Classroom Management Strategies / Humanistic Perspective / Cultural Differenes
Part 1: brief summary Classroom Management Strategies / Humanistic Perspective / Cultural Differenes
Part 2: a personal reflection on Classroom Management Strategies / Humanistic Perspective / Cultural Differenes (i.e. what you found interesting, including any personal and/or professional observations and experiences related to the content, etc.).
Reference:
Goal 1: Developing Self-Regulation
Self-regulation refers to the ability to control our own actions and emotions. This includes self-motivation so students are able to complete the assigned task and participate in learning activities. It also includes the ability to control urges, to express emotions more appropriately, follow the rules, and develop personal learning long-term goals. Eggen & Kauchak (2013) suggested that teachers create a monitoring sheet to record or track students’ behaviors toward self-regulation. The monitoring sheet includes the week, student name, self-regulation goals, learning goals, and days of the week. Examples of self-regulation goals are listening while a classmate is speaking, bringing a textbook to class, or being seated when the bell rings. Examples of learning goals include completing homework and understanding weekly learning objectives.
Teachers need to understand that students often are not aware of their actions and consequences. They just do not see the relationship between the two. Teachers need to demonstrate the consequence of the students’ actions and use an example to promote awareness.
Goal 2: Create a Community of Caring and Trust
Logically, when students feel safe and that they belong at school, they are more likely to be present at school and attentive during learning activities. Students know when they are treated with respect, love, and care. This compassion needs to be demonstrated so that students can see and understand that they belong at school. For example, caring can be demonstrated by spending time with the students as learners and as people. On the other hand, it can be very challenging when students do not feel they belong in your class or at school. If students do not feel that teachers love or care about them, they are more likely to pay less attention to their assignments and start a downward spiral that can eventually lead to dropping out.
Goal 3: Maximizing Time for Teaching and Learning
This is a consequence of achieving the second goal. Teachers will have more instructional time when they do not have to deal with other issues, such as students’ disruption and misbehavior. This can have an impact not only on instruction time but also other times (e.g. students engaging in learning activities). Maximizing time for teaching and learning is an ultimate goal of classroom management. Some classroom management strategies to achieve these three goals are outlined below.
Kounin’s Classroom Strategies
Kounin is an educational theorist. His research focus was teachers’ ability to affect student behavior through instructional management.
Kounin incorporated both instructional and disciplinary aspects in classroom instruction. Before the publication of Kounin’s book, Discipline and Group Management in Classrooms, most educators viewed their role as simply passing on skills and knowledge. The publication of Kounin’s book was pivotal in education; it encouraged educators to integrate teaching and discipline, which to this point had not been integrated and apparently were thought by many educators as unrelated.
One way of approaching the teacher-student relationship is to view teachers as managers since they are the ones in charge. Effective classroom managers are ones whose students stay on task most of the time and exhibit little misbehavior. Kounin (1970) found that these teachers/managers usually exhibited the following qualities.
Sticking with clear goals: communicating an awareness of what students are doing
Teachers who are the most effective at reducing poor behavior observe student activities, make frequent eye contact with all students, and know their students (e.g., name, interests, strengths, weaknesses, etc.). These teachers make their expectations clear to the students. Non-verbal techniques can be helpful in communicating in two main ways; the non-verbal cues must be consistent with what you are saying. You can’t say that you care about your students verbally but send a different message with your tone, body language, or limited eye contact. Sometimes, these strategies are all that is needed to bring a student back on task.
If poor behaviors occur, the student needs to be informed that the behavior is not acceptable. The expectations should have been clearly given, and it is helpful to have them written so the students can be reminded of those expectations. Whenever possible, the teacher should try to position him or herself so that they can keep an eye on the students, especially the ones most likely to cause problems (i.e., when assisting a student in the back of the class, position yourself so that you are looking forward instead of at the wall in the back).
Multitasking: doing more than one thing at a time
Teachers will often be doing more than one task at a time. Perhaps the most common example of this is cueing a student exhibiting inappropriate behavior while simultaneously conducting a lesson. This can often be done with eye contact and a certain facial expression while still delivering the lesson.
Students rarely finish assignments together, so have another task ready for students who have completed their assignments before others so that you can stay focused while the other students are still working on their first assignment. If the early finishers are occupied with reading or some other task, you will be able to assist the students who are still working.
Another common situation is tardy students. Plan head for this eventuality so that you won’t have to stop your lecture. Have a place for them to turn in assignments. With a little practice, you will become an expert at using nonverbal communication, using your eyes or pointing with your finger to direct the tardy student to place their papers on the corner of your desk and take a seat, for example. Many times this communication can be accomplished without stopping your lecture.
Momentum: moving through a lesson or from one activity to another without unnecessary pauses or slow-down
Teachers should ensure that lectures and/or exercises are of an appropriate length. If they are too long, students will lose interest, and if students are not engaged, little will be accomplished. Many students will benefit from assignments that facilitate interaction between students, allowing them to discuss and explain concepts or principles. Of course disruptive students can derail the momentum; however, many times the disruption can be preempted by directing questions to them.
Smooth transitions: moving through a lesson or from one activity to another smoothly
Teachers should insist that students raise their hands if they have a question; otherwise, the flow can easily be disrupted. Teachers can easily recognize the student, or with hand gestures or other non-verbal cues, communicate to the student that they acknowledge the student’s question and will respond to it shortly. This method can save a lot of time by preserving flow and acknowledging the student. You will likely discover that inevitably every class will have a few students that continually derail your lectures. Once you have identified these individuals, you can quickly acknowledge them and advise them that you will be glad to answer their questions at the end of class. It may not be easy with these students, but try to be positive with them; it is all too easy to become negative and that can build up through the year, leading to larger problems. Try to win over the problem students.
Focusing: keeping all students attentive and involved in classroom activities
Some methods to keep the group focused are to remind students that participation is a part of the grade. Get into the habit of asking questions of students who do not seem to be engaged. You can tell your class that a good way of getting called upon is by not paying attention. After students have finished individual assignments, allow the ones who have finished ahead of the class to pair up and discuss their answers.
Like most aspects of classroom teaching to be effective, the instructor (you) must be prepared, have a plan, and be well organized. Communicate your expectations to your students, encourage motivation, and hold your students responsible for their actions.
Humanistic educators believe that students learn best under positive environments, that learning is most effective when students do not feel undue pressure or threatened by classroom events. They believe that learning is facilitated by fostering a positive self-image.
To create a positive classroom atmosphere, students must feel accepted and respected and that they are able to express their opinions and feelings. In this atmosphere, students know that they can make mistakes without negative feelings from the instructor. The students and the instructor are central concepts in humanistic teaching.
Patterson (1973) and Rogers (1969) explained that honesty plays a part in creating a positive classroom environment. While it is hard to imagine teachers not being honest with students, it does happen. Teachers and students should express their beliefs and feelings openly. If students find a lesson boring, they should feel that they could voice their opinion. This, in turn, could help the instructor change the lesson for future students. It is important that students are engaged because if the students find a lesson boring, they will likely learn less than you had hoped.
As a teacher, you need to foster an environment where students feel that you accept and respect them despite any mistakes they may make or shortcomings they have.
Empathy can go a long way in reaching your students, so try to view the world through their eyes and their individual perspectives, be understanding and supportive, and avoid being critical and judgmental.
Actively listen to what your students have to say. You need to connect with them and understand their ideas. If you engage your students in open conversations, trust and empathy can be facilitated. It is important to hear what the students have to say. Try to ask open-ended questions, not just questions with a right or wrong answer.
Ideally, you and your students should see you as a facilitator and not just an evaluator of their learning.
Many humanistic educators have proposed that teachers should not evaluate their students at all, but instead, should let students evaluate themselves. Is this a good idea? Why or why not? Do you see some pitfalls with this idea?
Next is the topic that all teachers need to be aware of—culture. Culture plays a significant part of growing as a person. Cultural differences do have an impact on students’ education. The next section discusses this issue in more detail.
Expectations
Cultures differ greatly in their expectations for their children and the schools their children attend. Some cultures value education to the point of an obsession, while others may feel that learning in a school environment is of equal or even less value than learning outside the school environment. This has an impact on how parents support and devote their time to their students’ education. Parents who have high expectations for their children will ensure their children complete assignments and communicate with the teachers. Teachers need to reach out to the parents who have low expectations for their children since these parents are not likely to seek the teacher out or focus on their children’s education.
Belief/Attitude
Some cultures believe that acquiring knowledge is of paramount importance, while other cultures believe that learning to do work neatly is equally important. This relates to their attitudes toward education. Learning is a crucial way to acquire knowledge. If parents believe that education is so important that it can change their child’s life, they are more likely to support their child’s education.
Some cultures believe that success or failure is the result of personal effort and that if a student is not succeeding, it is a result of not studying hard enough. This is common with many Asian Americans. This belief may be easier for teachers since these parents would blame their own children for failures rather than blame the teachers. Others may see their child’s failures as a result of poor teaching and schools.
Many European American believe that intelligence can be measured with traditional tests like the SAT, for example. Other groups often take a broader view of intelligence, believing that interpersonal skills are as important as test results. This raises some interesting perspectives and attitudes on how each culture perceives education.
In general, parents who were raised in the United States are better at helping their children with homework. A problem arises for parents who do not read English or only have limited knowledge of written English, though. To facilitate understanding with the parents regarding homework assignments, the instructions should be clearly written. This will help with parents who have limited English comprehension; however, it will of course not benefit parents that have no English comprehension.
I also have seen families where despite the fact that the parents do not speak English well enough to help with homework, their children academically outperform their peers at school. The common factor among these students was that their parents made sure they did their homework and supported them. They could not help their children directly with reading the assignments, but they made clear to their children the importance of an education and schoolwork.
Parents vary widely in background and situation. Some parents may be working several jobs and are thus unable to spend much time with their children, while others may be able to monitor their children closely and have allotted times and places in the home for their child to do homework. Many parents are able to ensure their children finish their homework before they are allowed to play or watch T.V. while others with busy schedules may be trying to prepare dinner and other important choirs while their children are hopefully doing homework.
Imagine the difficulties of a single parent working several jobs with several children. The parent may have only a few hours in the evening to prepare dinner, make lunches, care for an infant or toddler, and tend to the household needs. This parent would be very hard pressed to closely monitor and assist his/her children with homework. Contrast this with a parent who does not have to work outside the home, and can consequently spend the day preparing for their kids so that when their kids are home they can spend time with them. Most two parent households will be somewhere in-between these two extremes.
Nevertheless, effective teachers will do their best with their students. They may need to spend extra time ensuring that all of the students are doing their homework. Teachers should not blame students’ for cultural differences, but instead need to devise ways to implement their lessons and meet these challenges.
Certainly, it can be a challenge for teachers when working with learners from diverse backgrounds. This leads to the next topic on how to respond to cultural differences in the classroom.
Culturally Responsive Classroom Management
Culturally responsive classroom management refers to teachers’ cultural knowledge and their awareness of being biased. By knowing that you bring certain biases into the classroom, you will be better able to recognize them and take actions to mitigate them. According to Eggen and Kauchak (2013), there are five elements to address this problem. They provide a good summary of cultural responsive classroom management for teachers:
Become personally aware of possible cultural prejudices.
Learn about students’ culture.
Learn about students’ family background such as neighborhoods and home environment.
Create caring learning environments.
Develop culturally responsive classroom management strategies.
The most important aspect is to become aware of any biases. Once teachers become aware of their own possible biases and try to understand their students’ perspectives and interaction patterns, teachers will more likely be sensitive to students’ perceptions. In conclusion, raising awareness and knowledge can contribute a great deal toward culturally responsive classroom management.
As discussed earlier in this lecture, the goals of effective classroom management include the following: promoting student responsibility and self-regulation, creating communities of caring and trust, and building clear expectations for behavior. I hope you combine these strategies to use in your classroom and conduct highly interactive learning activities and provide students with nonjudgmental feedback about their behavior and learning progress. These strategies can be used effectively with all students. However, they are most important for students from diverse backgrounds. Again, these are not magic strategies to solve every problem. However, hopefully, these strategies will contribute to students’ academic and social-emotional learning.
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.