A Brief History of
Classroom Management Research
Over than 30 years the research of classroom
management has been conducted by the researchers. Jacob Kounin (1970) was the
first researcher who conducted a research about high-profile, large-scale,
systematic study of classroom management. He analyzed videotape of 49 first and
second grade classrooms and coded the behavior of students and teachers. He
also identified several critical dimensions of effective classroom management.
Those are (1) withitness, (2) smoothness and momentum during lesson
presentations, (3) letting the students know what behavior is expected of them
at any given point in time, and (4) variety and challenge in the seatwork
assigned to students. Withitness is the most consistently separated the
excellent classroom managers from the average and below-average classroom
manager because it involved a keen awareness of disruptive behavior or
potentially disruptive behavior and immediate attention.
Brophy and Evertson (1976) reported the result in
one of the major study in classroom management in a book entitled Learning From Teaching: A developmental
perspective. Brophy and Evertson’s study might be considered a comparison
of exceptional teachers with average teachers. Although the study focused on a
wide variety of teaching behavior, classroom management surfaced as one of the
critical aspect of effective teaching.
At the Research and Development Center for Teacher
Education in Austin, Texas conducted a series of four studies. The first study
involved in elementary school teachers and the second study involved in Junior
High School teachers. Both of the study were descriptive and correlation in
nature and identified those teachers actions associated with the students on
task behavior and disruptive behavior. One of the more significant conclusion
of the study was that early attention to classroom management at the beginning
of the school year is critical ingredient of a well run classroom. The third
and fourth studies also conducted in Elementary and Junior High School. It
examined the impact of training in classroom management in techniques based on
finding at the first and second studies.
The next major study of addressing classroom
management was conducted by Jere Brophy, it was about the classroom strategy.
This study was involved 98 teachers, they were observed and interviewed by the
researcher. The study presented teacher with vignettes regarding specific types
of students (e.g. hostile-aggressive students, passive-agressive student,
hyperactive students). Based on the finding of the research, effective
classroom managers tended to employ different type of strategy with different
type of students. A strong recommendation of the study for the teachers was
they should develop a set of helping skill to employ different type of
students.
Margaret Wang, Geneva Haertel, and Herbert Walberg
1993 combined the result of three previous studies. One involved a content of
analysis, the second study involved a survey of 134 education expert. And the
third involved an analysis of 91 major researches of syntheses. The result of
this massive review that was classroom management was rated first in term of
its impact on the student achievement.
Meta-Analysis and
Classroom Management
Meta-analysis is an approach to research that was
formally developed by the researcher Gene Glass and his colleagues (see Glass,
1976; Glass, McGaw, &Smith, 1981) in the early 1970s. In simple terms, it
is a technique for quantitatively combining the results from a number of
studies. Since its inception, it has been used extensively in the fields of
education, psychology, and medicine.
In effect, this research technique has allowed us to
construct generalizations about education, psychology, and medicine that were
previously not available. “Uncontrolled Error” will happen no matter how well
the studying process constructed. To illustrate it, let's consider a well-designed study
that examines the impact of a specific classroom management strategy on
students' behavior. The study might randomly assign students to two groups—one
that uses the strategy (the experimental group) and one that does not (the
control group). The study might ensure that both groups do everything exactly
the same except for the classroom management strategy that is being studied.
Even with this level of tight control, the findings that come from the study
might be influenced by uncontrolled error.
In fact,
it is almost impossible to control all the error that might creep into a study.
This is why researchers assign a probability statement to their findings. When
researchers report that their findings are significant at the .05 level, they
are saying that there is a very small chance—less than 5 chances in 100—that
their findings are a function of the uncontrolled error in the study. When
researchers report that their findings are significant at the .01 level, they
are saying that there is as an even smaller chance that the findings are a
function of uncontrolled error—less than 1 chance in 100. By combining the
results of many studies, we can say with far more certainty than we can with a
single study that certain strategies work or do not work.
Meta-analysis
addressed four general components of effective classroom management: (1) rules
and procedures, (2) disciplinary interventions, (3) teacher-student
relationships, and (4) mental set. A disruption can be as innocuous as a student
talking to her neighbor or as severe as a student being disrespectful to the
teacher. The more disruptions in classes where disciplinary interventions are
employed effectively will become less than in terms of the distribution of
disruptions in classes where disciplinary interventions are not employed
effectively. In other words, the classes that don't employ disciplinary
interventions will have a few “low-disruption days” and a few “high-disruption
days”.
Are Good Classrooms Managers
Born or Made?
When teachers in classroom, they have responsibility
to teach and educate the student. That’s why a teacher should be a good manger
in case of managing the classroom. It is because class consists of different
characteristic and way of thinking. Teacher should know in what situations
should apply certain techniques. Although the characteristic of good class
management is already explained, but you might ask the question, are effective
classroom managers are born naturally or made by the managers? The answer of
this question is that effective classroom mangers are made. Good classroom
mangers are teachers who are understand and use specific techniques. As
asserted before, good teachers should know how to train student depend on their
condition. Of course, the teachers should know the procedure and they already
train before they come to the class. To train good mangers use some techniques.
Consider to a research by Wolter Borg and Frank Ascione (1982). In study of
involving 34 elementary school teachers who were randomly assigned to
experimental and control condition, they found that:
1. Teachers
who had been trained in the use of effective classroom management improved
their use of those techniques when compared to a group of untrained teachers.
2. He
student of the teachers in the experimental group had fewer disruptions and
higher engagement rates than those in the control group.
Those are fact, which means that to
be good managers also need train and skull. That’s why we should know how to be
good mangers. Here, writer put some tips how to be good managers:
1. Knowledge and love of the
subject
If
a teacher doesn’t know her material well, how can she hope to teach it to
others? The best teachers truly love the subject they teach and are constantly
trying to learn more about it. Students pick up quickly on this! When they see
a teacher who’s excited about a subject, the sentiment can spread to them.
2. Management
Good
teachers have to be excellent managers. It’s not easy to keep a room full of
students focused, keep up with grades and assignments, follow all the school’s
rules, keep parents happy, and jump through all the state-mandated hoops and
red tape. Moreover, good mangers should be able to manage the time.
3. Motivation
Teachers
also have to serve as motivators. In order to be a quality teacher, one has to
be able to motivate students – to get and keep them actively participating in
the learning process. This is often a daunting task. Good teachers have
numerous motivational strategies in their “bag of tricks.”
4. Patience
For
her own sake as well as for the benefit of the students, a teacher needs to
have an extreme amount of patience. If you’ve never had the experience of being
a classroom teacher, you can’t imagine the things we have to handle. Mischief,
clowning, bullying, tears, fights, skipping class, challenged learners, broken
hearts, and downright meanness are day-to-day occurrences in most classes.
Excellent teachers usually have the patience of Job.
5. Interest
A
good teacher is interesting, and unfortunately, this is something that cannot
be taught in any amount of years spent in education classes at a teacher’s
college, although teaching resources can often help. Students are almost always
much more interested in teachers who are look interested not only physically
but mentally. It give stimulus to student to be more motivated in learning.
6. Empathy and understanding
Good
teachers learn that few things are black or white – there’s always a gray area.
Educators have to take this into account and be flexible. If an assignment is
due on Friday, for example, but he didn’t turn his in, which is very unusual
behavior for him, find out what the problem is. He might have a good excuse. At
least be willing to listen. I’m not saying that rules and deadlines should not
be enforced – they should. But nothing should be “set in stone.”
7. Respect
Most
teachers expect or demand respect, yet all do not use respect when dealing with
their students. Respect is a two-way street. Teacher always treated their
students with respect, never “talking down” to them, embarrassing them, or
berating them. In turn, teachers rarely had a student treat them with
disrespect.
8. Concern
Good
teachers display genuine concern for their students. Kids are smart, and
they’re usually pretty hard to fool. They know which educators really care
about them and which ones are there just to collect a paycheck and be off on
major holidays. Let your students know that you care about them as individuals
and not as just another name or number on your rosters.
9. Fairness
This
is a very important element for effective teaching and classroom management.
Your grading and discipline guidelines should be as objective as possible.
Students can easily understand which ones are your favorites. It’s natural to
like some students more than others, but this should never influence grades,
rules, or classroom policies.
10.
Sense of Humor
A
sense of humor can help you become a successful teacher. Your sense of humor
can relieve tense classroom situations before they become disruptions. A sense
of humor will also make class more enjoyable for your students and possibly
make students look forward to attending and paying attention. Most importantly,
a sense of humor will allow you to see the joy in life and make you a happier
person as you progress through this sometimes stressful career.
11.
Consistency
In
order to create a positive learning environment your students should know what
to expect from you each day. You need to be consistent. This will create a safe
learning environment for the students and they will be more likely to succeed.
It is amazing that students can adapt to teachers throughout the day that range
from strict to easy. However, they will dislike an environment in which the
rules are constantly changing.
12.
Flexibility
One
of the principles of teaching should be that everything is in a constant state
of change. Interruptions and disruptions are the norm and very few days are
'typical'. Therefore, a flexible attitude is important not only for your stress
level but also for your students who expect you to be in charge and take
control of any situation.
