“Classroom management is defined as the methods and strategies an
educator uses to maintain a classroom environment that is conducive to student
success and learning.”
“The ultimate goal of classroom management should not be on simple
obedience, but on having students behave appropriately because they know it is
the right thing to do and because they can understand how their actions affect
other people”. The goals of classroom
management are for students to gain behavioral, social and academic success in
a structured environment that caters to tolerance, exemplary behavior and
learning. Effective classroom management means implementing strategies that
create a safe, fair and rule-based learning environment for children to
flourish in. Prompting and assisting students to understand the procedures and
expectations of the teacher and classroom through positive reinforcement, high
expectations and discipline instills independence and enhances student growth.
Our most important job as teachers is
perhaps to create the conditions in which learning can take place. The skills
of creating and managing a successful class may be the key to the whole success
of a course. An important part of this is to do with our attitude, intentions, personality
and our relationships with the learners. However, we also need certain
organizational skills and techniques. Such items are often grouped together
under the heading of “classroom management”.
Common classroom management areas include:
activities, grouping and seating,
authority, critical moments, and tool and techniques.
Managing a modern classroom full of
distracted (and distracting) students is not quite as easy as it was in
"days of yore," when the teacher lectured (wooden stick in hand) and
demanded (and got) attention. With students accustomed to being entertained by interactive
video games, today's teacher must manage the classroom by devising activities
that will engage the students, restore order and meet learning objectives. The teacher must set up the
activities and give clear instructions. Also, the teacher must monitor and time
the activities and bring them to an end. Order and
organization make a classroom run smoothly. Having a consistent set of
procedures and routines that the students are familiar with will help the
classroom run like a well-oiled machine. Classroom management can be affected
by how the seats are arranged in the classroom. The instructor needs to think
about the order of the room and how it will affect what their expectations of
the students. For example, if the instructor chooses to put the desks in pairs
or groups, they need to be realistic about the fact that there is bound to be
some amount of socializing. The seating arrangement also needs to be organized
in a way that the instructor can easily move around the room and monitor the students´
behavior. Furthermore, authority is very essential in classroom management. The
teacher must gather and hold attention, decides who does what such as answering
a question, make a decision, etc, and establishing authority as appropriate. In critical moments, the teacher starts the
lesson, and deals with unexpected problems. Also, the teacher has to maintain
appropriate discipline in the classroom and finally to finish the lesson.
While carrying out the lesson, the
teacher uses different tools and techniques. For example, the teacher can use
the board and other classroom equipment or aids. He or she must use gestures to
help clarity of instructions and explanations, speak clearly at an appropriate
volume and speed.
Classroom management principles: freedom, justice, and equality.
·Freedom: it means
students are able to be themselves and have the right to express themselves
through their behavior and opinions. Educators have a responsibility to protect
and respect students’ individuality and acknowledge their right to make choices
for themselves.
·Justice: it means
students have a right to school rules and consequences that are fair to
everyone. The right to justice also means students accused of misbehavior have
the right to tell their side of the story. For educators to listen to students
in matters of concern and consider their views, demonstrates a sincere respect
for a student’s sense of self worth.
·Equality: it means an equal educational opportunity
for each student. It means meeting the individual needs of every student in
order to give each a chance to succeed in school. The educator who tells a
student ‘If I let you do that, I will have to let everyone else do it,’ may be
denying that students an equal opportunity to learn, if in fact that student
needs special assistance in order to find success in school. Equality does not
mean treating every student the same. It means educators will respond to
students’ individual needs so each will have an opportunity to succeed.
“Students learn best when their minds
are engaged and their bodies are moving. People learn through experimentation
with the real world, rather than by memorizing a list of rules. This statement
has implications for the design of instruction. Learning opportunities should
be based, as much as possible, on real tasks and rich environments, and include
opportunities for reflection and application.”
