The Dynamics of Classroom Behaviour: A Comprehensive Study Guide

The Setting and Dynamics of Classroom Behavior

  • Unusual Professional Environment: Teaching takes place in a setting characterized by specific constraints:

    • Small physical rooms relative to the objectives sought.

    • Inadequate furniture and limited space for movement.

    • Strict time slots of 50-minute50\text{-minute} or less to cover extensive curriculum objectives.

    • A group of 25−3025 - 30 distinct, unique personalities with varying levels of motivation and willingness to attend.

  • Student Background Diversity: Teachers encounter a spectrum of student domestic realities:

    • Supportive home environments.

    • Dysfunctional homes involving frequent shouting, arguing, poor diet, and dysfunction.

    • Students with diagnosed behavior disorders and significant learning needs.

  • Relational Reality: Both students and teachers "teach" each other through their daily relational behaviors.

  • The Social Transaction: Every discipline transaction is a social transaction.

    • An individual student’s distracting or disruptive behavior is significantly affected by the presence of a peer audience.

    • Behavior is learned within its context; the same student may behave differently with different teachers or in different settings throughout the school day.

Management Styles: Overly Vigilant vs. Relaxed Vigilance

  • Overly Vigilant Management (The Case of Corey):

    • Context: Corey is characterized as "lazy" or a "pain." He lacks organizational skills and domestic support.

    • The Incident: In a maths class, the teacher confronts Corey for not working.

    • Escalation Path:

      • Teacher asks why he hasn't started.

      • Corey states he has no pen.

      • Teacher reacts to his tone: "Don't talk to me like that!"

      • Corey sulks; teacher commands him to "get a pen."

      • Corey attempts to leave to go to his locker; teacher forbids it and demands he ask a peer.

      • Peer refusal leads to teacher expressing frustration: "I'm sick of this."

      • The exchange ends with Corey storming out, using profanity ("shit class"), and being threatened with detention.

    • Role of Behavior: The teacher's conduct contributed as much to the incident as Corey's. The focus was on control and "winning" rather than task engagement.

  • Relaxed Vigilance (The Case of Bradley):

    • Context: A similar incident involving a lack of equipment (pens/paper).

    • The Strategy: The teacher (Ms Brown) provides "take-up time," allowing the student a few minutes to focus before intervening.

    • The Tool: Ms Brown maintains a yellow supply box with the instruction: "RETURN HERE – THANKS IN ADVANCE Ms Brown."

      • Pens/pencils are marked with a 1 cm1\,\text{cm} band of yellow electrical tape for tracking.

      • Supplies include blue pens, red pens, rulers, spare erasers, and pencils.

    • Conflict De-escalation: Instead of arguing about why Bradley is unprepared, she offers the supplies immediately. She uses a wink and a pleasant tone to indicate awareness of his "game-playing" while maintaining task orientation.

  • The Case of Danielle (Special Needs):

    • Incident: A Year 33 student has a soft toy giraffe at the table.

    • Negative Reaction: The teacher snatches the toy and uses a stern voice, threatening loss of recess.

    • Preferred Approach (Directed Choice): A better approach would be acknowledging the toy and offering a choice: "Danielle, that’s a nice little giraffe… it’s work time now and I want you to put it in your locker tray or on my table… and carry on with your writing."

Primary and Secondary Behaviors

  • Primary Behaviors: The initial disruptive or distracting behavior (e.g., throwing an eraser, talking out of turn, not having a pen, chewing gum).

  • Secondary Behaviors (Verbatim Definition): The student’s non-verbal and verbal behaviors that potentially increase the stress a teacher faces when addressing primary behavior. Examples include:

    • Pouting, sighing, sulking.

    • Tut-tutting, huffing, and raising eyes to the ceiling.

    • Procrastination and an argumentative stance (e.g., "Alright, alright…").

  • Analysis of Secondary Behavior: Often, secondary behaviors are more stressfully annoying than the primary issue. They are expressions of attentional needs or power-seeking ("You can’t really make me…").

  • Management Technique (Tactical Ignoring): It is generally better to ignore residual secondary behaviors (like muttering while complying) until the student is back on task, then later re-establish the relationship by focusing on the work.

Case Studies in Respectful Correction

  • Melissa (Late Entrance & Jewelry):

    • Primary Issue: Lateness and non-regulation "dangly" earrings.

    • Vigilant Mistake: Addressing the issue in front of the class, questioning "why," and demanding immediate removal, leading to a power struggle.

    • Effective Correction:

      • Welcoming the student calmly to minimize the "audience-seeking" entry.

      • Addressing the lateness during the "on-task" phase privately.

      • Using a "rule-directed question": "What's our school rule about earrings?"

      • Partial Agreement: When she claims another teacher didn't mind, respond with "Maybe she didn't… however in this class…"

  • Cassie (Inappropriate Language):

    • Incident: Called a peer a "silly bitch" as "friendly banter."

    • Teacher Response: Called Cassie aside to speak privately to avoid "theatre."

    • Instructional Weight: Focused on the behavior, using an "I" statement: "I don't know if [the peer] cares… I do." Reinforced the classroom agreement on respectful language.

  • Anne (Perfume Spray):

    • Incident: Sprayed "Evoke" perfume (which the teacher initially misidentified as "Impulse").

    • Response: Provided a "directed choice": "Put it on my desk or put it away in your bag."

    • Avoidance of "Verbal Ping-Pong": When Anne argued about the brand or the smell of the room, the teacher used partial agreement (“I know it stinks”) and repeated the choice before refocusing on the lesson.

Psychological Frameworks: Explanatory Styles and Stress

  • Explanatory Style (Seligman 1991): A characteristic way of defining and explaining social and relational reality.

  • Learned Helplessness vs. Optimism:

    • Helplessness dimensions: Permanence, Pervasiveness, and Personalisation ("It’s me," "It will last forever").

    • Optimistic style: Acknowledges failure as situational and specific rather than global and stable. Reframes demands as preferences.

  • The Danger of "Musts" and "Shoulds":

    • Beliefs like "Children must respect me" or "I deserve respect" are absolutist imperatives that increase stress when reality does not comply.

    • Respect must be "earned" through effective teaching, leadership, and relationship-building; it cannot be merely demanded.

  • Psychological Junk Mail: Repetitive, negative self-talk such as "I'm an idiot" or "I'll never get through to them." Teachers are encouraged to "tune into" and "dispute" these thoughts with accurate self-talk.

Teacher Leadership and Professional Conduct

  • The Bad-Day Syndrome: Factors like tiredness, health issues, or personal concerns can lead to "snappiness."

    • Transparency: It is professional to briefly acknowledge a bad day to students ("I've got a headache… if you see me getting snappier today you'll know why") without offloading inappropriate personal details.

    • Apology: Teachers should apologize for lapses in judgment or thoughtless comments.

  • Control vs. Leadership:

    • Students often believe it is the teacher’s job to "make us behave" through shouting or detention.

    • The goal is to shift thinking toward "shared control" and "self-management," where students give the teacher the right to lead they acknowledge their own responsibility.

  • The 70–80 Per Cent Rule: Teachers must maintain the goodwill of the 70−80%70 - 80\% of cooperative students. Excessive focus on the 20−30%20 - 30\% through punitive measures like whole-class detentions alienates the cooperative majority.

  • Don't Smile Until Christmas: A debunked maxim. While firmness and clear norms are essential in the "establishment phase," a confident, relaxed smile telegraphs confidence in student cooperation. Avoiding a "buddy/mate" relationship is necessary, but being friendly and respectful is vital.

Definition of Respect in the Classroom

  • Earning Respect: Achieved through teaching effectiveness, confident leadership, and relationship efforts.

  • Mutuality: Based on the equality of human beings and the mutuality of rights (referenced in the UN Charter on the rights of the child).

  • Core Principles:

    1. Respecting the essential dignity of the individual.

    2. Recognizing equality regardless of gender, race, or background.

    3. Disciplining without rejecting the person.

    4. Balancing firmness with kindness.

    5. Starting each day afresh without holding grudges.

Questions & Discussion

  • Colleague Interaction: A teacher remarked, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," as a defensive mechanism against changing management practices. The response: "But you're not a dog; you're a human being."

  • The "Joy of Teaching" (Anonymous Parody):

    • A satirical take on Jesus teaching the Beatitudes, highlights common student distractions:

      • "Are we supposed to know this?"

      • "Do we have to write this down?"

      • "Will we have a test on this?"

      • "I don't have any paper!"

      • "May I go to the toilet?"

    • The parable ends with a Pharisee asking to see Jesus's "lesson plan" and "objectives in the cognitive domain," prompting Jesus to weep.

  • Reflection Questions for Practitioners:

    • What qualities do you remember in your own teachers from school?

    • How does the concept of "relaxed vigilance" relate to your own leadership?

    • How aware are you of your own "characteristic explanatory style" when managing stress?