CLASS ROOM MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT STUDENTS, PROMOTING CHANGE THROUGH RELATIONSHIP
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of Study
The issue of undesirable behaviours among children today is a cause of concern among parents, teachers, governments and even children themselves. This is because in recent times there has been a general outcry about undesirable behaviours among children in the society at large and particularly in schools. Cruickshank, Jenkins and Metcalf (2003) comment that, a common persistent problem among teachers, and perhaps the greatest fear of new teachers, is student misbehavior. This problem has also been found to be responsible for many teachers leaving the teaching profession.
There is the belief among experts that there is a link between behaviour and learning and as such behaviour should not be considered in isolation from teaching and learning (Grigg, 2010). Undesirable behaviours are believed to have the tendency to impede learning rather than promote learning. Other terms used to refer to undesirable behaviours include, abnormal behaviour, misbehavior, inappropriate behaviour, distruptivebehaviour, among others. Efforts have therefore been made to develop strategies that can be used to control undesirable behaviours. To this end there is what experts call behaviour modification theories. These are used as guides to control/modify children’s behaviour.
It is worthy of note that the causes of many undesirable behaviours in schools are beyond the scope of the school. Factors such as poverty, lack of social support and parenting patterns contribute a lot to pupils’ behaviours. It might therefore be difficult for teachers to influence such factors but they can seek for ways of controlling them, especially in the classroom. Undesirable behaviours can impact on the efficiency and productivity of the class in a situation where the classroom teacher is unable to maintain effective classroom control. Some common undesirable behaviours among pupils in the classroom include noise making, failing to do assignments, not paying attention, chewing or eating during lessons, missing classes, bullying and lying among others (Machumu, 2011).
The notion of whether behaviour is good or bad is not static because it varies from place to place and from time to time. This is why Grigg (2010) comments that one of the difficulties in assessing the extent of disruptive behaviour in schools is that it is context-specific. Johnston, Halocha and Chapter (2007) also opine that good behaviour in children is not a fixed or definite thing, anymore than the good life is an agreed notion among adults. What we require of children will differ from one society or age to the other; therefore our present expectations must be seen as temporary rather than certain solutions. This is why there have been concerns about standards of pupils’ behaviour. This not withstanding, there are certain behaviours that are actually undesirable especially in the classroom irrespective of the place, the time and even the culture. Therefore concerns about undesirable behaviours in schools are being expressed all over the world today.
A teacher will have to engage in good classroom practices and management in order to control undesirable behaviours among his/her pupils. Evertson and Emmer (2009) comment that for a teacher to sustain good behaviour throughout the year, he/she will have to be actively involved in maintaining pupils’ cooperation and compliance with necessary classroom norms, rules and procedures. Therefore, they suggest four important guidelines a teacher can use to prevent classroom undesirable behaviours which are:
- Monitor pupils’ behavior and academic progress carefully.
- Be consistent in the use of procedures, rules and consequences.
