review of related literature and...

CHAPTER III

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

• Introduction

• History of Research on Classroom Management

• Studies related to Current Trends in Classroom

Management

• Studies related to Behavioural Approaches to Classroom

Management

• Studies related to Classroom Management Training

Programmes

• Conclusion

CHAPTER III

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

2.1 INTRODUCTION

The review of literature involves the systematic identification,

location and analysis of documents which include periodicals, abstracts,

reviews, books and other research reports. The major purpose of reviewing the

literature is to determine what has already been done that relates to the thrust

area of a study. It not only avoids unintentional duplication, but it also provides

the understandings and insights necessary for the logical framework into which

the problem fits. It also points out research strategies and specific procedures

and measuring instruments that have and have not been found to be productive

in investigating the problem (Gay, 1996). Being familiar with previous research

also facilitates the interpretation of results.

A brief account of the relevant literature reviewed is presented

below in the following sections:

2.2 History of Research on Classroom Management.

2.3 Studies related to current trends in Classroom Management.

2.4 Studies related to Behavioural Approaches to Classroom Management.

2.5 Studies related to Classroom Management Training Programmes

2.2 HISTORY OF RESEARCH ON CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

This section overviews the history of research on classroom

management as it developed across the 20th century, which highlights major

Review of Related Literature and Studies

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influences and trends in the development of knowledge base in the subject,

introducing many of the bodies of theory and research.

A remarkable example of early treatises in this area was Bagley

(1907) described the following classroom management strategies such as

unnecessarily punitive or anxiety including methods is inappropriate, routine will

need to be installed from day one itself. On the first day, stick to work with

which the students are familiar, but do real teaching rather than busy work, to

establish seriousness of purpose, scheduling the most challenging or fatiguing

subjects during prime learning times. In maintaining order and discipline,

teacher should support the authoritative, authoritarian, and laissez-faire

approaches. Bagley also offered principles for punishments, preventive

management, several motivational principles, and sense of self-respect.

Although classroom management has always been recognised as

crucial for teachers in 1907, there was a little development of theory and

research on the topic until 1950s. Certain studies conducted during this period

are Wickman (1928) concluded that teachers were under-attentive to anxiety,

depression and other symptoms indicating a need for character education on

mental treatment. Watson (1926) conducted studies on behaviourism and

Charters (1927) on teaching ideals. Studies conducted by Charters and

Waples (1929) and Witty (1947) suggested that teachers display virtues such

as kindness, sincerity, cheerfulness and patience.

Estes (1944), Schrupp & Gjorde (1953) remarked that teachers

were concerned about behaviours that threatened their classroom control.


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Sears, Macorby and Levin (1957), Kounin & Gump (1961), Kennedy and

Willicutt (1964), Solomon (1964), McDonald (1965), Fuller (1969), and

Baumrind (1971) conducted studies on reward versus punishment, praise

versus blame, as techniques for influencing children’s behaviour.

Lewin, Lippit & White (1939), Ryans (1952) and Flanders (1970),

conducted research on leadership styles and group climate.

The above review of history of about half a century reveals that

empirical studies perceived to be relevant to classroom management began to

accumulate during the middle decades of the 20th century but systematic

research on the topic did not begin until the 1950s.

As far as systematic research on Classroom Management in the

middle decades of 20th century was concerned, contributions of the following

researchers are worth mentioning. The Classroom Management research

during the 1960s and 1990s produced a rich body of replicated and mostly

complementary findings. Researches of Kounin (1970), Glasser (1969),

Weinstein (1979), Brophy (1981), Evertson (1985), Evertson and Harris (1999),

Doyle (1986), Kaplan (1992), Korinek (1993), Brophy (1996), Sprink et al.

(1998), Frieberg (1999) are the important ones among them. They emphasised

behavioural approach, ecological studies, teacher training in classroom as

specific areas of their studies.

As the 20th century developed, research converged on the

conclusion that much of successful management is prescriptive or preventive

scaffolding that prepares students in advance for commonly experienced


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classroom situations. More generic research generally supported the

conclusion that positive, reward-oriented influence techniques were preferable

to negative, punishment-oriented ones, and that authoritative leadership that

balanced teacher directiveness with encouragement of student input ad self-

regulation was preferable to the extremes of either authoritarian or laissez-faire

approaches. The initial involvements in this direction came from two very

different sources, namely, behaviourists and ecological researchers. Early

applications of behaviour techniques to classroom management were mostly

limited to shaping the behaviours of individual students through reinforcement.

Over time, behaviourists maintained their characteristic theoretical concepts

and empirical orientation, but expanded their repertoire of recommended

techniques far beyond the original laboratory-based collections. One of the

reasons for this was the failure of some basic principles to generalise well for

the classroom. Studies by researchers like Lewis (2001), Gregg (2003), Leung

and Lam (2003), Sanderlin (2004), Evertson and Weistein (2006),Gay(2006),

Brophy (2006), Emmer (2006), Evertson (2006), Zuckerman (2007), Scarpaci

(2007), Lannie and McCurdy (2007) are the important ones among them.

2.3 STUDIES RELATED TO CURRENT TRENDS IN CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

The concept of Classroom Management in this study comprises

five dimensions, namely, Management of Advance Planning before the

beginning of the academic year, Management of Physical Arrangement,

Behaviour Management, Instructional Management and Evaluation

Management. The researcher has reviewed extensively studies related to


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these select dimensions of Classroom Management. It has been noted that

studies related to these dimensions cannot be compartmentalised into specific

sections and hence the whole has been highlighted.

The study by Kounin (1970) laid the foundation for research

concerning the characteristics of successful classroom managers by comparing

behaviours of effective and ineffective classroom managers. The results of his

work indicate that effective classroom managers and ineffective classroom

managers do not differ substantially in their reactions to misbehaviour.

However, significant differences were found in strategies used by teachers to

prevent misbehaviour.

Kounin discovered that effective classroom managers display four

key behaviours to prevent classroom disruption. The first of these is

“withitness”, an ability to constantly monitor student behaviour. Teachers who

display withitness are aware of what is happening in all areas of the room and

communicate this awareness to their class, thereby preventing many

opportunities for misbehaviour to occur. A second strategy is ‘overlapping’, an

ability to do more than one thing at a time. A third key behaviour that effective

classroom managers exhibit is ‘signal continuity and momentum’ during a

lesson. This is the ability to teach well-prepared and well-paced lessons that

focus students’ attention and provide a continuous academic signal that is more

compelling than competing distractions. Finally, effective managers also ‘plan

for variety and challenge within academic assignments’ so that students are


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actively engaged throughout lessons rather than give an opportunity for

misbehaviour to occur.

Matheny and Edwards (1974) opined that student success was

related to the degree to which teachers implemented the various aspects of the

management system.

Buckley and Cooper (1978) developed a ‘Classroom Rule

Establishment and Enforcement Model’ which consists of two major parts:

teacher behaviours related to establishment of rules and teacher behaviours

related to rule enforcement. According to him, teacher’s maintenance

behaviour was strongly influenced by student resistance to particular rules.

Emmer, Evertson and Anderson (1980) extended Kounin’s

findings by examining how teachers who are effective managers begin the year

and determine the basic principles of management that underline their

teachers. The researchers observed twenty-seven self-contained classrooms

during the first three weeks of a school. Detailed records of specific student

behaviours were documented. At the end of the school year, after reviewing

the data collected, the researchers went back to the information collected in the

beginning of the year and identified more and less effective classroom

managers and then compared the teacher’s behaviours. Significant differences

were apparent as early as the first day of school. Effective classroom

managers had clear rules for general conduct and procedures or routines for

carrying out specific tasks.


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The groundwork of these researchers had a strong impact on the

field of Classroom Management. The findings of these studies suggested that

Classroom Management was much more than using behaviourist principles to

control student behaviour. Rather, effective classroom management was really

about what teachers could do to prevent misbehaviour in their classrooms.

Interestingly, both of these studies were conducted in classrooms that featured

a traditional teacher-centred approach to instruction, whereas the current study

was conducted in classrooms that featured a student-centred approach to

instruction.

Brophy (1981) suggested that high levels of teacher praise are

associated with increased basic skill achievement but with decreased creativity

and less student independence, persistence and self-confidence. According to

him, teachers’ praise may have a variety of intended and actual functions in

addition to reinforcement of student conduct or academic performance.

Researchers (Emmer at al., 1982; Evertson, et al., 1983; and Pestello, 1989)

also found that effective managers intervened more quickly when disruptions

occurred than did ineffective managers and their interventions got results more

quickly.

Allen (1986) presented an alternative viewpoint on classroom

management. His findings concluded that the teacher’s clear expression of his

or her academic and behavioural expectations of students and provision of a

co-operative classroom environment for students to achieve their classroom

goals were identified as important features affecting student’s views on


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classroom management. He also pointed out that a classroom to foster the

development of co-operative student-teacher and student-student learning

activities is a classroom in which students enjoy the classroom managed in a

controlled and disciplined manner to focus on learning as an individual.

Brophy (1988) concludes that a knowledge base reflecting

established scientific findings exists to inform teacher education concerning

classroom management. No such knowledge base exists concerning student

socialisation and disciplinary intervention, but principles reflecting a consensus

of expert opinion can be identified. The author argues for sustained focus on a

single integrated approach, taught as an actions system that includes attention

not only to propositional knowledge (concerning principles of effective

management) but also to procedural knowledge (how to implement these

principles) and conditional knowledge (of when and why to implement them).

Jones and Jones (1990) revealed that effective classroom

managers could maintain order through their effective classroom management

and instruction rather than with authoritarian control methods.

According to Burke (1992), Organisation Development (OD) is “a

planned process of change in an organisation’s culture through the utilisation of

behavioural science, technologies, rewards and theory.” He also stated that

every organisation is a socio-technical system for producing a product or

rendering a service through some technology. Every organisation has two

subsystems, the technological and the human (social). He concluded that both


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subsystems and their interactions must be considered in the effort of

organisational change.

The research evidences of Kouchak and Eggen (1993) reveal the

synergic relationship between Classroom Management and instruction and

several important ideas about successful classroom management such as

There is a synergistic relationship between classroom management and

instruction.

Effective teachers prevent classroom management fires from occurring

rather than simply putting them out once they have started.

The physical environment is also important in management planning.

Rules and procedures are the threads that provide structure to the

social fabric of the classroom.

The beginning of the school year is crucial for classroom management.

Effective managers orchestrate their classrooms so that routines and

procedures complement, rather than detract from instruction.

Misbehaviour is an elusive concept, dependent on both context and the

amount of disruption it causes. Teachers need to help students

understand this concept through their words and actions.

In dealing with misbehaviour, the match between the problem and its

consequences is important.

Minor problems that inevitably occur must be dealt with quickly and

efficiently, minimising their effects on the lesson itself.


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More serious or persistent breaches of conduct need to be dealt with

firmly and directly.

Ellis & Kar-Kidwell (1995) concluded that teachers should be

allowed to choose a classroom management process that suits the teacher’s

style, students and subjects to be taught, and that students should be

encouraged to be active members of classroom management and the discipline

process.

Adalbjarnardottir (1997) described a developmental framework to

portray the different ways teachers express their own vision of the importance

of fostering their elementary school students’ interpersonal competence and

skills in classrooms. Teachers’ reflections on three themes – motivation/aims,

classroom management and pedagogical vision – were analysed using four

developmentally awareness dimensions. According to him, the awareness

dimensions ranges from a primary observable outcome (students’ class

behaviour) to an emphasis on developmental process in the context of the

improvement of students’ perspective taking ability and conflict resolution skills

in preparation for an active participation in society. He concluded that this

developmental analysis could be used as a method for the study of the relation

of teachers’ pedagogical philosophy to their actual classroom practice.

According to Gilbert and Lignugaris-Kraft (1997), teacher

preparation programmes should identify a detailed core of classroom

management and instructional knowledge and practices that will provide a

foundation for all teachers’ professional development.


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According to Froyen and Iverson (1998), classroom management

is the management of content (space, materials, equipment, movement and

lessons), conduct (discipline problems), and covenant (social dynamics and

interpersonal relationships).

Brophy (1999) distinguishes classroom management from

disciplinary interventions. The former is concerned with creating and

maintaining a learning environment conducive to instruction, while the latter are

“actions taken to elicit or compel changes in the behaviour of students who fail

to conform to expectations”

Brouwer and Tomic (2000) opined that perceived self-efficacy in

classroom management must be taken into consideration when devising

interventions both to prevent and to treat burnout among secondary school.

Rudolph’s (2002) doctoral study concluded that the effectiveness

of classroom management practices based on role playing approach for pre-

service teachers was superior to traditional classroom management course.

Lewis (1999) found out a discrepancy between what teachers

perceived as good classroom management theory and what they saw as

‘realistic’ best practice. This gap is a course for concern particularly if schools

were seriously to engage the need to prepare their students for democratic

citizenship.

Logan (2003) suggests the following techniques for better

classroom discipline. They are Focusing, Direct-Instruction, Monitoring,


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Modelling, Non-verbal Cuing, Environmental Control, Low Profile Intervention,

Assertive Messages and Positive Discipline.

Wentzel (2003) proposes the creation of a caring environment in

which teachers enforce rules consistently, communicate expectations for self-

reliance and self-control, solicit children’s opinions and feelings and provide

positive expression of warmth and approval. He also suggests that the teacher

is a culturally responsive classroom manager willing to reflect on the ways that

classroom management decisions promote or obstruct students’ access to

learning.

According to Brown (2003), teachers using several culturally

responsive strategies – including demonstrating care for students, acting with

authority and assertiveness and using congruent communication patterns can

establish a productive learning environment for diverse students.

According to Weinstein, Curran and Tomlinson-Clarke (2003), the

ultimate goal of classroom management is not to achieve compliance or

control, but to provide all students with equitable opportunities for learning. The

conception of culturally responsive classroom management that includes five

essential components such as recognition of one’s own ethnocentrism,

knowledge of student’s backgrounds, understanding of the broader social,

economic and political context, ability and willingness to use culturally

appropriate management strategies and commitment to building caring

classrooms.


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Marzano and Marzano’s (2003) met-analytic study suggests that

classroom management is the single variable with the largest impact on student

achievement.

Brown (2004) concluded that the success of novice teachers in

urban environments depends on their ability to develop positive classroom

learning environments through the implementation of culturally responsive

classroom management practices.

According to Delpit and White-Bradley (2004), teachers who

choose to engage with the minds and hearts of their students, to develop

human beings rather than robots, must first be willing to develop a relationship

with them individually and as group.

According to Lewis et al. (2005), great student misbehaviour

relates only to increased use of aggressive strategies.

According to Torff and Sessions (2005), the most perceived

causes of teacher ineffectiveness are deficiencies in lesson implementation

skills, inability to establish rapport with students, classroom management skills

and lesson planning skills. They also point out that alternative certification

programmes that emphasise content knowledge and de-emphasise

pedagogical knowledge may fail to address the underlying causes of problems

of teacher quality in students.

Penner (2005) found that the lack of confidence among teachers

in their teaching ability was due to lack of classroom management training.

There is no effective classroom management training at university. Classroom


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management causes internal stress and pressure, but it is an important part of

teaching.

Bennet (2005) revealed that education programme and the

therapeutic programme that the juvenile is in, do not complement one another;

the strategies used on one are fundamentally against the philosophy of the

other. There are many systematic challenges identified, that have a direct

impact on the classroom management options and choices provided to the

educators.

Costello (2005) indicated significant moderate correlation

between the separate management variables and performance achievement.

He also revealed the fact that 93% of select music directors surveyed found

that classroom management as an important element leading to successful

performance achievement with their ensembles.

Garret (2005) indicates that the way teachers think about the

relationship between their instructional and managerial approaches is

influenced by what they see as the overall goal of classroom management.

Hawkins (2005) opined in her article, “Teachers manage better

with pocket PCs”, that school teachers need to organise their work just as

much as their counterparts in business and industry. She also points out that

the use of pocket PCs and developing classroom management software help

teachers to improve the administration of their students and their classrooms.

Niles (2005) in his article ‘Building Classroom Management Plan

for Inclusive Environments from Fear to F.E.A.R.’ suggests the emerging


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education literature model of F.E.A.R. that highlights four pillars of proactive

inclusive practices that can replace the fear associated with diverse

classrooms.

Focus: Prompt student attention to the learning task through preplanning.

Engage: Increase student motivation and social development through building

a sense of belonging and contribution.

Arrange: Organise and administer learning environment to accommodate all

learners.

Reflect: Evaluate outcomes for planned lessons and activities, problem solve,

and adjust.

In conclusion, the fear of inclusion can be replaced by the

F.E.A.R. practices and these strategies are the key to effective classroom

management.

According to Elias and Schwab (2006), classroom management is

the sum of the teachers’ practices related to establishing the physical and

social environment of the classroom, regulating routines and daily activities,

and preventing and correcting problems. Nearly everything a teacher does,

aside from communicating the content of the academic curriculum, is part of

classroom management. They also described four areas of teacher actions that

characterise an integration of classroom management and Social and

Emotional Learning (SEL): Action-1: Teach SEL skills, Action-2: Build caring

relationships, Action-3: Set firm and fair boundaries, Action-4: Share

responsibility with students. They concluded that the ideal classroom manager


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would creatively incorporate SEL into every facet of a well-functioning

classroom because SEL and classroom management are two sides of a same

coin.

Hickey and Schafer (2006) clarify classroom management in

terms of five types of teacher actions to facilitate learning in their classrooms:

Engagement – maximising involvement in academic tasks; Curriculum –

defining the scope and sequence of instruction; Relationships – interacting with

and among students; Developments – changing behaviour and cognition over

time; Discipline – preventing and addressing behaviour problems.

Gettinger and Kohler (2006) emphasised the teacher’s important

role in creating and maintaining a positive classroom environment that could

promote academic and social competence. To be effective, teachers must be

aware of the numerous variables that affect classroom environments and

student learning. A teacher’s primary responsibility is to promote behavioural

competence and facilitate the learning of all students in the classroom.

Doyle (2006) concludes that from an ecological perspective, order

depends upon the strength and durability of the primary programmes or vector

actions that define order in a particular classroom context. This programme of

action includes both a social participation dimension that defines rules for

interacting in a complex and crowded environment, and an academic work

dimension that carries the substance of lessons. He also concludes that order

in a classroom can be achieved through appropriate physical arrangements,

establishing classroom rules and procedures, rehearsing and routinising,


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procedures and activities in classroom, orchestrating classroom activities and

the like.

According to Gay (2006), while discipline is a critical concern for

many teachers, classroom management is a larger issue. If classroom is a

comfortable, caring, embracing, affirming, engaging, and facilitative place for

students, then discipline is not likely to be much an issue.

Gencer and Cakiroglu (2007) found out that pre-service science

teachers generally expressed positive efficacy beliefs regarding science

teaching. They also pointed out that pre-service teachers were interventionists

on the instructional management dimension.

Ritter and Hancock (2007) discovered that the source of neither

certification nor experience level alone impacted a teachers’ classroom

management orientation. However, teachers with traditional certification and

many years of experience exerted significantly less control over classroom

activities and students’ behaviours than did their colleagues with other

educational and experimental backgrounds.

The literature review of this section enabled the investigator to

have extensive information on the various dimensions of classroom

management and specific approaches for effective classroom management. It

capacitated the investigator to develop a Classroom Management Inventory to

identify the prevailing classroom management practices of teachers at the

Higher Secondary School level.


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2.4 STUDIES RELATED TO BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES TO CLASSROOM

MANAGEMENT

This section deals mainly with different behavioural approaches to

effective classroom management. Behaviourism can be used to help teachers

better understand students’ behaviour and improve it by applying consistent

positive and logical consequences to students’ behaviour.

Studies by Emmer, Evertson and Anderson (1980), Emmer and

Evertson (1981) Jones and Jones (1990), Evertson and Weistein (2006),

Emmer (2006), Freiberg and Lapoite (2006) are related to these aspects.

According to Brophy (1983) the use of structures in which

rewards and punishments are meted out to group based on the behaviour of

individuals within those groups has been found effective in the remediation of

misbehaviour.

Brophy (1985) opines that though teachers must prescribe and

control student behaviour in order to establish the classroom as an effective

learning environment, teachers can still stimulate self-guidance and not merely

compliance in their students This can be done by de-emphasising the authority

figure aspects of the teacher’s role and emphasising the rationales that justify

demands made on students, projecting positive expectations concerning

student’s ability to foster the common good, and encouraging students to view

behavioural guidelines as reasonable and adopt them as their own.


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Brophy (1986) reveals that contemporary behaviour modification

approaches involve students more actively in planning and shaping their own

behaviour through participation in the negotiation of contracts with their

teachers and through exposure to training designed to help them to monitor

and evaluate their behaviour more actively to learn techniques of self-control

and problem solving and to set goals and reinforce themselves for meeting

these goals.

Greenwood, Carta and Hall (1988) had found that training in self-

awareness, value clarification, co-operation and the development of helping

skills had been successfully used to improve the behaviour of misbehaving

students and that peer tutoring structures lowered the incidence of

misbehaviour in classrooms.

The works of Allison (1999) and Anne (1999) identified

components of preventive discipline such as commitment on the part of all staff,

in establishing and maintaining appropriate student behaviour as an essential

precondition of learning, school-wide emphasis on the importance of learning

and intolerance of conditions which inhibit learning, the staff, sharing and

communicating high expectations for appropriate behaviour, clear and broad-

based rules, warm school climate, a visible supportive principal and delegation

of discipline authority to teachers.

According to Johns, MacNoughton and Karabinus (1989),

effective teachers practised the following activities in the first day such as stay

with the students, describing rules and procedures, considering student needs,


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keeping the entire class together, planning initial activities that are simple,

interesting and enjoyable, minimising dead time and demonstrating humanism

as well as leadership.

Kaplan (1992) suggests that authoritarian upbringing is related to

subsequent selection of punitive classroom management strategies.

Korinek (1993) suggested certain guiding principles and specific

strategies to positive and responsible student behaviour such as clearly

articulate school values and clarify expectations, establish personal relationship

with students, increase student involvement and leadership, provide expected

access to academic advising and counselling services, provide instruction in

coping skills, design staff development activities to promote more positive

approaches to behaviour management, use additional personnel or redefine

roles of existing personnel to facilitate day-to-day implementation of positive

behaviour management, make increased use of collaboration structures such

as teacher or multidisciplinary assistance teams, consultation and co-operative

teaching to address behaviour problems and target-positive interventions,

provide an alternative class for students who are failing and ensure that

classroom-based behaviour management techniques emphasise positive,

proactive, learner-based techniques for shaping appropriate behaviour.

Recommendations have been made that schools within a district

adopt a consistent model of classroom management through a school-wide

plan that has been developed by staff, families, students and the community at

large (Colvin, Kaneenui and Sugai, 1993, 1994; Knoster, 1999a; Fenning and


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Bohanon (2006). The purpose of a school-wide discipline plan is to establish

and maintain student behaviour that enables the accomplishment of school

goals. According to Fitzsimmons (1998), Landrum and Kauffman (2006), the

common features of school-wide behavioural management systems are total

staff commitment to managing behaviour, clearly defined and communicated

expectations and rules, consequences and clearly stated procedures for

correcting rule-breaking behaviour, an instructional component for teaching

students self-control and social skills, and a support plan to address the needs

of students with chronic challenging behaviour.

Carter (1994) observes that Classroom interventions such as

acceptance, anger management, assertiveness training, behaviour contracts,

classroom discipline plans, co-operative learning strategies, differential

reinforcement of incompatible behaviours, discipline with dignity, reality

therapy, social skills training, and stress management are intended to meet the

needs of students with emotional/behavioural disabilities.

Brophy (1996a) provides several guiding principles for managing

student behaviour. The outstanding ones among them are: The teacher should

try to minimise power struggles and face-saving incidents by discussing the

misbehaviour with the student in private rather than providing an audience in a

whole class meeting. The student should be questioned to determine if he or

she is aware that the behaviour is inappropriate and the student should be

required to provide an explanation for the misbehaviour.


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Teachers who adopt an authoritative teaching style, as opposed

to either authoritarian or laissez-faire style, have a great chance of success

(Brophy, 1996b). Authoritative teachers are usually understanding and

supportive of students and they make sure that the students understand the

reasons for their behaviour demands to students; the teacher should focus on

what to do rather than what not to do. Their demands are stated positively.

The teachers are able to supply good reasons for their behavioural demands.

Langland, Lewis-Palmer and Sugai (1998) revealed that Cool

Tool is a social skill strategy designed to teach and encourage pro-social

behaviours in the classroom and larger school environment.

Sprink et al. (1998) suggest that a teacher should carefully

monitor the kinds of remarks made to students and analyse the remarks to see

if somehow those statements may be discouraging or conveying low

expectations to students.

Bergin and Bergin (1999) suggest that a concrete approach to

discipline is persistent persuasion. Persistent persuasion involves the adult

continually restating a command until the child complies, but without increasing

the level of power or using coercive threats so that the development of self-

control is not undermined.

McFarland (2000) presents detailed classroom management

strategies for teachers working in middle and secondary level classrooms. The

strategies include: (1) plan lessons that are well organised and fully developed,

showing all the components of the teaching-learning cycle using a variety of


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strategies and activities that reflect multiple learning styles; (2) be orderly by

having a good room arrangement, a traffic area free of congestion, a

professional space, and attractive environment corresponding with the unit; (3)

have a positive attitude and high expectations for all students; (4) when

redirecting individual off-task behaviours, choose non-verbal and verbal

comments whenever possible; (5) be motivated, enthusiastic, interested and

well-informed about what is being taught; (6) prevent discipline problems by

planning for them before they happen; (7) give clear, explicit instruction of

expectations before moving students to activities; (8) keep students actively

engaged; and (9) use humour, creativity and concern to handle many

problems. Four models of the discipline management are featured.

According to Lewis (2001), teachers are seen by students to react

to classroom misbehaviour by increasing their use of coercive discipline, which

inhibits the development of responsibility in students and distracts them from

their school work.

Midthassel and Bru (2001) suggested that systematic effort

aiming to enhance the teachers’ classroom management through collaborative

way of working which enables reflection and learning had positive effects on

teachers’ strain due to the disruptive pupils, as well as their classroom

management.

Gregg (2003) prepared a classroom management plan with

philosophy of discipline, prevention and procedure, positive integration,

classroom rules, discipline procedures, negative consequences, positive


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consequences, parent communication and the like for effective classroom

management.

Brown (2003) found that teachers used several culturally

responsive strategies – including demonstrating care for students, acting with

authority and assertiveness, and using congruent communication pattern to

establish a productive learning environment for their diverse students.

Leung and Lam (2003) found out that teachers with promotion

focus adopted more approach strategies (e.g. praise) but less avoidance

strategies (e.g. punish) than their counterparts with prevention focus. When

the strategies failed, teachers with promotion focus experienced more dejection

related emotion (e.g. disappointment) than agitator –related emotion (e.g.

anger) whereas teachers with prevention focus experienced more agitation

related emotion than dejection-related emotion.

According to Wenzel (2003), to motivate students to display

positive forms of classroom behaviour requires an understanding of a student’s

personal interests and goals, as well as the degree to which these are valued

by teachers and peers. Creating a caring classroom environment in which

teachers enforce rules consistently, communicating expectations for self-

reliance and self-control, soliciting children’s opinions and feelings, and

providing positive expressions of warmth and approval appears to be critical in

this regard.

Shechtman and Leichtentritt (2004) experimented affective

teaching to enhance classroom management in special education classrooms.


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Affective teaching refers to the personal lives of the children, including

perceptions, emotions and behaviour. The results indicated that a lower

frequency misbehaviour including off-taste behaviour, talking without

permission and aggression, are less in the affective lessons compared with the

cognitive lessons. In addition, positive behaviour, including expressions of

thoughts, expressions of feelings, self-awareness and peer support was more

frequent in the affective lessons.

According to P under (2005), the disciplinary technique with

higher degree of teacher control and low student autonomy predominates.

That kind of discipline is not in accordance with democratic principles.

Watson and Battistich (2006) in their study conclude that viewing

the building of a relational community as the foundation of classroom

management is a paradigmatic shift in classroom management and discipline –

a shift from teacher control to shared control; from individual responsibility to

shared responsibility; from a business atmosphere to family atmosphere; from

a negative view of children’s motivation to positive view; from extrinsic rewards

and consequences to explanation, support, guidance, induction and

persuasion; from enforcing rules to building trust by meeting student’s needs;

and from passive compliance to active participation.

According to McCaslin et al. (2006), classroom management

practices in the phenomenological perspective are concerned with providing

opportunities for students to make choices, reflect on those choices, and render

personally meaningful experiences and the outcomes that accompany them.


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The teacher role in managing student is interactive and personal, helping

individual students reflect on and validate their experiences. The key feature of

the phenomenological perspective is that the learner’s task is to create a

personal and advantageous learning environment and ‘advantageous’ is

defined by the personal goals of the learner. In the phenomenological

perspective, classroom management is all about teachers finding the time for

knowledge of, reflection on, and support for learners coming to understand the

responsibility of choice.

The Good Behaviour Game (GBG) is a behaviour modification

technique to maintain order and discourage disruptive behaviour in lower

elementary classrooms. It allows students to work in teams where each

individual becomes responsible for the group. GBG boys who were rated

highly aggressive in the First Grade showed a decrease in aggression at the

end of the Sixth Grade (Kellan, Rebok, Lalongo and Myer, 1994).

The High/Scope Perry Preschool Program (HSPP # 12) is a

classroom management programme for special populations, in which principles

are adopted from an open framework where curriculum is adjusted to the needs

of learners. Here, teachers avoid punishment or isolation when problem arise

but children are encouraged to discuss the problem with teachers or with others

involved. A follow-up at the age of 27 comparing children who received the

High/Scope Perry Preschool Program with a control group showed greater

school persistence and reduced delinquency, violent crimes and drug dealing

(Schweinhart, Barnes and Weikart, 1994).


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According to Lane, Falk and Wehby (2006), high probability

request strategy provides an effective and efficient method for reducing

problem behaviour and increasing academic responses in educational settings.

They introduced the acting out cycle, choice making and, high probability

requests for preventing problem behaviour from occurring in both more or less

restrictive special education settings. They also introduced an ideographic

approach for designing an individualised intervention plan.

Morris-Rothschild and Brassard (2006) reported that teachers’

high self-reported classroom management efficiency and years of teaching had

positive significant effects on the use of integrating and compromising

strategies, avoiding negative effects.

Zuckerman (2007) identified three strategies for preventing and

managing classroom discipline problems that any teacher can use. They are

changing the pace of the lesson, using the least intrusive intervention along a

sequence of non-verbal to verbal strategies and conferring privately with

chronically disruptive student. He also verified what educators for long

believed, that the first days of the school year set the tone for the entire year

and provide a profile of beginning-of-the year activities into three sections:

orienting the students and setting the classroom climate, managing student

behaviour and managing instruction.

Scarpaci (2007) identified a rational method to analyse behaviour

problems and proposed a method of identifying the problem, the objectives to

be achieved, the solution, the implementation and evaluation (IOSIE) as a


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practical approach to assist teachers in resolving most classroom behaviour

management problems. The letters in the term IOSIE represent steps to follow

when analysing acts of classroom misbehaviour.

Lannie and McCurdy (2007) identified the effectiveness of an

empirically based behaviour management strategy – the good behaviour

management strategy – the Good Behaviour Game on student behaviour and

teacher response statements. The results showed that the student’s on-task

behaviour increased while disruptive behaviour decreased. The number of

teacher praise statements remained at near zero levels.

The review of related literature of this section empowered the

investigator to have a wide range of information about the dimension, namely,

Behaviour Management and its impact on classroom management in general.

It made possible for the investigator to develop behaviour management

strategies, formulate hypotheses of the study and tools and techniques to

identify the effectiveness of the prepared strategies.

2.5 STUDIES RELATED TO CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TRAINING

PROGRAMMES

In response to the ever-increasing concern regarding student

misbehaviour and teacher’s distress, several classroom management

packages and teacher development programmes were developed in the last

two decades, especially in western countries. This section reviews such

classroom management packages and teacher development training

programmes.


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Kubany, Slogett and Ogata (1974) designed a general training

model for teachers with components of instruction, modelling plus coding, role-

playing plus feedback and incentives.

Evertson (1985) conducted a teacher training programme on

classroom management for secondary school teachers. The outline of the

content was planning before school begins, presenting information about rules,

procedures and expectation, and maintaining the learning environments. He

concluded that the treatment teachers were perceived to exceed the control

group in two general areas: (a) the physical management of space and student

behaviour; and (b) the management of academic work and student

accountability of work. Treatment teachers were seen as having their

classroom ready for school, using their space more efficiently, having more

efficient transition between activities, stopping student disruptive behaviour

quickly, not allowing the class to get out of hand, and students were kept

accountable for their work and assignments.

Guskey (1986) states that in-service education programs are

more successful when workshop time is used for application activities rather

than discussion, and feedback on classroom practices is provided.

According to Smiley (1988), staff development is a systematic

method to bring about change toward a prescribed end. Staff development for

teachers involves the provisions of activities designed to advance knowledge,

and skills, and understanding specific areas. He presents three functionally

different purposes for staff development such as:


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to introduce or promote organisational change through the introduction

of new programmes or procedures.

To maintain changed practices or ensure compliance with administrative

routines already in place.

to improve individual teacher performance in the classroom.

He also reported that personal teaching efficacy and collegiality

were the direct antecedents of teacher behaviour change.

Classroom Organisation and Management Program (COMP) is a

nationally disseminated Teacher Training Program since 1989 to the present, in

the United States (Evertson and Harris). The primary gaols are to help

teachers improve their overall instructional and behavioural management skills

– through planning, implementing and maintaining effective practices. The

additional goals are the improvement of student task engagement, reduction of

inappropriate and disruptive behaviour, promotion of student responsibility for

academic work and behaviour and improvement of student achievement. The

original validation data come from two descriptive / correlational studies (1978,

1979), two experimental field studies (1981, 1982), two experimental /

evaluation studies (1982 through 1985) and two dissemination studies (1983

through 1988, 1987 through 1989). Each of these examined teacher behaviour

and teaching practice, improvement in student behaviour, and improvement in

student achievement.

Chard, Smith and Sugai (1992) reviewed some commonly used

and commercially prepared discipline programmes, such as Assertive


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Discipline (Canter and Canter, 1976) and Positive Discipline (Clarizio, 1981)

and Specific Problem Solving Approaches (Dreiukurs, Crrunwald and Pepper,

1982). Researchers found that many promising features were within these

packages. Chard and his associates suggested that the major limitation of

packaged discipline programmes was a lack of procedural implementation

guidelines.

Martin, Yin and Beatrice (1998) investigated the impact of

classroom management training on classroom management style. The results

show significant differences on the instructional management subscale of the

Attitude and Beliefs on Classroom Control (ABCC) regarding classroom

management training as well as significant positive correlations between

average class enrolment and teachers’ scores on the People Management and

Behaviour Management Subscales of ABCC.

Allison (1999) developed an in-service training workshop on

behaviour management in the high school setting. The participants were five

teachers with students who exhibited challenging behaviour. The training

programme covered discipline and the Individuals with disabilities, Education

Act, characteristics of children with behavioural and emotional difficulties,

behaviour management strategies and data collection methods. Evaluation

found that teachers implemented behaviour interventions more consistently and

spent less time on discipline and more time on teaching than before the

workshop.


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Evertson (1985) developed a school-based training programme

for the beginning of the year. She employed a three-phased workshop

approach for her training model. Phase One consisted of planning before the

school started, the use of classroom space and rules, consequences for

appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. Phase Two of the workshop involved

implementation of the rules and procedures. Phase Three involved

maintenance of the system throughout the year. Teachers were to continue to

monitor for behavioural and academic compliance. They should acknowledge

the appropriate behaviour, quickly interrupt rules-breaking behaviour, and be

consistent in their use of consequences and incentives. Another important

feature of Phase Three was adjusting the instruction for individual differences

within students or among students.

Sanderlin’s (2004) doctoral study on improving classroom

management by providing continued teacher professional development training

at Nova South-eastern University revealed that the teacher’s professional

development training can improve student achievement, create positive

learning environments and teacher expectations.

Walton’s (2003) doctoral study was on the effectiveness of staff

development training activities in the classroom management and positive

behaviour support in teaching efficiency. The investigator assessed the

effectiveness by comparing post-training difference in teaching efficacy, school

suspension rates and referral rates of Special Education. Two groups of

elementary teachers participated in the training activities; two matched groups


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of teachers, who did not receive similar training, were used for contrast.

Training group-1 received 30 hours of training. Training Group-2 received just

over 19 hours of training. Training Group-1 teachers scored significantly lower

on External Influences (EIE) and significantly higher on Personal Teaching

(PTE) than did the contrast Group-1. There was no difference between the

Classroom Management/ Discipline (CMDE) of Training Group-1 and the

contrast Group-1. Training Group-2 showed no significant differences in any

dimensions of teaching efficacy when compared to the contrast Group-2.

Both Training Group-1 and Training Group-2 schools posted

decrease in suspension rates after training. Training Group-1 showed a

practically significant decline of 43 percent. Contrast Group-1 school showed a

decline in its suspension rate. Contrast Group-2 school displayed a substantial

65 percent in suspension rates.

Referral rates for special education service were unchanged for

Training Group-1 school. Contrast Group-1 school showed a remarkable

increase in special education referrals. Both Training Group-2 and Contrast

Group-2 had remarkable decreased rates for special education referrals.

Project ACHIEVE (Knoff and Batsche, 1995) is an in-service staff

development training model with a focus on improving the academic and social

skills of all students. This programme has been designated as a national

model prevention programme by the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (Center for Effective

Collaboration and Practice, 2001). In addition to setting clear expectations and


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consistency in monitoring and reinforcing the desired student behaviours, this

programme emphasises classroom management strategies for specific

disruptive behaviours. All staff members including office staff, bus drivers,

custodians, and paraprofessionals received comprehensive training

communicating expectations and employing corrective strategies. In the site

where Project ACHIEVE was initially implemented, the school had experienced

seventy-five percent decrease in student referrals for special education

services, sixty-seven percent decrease in special education placement, an

increase in academic achievement and improved school climate.

Based upon the current research, commercially prepared

proactive classroom management packages with multiple components have

been developed. An example of commercially prepared, empirically based

programme is The Tough Kid Series (Rhode, Jenson & Reavis, 1992). It

consists of three books, the Tough Kid Book: Practical Classroom Management

Strategies, The Tough Kid Tool Box, and The Tough Kid Social Skill Book

(Sheridan, 1997). The Tough Kid Book contains research-based approaches

to help teachers reduce disruptive behaviour in the classroom. This book

provides information regarding the effective use of positive reinforcement and

reductive techniques, the design of a hierarchy of consequences, and the

development of self-management strategies.

Sprink et al. (1998) developed The CHAMP programme

consisting of eight modules each of which emphasises an important feature of

effective classroom management. The primary features of the components are


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establishing vision, organising classroom, setting high expectations, scheduling

activities for the first month, monitoring and modifying the classrooms,

providing corrective feedback and developing class-wide systems.

North West Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL-2005)

prepared the Paraeducator Professionals Development Curriculum with five

modules. The second module ‘Building an Effective Instructional Team:

Assisting and Supporting the teacher through the use of Effective Classroom

Management and Effective Instruction Strategies’ had training modules on the

topics of building an effective instructional team, basics of effective classroom

management, goals of classroom management, preventive discipline practices

and appropriate classroom behaviours, components of good classroom

management, characteristics of safe orderly learning environments, and role of

paraeducator in classroom management.

The Incredible Years (IY # 14) is to reduce children’s aggression

and increase social competence at home and at school. IY operates in three

areas: parent training, teacher training and child social skill training. The

classroom management teacher training includes five sections: (1) the

importance of teacher attention, encouragement and praise; (2) motivating

children through incentives; (3) preventing behaviour problems; (4) decreasing

students’ inappropriate behaviours; and (5) building positive relationship with

students. Children with oppositional defiant behaviour showed fewer conduct

problems after receiving the programme in a two-year follow-up study (Reid,

Webster-Stratton and Hammond, 2003).


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Studies related to classroom management and teacher training

programmes based on classroom management are very scarce in our country.

But the investigator attempted to give a good coverage of the studies

conducted abroad.

2.6 CONCLUSION

The review of related literature empowered the investigator to

have extensive information on the history of classroom management, current

trends in classroom management, behaviour management strategies, and

teacher training programmes on classroom management. It made possible for

the investigator to frame the hypotheses, select suitable methods and tools for

the study. The importance and need for behaviour management and training

as the integral component of classroom management were noted. The

correlates of different dimensions of classroom management with special

emphasis on behaviour management and behaviour management strategies

meant for teacher development were discussed. Behaviour management as an

important dimension of classroom management was detailed with classroom

management packages. The behaviour management approaches and set

teacher training modules as the integral part of the enhancement function of

pre-service and in-service training course were noted. This chapter concludes

with a discussion on the key elements and procedures for effective classroom

management. Behaviour management strategies and classroom management

packages where teachers meet regularly to share ideas and resolve problems

form a necessary component of teacher instructional change.


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Decades of research suggest that classroom management is an

essential aspect of the teaching-learning process. Teachers at the Higher

Secondary level are immediately made aware of this reality upon entering the

classroom due to the fact that management has often been shown to become

more difficult with adolescent students.

Researches also suggest that teachers are urgently in need of in-

service teacher training in classroom management and also reveal that

prevailing classroom management practices of teachers are not adequate.

Hence, the authorities should consider the incorporation of classroom

management principles and strategies in the pre- and in-service teacher

training programmes. For decades, it has been known that teacher behaviours

affect student behaviours and hence, have an overarching effect on classroom

management in general.

It is concluded that more research is needed to identify the

prevailing classroom management practices and to develop suitable classroom

management strategies for the various dimensions of classroom management.

These changes could include more intense training in aspects of classroom

management in the pre-service and in-service training programme. It should

be specifically geared for those Higher Secondary School teachers who report

problems with discipline and classroom management and are urgently in need

of additional assistance in classroom management strategies.

review of related literature and...

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