Classroom management is a term used by teachers to describe the process of ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly. Your classroom management is the way that you manage students’ learning by organising and controlling what happens in your classroom. It is possibly the most difficult aspect of teaching for many people. However, creating the conditions for an atmosphere in which learning can take place is perhaps your most important job as a teacher.
Traditionally, classroom management has been synonymous with behaviour modification. Discipline is, of course, one area of classroom management, but many of the biggest problems related to keeping order are often best resolved by dealing with other, seemingly separate, issues of classroom management.
Classroom management is closely linked to issues of motivation, discipline and respect. Preventative approaches to classroom management involve creating a positive working atmosphere with mutual respect between the teacher and the learners. To foster this positive learning environment, teachers offer acceptance and support, while at the same time maintaining classroom routines and setting clear ground rules.
There is a core set of beliefs and principles that form the basis of all good classroom management. Most effective teaching and learning is going to happen when learners are actively involved, interested and engaged in their work. The classroom management decisions you make and the actions you take play a large part in creating the right atmosphere in your class, making it either an engaging and enjoyable place which encourages learning or a potentially dull and uninspiring environment which hinders the learning process.
Different people and situations lead to different solutions and outcomes and your lesson is a result of your choices. There is no “perfect” lesson or only one specific way to approach a situation and therefore you often cannot know whether alternative choices or decisions might have been more effective. However, after any lesson, it’s extremely useful to reflect on what you have (and haven’t) done as this will shape your future decisions and lessons.
As you gain experience and confidence, you increase your awareness of and ability to identify some of the many possible scenarios and the range of choices open to you. The skills of creating and managing a successful class may be the key to the whole success of a course and, in the long-term, to your career as a teacher. While an important part of this is dependent on your attitude, intentions and personality, as well as your relationships with the learners, you also need to possess certain organisational skills and techniques, which we will look at in more detail on the course.
Task 17.A
Here are some common areas of classroom management:
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Match each group of actions, skills and techniques below to the corresponding area of classroom management (A-F) from the drop-down menu.
Task 17.B
Look at the following statements about classroom management and decide whether they are true or false, based on your understanding of the article.
