them, then they will be able to focus more attention on the task of actually
teaching the students. A well-managed classroom is a task-oriented and predictable environment.
The students know what is expected of them and how they are to do it to achieve success (Walters
& Frei, 2007).

Importance of effective classroom management to the teacher. Effective classroom

management paves the way for the teacher to engage the students in learning. Classroom
management is important to both the teacher and the student.

1. It helps create a conducive learning environment.

The teacher’s management skills can help create a favorable environment that will make all
students have a sense of belongingness so that they will feel free to explore more learning
opportunities within the boundaries and standards established by collaborated efforts between the
teacher and the students. This is possible when there is a well-thought-out plan to manage the
behavior of students and the classroom.

2. It helps avoid waste of time and energy

Teachers need proper classroom management strategy to guide all things that happen in the
classroom within the day. It is often helpful to pre-plan your lesson taking into account classroom
management issues such that possible misbehaviors during the lesson will not limit the teacher from
helping the students to effectively grasp what to teach.

`3. It establishes consistency.

A teacher with strong classroom management skills creates consistency for his students. The
students know what to expect every day when it comes to the routine activities. Your students may
fare better when you're gone if you have set expectations for everyday tasks.
 4. It results to fewer behavior problems.

The main goal of classroom management is to reduce misbehavior in the classroom.

Effective classroom management gives the students little time to misbehave. Because the
expectations are clearly explained, the students know what they need to do.
(https://www.education.gov.gy/web/index.php/teachers/tips-for-teaching/item/1651-why-
classroom-management-is-important)

5. It helps boost the morale of the teacher.

Having good classroom management skills helps boosts teacher’s morale. It makes the
teacher feels like a master of his/her job. A teacher feels happy and more satisfied after teaching a
lesson without or with fewer interruptions (Yusif, 2019).

Importance of effective classroom management to the students. The students are also
benefitted from an effective classroom management. These include:

1. It creates structure and achievable goals for students.

Strategies for managing the classroom will always help and encourage the teacher to establish
a structure and SMART goals for student behavior and carrying out lessons in your class. With this,
students will always know whether their behaviors and actions are in accordance with the established
structure in the classroom.

2. It informs students about what is expected of them

An appropriate classroom management strategy will help students understand what is

expected of them. In managing behavior in the classroom, the teacher and the students will always
have to lay down rules, routines, and standards to govern behavior. With this, your students know
exactly what to do in various situations. There will be no confusion regarding the responsibilities of
every student in the class.

3. It increases task time and reduces classroom disruptions.

Good classroom management reduces disruptions in class. Thus, teachers try to predict all
the possible disruptions and make plans to manage them appropriately. With this, they are able to
learn, understand, and pass relevant assessments to succeed in life (Yusif, 2019).

Four Rules of Classroom Management

To create an effective classroom management, some rules and guidelines are to be set.
Culled from the books of Smith & Laslett (2002) and Mcleod et al. (2003), these rules and principles
are essential to establish smooth transition of activities in the classroom.
Rule One: Get Them In

This rule emphasizes the point that a lesson which makes a brisk start will avoid the
difficulties which can arise if pupils are not promptly engaged in useful activity. The process of
‘getting them in’ can be seen to involve three phases: greeting, seating and starting (Smith &
Laslett, 2002).

Greeting. Simply by being there before the class arrives the teacher establishes the role of
host receiving the class and he is quietly able to underline his authority by deciding when pupils are
invited to enter the room. There is also the vital practical advantage of being able to check that the
room is tidy, that materials are available, displays arranged, and necessary instructions or examples
are written on the board. This will all help to provide the mental composure essential to relaxed
assurance.

Seating and spacing. Although arrangements will vary according to the type of lesson, age
of pupils and nature of activity, it is important that initially teachers decide where children should sit.
Like entrance to the room, this is another aspect of the natural establishment of responsibility. A
seating plan showing who sits where quickly enables teachers to learn and use individual’s names, so
although later re-grouping will be desirable, it is very useful for at least the first few lessons if a fixed
pattern is set and maintained.

In terms of spacing, McLeod et al. (2003) provide several guidelines in managing classroom
space. It is important to place the furniture in configurations that work with your teaching style and
available space. They recommend the following actions:

 Accommodate the type of instruction and activities you use most often
 Be flexible so that students can easily and quickly rearrange furniture to accommodate a
special activity
 Allow space for student movement, storage, and equipment setups
 Encourage movement and flexibility
 Provide a maximum amount of personal space for each student.

Also to be considered is the placing of the teacher’s desk in the room. McLeod et al. (2003)
enumerated some considerations:

o Placing your desk in the back of the classroom promotes a learner-centered

environment and provides workspace for you while allowing you to keep an eye on
your students. Students can talk with you without being observed by others.

o Placing your desk in the front of the classroom promotes a teacher-directed

environment and allows you to see most areas of the classroom and monitor
students at work. It does not, however, allow for private conferences with individual
students.
 o Placing your desk in the center of the student seating arrangement promotes a
teacher-facilitated environment. Students have easy access to your desk, but private
conversations are not possible.

o Placing your desk off to the side of the classroom sends a message that your desk is
your personal workspace. Private conversations are possible in this arrangement.

Starting. Starting a lesson smoothly and promptly depends not only on managing the
physical entrance and disposition of the student body but also the mental tuning-in of the student
mind. Whatever the subject or topic each lesson should start with some activity which occupies
every child quietly. The type of activity will depend on the age and ability of the child and the nature
of the lesson, but it must be something within each child’s capacity to accomplish without additional
help. It should reinforce previously acquired skills, recap earlier work or set the scene for new
learning.

Rule Two: Get Them Out

Though most disciplinary problems arise from a poor start to a lesson, the next most
vulnerable time providing many opportunities for trouble making is the end of a teaching session.
Carefully planning the end of each lesson is a crucial part of the way in which experienced teachers
successfully handle transition from one activity to another. The lasting effect of an interesting
learning experience can be wasted and pleasantly developing relationships between teacher and class
can be spoiled if a productive session dissolves into a noisy, chaotic and stressful finale. So teachers
need to consider the two phases of concluding a lesson and dismissing a class (Smith & Laslett,
2002).

Concluding. An orderly procedure for stopping work should include consolidation and
reinforcement of learning. It is vital that all work must cease in good time for material to be
collected, books put away and still give opportunity for some revision and recapitulation. This could
take the form of a brief question and answer session which will enable the teacher to check on how
successfully objectives have been attained or identify points which require further attention.
Additionally or sometimes alternatively this time should be used for a summary reminding the class
of what has been covered during the lesson and how this links in to previous learning or prepares
the way for the next activity.

Dismissing. Decisions about the precise method for dismissing a class will vary according
to the age of the pupils. Some sequence or pattern which facilitates the movement of bodies from
inside to outside the classroom with minimum contact with furniture, equipment or each other does
need to be established. Otherwise the teacher will finish up wasting valuable preparation time
clearing debris from the floor, readjusting desks and tables or remonstrating with pupils who ought
already to be somewhere else. It is important to remember that classes are never just leaving one
place; they are going to another.
Rule Three: Get On With It

In this context ‘it’ refers to the main part of the lesson, the nature of its content and the
manner of its presentation. Pupils’ feelings of self-esteem and sense of competence in a particular
subject area will depend to a considerable extent on the teacher’s ability to ‘get on with it’ ((Smith &
Laslett, 2002).

Content. Difficulties in learning and consequent problems with behavior often happen
because the content of a lesson is not matched to the ability of the pupils to whom it is
delivered. Because persistent failure can easily result in disgruntled disaffection, careful scrutiny of
the curriculum by subject departments and by individual teachers is needed to ensure that it is
appropriate. Methods and materials should also be closely examined to see that learning
experiences are suitable and study tasks are attainable for pupils with a range and diversity of
aptitudes and abilities. It is essential to find out what pupils already know, starting a little further
back to build on what is understood, planning small steps towards each teaching goal and being
prepared to adjust these plans if progress is not being made.

Within an individual lesson, variety and pace are needed to maintain momentum.
Activities planned for the beginning and conclusion of the session will go some way to achieving
these aims, but it is also important to provide variety in the main body of the lesson particularly in
double periods. Breaking topics up into smaller units, switching between quiet individual
study and arranging some active, cooperative learning in pairs or groups will go some way to
combating the unavoidable law that the alertness of the brain is inversely proportionate to the
numbness of the posterior! Finding the correct balance is not always easy, too much of the same
thing becomes tedious, too many changes become confusing, but most lessons should involve some
listening, some looking, some thinking, some talking, some reading and some writing.

In consideration of the content, teachers should also manage their time in the classroom.
Wong and Wong (1998) describe four different types of school-day time:

 Allocated time. The total time for teacher instruction and student learning.
 Instructional time. The time teachers are actively teaching the learners.
 Engaged time. The time students are involved in a task to develop the desired
competency.
 Academic learning time. The time teachers can prove that students learned the
content or mastered the skill.

Manner. It pertains to the positive relationships develop from the manner in which people
communicate with each other. For teachers, this means thinking about how they address and
question children and how they convey expectations about behavior. The atmosphere in a classroom
is like any ‘weather system’ subject to change and the effective teacher is skilled at spotting and
dispersing a minor disturbance before it builds up into a major depression. As in meteorology,
successful forecasting requires alertness to early warning signals and these are most readily picked up
by teachers who display what Kounin (1970) and Brophy and Evertson (1976) have described
respectively as ‘withitness’ and ‘smoothness’.

‘Withitness’ is the somewhat dated term which describes the timeless virtue of being able to
provide work at a suitable level and administer a system in which pupils know what to do, where to
get help if needed and what to do next when they have finished an assignment. For example, where
there are difficulties in reading or comprehension, help can be provided through topic guidelines,
summaries and key word charts giving explanations and spellings.

‘Smoothness’ refers to the ease with which pupils move from one activity to another.
Transitions can be handled more easily and problems avoided by ensuring that supplementary
activities are readily available to usefully occupy anyone who has completed their original
assignment. This enables the teacher to ensure that all the class will be ready to change together
from one activity or location to another. The smooth flow of classroom life is also helped by
teachers avoiding too many disciplinary interruptions. The more that punishments are dealt out, the
more nagging that goes on, the more negative comments that are made, the more tension will
increase and the more the class will be distracted from the work in hand.

The manner in which a teacher addresses a class reflects an attitude and conveys a
message not only through what is said but also through how it is said. Before speaking to the class it
is essential that attention is gained by getting pupils to stop work and listen carefully. It follows that
any information to be delivered in this way should be vital enough to merit the inevitable
interruption to the lesson. Facial expression and tone of voice are as important to any
communication as making sure that it is being heard. A persistent frown or intimidating scowl is
likely to convey anxiety as much as displeasure and an angry shout can awkwardly modulate into a
shriek more suggestive of hysteria than confident control.

The importance of teachers using their eyes to communicate is emphasized by what

might be described as a ‘lighthouse technique’ for addressing the class recommended by Marland
(1975). Each sentence is spoken to an individual child with established eye contact. At the end of a
sentence or as a new idea is introduced or as the theme changes the teacher’s gaze is shifted and eye
contact established with another pupil in another part of the room to whom the next comment is
expressed. A third pupil is chosen as the focus for the next comment and so on. In this way the
teacher’s eye sweeps the room like the beam from a lighthouse and the teacher’s brain picks up a
‘feel’ for what is going on in different areas of the room. Thus is the impression of ‘eyes in the
back of my head’ fostered particularly if teachers noticing some minor misbehavior in one part of
the room, wait until they have turned to address someone elsewhere before naming the wrongdoers
and requiring them to cease their transgression.

Another aspect of the manner of teaching is the point and purpose of the teacher’s use of
questions. Are they seen as tricks and traps set to catch the unwary and inattentive? If so, they
become a likely source of negative interaction serving to keep attention focused, but at a cost of
potential embarrassment and humiliation for the less able pupil. A more positive orientation is for
teachers to see questioning as a means of checking whether material is understood and to
treat an incorrect answer as the teacher’s fault for inadequate explanation and an occasion
for further expansion and illustration instead of reprimand.

Related to managing content and manner, one challenge to teachers is when students work
independently in small group settings to complete projects and presentations. According to McLeod
et al. (2003) the key to successful group work is to provide –

 Focused instruction on how to work with a small group.

 Clear directions for the task or project.
 Accessible materials.
 A timeline for completing the work.
 Information on how the group’s work is evaluated.

On changing activities and transitions, McLeod et al. (2003) claimed that the key to a smooth
transition is organization. Transitions work best in a three-part sequence:

 Approximately three to five minutes before students change to a new activity, give a
“stop and clean up” warning to give students a few minutes to finish what they are
doing, record their homework assignment, and put away their materials. Have them
return to their personal workspaces if they have been working in another area of the
room.

 When most students are in their assigned seats, give the signal for cleaning up the
common areas of the room. Assigned student helpers should quickly perform their
duties.

 Give directions for moving to the next activity. If students are changing activities within
the classroom, give them a few minutes to stand and stretch, gather needed supplies, or
sharpen pencils.

In managing classroom administrative tasks, the following procedures can be implemented at

all grade levels (McLeod, 2003):

 Decide on jobs that help classroom routines run smoothly

 Write job descriptions for each and job post them on a bulletin board.
 Write each student’s name on a heavy piece of paper
 Post the names of the “Workers of the Week” beside their respective job
descriptions

 Develop a system of rotation so that each student does each job at some time during
the year
Rule Four: Get On With Them

Teachers develop good personal relationships with their pupils by fostering mutual trust and
respect. To do this effectively teachers need to be aware of each child as an individual and be
sensitive to the mood of the class as a whole. This means knowing who’s who and keeping track
of what’s going on (Smith & Laslett, 2002).

Who’s who? Awareness of individual differences begins with the mundane but essential
task of learning names and putting them accurately to faces. Once a child’s name is known,
discipline is immediately easier because wrongdoers will realize that they can be identified and
because requests or rebukes can be personalized. Direct instructions to be “Quiet please, Richard”,
or “Sit up straight, Claudia” are much more likely to be heeded than vaguely addressed orders to
‘that boy at the back’ or ‘the girl over there’. However, recognition has a much more positive aspect
too since it conveys the teacher’s interest and reflects a willingness to spend time and effort in
learning names.

Keeping the same seating plan, at least for the first few meetings with a group
enables the teacher to use names correctly. An active strategy should then be employed to re-
visualize the plan, to scan the room mentally recalling names whilst pupils are working and to always
address questions and comments by name.

What’s going on? Few classes or groups of pupils within a class are likely to be so
purposefully malevolent as to set out on a planned campaign of disruption. Alertness to early
warning signs can enable accurate prediction of developing problems. Acquiring this sensitivity to
the class atmosphere depends on a combination of mobility and marking.

Mobility involves the avoidance of teachers becoming ‘desk-bound’ by queues of children

waiting for attention or by over-reliance on a lecturing style of teaching. Moving around the room,
quietly marking work in progress, offering advice and guidance keeps attention on the task in hand.

When working at one pupil’s desk or with a group around a table, a brief glance around the
rest of the room will identify any potential trouble spots. Through this active involvement at child
level, allied to the afore-mentioned ‘lighthouse’ technique when addressing the class as a whole, the
teacher becomes more responsive to the prevailing mood of the group and better able to judge the
times for emphasis on serious brisk endeavor or for more relaxed and light-hearted amusement.

Let’s check how you understood the concepts and principles presented in the readings.

Activity 1. Fill the matrix below. On the first column, indicate in bulleted form the salient features of
classroom management. Then in the next two columns, give the importance of classroom
management to the teacher and the students.
Features of Classroom Importance of Classroom Management to the
Management Teacher Students
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.

Activity 2. The rules of classroom management are essential in establishing smooth transition of
classroom activities. Identify the major rules of classroom management and explain each in not
more than 150 words. In the process, integrate the effect on learning if each is implemented in
class.
a. _____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

b. _____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

c. _____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

d. _____________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Try firming up your learning in this lesson by answering the following questions:
 1. For you, cite two key skills demonstrated by teachers who are defined as being effective
classroom managers? How would you adapt each in your own classroom in the future?
(maximum 200 words)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

2. From the concepts learned, try to find solutions for the following issues common in
classrooms:

Issue Solution
Frequent Comfort Room Breaks

Cell phone disruption

Sleeping in class

Repeated Tardiness

Sharing/Copying work

Write True if the statement is correctly stated and False if the statement is not correctly stated.
Write your answers on the space provided before each number.

_____ 1. Teachers describe classroom management problems as very easy to deal with.
_____ 2. A well-managed classroom is characterized by clear rules and procedures with maximum
disruptions.
_____ 3. When the teacher arrives in class on time, he/she becomes the gracious host receiving the
class and shows authority when pupils are invited to enter the room.
_____ 4. Classroom management is the full range of teacher efforts to oversee classroom activities.
_____ 5. Instructions are essential so that students know what is going to happen.
_____ 6. Methods and materials need to be examined to see that learning experiences are suitable
and study tasks are attainable for pupils with a range and diversity of aptitudes and abilities.
_____ 7. A good teacher assumes that learners know the routines and rules without going
over them.
_____ 8. The method of class dismissal varies according to the nature of the pupils.
_____ 9. Smoothness is illustrated when the teacher deals with the most serious behavior first when
there are multiple behaviors taking place in the classroom.
_____ 10. The manner in which a teacher addresses a class reflects an expertise and conveys a
message not only through what is said but also through how it is said.

_________________ _________________ _________________

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I think there is still a

need to learn more
I am certain that I about . . . . I could apply what I
learned about…. learned by….

References

Brophy, J. E. & Evertson, C. M. (1976). Learning from teaching: A developmental perspective.

Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Kounin, J. S. (1970). Discipline and group management in classrooms. New York: Holt, Rinehart
and Winston.

Marland, M. (1975). The craft of the classroom: A survival guide to classroom management in the
secondary school. London: Heinemann Educational.

McLeod, J., Fisher, J. & Hoover, G. (2003). The key elements of classroom management.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Smith, C. J. & Laslett, R. (2002).Effective classroom management: A teacher’s guide. New York:
Routledge & Palmer.

Wong, H. K. & Wong, R. T. (1998). The first days of school. Mountain View, CA: