Behavior Management for Schools

Classroom Management and Behavior

It is a confirmed fact that relationships are a critical component of both classroom and behavior management. This fact is particularly truthful when applied to male students. Current research indicates that, "For so many of the boys, the issue was not what subject or instructional approach engaged them, but rather for whom they might risk engagement and effort" (Reichert & Hawley, 2014). Obviously, the boys denoted in this study are "risking" their effort for the instructor. Moreover, instructors that are able to create a positive relationship with students will be able to engage them better -- better engaged students require less disciplinary efforts than less engaged students. The efficacy of a positive relationship with students to the related ease of classroom and behavior management is described in the subsequent quotation: "You don't win on the strength of your argument. You win on the strength of your relationship" (Goulston, 2013).

Pedagogues can root positive relationships to positive interactions with their students. As such, it is better to focus on positive attributes of things -- rewards instead of punishment, praise instead of criticism -- in order to foster the sort of relationship with students that leads to effective classroom and behavior management. The mishaps associated with focusing on negative aspects of children and one's relationship with them are alluded to in a study by the London School of Economics that revealed, "excessive shouting and meting out hard-line punishments was counterproductive. Ignoring naughty children also appeared to lead to deterioration in discipline standards" (Paton, 2014).

As such, behavior management should be focused on positive reinforcement, which can take any number of different forms. One of the most readily accessible of these is to issue verbal praise in a manner that can help to prevent behavior problems from occurring. It is necessary to offer praise for both performance (academic achievement) as well as for behavior. Moreover, it is of considerable importance to issue praise verbally, so that all of the students in a class can hear. There are a couple of benefits of doing so. One, the fact that other students hear the teacher praise one particular student's behavior can help to motivate them to behave well so that the teacher lauds them as well. Another is that the pedagogue can rely on such praise in times when a student is misbehaving. For instance, after a student is praised for his or her academic performance, the teacher can remind the student of that praise if the student subsequently begins talking out of turn.

Other means of offering praise is to utilize visual means of doing so. For instance, teachers can create a chart with the names of different students and place stars next to their names after commendable academic performances or instances of behavior. Thus, students can compete with one another for stars, and possibly even get rewards for being the student with the most stars after an allotted time period (Budden, 2010).

Establishing ground rules is another extremely viable means for facilitating positive relationships between pedagogues and students. Ideally, such ground rules should be created early on in the relationship between the teacher and his or her students. Moreover, it is also fairly beneficial to have the creation of these rules involve an interactive process between both the students and the teacher. That way, students can take part in the creation of these rules and possibly incur some sort of pride in doing so -- and in keeping them.

One way that teachers can facilitate this process is by drawing a happy face and a sad face on the board, and dividing those two faces into two sections. Then, the teacher can ask for examples of common student behavior. Those that are beneficial to orderly classroom management can go on the smiling side, whereas those that are disruptive can go on the other side (Budden, 2010). With prodding, instructors can get students to list the most common behaviors and position them accordingly.

Additionally, it might help to create posters for ground rules. Students can draw visuals for the different forms of behavior listed (Budden, 2010). Teachers can then place such posters in strategic locations around the classroom to serve as visual reminders. Doing so is another way to refrain from criticism or disparaging comments about behavior in classrooms. Instead, instructors can simply motion to the appropriate poster that a student is transgressing, therefore issuing a tacit reminder of the proper behavior that is required of students. Doing so not only lessens negative comments to students, but also provides them a way to recollect and refrain from engaging in behavior that is inappropriate.

It might be useful to supplement the creation of ground rules and their display in strategic locations around the classroom with contracts between students and teachers. Moreover, students could very well like it if the teacher would also draw up and sign a contract for himself or herself, in order to mandate just what exactly is expected of the teacher in terms of his or her disciplining and lauding of students. Instructors can list all of the specific ground rules established in the class, and have students initial or check next to all them. Furthermore, the specific processes for giving students gold stars or for disciplining them can be denoted as well. This way, everyone in the class knows what behavior is expected and the requisite positives and negatives associated with engaging in such behavior.

Consolidating ground rules is a necessary part of the creation of ground rules, for the simple fact that the fewer rules that students have to remember, the easier it will be for them to do so. Students who can remember the rules readily can take more responsibility for observing and following them accordingly. Oftentimes, students will create rules that are similar in nature. In such instances, it is vital for pedagogues to consolidate these rules so that they do not become too fragmented and still yield a fair amount of behavioral considerations for students to become cognizant of and internalize.